Uniden Bearcat 15x that is AGGRAVATING me greatly!

[dixie_mccall]

I bought a Uniden Bearcat 15x so that my son (he's currently in EMT school & will go to Paramedic & then fire academy) and I can listen to the local EMS/Fire activity, and so that I can listen in & get up to the hospital quickly in the event of a disaster or large trauma situation (house fire, etc).

I've had this thing nearly 2 weeks and I'm absolutely so frustrated at my failed attempts at getting this radio programmed that I do not know what to do. Other than post on this forum and pick the brains of the scanner-smart crowd!

I've looked around on here and TRIED to use some of the suggestions on programming this dang thing, but no luck.

I've got a USB cable, and I've downloaded the Vista driver for it, and I still am unable to get my PC to recognize my scanner. I really really really do not want to manually program this thing. I've tried the FreeSCAN software, and the bcTool+ software....nothing works. I have a list of all my frequencies I want to program. I also consider myself to be pretty good with technology stuff in general but scanners are DEFINITELY not on my list of things I know a great deal about! I've had other Bearcats (old models) & never had any problem. But I also have never tried to program with a PC before. I am wondering if the problem is Vista (since I've decided that Vista & Windows Milllenium are equally BAD releases from Microsoft!).

I love how Uniden doesn't provide a legit owners manual for this thing. Talk about crappy customer service right out of the box. Unless a miracle happens, I will never buy another Uniden product so long as I walk this earth.

Any advice or suggestions would be just dandy. This is a serious challenge & I'd love to program this darn thing sometime soon! Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Rob_K]

I use a USB cable on a xp machine and I didn't need any drivers. Did you buy the cable when you purchased the scanner?

I believe free scan has an "auto detect" option.

Does your PC have a serial port? You could try that too.

Are you familiar with windows device manager? I would see if windows is detecting your cable properly.

You have an excellent scanner. You will get through it.

For a manual, google "bct15x easier to read manual"

Good luck

 

[saleen49]

I agree with Rob. The BCTx is by far my best scanner yet. FreeScan shouldn't be all that hard to figure out. You do NOT want to enter frequencies into this scanner manually. Loading the scanner using your PC is so easy via copy/paste once you get the hang of it. Don't give up, you will get it figured out.

BCT15X - The RadioReference Wiki

 

[Rt169Radio]

This manual would help.

Easier to Read Uniden XT Scanner Manual

 

[dixie_mccall]

Yes!!!!!!

The Windows Device manager was part of the problem, and my husband found a driver that actually works for my USB cable. And my PC now sees my scanner! YEAH!!! This forum rocks. What a great feeling. I can't thank you all enough for your help!

 

[OCO]

Unless a miracle happens, I will never buy another Uniden product so long as I walk this earth.

Dixie - did a miracle happen? (UPMan's even better than a manual, eh?). I think we've all gone through that level of frustration at some point - I actually felt your pain when I read your initial post...Glad to read that the 15X is doing it's thing for you now.

 

[loumaag]

This is a good example of misdirected blame.

The Windows Device manager was part of the problem, and my husband found a driver that actually works for my USB cable. And my PC now sees my scanner! YEAH!!! This forum rocks. What a great feeling. I can't thank you all enough for your help!

Dixie, I hope that you realize by now that neither the scanner nor the various software products you were attempting to use were the problem. I hope you don't mind my using your thread to help some other folks.

Remember, the radio is designed to receive, scan, etc. The programming software is designed to ease your job in programming the radio. The interconnection, between the radio and your computer is independent of both of those things. Your frustration is seen a lot here, and people invariably blame the radio manufacturer, or the software vendor when in fact the problem is neither.

As you found out, the driver for your specific USB --> Serial Adapter needed to be changed. Who is to blame? Well in your case, and in most other cases, the blame can be split between Microsoft and whoever built your adapter. Microsoft for continuing to change the basic OS with very bad backward compatibility support issues and your adapter builder for not supplying good instructions on what driver to use for what OS.

A good adapter manufacturer would not only supply the drivers, but a utility to make sure the driver/OS/cable combination was actually working together before you hooked it up to your radio. Failing a utility, clear instructions on what to look for in the Windows device manager would be helpful, so when you went to hook up your radio at least it would be talking to your software. Such adapters do exist, but they can't be had for $10 or $15. A little clever shopping can put one like this in your hand for under $30 though.

 

[BOATS22]

Dixie_mccall can you PM me or post the link to the drivers.