Uniden BC 245XLT User manual

CONTENTS

Introduction ...................................3

Important Notice ...............................4

Terminology...................................5

What is Scanning? ...........................5

What is Searching? ..........................5

What is Trunk Tracking? ......................5

Feature Highlights ..............................7

Where to Obtain More Information .................9

Information on the Internet .....................9

Included with Your Scanner .....................10

Setup .......................................11

Installing the Battery Pack ....................11

Charging the Battery Pack ....................12

Low Battery Indicator ........................12

Adapter Safety Feature ......................12

Flexible Antenna ...........................13

Belt Clip ..................................13

Basic Operation...............................14

Turn the Scanner On ........................14

Setting the Squelch .........................14

Keylock...................................15

LCD Back Light ............................15

Auto Light .................................15

Programming.................................16

Duplicate Frequency Alert ....................18

Programming Tips ..........................18

Deleting a Stored Frequency ..................19

Scanning ....................................20

RF Attenuation Feature ......................21

Setting the Delay Mode ......................22

Channel Lockout ...........................23

Lockout Tips...............................24

Restore a Locked Out Channel ................25

Restore All Locked-Out Channels ..............25

Priority Scan...............................26

Changing the Priority Channel .................27

Searching ...................................28

Setting a Search Range ......................28

Turbo Search ..............................28

Search Hold Feature ........................29

Data Skip .................................29

Frequency Skip ............................30

Storing Search Frequencies...................30

SVC Scanning ................................32

SVC Scan Lockout ..........................34

Programming with SVC Scan..................35

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Trunk Tracking ...............................36

Types of Trunking Systems ...................36

EDACS

Tracking ..........................38

Setting the Squelch .........................39

Programming Trunking Frequencies ............39

Searching a Trunked Bank....................42

Changing the Display Mode ...................42

Frequency Find Mode .......................43

Direct Entry ID Hold Mode ....................43

ID Lockout ................................44

Restore a Single ID .........................44

Restore all IDs .............................45

Searching Tips .............................45

Channel Activity Indicators....................46

Scan Lists.................................48

Programming ID Scan Lists Manually ...........48

ID Scan Mode .............................52

Setting Priority in Trunking Mode ...............53

Programming Scan Lists During Search .........54

Deleting a Stored ID.........................54

Moving between Scan List Memories ...........55

Multi-Track ...............................55

Fleet Map Programming ........................56

Selecting Trunking Programming Mode..........56

Selecting a Preset Fleet Map ..................57

Programming a Fleet Map ....................58

Programming a Hybrid System ................59

Setting the Base and Offset frequencies for

Motorola VHF/UHF trunked systems ............60

Toggling the Status Bit .......................61

Remote Interface..............................62

Connecting the scanner ......................62

SmartScan Mode ...........................64

Remote (PC Control) Mode ...................70

Clone Mode ...............................72

Care and Maintenance .........................74

General Use ...............................74

Location ..................................74

Cleaning ..................................74

Repairs...................................75

Birdies ...................................75

Troubleshooting...............................76

Specification .................................78

Appendix ....................................79

Preset Fleet Maps ..........................79

User Defined Fleet Maps .....................81

One Year Limited Warranty ..........inside back cover

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Introduction

The

BC 245XLT

is a state-of-the-art radio with

TrunkTracking™ and automatic scanning capabilities. It

can store frequencies such as police, fire/emergency,

marine, railroad, air, amateur, and other communications

into 10 banks of 30 channels each.

With the new SmartScanner™ feature, you can also

automatically program your scanner by downloading

directly from our Uniden/Bearcat national frequency

database via a PC or external modem.

Use your new scanner to monitor:

UHF High Band UHF 800/900 MHz Trunked Public

Safety Systems

Police and Fire Departments (including rescue and

paramedics)

Trunking for Motorola and EDACS systems

NOAA Weather Broadcasts

Business/Industrial Radio

Utilities

Marine and amateur (ham radio) bands

Air band

Frequency Range Steps Transmission

29.0-29.7 MHz 5 kHz 10 Meter Amateur Band

29.7-50.0 MHz 5 kHz VHF Low Band

50.0-54.0 MHz 5 kHz 6 Meter Amateur Band

108-137 MHz 12.5 kHz Aircraft Band

137-144 MHz 5 kHz Military Land Mobile

144-148 MHz 5 kHz 2 Meter Amateur Band

148-174 MHz 5 kHz VHF High Band

406-420 MHz 12.5 kHz Federal Govt.

420-450 MHz 12.5 kHz 70cm Amateur Band

450-470 MHz 12.5 kHz UHF Standard Band

470-512 MHz 12.5 kHz UHF “T” Band

806-956 MHz 12.5 kHz Public Service “800”

Band

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Important Notice

This scanning radio has been manufactured so

that it will not tune radio frequencies assigned by

the FCC for cellular telephone usage. The

Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, as

amended, makes it a federal crime to intentionally

intercept cellular or cordless telephone

transmissions or to market this radio when altered

to receive them.

The installation, possession, or use of this

scanning radio in a motor vehicle may be

prohibited, regulated, or require a permit in certain

states, cities, and/or local jurisdictions. Your local

law enforcement officials should be able to provide

you with information regarding the laws in your

community.

Changes or modifications to this product not

expressly approved by Uniden, or operation of this

product in any way other than as detailed by this

Operating Guide, could void your authority to

operate this product.

The screen displays used in this manual are

representations of what might appear when you

use your scanner.

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Terminology

What is Scanning?

Unlike standard AM or FM radio stations, most two-way

communications do not transmit continuously. The

BC 245XLT

scans the channels you program until it finds

an active frequency.

Scanning stops on an active frequency and remains on

that channel as long as the transmission continues. When

the transmission ends, the scanning cycle resumes until

another transmission is received.

What is Searching?

The

BC 245XLT

can search each of its 12 bands to find

active frequencies. This is different from scanning because

you are searching for frequencies that have not been

programmed into your scanner. You can choose between

two speeds while searching. Turbo Search, a new feature

for Uniden scanners, can search the VHF FM bands at up to

300 channels per second.

What is Trunk Tracking?

Conventional scanning is a simple concept. You enter a

radio frequency in your scanner’s memory which is used by

someone you want to monitor. For example, the police in

your area may broadcast on 460.500 MHz , the fire

department on 154.445 MHz, the highway department on

37.900 MHz, etc. So when your scanner stops on a

frequency, you usually know who it is, and more

importantly, you can stop on a channel and listen to an

entire conversation. This type of scanning is easy and fun.

As the demand for public communications has increased,

many public radio users don’t have enough frequencies to

meet their needs, and this has created a serious problem.

Trunking radio systems solve this problem.

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In a trunked radio system, which contains up to 28 different

frequencies, radio users are divided into groups, often

called talk groups, and these talk groups are assigned

specific IDs. When someone in a talk group uses their

radio, a brief burst of data is broadcast before each

transmission. The trunking system computer uses this data

to temporarily assign each radio in a talk group to an

available frequency. If the group using a frequency stops

broadcasting or pauses between replies for a few seconds,

they are removed from the frequency so another talk group

can use it.

Sharing of the available public service frequencies, or

trunking, allows cities, counties, or other agencies to

accommodate hundreds of users with relatively few

frequencies. Following a conversation on a trunked system

using a scanner is difficult, if not impossible, because when

there’s a short break during the conversation you’re

monitoring, it’s possible that the talk group will be assigned

to a completely different frequency in the trunked system.

This type of scanning is difficult and frustrating.

TrunkTracker™ changes this! Not only does your new

BC 245XLT

scan channels like a conventional scanner, it

actually follows the users of a trunked radio system. Once

you know a talk group’s ID, you won’t miss any of the

action.

If you’re a new scanner enthusiast, you may want to read

the first part of this manual and use your scanner in

conventional mode before you begin trunk tracking.

Understanding scanning fundamentals and its terminology

will make trunk tracking much easier. But if you’re already

an experienced scanner operator, you may want to go to

Trunk Tracking on page 36 now.

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Feature Highlights

Trunk Tracking – Follow UHF High Band UHF

800/900 MHz trunked public safety and public

service systems just as if conventional two-way

communications were used.

Multi-Track – Track more than one trunking

system at a time and scan conventional and

trunked systems at the same time.

300 Channels – Program one frequency into each

channel. You must have at least one channel

programmed to use the Scan mode.

12 Bands, 10 Banks – Includes 12 bands, with

Aircraft and 800 MHz. 10 banks with 30 channels

each are useful for storing similar frequencies to

maintain faster scanning cycles or for storing all

the frequencies of a trunked system.

29 MHz-956 MHz – Indicates the range of

frequencies that can be searched within the bands

of your scanner.

Note: The frequency coverage is not continuous

and excludes the cellular band.

10 Priority Channels – You can assign one

priority channel in each bank. Assigning a priority

channel allows you to keep track of activity on your

most important channel(s) while monitoring other

channels for transmissions.

Preprogrammed Service (SVC) Scan – Allows

you to toggle through preprogrammed police,

fire/emergency, railroad, aircraft, marine, and

weather frequencies.

Unique Data Skip – Allows your scanner to skip

unwanted data transmissions and reduces birdies.

Memory Backup – If the battery completely

discharges or if power is disconnected, the

frequencies programmed in your scanner are

retained in memory.

Manual Channel Access – Go directly to any

channel.

LCD Back Light – An LCD light remains on for 15

seconds when is pressed.

Autolight – Automatically turns the light on when it

finds a transmission.

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Battery Save – In manual mode, your scanner

automatically reduces its power requirements to

extend the battery’s charge.

Attenuator – Reduces the signal strength.

SmartScanner™ – Automatically program your

BC 245XLT with all the frequencies and trunking

talk groups for your local area by accessing our

national database with your PC or just an external

modem. (No PC required)

Turbo Search – Increases the search speed to

300 steps per second. This applies only to

transmission bands with 5 kHz steps.

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Where to Obtain More

Information

Before using your scanner, you must program frequencies

into available channels. The Betty Bearcat Frequency

Guide lists typical frequencies used around the U.S.A. and

Canada that you may program into your new scanner.

To obtain a copy of the frequency guide, contact one of the

following:

Uniden Parts Department (800) 554-3988 (Hours

are from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Time

Monday through Friday.)

Bearcat Frequency Hotline (937) 299-0414 (Hours

are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Monday through Friday.)

Local Dealer

Information on the Internet

If you have access to the Internet, you may want to visit

www.trunktracker.com or www.bearcat1.com/free.htm

For more information about Uniden and our other products,

visit www.uniden.com

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Included with Your Scanner

If any of these items are missing or damaged, immediately

contact your place of purchase or Uniden Customer

Service at: (800) 297-1023, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Central,

Monday through Friday.

10

RS232C

Antenna Belt Clip

AC Adapter Battery Pack

Earphone

TM

300-Channel Trunk Tracking Scanner

Operating Guide

UDZZ01818ZZ

Visit our

Website at

www.trunktracker.com

Operating Guide

BC XLT860

Programmable 100-Channel Base Scanner

Now is the time for all good men to

come to the aid of the party.

Four score yeas ago our fathers set

forth a new nation conceived in

Liberty and dedicated to the

proposition that all men are

created equal. The quick brown

fox jumped over the garden wall.

Now is the time fo4r all good men to

come to the aid of the party.

Now is the time for all good men to

come to the aid of the party.

Four score yeas ago our fathers set

forth a new nation conceived in

Liberty and dedicated to the

proposition that all men are

created equal. The quick brown

fox jumped over the garden wall.

Now is the time fo4r all good men to

come to the aid of the party.

Now is the time for all good men to

come to the aid of the party.

Four score yeas ago our fathers set

forth a new nation conceived in

Liberty and dedicated to the

proposition that all men are

created equal. The quick brown

fox jumped over the garden wall.

Now is the time fo4r all good men to

come to the aid of the party.

Now is the time for all good men to

come to the aid of the party.

Four score yeas ago our fathers set

forth a new nation conceived in

Liberty and dedicated to the

BC XLT860

Programmable100-Channel Base Scanner

Now is the time for all

good men to come to the

aid of the party. Four

score yeas ago our

fathers set forth a new

nation conceived in

Liberty and dedicated to

the proposition that all

men are created equal.

The quick brown fox

jumped over the garden

wall. Now is the time fo4r

all good men to come to

the aid of the party.

Now is the time for all

good men to come to the

aid of the party. Four

score yeas ago our

fathers set forth a new

nation conceived in

Liberty and dedicated to

the proposition that all

men are created equal.

The quick brown fox

jumped over the garden

wall. Now is the time fo4r

all good men to come to

BC XLT860

Programmable100-Channel Base Scanner

SQUELCH

VOLUME

TURBO/

PRIORITY

DATA

WEATHER

LIMIT

DELAY

SCAN

1

1-10

4

31-40

7

61-70

.

2

11-20

5

41-50

8

71-80

0

91-100

3

21-30

6

51-60

9

81-90

E

LOCKOUT

MANUAL

SEARCH

HOLD

AUTO

OFF

100

CHANNEL BAND MHzSCANNING RADIOBC XLT12 800 860

SCANPRIORITY SRCH HOLD DELAY L/O

DATABANK

WXAIR

P

12345678910

100

888.8888

TWINTURBO

TrunkTracker

Frequency Guide

and Other Printed

Material

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Setup

These are helpful guidelines when using your

new scanner:

If your scanner receives interference or electrical

noise, move the scanner or its antenna away from

the source.

If you need to improve reception, use an optional

antenna designed for multi-band coverage. (You

can purchase this type of antenna at a local

electronics store.)

Use the included earphone or an optional stereo

headset with proper impedance for private

listening. Read the precautions on the inside front

cover of this Guide.

Installing the Battery Pack

1. Open the cover.

2. Insert the battery

pack.

3. Replace cover and

press down until it

clicks into place.

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Charging the Battery Pack

Use the AC Adapter/Charger to power the

BC 245XLT

from an AC outlet.

You can use your scanner while the battery charges. To

fully charge the battery, leave the AC Adapter/Charger

connected for 14 – 16 hours.

Note: Disconnect the AC Adapter/Charger from the unit

when charging is complete.

Low Battery Indicator

When the Battery Pack is low and needs to be charged,

the battery icon appears in the display. You will also hear a

beep every 15 seconds as an audible alert.

Adapter Safety Feature

The AC Adapter included with this scanner may be

equipped with a polarized line plug — a plug with one

blade wider than the other. This plug will fit into a power

outlet only one way. If you are unable to insert the

adapter’s plug into an outlet, try reversing the plug.

12

Use only the supplied AC Adapter

(AD70U) or one of the optional power

cords (WZ1015 or WZ1017).

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Flexible Antenna

Belt Clip

13

Do not tighten the screws too tight.

You can damage the case or clip.

Attach the flexible antenna to the

BNC connector.

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Basic Operation

Note: Fold out the Front Cover to see the Controls and

Indicators while reading this Guide.

Turn the Scanner On

Turn the

VOLUME

control clockwise out of the detent

position. bc245 flashes twice in the display. The scanner

automatically starts scanning.

Setting the Squelch

To set the squelch, you must be in the Manual mode, and

you should not be receiving a signal on your scanner.

1. Press until you do

not hear a signal.

2. Make sure that the

VOLUME is set to a

comfortable listening

level.

3. Think of the Squelch Control as a gate. Turn

SQUELCH fully counter-clockwise. This raises the

“Squelch Gate” so high that only very strong signals

can get through.

4.

Turn SQUELCH fully clockwise until you hear a hiss.

This lowers the “Squelch Gate” so that everything

gets through—noise, weak signals, and strong

signals.

14

STRONG SIGNALS

MEDIUM SIGNALS

WEAK SIGNALS

NOISE

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5.

Turn SQUELCH back counter-clockwise just until the

hiss stops. Now the “Squelch Gate” allows only clear

signals through.

Keylock

Key Lock prevents accidental key entries during

conventional scanning or while in trunk tracking mode.

1. To lock the keypad,

press and hold

until the symbol

appears in the lower

right of the display.

2. To unlock the keypad,

press and hold

until the symbol in

the lower right of the

display turns off.

LCD Back Light

Press and release to turn the LCD light on. It remains

on for 15 seconds and then goes out.

Auto Light

Press and hold until you hear 2 short beeps. The

scanner will automatically turn the light on for 5 seconds,

whenever a transmission is found.

15

STRONG SIGNALS

MEDIUM SIGNALS

WEAK SIGNALS

NOISE

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Programming

Before the

BC 245XLT

can begin conventional scanning,

you must program a frequency into at least one channel.

Repeat this procedure for each channel you want to

program.

1. Select frequencies

from your dealer, from

various sources on

the internet, or from

one of the guides

listed on page 9.

Here’s a list of sample

frequencies you

should try:

156.800 Marine Calling channel

155.340 Ambulance operations

155.280 Ambulance operations

155.160 Ambulance operations

462.950 Ambulance operations

462.5625 Family Radio Services (channel one)

2. Press .

3. Select a channel.

a. Enter the channel

number.

b. Then press .

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4. Enter the frequency.

a. Enter the frequency

number.

b. Then press .

Note: To clear a mistake while entering the frequency,

press repeatedly until the display is cleared.

If you enter a

frequency which is

outside the scanner’s

frequency bands, a

distinctive beep

sounds and Error

appears in

the display.

Press and go back

to Step 4.

(See the Table on page 3 or the Band List on the

back of the scanner).

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Duplicate Frequency Alert

If you enter a

frequency which is

stored in another

channel, you hear a

beep and the other

channel displays.

Press to clear and

start again.

Press again to

store the frequency in

both channels.

Programming Tips

Do not program a weather frequency into one of

the channels, since weather channels transmit

continuously.

Use Service Scan feature to select the weather

information band.

Group similar frequencies into adjacent channels.

For example, program police frequencies in

channels 1 through 10 and fire/emergency into

channels 11 through 20, and so on.

Put the frequency that you listen to the most or the

most important frequency into a Priority channel.

To quickly program a series of channels, start with

the lowest number channel.

For example, when you are programming five new

frequencies into Channels 4 through 8, start with

Channel 4. After you finish programming a

channel, press or to go to the next

higher channel.

Write down your programmed channels and

frequencies in some convenient place in case the

scanner memory is lost.

If you want to download frequencies using

SmartScan feature, go to that section in this

manual.

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Deleting a Stored Frequency

To delete a stored

frequency:

a. Select a

channel.

b. Press .

c. Then press .

Note: Channels with no frequencies are automatically

locked out.

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Scanning

1. After programming

frequencies, simply

press to begin

scanning.

2. The bank indicators selected for scanning appear in

the display, and the bank being currently monitored

flashes. You can deselect banks from active

scanning by pressing their number on your keypad.

The indicator for each deselected bank turns off, and

the bank’s channels are not scanned.

Note: One Bank must always be active. You cannot

deactivate all ten banks at the same time. If you try

to turn all the banks off, the first bank is

automatically selected.

To restore a bank to active scanning, press the

bank’s number on your keypad. The bank’s indicator

will display again.

3. During normal

scanning the scanner

skips unprogrammed

or locked

out channels.

4. When a transmission

is received, the LCD

back light comes on

for five seconds and

the scanner stops on

that channel, provided

that you have

selected the Auto

Light feature. When

the transmission

ends, scanning

resumes

automatically.

20

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1 3 4 5 9 102 6 7 8

CHANNELS

Frequency not

entered

Frequency

Locked Out

(L/O)

SCAN

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Uniden BC 245XLT User manual

Uniden BC 245XLT User manual

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