Official BCT-15 Post Release Thread

[h8tdigitalradio]

Hello,

I have a BCT-7 I bought new, modified with Discriminator Tap, and it has the Green Backlight.

73

Dave AKA The Tripzter

 

[DaveIN]

Hello,

I have a BCT-7 I bought new, modified with Discriminator Tap, and it has the Green Backlight.

73

Dave AKA The Tripzter

Interesting! What was the date code?

 

[h8tdigitalradio]

Interesting! What was the date code?

The Date Code on the Power Supply: 0241. Unit made in Philippines.

73

Dave AKA The Tripzter

 

[STiMULi]

These are honest questions. I am not asking an a sarcastic manner.

Who has a BCD996T and a BCT15?
Why do you want both?

 

[MB]

I have a BCT15 and I am thinking about getting a BCD996T.

The reason I want a 996T also is because you never know who will be switching over to digital next. Also I want to try some Federal Monitoring (ICE, Boder Patrol, etc). I have heard that some comms are not encrypted.

These are honest questions. I am not asking an a sarcastic manner.

Who has a BCD996T and a BCT15?
Why do you want both?

 

[safetyobc]

These are honest questions. I am not asking an a sarcastic manner.

Who has a BCD996T and a BCT15?
Why do you want both?

I have the 15 and hope to get the 996 soon. I use the 15 as a base scanner and the 396 I can use inside for my digital.

I hope to get the 996 for my truck and use with a GPS. It holds more memory and has digital for my AWIN (Arkansas System) monitoring.

 

[safetyobc]

Thank you thank you for Function HOLD! I have my systems set up as counties in my states (most of them anyway) I have an incident going on right now in a neighboring county, and all I had to do was Function HOLD that system and I am scanning only that county!

THANK YOU!!!! Uniden!

matt

 

[jrny99]

nice scanner...

 

[STiMULi]

Here is a great find for converting your ONSTAR to BCD996T or BCT15 use

http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showpost.php?p=323680&postcount=16

 

[rware96]

Does anyone know if the Preprogrammed State police frequencies can be updated somehow such as with the firmware updates?

By the way, my BCT-7 also has a green backlight, and I purchased it new.

 

[Go-24]

Who has a BCD996T and a BCT15? Why do you want both?

I have the 996 programmed for enforcement agencies (mostly police) and the 15 tuned for rescue agencies (ems/ema/fire) - I have my 396 programmed for a few dedicated talkgroups, and the 246 is normally in search mode.

Running more than one scanner on dedicated channels means I miss less compared to running just one. That's the primary reason I have more than one. I had said my shack was done for a while, but I am already getting an itch for another - ahaha!

 

[STiMULi]

I am pondering getting a BCT15. This is why I asked

I loved my BCT8. It will be relegated to being a backup for multi-agency or multi-channel events.

I think I will get the BCT15 for the car and use the Pro96 for states that use digital like CO

 

[garys]

I am pondering getting a BCT15. This is why I asked

I loved my BCT8. It will be relegated to being a backup for multi-agency or multi-channel events.

I think I will get the BCT15 for the car and use the Pro96 for states that use digital like CO

If you don't need digital or some of the other features of the 996T, the BCT15 is a great scanner. I bought one for my primary in house scanner with a 796 for digital systems. If I didn't want digital for the truck, I'd have bought two BCT15s.

Gary

 

[Asmitty0010]

Scan speed

My BCT15 seems to have a much lower scan rate than my pro2096. It misses the begining of mostly all transmissions. I only have two groups w/ about 8 channels in each. and the hold time is 2 seconds on each group. Another thing i've noticed is that the priority channel is slow at getting scanned and it cuts out for like a half second during the transmission. The reception is perfect on the pri ch. too so i don't know why it cuts out for a half second. I have my pro 2096 right next to the BCT 15 and it has 35 channels to scan but it hits the priority channel much faster than my BCT 15. Anybody have any ideas for faster scanning?

 

[UPMan]

Set the system hold time to 0.

 

[DaveNF2G]

If you have been a Uniden scanner owner and UASD user and you move to the BCT-15, be prepared for a surprise.

The actual price of your scanner setup including the software is about $30.00 more than the price tag on the scanner. Why? Because UASD for the BCT-15 is crippleware! It does not become fully operational unless you pay the extra $30 to register it.

AFAIK, this is the only scanner model with a UASD package available that costs extra.

 

[hiegtx]

If you have been a Uniden scanner owner and UASD user and you move to the BCT-15, be prepared for a surprise.

The actual price of your scanner setup including the software is about $30.00 more than the price tag on the scanner. Why? Because UASD for the BCT-15 is crippleware! It does not become fully operational unless you pay the extra $30 to register it.

AFAIK, this is the only scanner model with a UASD package available that costs extra.

Dave,
UASD for the 246T & the 330T is also $29.95 for the full (unlocked) version. It's only free for the 396 & 996. It's been that way from the beginning for those scanners as well. Part of the price differential, I guess, between the digital 396/996 and non-digital (246/330/BCT-15) scanners.
Radio Shack doesn't provide software, demo or full version, for any of their scanners, regardless of price range.

 

[joetnymedic]

I was thinking of getting the bct-15. I have a bc 7, bc245clt, bc296d and bcd396t as well as a pro-89. I have the 296 for sale as well as the bc7 and 245. I'm buying the bct-15 to lose the bc296 since i want a base/mobile and to replace the older base/mobiles I have at the same time. I figure I have the 396 for my digitial needs so I'm good. I was tempted by the 996 but decided my wife was just a bit nicer than a radio to have around-lol. She said no to another 500.00 buyu, but was agreeable to losing 1 or more of my other scanners and replacing it with the bct-15 for like 230.00

Joe

 

[jrny99]

04 Crown Vic install BCT15 pic

This is the dash of my 04 Crown, I used a Dremel to do the cutting. I have a Laptop Gps lt-20 that I am going to get a serial to usb adapter and see how that works or do I need a hand held GPS?

 

[UPMan]

If you mean you are going to convert the GPS's USB to serial for the scanner, there is no such device. There are devices that will convert PC USB ports to serial, but nothing will convert an accessory's USB to serial such that it will connect to another accessory (both the scanner and the GPS are considered accessories).

You need a GPS that has serial out (or hack into your GPS and find where the serial data goes into the USB chip).