Uniden BCT-15 - 97' Ford Mustang

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jm_460

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So after growing tired of constantly clipping/unclipping my BR330T from the car to the house, I decided that it was time for a permanent mobile unit. My car had an extra pocket in the bottom, and the measurements showed me that the BCT-15 would fit with some slight modifications. Initially, the BCT15 did not want to fit. I had to use a Dremel to trim down a bit of the plastic at the entrance of the pocket. After some minor trimming, the BCT15 only needed a little push to get it to go in the pocket. I didn't use a DIN-E sleeve, due to the bottom pocket being designed to only hold the old factory CD player, and nothing else (the top pocket where you see my aftermarket radio previousy held a fat, ugly radio/cassette player).

I mounted it using Loctite "Power Grab" double-sided tape (heavy duty type) They look like glue strips to me. I placed a few on the bottom of the BCT15.

Antenna? My car antenna. I bought an AM/FM Antenna Coupler with the BNC connector. 25-1000MHz coverage. It works really well, and there is no interference when you have your scanner and radio on at the same time

How's it being powered? Black wire is grounded, red wire is in the fuse block. Orange wire was cut and heat shrinked, don't want it. All wires routed through plastic tubing.

I have a Motorola two-way radio portable mic plugged in the External Speaker jack (had the mic gathering dust in the closet, thought I'd put it to good use). It's a 2-pin, but I snapped off one of the pins, and left the 3.5mm plug attached. Yeah, yeah, I know...get a real external speaker! Well, there isn't a lot of room for anything in my car, and I don't want to add any more clutter. I want to be comfortable, and I don't want my passengers to feel confined, either. No room under the seat, it has power-operated seats.

In the past, I have installed car stereos and car sound systems. Installing the BCT15 in this particular car was a pain in the ass. It was totally worth it, though.







Motorola mic between the seat/center console. My BR330T's old mount..now being used to hold my phone.


DC Cord routed through plastic "snake" tubing.
 
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btritch

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Nice..

Nice looking install, I tried to do mine that way in the truck, I had the same, an empty pocket below the radio but when I pulled the pocket out there was a metal bracket or something behind it...and it won't fit into the pocket itself.. I'll have to settle with this or figure something out, LOL anyways, NICE clean mobile install
 

Grog

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Bonus points if you ever pick up the mic and pretend to talk back to someone on the radio :D
 

manross

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Antenna? My car antenna. I bought an AM/FM Antenna Coupler with the BNC connector. 25-1000MHz coverage. It works really well, and there is no interference when you have your scanner and radio on at the same time

First off, sweet install. Very clean and professional looking...well done. I got to ask you on the antenna coupler. I tried one a few years ago and it was terrible. Do you live close to the transmitters and have strong signals? My signal level was terrible, even for close transmitters. But the worse thing was how bad it degraded the FM/AM radio signal level. I couldn't live with that problem....need my talk radio:D If you don't have any of these problems, maybe the couplers have improved in the past couple years. What brand coupler did you get??

Marty

Marty
 

jm_460

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Manross, the transmitters are close and if I were to pick up a pair of binoculars, I'd probably be able to spot them from here. I drive about 18 miles to work, and everything that I listen to at home, still sounds pretty strong at such a distance. As for the AM/FM signal quality, I did not notice any change. If it did, I would have immediately noticed because I listen to the local FM stations a lot. In fact, I feared the very same problems that you faced. At the beginning, I was a little hesitant towards purchasing the coupler, but then again, I didn't want to bother with an extra antenna. So I took a chance, and am quite happy with it and was actually impressed. I bought the coupler from scannerworld.com. They only sell one brand, and it's from Paradynamics. On ebay, couplers are cheaper than scannerworld.com, but I don't trust those couplers on ebay.
 
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jm_460

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Grog, I just might do that the next time I hear the fire tones going off, hehe. After the dispatch TX, I'm going to pick up the mic, and say, "Fire comm, engine 1111 responding to..." ..just for kicks lol
 

jm_460

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Harrison, I didn't tap into an ignition lead. It constantly has power, and I can turn it on/off without turning the ignition. It's how I like it.
 

jm_460

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Ahhh okay. Also left that untapped. On the manual, it says to tap into your headlamp switch, but I didn't want to start taking stuff apart to get to it. Instead, you can tap into your stereo's orange wire, rather than taking your headlight switch apart (especially if it's a newer model vehicle). It does the same thing. I have the scanner's light off during daytime, and on medium-setting at night. Works out for me.
 

jm_460

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Monterey County, CA
Read my original post. I don't like to mount anything in the car if it's going to get in my way (changing radio stations on stereo, bumping against my knees, adjusting car vent, etc.). That little mic doesn't get in my way, and I can hear a lot better with it (since my scanner sits in an enclosed pocket, it sounds muffled). It's more of a temporary thing as I look for a good spot for a real external speaker.
 
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