BC250D: Low Signal Meter on BC250D

[Paco-Jerte]

Got an oldie but goodie Uniden BC250D that I bought for $25.00 locally at garage sale. Came with the p25 card too.
Since I have a BC296D in my shack it was easy to program the 250D using the same .mem file.

Once it was programmed I noticed that the signal meter was barely one bar while scanning LAPD locally while my 296D has full signal bars scanning the exact same frequency. Oh and before I programmed the 250D, I did a factory reset to wipe all it had when brought home.

Since the 250D came with the OEM antenna when it was purchased, figured that could be the antenna but using other BNC antennas including the same one from my 296D scanner it still shows the same ONE SIGNAL BAR. Even the Weather stations have only one bar.

Is there someone that can be adjusted and or tweaked inside the 250D to increase the RX signals to get better??

Any info would be appreciated

 

[doctordialtone]

Any info would be appreciated

If you can receive/hear them OK, I would ignore how many "Bars" you're getting.

 

[Paco-Jerte]

Well sounds kinda like a weak station from 50 miles away, some of the audio breaks up (If that makes sense)

but a very strong signal with all my other handhelds using OEM antennas

 

[jonwienke]

The receiver has been desensed by something, like a static discharge into the antenna, or being too close to a powerful transmitter. It needs a repair, not recalibration.

 

[torontokris]

Jon's suggestion about is probably the best one if signal is much lower than it should be. it happens.

There is also a P25 adjustment you can look into (but if the issue is a bad receiver it wont help)

P25 audio decode level adjustment - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

 

[Paco-Jerte]

Thanks for the replies. IMHO is not worth getting it fixed. i will open it and check the insides sometime in the next few days.

I'll keep it for parts since its in pretty good shape front and back. Even keyboard has zero fades.

Plus the BCi-25D alone is worth the $25 I paid plus a lot more hehe.

 

[Paco-Jerte]

Had a chance to open the scanner today, and looks like the BNC connector was replaced probably by last owner and did not solder it right to the solder points (were lose and not making proper contact) so got the solder gun and wallah signal bars back to normal.

While I had it open also did the Discriminator Mod LND9 wire to a 10k Resistor to SMD left.

DMR/NXDN and other goodies work fine with DSDplus 2.228 Fast Lane