BCT15X: Programming Help

[manningm]

1) How do I turn off that very loud and oh-my-God annoying alert tone when first turning the unit on?

2) How do I program this thing for simple trunking operation? I have the trunking frequencies but have no idea what status bits, fleet maps, and all that internal techie stuff is.

I'm used to the old type trunking scanners: enter the frequencies, hit trunk and off it goes. The enclosed disc instructions offer lots of help but, although I am far from stupid, is way beyond me.

The pre-programmed instructions for my city (Columbus, OH) do not work according to the book. It just keeps going back to Alabama.

Isn't there a simple way to program this thing? Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Voyager]

What alert tone? Mine only has about a 50mS soft beep.

Try"
MENU (button)
SETTINGS
ADJUST KEY BEEP

...then set to to level 1 or 2. Someone likely has it set to some loud value.

As for programming, I would recommend finding someone in your area that can program it for you. There may even be some MONIX members that far into Ohio.

There is a simple way to program it, but if you don't know trunking terms, it's better to just let someone who does know do it if you don't want to learn them.

 

[W8RMH]

Welcome to RadioReference. I hate to be the one to burst your bubble but the BCT15X will not work for long for Columbus (in the process of switching to digital) or any agency in central Ohio for that matter, except Fairfield County and their analog use days are probably numbered as well.

The BCT15X is not a digital radio and everything is digital or will be before the end of the year. In my opinion the BCT15X was one of the finest analog scanners ever produced but is somewhat outdated, as is the pre-programmed information which was written back in 2008 as many things have changed since then.

You can download FreeScan and use it to download the Franklin County Public Safety System from RadioReference, and load it into the scanner but that system's life span is very short.

I recommend you pickup a BCD996P2 or a HomePatrol-II. You may also find a used Phase I only digital scanner such as a BCD996XT, BCD396XT, or HomePatrol-I, as these will work fine until the system starts using Phase II and no one knows when that will happen.

The tone you are getting is the Beartracker system. Check the manual on how to disable that or see the Mark's Easier To Read Manual. It's been so long since I had one I don't recall the procedure (I found this feature to be useless anyway).

 

[manningm]

Thanks

 

[Voyager]

Did you try my suggestion, and did it solve the issue?

 

[manningm]

Although I replied with a "thanks" I don't recall reading this message. Must be the old age. I haven't tried yet, but now kind of disappointed about the digital news. I've been so frustrated by this thing that I have to wait until I have the patience to mess with it. I'll try it later and let you know how it works.

Thanks again.

 

[sparklehorse]

If your radio is brand new, the annoying alert tone is quite likely the Bear Tracker system, which is gimmicky, outdated and should be disabled. Here's what Mark's Easier to Read Manual has to say about it:

Now the annoying stuff. Right out of the box all of the Bear Tracker features are turned on which is ridiculous if you don't know how to turn them off. The default volume for the Bear Tracker alert tone is like a smoke detector, way too loud for any poor soul who gets caught in front of the scanner when it goes off. Most of you that have the scanner have rudely found this out.

And this:

The most frustrating thing about this radio is right out of the box, all Bear Tracker features are on by default which makes no sense at all if you don't know how to turn them off. My advice is to disable everything and start from there.

Press POL and HP (one at a time) until all the icons (PL, DT, HP, and BT) disappear from the display to turn off all preprogrammed frequencies. This will give you 'Nothing to Scan' in the display. Now you can jump into programming your frequencies.

Press POL once to turn on a state. Press then VOL(State). Scroll to 'Your State' and press E/ to save and exit. Press POL until all icons disappear again.


The full Easier to Read manual is here, I highly recommend reading it, there is no better way to learn how to use these radios:

Easier to Read BCT15-X Scanner Manual

.

 

[pinballwiz86]

If your radio is brand new, the annoying alert tone is quite likely the Bear Tracker system, which is gimmicky, outdated and should be disabled.

Uniden needs to use the Radio Reference database to figure out all the P25 input frequencies along with GPS radii nationwide. This will be the NEW Bear Tracker.

I'll take one of each new base and portable scanner Uniden.

 

[manningm]

BCT15X

Thanks for the responses. I know I'm old but damn didn't know I was so ignorant as to not follow directions.

Just discovered the interface cable does not connect directly to the computer's USB port, but is much smaller and will need an adapter. So, at this point, I'm not able to download pre-programmed frequencies.

My 15-year-old scanners are still (sort-of) working and I am used to programming them: hit a couple of buttons, enter the trunk frequencies and off it goes. Does the BCT15X have a manual way to enter the frequencies for trunking? The manual may as well be written in Chinese with links to odd pages with nothing to do with this scanner.

So, does anyone know step by step how to manually enter trunk frequencies in this thing? If nothing else I'll head over to Micro Center to find an adapter tomorrow.

Thanks in advance.

 

[wtp]

i sent a personal message.

a step by step.

 

[fxdscon]

Just discovered the interface cable does not connect directly to the computer's USB port, but is much smaller and will need an adapter. So, at this point, I'm not able to download pre-programmed frequencies.

If you are referring to the programming cable that was included in the package with your BCT15X, the smaller connector on that cable is meant to connect to the front programming port on your scanner (just to the right of the E/yes key), not to your computer. The other larger end of that cable is meant for a native serial port on your computer.

If the computer you are using does not have a serial port built in, you will need a USB to serial port adaptor for your computer.

Alternatively, you can use Uniden's USB-1 cable that connects to the front port on your scanner, has a built-in serial to USB adaptor, and then connects to the USB port on your computer.

Uniden USB-1 Programming Cable (BC246/396/330/230/95/996/15/XT)

You may be able to find cables or adaptors that will physically make the connection, but do not connect the serial ports (front or rear) on your scanner directly to the USB ports on your computer..... It will not work, and could possibly cause some damage.

.