BCT-15 Scanner - The perfect non-digital choice for base or mobile installations.
Here is the non-digital base/mobile scanner you've been waiting for. The BearTracker BCT-15 is the most advanced scanner ever made at such an incredibly low price. The radio has more memory than you'll probably ever need (using Uniden's Dynamic Memory Management technology), includes a 2 line X 16-character alpha-numeric display, computer programming and control capability (software available separately later in August), GPS control, Close Call, and so much more. The BCT-15 is great for either the home or a car, truck or emergency vehicle.
The Bearcat BCD996T scanner, also now available from Scanner Master, is the BCT-15's big brother. The 996 has all the same features as the 15 -sans the BearTracker functionality- but it also has more than double the already enormous memory and, most importantly, it will decode APCO-25 digital communications. If there is digital in your area the BCD996T is the way to go.
OPTIONAL BEARTRACKER FUNCTIONALITY
The scanner is a BearTracker meaning that it has State Police/Highway Patrol frequencies pre-programmed into it on a state-by-state basis. So, if you're driving say from California to Nevada, you can select California then Highway Patrol and the radio will go off and scan those channels licensed to the CHP automatically. When you reach the Nevada border you just change the state to NV and the radio will not only scan the conventional Nevada Highway Patrol frequencies, it will also scan the Nevada state trunking systems as well! It's all pre-programmed. The BearTracker alert can be enabled or disabled at your option to alert you when mobile extender and other low-power highway patrol channels are active nearby. State DOT and local police frequencies are also pre-programmed by state into the scanner.
GPS CONTROL
But you can also use the radio without the BearTracker functionality and just program systems on your own. (There are also dozens of pre-programmed systems out of the box from the factory as well.) You can even program the scanner to turn systems on automatically as you near them (and turn them off as you leave them) by connecting third party GPS receivers to either the front or rear panel RS-232 interface jack. This is a scanner first and is truly remarkable. Now you no longer need to scratchily listen to areas you passed 10 miles ago. You set the range for when you want the system to turn on and off. It's fantastic and all automatic.
There's a lot more you can do with a GPS hooked-up to the scanner. If there's a speed trap you're always wary of you can set an alert to sound whenever you're within a mile of the trap. You can even set the radio to not sound the alert if you're driving below the speed limit that you've set for that trap! You can also use this for school zones, dangerous intersections, etc. To many people these features are worth the price of the radio alone!
DYNAMIC MEMORY MANAGEMENT
With Uniden's remarkable Dynamic Memory Management (DMM) technology there are no longer "channels" and "banks" in the scanner. Before you were limited to 10 or 20 banks of 30 channels or 50 or 100 channels for example. While simple to navigate the bank structure was very limiting. With DMM you determine how many "Systems" you want to create within which you may allocate hundreds of frequencies or trunking talkgroups (conventional and trunking systems cannot be mixed within one system). So if you want a system which contains just your primary local police channel, you can do that and not waste 99 channel positions. Furthermore, each system contains up to 20 groups. Each system and and group can be named. So you could, for example set up a system as such:
Springfield (System Quick Key 6)
Police (Group Quick Key 1)
155.430 Police Primary
156.210 Police Records
Fire (Group Quick Key 2)
153.950 Dispatch
153.830 Fireground
DPW (Group Quick Key 3)
45.560 Public Works
Because you can also assign a Quick Key to each System and to each Group you can, from the keyboard of the radio, rapidly turn systems on and off (just as you used to with banks) and Groups on and off. So, in the example above, you might assign System Quick Key 6 to this system and Group Quick Keys 1, 2 and 3 to the three groups listed. You could then turn on the Springfield System and disable Group Quick Keys one and three and just listen to Springfield Fire. Once you get the hang of how this all works you'll realize the benefit of the extraordinary flexibility DMM provides.
FREQUENCY PARAMETERSFor each frequency you program you can also assign an alpha tag, the modulation (AM, FM, WFM), attenuation, priority, external record, alerts, and CTCSS/DCS sub-audible tones (a first for a BearTracker).
TRUNKING CAPABILITIESThe scanner can track Motorola, EDACS (tm), and LTR (tm) trunking but with memory for more talkgroups per system. Standard parameters per talkgroups can also be assigned including an alpha tag and record. Within each trunked system you can also set up "site" parameters now, another first. This way you can program the frequencies for multiple tower sites and refer each site to one master list of talkgroups if you so desire.
CLOSE CALL - ADVANCEDIf you're like the thousands of other scanner users who have come to love Uniden's Close Call technology in the Bearcat 246, 396 or other handheld models, you are in for a surprise. The BCT-15, along with the BCD996T are the first Bearcat mobile scanners with Close Call and there's nothing like going mobile with a Close Call scanner. With Close Call you can automatically find all line-of-sight transmitters (analog, within the band-pass of the scanner) without knowing their frequency. The BCT-15 will find them and let you listen in and with a keypress view the transmitting frequency and sub-audible tone being used! If you drive up to say a stadium or perhaps you drive by an accident scene, with Close Call you'll be able to find all the frequencies in use without any programming.
With Close Call you can automatically store your hits into memory, you can be scanning regular systems and your Close Call "hit" system at the same time, and now, for the first time, you can activate what Uniden has called the "Close Call Do Not Disturb" mode which is absolutely fantastic. Before with Close Call if you were looking for nearby "hits" while scanning at the same time the radio would interrupt any active transmissions (like a priority check) while it went off and checked Close Call. It was OK, but could be a bother listening to the interrupts. Now, with the DND mode, the radio only checks for Close Call activity between transmissions so that you don't have any interrupts. It really is a big plus.
TEMPORARY LOCKOUTThis is a brand new feature, a scanner first, now in the BCD996T and the BCT-15 and it's something that scanner users have long called for: the ability to temporarily lockout a talkgroup or frequency. If you've ever had your scanner get locked up on a noisy channel you wanted to keep active but you wanted to temporarily disable during the interference, now you can! Simply press the Lockout key once and the channel or talkgroup will stay locked out until you manually unlock the channel or until the radio is turned off and back on. You can of course also permanently lockout a channel as before. This is truly a fantastic feature.
COMPUTER INTERFACE
With the recommended optional Butel ARC-15 Software (available late August) or the Uniden UASD software you can program the radio far easier on your PC and send the programming to the scanner. You can also control the radio from your PC, including the squelch and volume control.
DIN-E SIZEDThe radio can be installed in DIN-E dash slots normally reserved for car stereos, CD players and the like. Many cars have a free slot and if yours does this BCT-15 will make for a beautiful installation. Installation hardware for the BCT-15 is sold separately.
INCREDIBLE DISPLAYThe BCT-15 has a magnificent display that shows all sorts of information. You can set the display to show not only the System Name, the Group Name, the frequency or talkgroup name (in up to 16 characters) but also, for trunking channels, the talkgroup ID and for conventional channels you can also show the frequency and sub-audible tone code. You can even put the scanner into a mode to display the repeater indicator activity lights for a trunk system if you desire, a great feature that we truly had missed since the earliest days of trunking scanners. Not only is the display incredibly information-rich, it's nice and bright and seen from many angles. No scanner from any other maker has any display nearly as good. For the display alone this scanner stands head and shoulders above all other brands.
AND SO MUCH MORE.....
We could go on forever about the capabilities and features of this radio, like the excellent tuning knob which you don't get on many other base/mobile scanners. There's Service Searches, Weather with Weather Alerts and SAME operation, search capabilities, and on and on. There is a lot to learn here but you don't have to get into functions if you're not interested in them. You do have a learning curve with the DMM programming and operation, but in the end it's certainly worth any time you have to invest. This is a great radio at an incredibly reasonable price.
Key Options:Butel ARC Software ARC15 Lite /
ARC15 Basic /
ARC15 ProProgrammingIf you would like to take the learning curve for this radio out of the equation and have Scanner Master program the radio for your area, send us an e-mail listing what exactly you want programmed (with as much detail as possible) to
programming@scannermaster.com and we'll provide a quote for the work. It's not inexpensive, but it will be very well done and save you considerable time setting up the radio, especially if you're not an owner's manual reader.
AntennasBase and mobile antennas are available. Check our web site under antennas in the store menu for details
See all accessories listed on the right side of the page.
