Official BCT-15 Post Release Thread

[safetyobc]

Order my BCT-15 yesterday from Communications Electronics, cant wait untill it gets in!! I see that Uniden has software for the BCT-15. Does anyone know if Butel will put out a program for this scanner? I have used Uniden software in the past and dont really care for it, but something is better than nothing. Gregory

Butel stated that it would be out in September. I went ahead and got UASD, but will probably try to upgrade to butel at a later date.

matt

 

[UPMan]

Stimuli: Thanks for that link. I've contacted them to have that corrected.

Matt: I don't have the O/M handy, but "Alert +" is "wife and girlfriend" mode. It silences all radio traffic and other noises except events and channels that have an alert tone associated with them. So, you can put it in that mode when you only want to hear audio if SWAT has radio traffic or similar.

 

[safetyobc]

Stimuli: Thanks for that link. I've contacted them to have that corrected.

Matt: I don't have the O/M handy, but "Alert +" is "wife and girlfriend" mode. It silences all radio traffic and other noises except events and channels that have an alert tone associated with them. So, you can put it in that mode when you only want to hear audio if SWAT has radio traffic or similar.

AAAA, makes sense to me now since it went totally deaf while I was using it. lol. That is a cool feature. I like that idea! I will definately be using that one.

Also I didn't see in the BCT15 OM where it showed how to change views from Frequency to Mode, etc. The Func + 0. I had to look in the BCD996T OM online to find that. I could have missed it though.

matt

 

[atwolf]

Alert Plus - off? And, GPS and talk groups

Thanks for the explanation of Alert Plus. Now, how do you turn it off (other than cycling power)? Repeating the key presses does nothing that I can tell, and the Alert + icon stays up.

As for GPS functionaliity, I want to make sure I'm not missing an easier way to manage geographic on/off of certain talk groups. My home county (Gwinnett, GA) has five police precincts, all with their own talk groups for dispatch, TAC, etc.

I wanted to be able to have the GPS location enable me to listen to one precinct as I drive about the county (or two temporarily as I transition from one zone to another).

I have created five systems, GWINNETT SOUTH, NORTH, EAST, WEST, and CENTRAL. I have set up site(s) to cover the geographic area of each precinct. I have then enabled only the talk groups for each in their respective systems. I have Fire Dispatch and Fire TAC groups active in all systems since they are county-wide dispatched.

Was there any easier way to accomplish this? Want to find out before I tackle more counties.

Also, this may have been mentioned elsewhere, but in using a Garmin Etrex Legend GPS, I find that I get far fewer brief system cut-offs (due to the GPS briefly "losing" its position) if WAAS is turned off.

 

[h8tdigitalradio]

Thanks for the explanation of Alert Plus. Now, how do you turn it off (other than cycling power)? Repeating the key presses does nothing that I can tell, and the Alert + icon stays up.

ALERT + can be enabled or disabled from the Menu: SET PRIORITY: OFF, ON, or PLUS w/o powering down unit.

73

Dave AKA The Tripzter

 

[safetyobc]

ALERT + can be enabled or disabled from the Menu: SET PRIORITY: OFF, ON, or PLUS w/o powering down unit.

73

Dave AKA The Tripzter

Alert plus and priority are totally different features.

matt

 

[UPMan]

I find that pressing HOLD then SCAN returns to normal scanning from Alert +.

As to "Is there a better way?": Well, what you describe is exactly what I have done for Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Irving... So, if there is a better way, I haven't hit on it, yet.

 

[atwolf]

Alert plus

Thanks, Paul. And, I thought I was programming like you had, just wanted to be sure. Excellent radio, btw.

 

[N7OLQ]

UASD Group Lockout vs. disable?

I can't figure out what the lockout box is for at the top of each group. If checked, It still shows up on the list of enabled groups. Is this only for groups with no GQK or something?

If you check the box and the group is enabled to be scanned in the configuration setting for GQKs, is it scanned or not?

Thanks

 

[rdale]

Enabled/Disabled is not the same as Lockout/Unlock. End result is the same however, LO or DISABLED means you don't hear.

 

[Asmitty0010]

fire tone out

Hey guys, i just got my BCT15 and i love it...I have the tones for fire tone out and i put them in and they work! The problem i've found is the alert tones on the unit itself are so short you can barely catch them. Like some are about .5 seconds. Is there a way to extend the alert tone a few seconds longer?

Thanks

 

[gbeck41]

BCT15 System and Group keys not showing!

Just got my BCT15 yesterday and purhcased the BCT15USAD Software. Program my systems and groups. I then wrote them to the scanner. While in the scanning mode the system and group keys numbers that are supposed to show at the bottom of the screen are not showing. Check to make sure each system and group was assign a number. Everything is right in the settings. Could this be a bug in the software?Gregory

PS I know the difference between the system startup keys and quick keys which I do not use.

 

[safetyobc]

Just got my BCT15 yesterday and purhcased the BCT15USAD Software. Program my systems and groups. I then wrote them to the scanner. While in the scanning mode the system and group keys numbers that are supposed to show at the bottom of the screen are not showing. Check to make sure each system and group was assign a number. Everything is right in the settings. Could this be a bug in the software?Gregory

PS I know the difference between the system startup keys and quick keys which I do not use.

The GRP Quick keys are only shown when you press the FUNC button. It is confusing at first but the bottom row is there in non Function mode for Alt +, Hwy Pat, Beartracker, Police, etc.

 

[gbeck41]

Matt,
In the manual on page 46 it says for 1-9, 0:
In SCAN mode, the number of unlocked Quick keys for Systems/Groups are displayed. And a current scanning number blinks. Am I reading into this too much, Gregory.

 

[safetyobc]

Matt,
In the manual on page 46 it says for 1-9, 0:
In SCAN mode, the number of unlocked Quick keys for Systems/Groups are displayed. And a current scanning number blinks. Am I reading into this too much, Gregory.

I must appologize, I am at work and don't have the scanner in front of me. Maybe someone else will be able to answer. If not, I'll look tomorrow when i get home.

matt

 

[kc2kvz]

Perhaps a stupid question;
I understand the 15 has no banks. In general, scanners with banks allow one trunked system per bank, so basically you can monitor 10 trunked systems. I understand the 15 has the ability to monitor up to 500 systems. Does this mean you can monitor 500 trunked systems? (yes I know that is extremely unlikely) In practical terms then, with a BCT15 you can monitor numerous trunked systems of different types. Is that a correct assumption? Thanks

 

[bonus1331]

I re-installed all my systems into the 15 with Start-Up Configuration Keys tonight.
Interesting how it will only scan the systems included with the startup configuration, BUT will not show the skipped systems as L/O'd with the usual * on the unused system. It just skips the systems not included in the start-up config.

I thought the start-up configurations would be cycled off with a power on/off cycle; but I see I was incorrect. Is ther any way to unlock all systems back to pre-startup configuration other than hitting "Function" and "LO" for the extended period, which unlocks EVERYTHING including search ranges!!

Thanks

 

[DaveNF2G]

Perhaps a stupid question;
I understand the 15 has no banks. In general, scanners with banks allow one trunked system per bank, so basically you can monitor 10 trunked systems. I understand the 15 has the ability to monitor up to 500 systems. Does this mean you can monitor 500 trunked systems? (yes I know that is extremely unlikely) In practical terms then, with a BCT15 you can monitor numerous trunked systems of different types. Is that a correct assumption? Thanks

Not a stupid question at all. This is a new way to program scanners and it will take a while to get used to it.

To answer your question, yes, as long as the data will fit into the scanner's dynamically allocated memory, you can monitor many more trunked systems than with bank-and-channel programmed scanners. I can put about 100 trunked systems into my BCD396T and use about 80% of its memory.

(I have Tony W2BEJ's BCT15 in my station right now. Unfortunately, the free version of UASD will not allow me to program it the way he wants.)

 

[okccsi]

Extra components (i.e. LED's) cost money that you can save on the bottom line and allow for a lower price to the consumer and can mean more sales.

The BCD996T comes with a DIN sleeve and the UASD software (download) is included in the price, not so for the BCT15.

As for orange vs. green, I'm sure orange was based on the previous models of BearTrackers and other mobiles that were orange. Too bad "blue" didn't make the cut on the 996.

You say that but imagine my surprise when I hooked up a BC7 and it had a green backlight compared to the 350a, 350c, 550a, etc. They were orange.

OKC CSI

 

[DaveIN]

You say that but imagine my surprise when I hooked up a BC7 and it had a green backlight compared to the 350a, 350c, 550a, etc. They were orange.

OKC CSI

Did you buy it used? The BCT-7 I had was orange, same as the BCT15.