Official Uniden BC246T Scanner Thread

[br0adband]

You mght actually wanna SELL your 246T? Wow... the fact that you're considering it amazes me, even as a possibility.

Go figure.



Paul

 

[safetyobc]

I have to sell when the 396 comes out so I have enough $$$$. It's not like I'll be giving up anything, with the 396 I'll be gaining so much more!!

 

[br0adband]

You do have a point there, but I'm firmly of one mind on one thing: no one scanner can do everything. If that were the case, Uniden would have a scanner that could monitor two or more transmissions simultaneously.

Hmmm... gives me an idea for a "perfect scanner wishlist" thread.

* Paul goes off to see if such a thing exists in the Scanning forum...

I'll never let the 246T go simply because it's the first of its kind, and I can always stand to have two scanners as any serious enthusiast can.

But yeah, can't wait to get that 396T, it should be a total blast to use.

Paul

 

[JnglMassiv]

Replacement rubber for the BC235/245 is about $2. 246T should be about the same. Besides, for $200 (a bargain if there ever was) and something I use at least a few times a week, a little wear on the rubber parts is perfectly acceptable. Not unlike my car tires. You take the good with the bad when it comes to rubber parts.

Honestly, I bet the mere introduction of the 396 to market does more to hurt resale value of the 246T than a bit of keypad wear.

 

[Voyager]

Hmmm... gives me an idea for a "perfect scanner wishlist" thread.

* Paul goes off to see if such a thing exists in the Scanning forum...

It does. Search using the keyword 'ultimate'.

You should find several such threads.

Joe M.

 

[miller]

duplicate post deleted!

 

[miller]

20 dB Quieting Test, All Channels NFM Mode

Frequency BC246T BC796D BC780XLT
030.00000 0.28uV 0.34uV 0.44uV
040.00000 0.30uV 0.25uV 0.45uV
050.00000 0.29uV 0.25uV 0.43uV
125.00000 0.38uV 0.34uV 0.50uV
135.00000 0.36uV 0.31uV 0.43uV
144.00000 0.32uV 0.35uV 0.43uV
155.00000 0.33uV 0.29uV 0.42uV
170.00000 0.33uV 0.34uV 0.46uV
250.00000 ------ 0.27uV 0.40uV
300.00000 ------ 0.32uV 0.55uV
350.00000 ------ 0.34uV 0.24uV
410.00000 0.29uV 0.23uV 0.25uV
460.00000 0.32uV 0.23uV 0.26uV
500.00000 0.30uV 0.24uV 0.32uV
855.00000 0.38uV 0.41uV 1.20uV
935.00000 0.40uV 0.43uV 1.40uV

No wonder I can't receive airband well like BC250D. Its sensitivity is worse than 250D. http://www.strongsignals.net/access/content/ts_sens.htmlwill show the difference. I worried that BCD396T/BR330T will behave the same.

 

[miller]

duplicate post deleted!

 

[pro92b]

No wonder I can't receive airband well like BC250D. Its sensitivity is worse than 250D. http://www.strongsignals.net/access/content/ts_sens.htmlwill show the difference

The two charts cannot be easily compared. My tests were all FM mode using 20 dB quieting as the measurement point. I do not have a SINAD meter and did not do any AM mode measurements.

If you assume the 785 and 796 are similar, you can correlate the numbers somewhat and the BC246 looks as good as the others to me.

Perhaps the squelch threshold columns in the Strongsignals chart are causing confusion.

 

[wb2rfv]

BC246 Conventional Channel Operation

Has anyone else compared the sensitivity on conventional channels (non-trunked frequencies) to BC-245, BC-250D or Pro-95 etc?

I have been making side-by-side comparisons with with the models above and the ***exact same*** rubber duck antennas and have found that my BC-246 is not hearing things that the others units are hearing. This is especially true in the 2 meter and 440 Amateur Bands as well as 450~460MHZ services. (no- the BC-246's attenuator is not on!!!).

Trunking works just fine but the signal on the local system is so strong it really isn't an issue...

I'm beginning to wonder if something is wrong with my unit.

Is there anyone else out there that has noticed what I'm experiencing?

Any comments appreciated!

Jack

 

[pro92b]

In the Strongsignals chart the 250D and 785D are of identical sensitivity. The 796D is probably identical to the 250 and 785 as well. If that is true then comparing the 796 and 246 in my chart would give an indication how the 246 compares with the 250 for raw sensitivity.

Below 800 the 246 is very slightly less sensitive than the 796. The difference is so small that it would not be noticeable.

Keep in mind that signal generator sensitivity tests isolate the radio from the real world and apply just one signal at a single frequency. Issues with overload and intermod do not show up in this kind of test. The apparent sensitivity of the radio is affected when an antenna is connected and a large number of signals hit the front end of the radio at once.

The front end of the 246 may not be as robust as the one in the 250. At my rural location I have not noticed the 246 being overloaded more than the 796 but that sort of thing is highly dependent on the RF environment and will be different at each location.

 

[wb2rfv]

BC246 Conventional Channel Operation

Hi Pro-92

My friend came over this morning and we have (4) scanners side by side, BC-245, Pro-92, BC-250 and my BC-246.

I'm beginning to think something's wrong with my BC-246 because using the same exact Uniden rubber duck on all 4 units, the BC-246 just isn't hearing things in the 2-meter, 440 amateur bands and the 450~460 range that the others pick up. It does seem to be comparable in the 470 Mhz range and 800 Mhz trunking seems to be ok too....

I'm thinking that I ought to look into warranty service or perhaps this unit just isn't "the one" for a guy who wants to pull in the "weaker" signals.

I like it because it's really small but if it can't pick up weaker signals, I'll still be using my old unit and the whole idea is that I wanted to replace it with the 246.

Jack

 

[JnglMassiv]

BC246T HIDDEN OPTION:

Switch off Bc246T

Press: Hold 3 0 buttons at same time + power and you have a frequency
counter!

There are more hidden options that do something, like load test data:

Hold 1 9 + power
Hold 4 9 + power
Hold 5 9 + power
Hold 7 9 + power
Hold 8 9 + power
Hold 0 9 + power
Hold . 9 + power
Hold 1 0 + power

Please be careful with these options, backup your scanner BEFORE
trying these options!
HOLD 2 9 power and HOLD 8 9 power clear your memory, other load test
data.
In the pro83 yahoogroup you can find more info, the pro83 and bc246T
seem to share the same hidden start up commands

A free backup/restore utility can be found on our website, just in
case.

Gommert

This was on page 20 in the 246T thread. I remember reading about this before I got the scanner but I forgot all about it until this evening. I can't get the freq counter to work. Or any of the test modes. Was this a feature on older firmware units only or...?

 

[slicerwizard]

Press HOLD, 0 and 3 (three keys) while powering up.

 

[JnglMassiv]

(three keys)

Ahhh. That was a crucial hint. I was reading the instructions as 'press and hold 0 and 3 during power-up.' Seems pretty obvious now, though!

 

[CZ]

Main complaints I've had with the 246T are:

1 ... Aircraft band sensitivity. I live about 5 miles from major airport, & am at edge of flight path. Aircraft - no problem, tower cannot be heard, have tried at least 3 duckies on it. I'm using the Ver. 1.42 Firmware.

2 ... Difficult to program by hand.

3 ... Cover over the computer cable jack doesn't stay closed. Had to put piece of tape over it to hold it down & keep dirt out.

So far no problem with the key lettering rubbing off. I would imagine though if it had to be replaced, the cost + labor would be :shock:

 

[slicerwizard]

1 ... Aircraft band sensitivity. I live about 5 miles from major airport, & am at edge of flight path. Aircraft - no problem, tower cannot be heard, have tried at least 3 duckies on it. I'm using the Ver. 1.42 Firmware.

So stop using ducks. Get something tuned for the band. Even a cheap telescoping whip would be better.

2 ... Difficult to program by hand.

No it isn't. And it's not just me saying that. Sure, the programming is different than scanners that came before it, but it's not that difficult.

3 ... Cover over the computer cable jack doesn't stay closed. Had to put piece of tape over it to hold it down & keep dirt out.

I have never seen one that didn't stay closed by itself. It has a locking tab to keep it closed. What did you do??

So far no problem with the key lettering rubbing off. I would imagine though if it had to be replaced, the cost + labor would be :shock:

From what I've read, replacement keypads are inexpensive and users can replace them themselves. I certainly could do it - it's just a few screws to get at it.

 

[CZ]

slicerwizard:

About the port cover. First time I opened it for use, when I went to close it back down and made sure the small tab on the lid was where it was supposed to be, I pressed it down to seal it in place -- and when I raised my thumb, the lid had a bow in it--like a ) with the points down--where about a 1/16th inch or so gap remained (& still does) where you can look under one side of the lid, and see light at the other side.

It was suggested to hold the lid down with your thumb a few minutes to reseat it, I did this on two occasions, and still the hump remains, hence the tape.

 

[slicerwizard]

That's puzzling. I've uploaded some photos of my port cover here:

http://home.ica.net/~phoenix/wap/BC246T/

What's different about yours?

 

[safetyobc]

Mine looks like BC246T-3.jpg Doesn't seem to be a problem to me.