Uniden BCT8 - Manuals

1 Introduction The BCT8 is a state-of-the-art Trunk Tracking Scanner with BearTracker technology whichwill alert you when the highway patrol is within approximately a 3 mile radius. It can store250 frequencies such as police, fire/emergency, marine, railroad, air, amateur, and othercommunications in...

Front and Rear Views 1. Squelch Control / Flash Brightness Selector ( SQL , FLASH ) 2. Alerting Light ( ALERT ) 3. Volume Control / Alert Tone Selector ( VOL ) 4. Mute Key ( MUTE ) 5. Display6. Lockout Key ( L/O ) 7. Delay Key ( DELAY ) 8. Service Key ( SVC ) 9. Private / Highway Scanning Key ( PVT/...

Icon Display Uniden®, BearTracker® and Bearcat® are registered trademarks of Uniden AmericaCorporation. TrunkTracker is a proprietary trademark of Uniden America Corporation. 3 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1718 19 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 28 21 22 21 23 24 25 26 27 1. Trunk Tracking mode ( TRUNK ) 2. Motorola t...

4 Terminology What are Highway Patrol Alerts? Most highway patrol vehicles on the road today are equipped with a secondary radio systemknown as a “mobile extender” or “vehicular repeater.” Whenever the dispatcher transmits toany vehicle in the district, “mobile extender” in every car within the dist...

6 Feature Highlights • Pre-programmed frequencies specific to each state (except Hawaii). • Pre-programmed Trunked and conventional Highway Patrol frequencies • Highway Patrol Priority Alert -Receive audible and visual alert when within three miles of many Highway Patrol/Stateunits • Pre-programmed ...

7 Where to Obtain More Information Before you can scan the PRIVATE bank, you must program frequencies into the scanner’schannels. The Frequency Guide lists typical frequencies used around the U.S.A. andCanada that you may program into your new scanner. However, this is not a complete list offrequenc...

8 Included with Your Scanner Package • BCT8 Scanner • AC Adapter (AD 140U) • DC Power Cord • Cigarette Lighter Adapter Plug (Model CD007) • Telescopic Antenna (Model AT129) • Window Mount Antenna (Model AT002) • Operating Guide • Trunk Tracker Frequency Guide • Other Printed Materials If any of thes...

9 Installing the BCT8 For Home Use (Desktop Installation) 1. Insert the DC plug end of the AC Adapter into the DC 12V jack on the rear panel. 2. Plug the AC Adapter into a standard 120V AC wall outlet. 3. Plug the Telescoping Antenna into the ANT connector. Extend the antenna to its full height. For...

10 3. Drill the necessary holes and secure the mounting bracket in place using the screws provided. 4. Mount the radio to the bracket only after the wiring has been connected to the rear panel. Connecting the Power Cord Note: If you are not experienced in connecting accessories to the vehicle fuse b...

11 Typical Mounting Methods The BCT8 can be conveniently mounted on a table, bulkhead, overhead, or any otherdesired location with the optional mounting Bracket (MB007) (refer to figure below for typicalmounting methods). Caution : Make sure there are no hidden electrical wires or other items behind...

Applying Power for Vehicle Installation You can power your scanner using the supplied DC cigarette lighter power cord or an DCpower cord. DC power Installation To power the scanner from a vehicle’s 12V power source (such as a cigarette-lightersocket), you need a cigarette-lighter adapter. To connect...

13 Applying Power Using Standard AC Power To power the scanner from an AC outlet, use the provided AC adapter with a 5.5 mm outerdiameter/2.1mm inner diameter tip. Caution : You must use a Class 2 power source that supplies 12V DC and delivers at least 500 mA. The cord connector’s center tip must be...

Scanning Overview You can scan in one of three ways: 1. Highway Patrol Scanning After selecting a state to scan, press PVT/HWY to activate Highway Patrol Scanning. You can scan pre-programmed Highway Patrol frequencies. 2. Service Scanning Press SVC to select one of the nine services to find an acti...

15 How Squelch Works Think of “SQUELCH” as a gate. If the gate is too low (squelchtoo low), everything (all noise as well as signals) gets through. If the gate is set too high (squelch too high), nothing getsthrough. If the gate is set just right (squelch set properly), just the desiredsignals get t...

Highway Patrol Scanning Highway Patrol frequencies are pre-programmed on a U.S. state-by-state. While HighwayPatrol scanning, Highway Warning Alert will be activated. Selecting the State 1. Press STATE to select the state you are operating in. Press and hold STATE to scroll rapidly. Hint : For the S...

• Press MUTE to cancel One Moment Mute. • Press and hold MUTE for two seconds to cancel Continuous Mute. You hear two beeps and the MUTE LED goes out. • Change states. The MUTE LED goes out after scanning starts. • Turn the scanner off and on. Note : If MUTE is pressed for less than 2 seconds during...

Trunked Highway Frequency Trunked Highway frequencies are pre-programmed on a U.S.state-by-state. When the scanner finds the control channel data,the scanner begins to find any active IDs. If the scanner finds anyID, the active ID appears on the display and you will hear it. If you press the ▲ key w...

21 Private Bank Scanning Programming Frequencies into Channels Before the scanner begins Private Bank scanning, you must program a frequency into atleast one channel. Program frequencies you purchased from your dealer, from various freeand FCC-based sources on the internet, or from the Frequency gui...

22 Duplicate Frequency Alert If you enter a frequency which has been stored in another channel, you will hear an errortone and the other channel displays. Press (decimal key) to clear and start again. ––– OR ––– Press E again to store the frequency in both channels. Note : The smallest channel appea...

23 Hold/Resume If you want to stop on a channel during scanning, press HOLD/RESUME . If you want to resume scanning, press HOLD/RESUME . Direct channel access: There are several ways to access a specific channel quickly. 1. Press HOLD/RESUME . 2. Using the keypad, enter the channel number. 3. Press ...

25 Service Scanning The service scan feature allows you to rotate through the following nine service banks. q Local Police and County Sheriffs *1 w Fire and Emergency Medical Service e News Media r Weather (NOAA, weather and Canadian Coast Guard broadcasts) t CB Band y Aircraft *2 u Railroads i Mari...

26 Band Search Setting a Search Band The BCT8 can search up to 13 separate frequency ranges to help you discover new stationsin your area. To set a Search Bands, enter into the Band Search mode. 1. Press SRCH . The upper and lower limits of the Bands currently selected are on the display. 2. Use the...

27 • While Private Scanning in the trunking banks, press SRCH , then it will move to ID Search mode. Search Hold Feature 1. Press HOLD/RESUME at anytime to stop the search. To move up or down 1 frequency step, use the ▲ or ▼ key. 2. Press HOLD/RESUME to resume searching. Data Skip A scanner will nor...

29 Trunk Tracking Your BCT8 is tracks three major types of trunked radio systems. These systems aredescribed here. ❖ MOTOROLA - Including Type I, Type II, Hybrid, SMARTNET, and Privacy Plus. Motorola systems are widely used by public safety and business users. Most are onthe 800 MHz band, and recent...

30 Programming Trunking Frequencies There are three steps for programming a trunked system: 1. Program the Trunk Type – What type of system will the scanner be tracking, Motorola Type II, Type I, EDACS, LTR, etc. 2. Program the Trunked Frequencies – Within a trunked system, the frequencies are share...

31 Lt (LTR) * Requires programming of a Base and Spacing frequency Offset channel (See page 45).** Requires programming of a Fleet map (See page 44).*** Requires programming of frequencies in exact order and location. STEP 2: Programming Trunking Frequencies 1. Select and press E . Use the keypad an...

33 For a LTR ID, the Area Code, Home Repeater number and ID make up the Talk Group ID.Please see page 42 for more information. 1. Enter the Area Code. 2. Enter the Home Repeater number. 3. Enter the ID you want to store 4. Press E . Note : To clear a stored ID while entering an ID, press 0 and E suc...

Note : One Scan List must always be active. If you try and deactivate all the Scan Lists, Scan List 1 will automatically be active. 3. To restore a Scan List to active scanning, press its number again. ☞ Remember! When you press TRUNK in the Trunking mode, you can be out of the Trunking mode and ent...

35 ID Monitor Mode By using ID Monitor mode, you can determine which talk groups are the most active withouthearing conversations. 1. Press and hold SRCH for 2 seconds until you hear two beeps. Then begins flashing and all active talk group IDs appear on the display every 0.5 seconds. 2. To activate...

38 Multi-Track The BCT8 allows you to track more than one system at a time. Here are some highlights ofthis feature: ❖ You can actually track up to 5 trunking systems at one time. ❖ You can trunk scan, or search and scan conventional frequencies at the same time. ❖ You can program conventional frequ...

39 EDACS ® Reception EDACS ® Tracking TrunkTracker III now allows tracking of EDACS ® trunked systems. Until now these widely used systems have been almost impossible to monitor with a conventional scanner. Withyour TrunkTracker III listening to EDACS(s) is remarkably easy, and perhaps even easierth...

40 An EDACS ® Trunked system This chart shows how talkgroups are organized within anEDACS system at the Agency level. The individualtalkgroups cannot be shown at this scale because thereare over 2000. However the chart can show the 16Agencies in this example. The system is logical and easyto underst...

41 Special EDACS ® Features AFS Partial Entry Feature AFS is Uniden's method of encoding EDACS talkgroups. AFS stands for 'Agency-Fleet-Subfleet'.AFS talkgroups are used in all EDACS reception -- in ID Search, ID Lockout and ID Scan. Thepowerful AFS Partial Entry feature designed into the BCT8 lets ...

42 LTR ® Reception LTR ® Tracking LTR ® (Logic Trunked Radio) systems are trunking systems used primarily by business or private communications service providers, such as taxicabs, delivery trucks, and repairservices. These systems encode all trunking information as digital subaudible data thataccom...

43 Motorola Reception Motorola Tracking There are really two types of Motorola trunking systems. These are usually referred to asType I and Type II systems. Type I only occurs on some 800 MHz systems. All VHF andUHF trunking systems use Type II. One important distinction between these two systems is...

Fleet Map Programming If you have programmed a trunk tracking bank for Motorola, press TRUNK to start Multi- Track, and you will see user IDs on the display. Since the BCT8 defaults to Type II systems,all the IDs will appear as numbers. However, if you notice a mix of odd and even user IDs,for examp...

45 The next available block appears on the display. 6. Repeat step 5 until you have selected a size code for each block.For details about each size code, see "Fleet Map Size Codes"in the Appendix. Programming a Hybrid System A Hybrid system is simply a Type I system with some blocks designat...

9. Use the keypad to enter a new Offset Channel, then press E . Notes: • You can only input within a range of 380-759. • If the system is not tracking properly, you may need to try a new Base Frequency or Offset Channel, or youmay be missing frequencies from the system. • You can set up to three Bas...

Remote Interface You can communicate and program your BCT8 in numerous ways with peripheral devicesusing a Remote Interface Cable port. This radio offers the following modes: ❖ PC Control modeProgram and control your scanner from a PC using Uniden’s BCT8 Scanner Software. ❖ Clone modeClone all the f...

49 Start Remote Mode and Change Transfer Speed: 1. Press and hold RMT for 2 seconds to activate the Remote mode. 2. Select the transfer speed except for , then press E and the scanner will start Remote mode. A unique feature of the BCT8 is that all the front panel keys on the radio remain operationa...

50 To connect the Scanner to Scanner: Plug the male end of the RS232C straight interface cable into theremote port on the rear of one of the two scanners. Then connect theDB-9 to DB-9 null modem adapter to the cable. Plug the other end ofthe null modem adapter into the other scanner (DB9 Gender Chan...

51 5. The data transfer begins from the First Unit to the Clone Unit. During the data transfer, both scanners show the followingdisplays. When the data transfer is complete, displays. If the data transfer is not successful, the following errormessage will appear. Note : • To clear , press (decimal k...

Care and Maintenance General Use • Turn the scanner OFF before disconnecting the power. • Always write down the programmed frequencies in the event of memory loss. • If memory is lost, simply reprogram each channel. The display shows 000.0000 in all channels when there has been a memory loss. Locati...

53 Troubleshooting If your BCT8 is not performing properly, try the following steps. Problem Suggestion 1. Make sure you are scanning in Highway Mode.2. Check antenna connections.3. Conditions to activate the alarm are variable and depend upon the timing of the dispatcher transmissions and proximity...

55 Specifications Certified in accordance with FCC Rules and Regulations Part 15, Subpart C, as of date of manufacture. Channel: 250 Banks: 5 (50 channels each) Service Bands: 9 preprogrammed search bands(including the NOAA and Canada Weather Service band) Frequency Range: 25.0-28.0 MHz Petroleum Pr...

Appendix State Cord Order 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 AK AL AR AZ CA CO CT DC DE FL GA IA ID IL IN KS KY LA MA MD ME MI MN MO MS MT NC ND NE NH NJ NM Alasaka Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Delaw...

Preset Fleet Maps E1P1 Size Code SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11SIZE CODE 11 Block 1 0 234567 E1E2 Size Code SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4SIZE CODE 4 Block 1 0 234567 E1P3 Size Code SIZE CODE 4SIZE C...

59 User Defined Fleet Maps Type I Programming Information When a Type I system is designed, the address information for all the IDs are divided into 8equal sized blocks. When you program your scanner to track a Type I system, you mustselect a size code for each of these blocks. When you have assigne...

Fleet Map Size Codes Size Code Restrictions If you select SIZE CODE 12, 13, or 14, there are some restrictions as to which blocks canbe used for these codes. • SIZE CODE 12 can only be assigned to Blocks 0, 2, 4, or 6. • SIZE CODE 13 can only be assigned to Blocks 0 and 4. • SIZE CODE 14 can only be...

63 One Year Limited Warranty Important : Evidence of original purchase is required for warranty service. WARRANTOR : UNIDEN AMERICA CORPORATION (Uniden) ELEMENTS OF WARRANTY : Uniden warrants, for one year, to the original retail owner, this Uniden product to be free from defects in materials and cr...