Uniden BC355N manual

1 OWNER’S MANU AL BC355N SCANNER[...]

2 IMPORT ANT INFORMA TION PRECA UTIONS Before y ou use this scanner , please observe the following: W arning Uniden America Corporation does not r epresent this unit to be waterproof . T o reduce the risk of re , electrical shocks, or damage to the unit, do not expose this unit to rain or moistur e. ** These products contain Uniden proprietary i[...]

3 T H E F CC W A N TS Y O U TO K N O W This scanner has been tested and f ound to comply with the limits for a scanning rec eiver , pursuant to P ar t 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to pr ovide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This scanner generates , uses, and can radiat e radio freq[...]

4 T ABLE OF C ONTENTS I M P O R T A N T I N F O R M A T I O N ............................. 2 P R E C A U T I O N S ............................................. 2 W a r n i n g ......................................................... 2 TH E F CC W A N TS Y O U T O K N OW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 S C A N N I N G L E G A [...]

5 US I N G Y O U R B C355 N SC ANN E R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 S E T U P .................................................... 2 9 A d j u s t i n g S q u e l c h ............................................... 2 9 O P E R A T I N G M O D E S ....................................... 2 9 S C A N .............................[...]

6 Setting C ‐ C.ALEt O p t i o n s ................................... 4 8 Setting C ‐ C.PS O p t i o n s ...................................... 4 8 C l o s e C a l l T i p s ................................................. 4 9 P R I V A T E B A N K ............................................ 5 1 Programming Frequencies and Channels . . . . .[...]

7 SCANNING LEGALL Y Y our scanner c overs fr equencies used by many di erent groups, including police and re departments, ambulance services, government agencies , private companies , amateur radio services, military operations, pager ser vices, and wireline (t elephone and telegraph) service providers . It is legal to listen to almost every [...]

8 manufactured so they are not easy to modify to pick up these transmissions. Do not open your scanner’ s case to make an y modications that could allow it t o pick up transmissions that are illegal to monitor . Modifying or tampering with your scanner’ s internal components or using it in a wa y other than as described in this manual could [...]

9 to the bank for that ca tegory. This giv es you quick acc ess to the frequencies you wan t to hear . FEA TURE SUMMAR Y The BC355N is a compact mobile/base scanner and one of the most user-friendly communication products available t oday . The BC355N featur es include: • T urbo search – Allows your BC355N t o search 180 steps per second. (5[...]

10 the banks. Additional inf ormation is provided in later sections. » AIR: 2,280 F actor y-programmed frequencies which covers the c omplete AIR band, 118.000 t o 136.9916 MHz. 100 open channels (shared with MRN) for user frequencies ar e also included. » MRN: 90 F actor y-programmed frequencies which cover the c omplete Marine band. 100 open ch[...]

11 BA N D P L A N S Y our BC355N can opera te using either the common band steps used in the USA or Canada. T o select a band plan: USA: Pr ess UP while powering on the scanner . Canada: Pr ess DOWN while powering on the scanner . The scanner remembers y our setting if you pow er o . However , if you clear memory by turning on the scanner and pr[...]

12 FREQUENCY (MHz) STEP (kHz) MODE SERVICE L OWER UPPER 137.0000 150.7700 5.0 NFM Militar y Land Mobile 2 Meter Amateur Band Militar y Land Mobile VHF High Band Feder al Government 150.7750 150.8125 7.5 150.8150 154.4525 7.5 154.4562 154.4787 7.5 154.4825 154.5125 7.5 154.5150 154.5250 5.0 154.5275 154.5350 7.5 154.5400 154.6075 7.5 154.6100 154.64[...]

13 FREQUENCY (MHz) STEP (kHz) MODE SERVICE L OWER UPPER 406.0000 419.9875 12.5 NFM Feder al Government 420.0000 449.9875 12.5 NFM 70 cm Amateur Band 450.0000 469.9875 12.5 NFM UHF Band 470.0000 512.0000 12.5 NFM UHF “ T” Band* 806.0000 823.9875 12.5 NFM 800 Band 849.0125 868.9875 12.5 NFM 894.0125 956.0000 12.5 NFM * This scanner cannot decode [...]

14 FREQUENCY (MHz) STEP (kHz) MODE SERVICE L OWER UPPER 108.0000 136.9916 8.33 A M Aircraft Band 137.0000 174.0000 5.0 NF M Militar y Land Mobile 2 Meter Amateur Band Militar y Land Mobile VHF High Band Feder al Government 406.0000 419.9875 12.5 NF M Feder al Government 420.0000 449.9875 12.5 NF M 70 cm Amateur Band 450.0000 469.9875 12.5 NF M UHF [...]

15 Fr equency Band Sensitivity (Nominal) 12 dB SINAD 137.000 - 174.000 0.2 µV 406.000 - 512.000 0.3 µV 108.000 - 136.9916 0.4 µV 806.000 - 956.000 0.4 µV Fr equency Band Hum and Noise (Nominal) 25.000 - 27.995 48 dB 28.000 - 54.000 36 dB 137.000 - 174.000 36 dB 406.000 - 512.000 35 dB 108.000 - 136.9916 48 dB 806.000 - 956.000 35 dB Fr equency [...]

16 Fr equency Band Close Call Sensitivity (Nominal) 108.000 - 136.9916 200 µV 806.000 - 956.000 450 µV IN C LU D E D I N Y O U R S C A N N E R P AC K AGE • BC355N Scanner • T elescoping An tenna • Flexible Window -Mount Mobile Antenna • AC A dapter • V ehicle Power A dapter • DC P ower C ord for har d-wiring power fr[...]

17 Mobile Mounting Bracket (Model MB-007) – F or mobile use (I n- car Installation); use it to install the BC355N in your car . External Speaker (ESP20, ESP12, or ESP5) – T o increase speaker volume in noisy envir onments. Contact your local Uniden Dealer or the Uniden P ar ts Depar tment by calling: (800) 554-3988 during regular business hours[...]

18 Helpful Hints • If strong interference or electrical noise is received , relocate the scanner or its antenna awa y from the sourc e. • If you are operating the scanner in a fringe area or need t o improv e reception, use an optional ant enna designed for multi-band cover age. ( Y ou can pur chase this type of antenna at a local electro[...]

19 2. Connect the mobile antenna plug into the ANT connector on the rear panel. F or more information on ant enna installation, please refer t o the instruction guide that came with your mobile antenna. Permanent Mobile Installation Permanently installing the BC355N scanner in to a vehicle in volves two main steps - phy sically installing the scann[...]

20 3. Drill the necessary holes and secure the mounting bracket in place using the screws pr ovided. CA UTION: Do not drill into air bags. Do not drill if wha t is behind the dashboard is unknown. 4. Mount the scanner to the bracket only after the wiring has been connected to the rear panel . Permanently C onnecting the Mobile Pow er Supply CA UTIO[...]

21 Caution: In vehicles with a positiv e ground, the RED wire connects to the chassis and the BLACK wir e connects to the accessory contact in the fuse bo x. 4. Inser t the DC plug into the DC 13.8V jack on the back panel. SCANNER OPERA TION O VERVIEW BC 355N F R O N T P A N E L[...]

22 KEY PURPOSE HOLD Pr ess this key to stop scanning or searching and to remain on the curren t frequency . HOLD displays on the screen. Pr ess HOLD a second time to resume scanning . UP and DOWN Pr ess these direc tional keys to: • Manually search up or down for frequencies while in Hold mode. • Change direction of a search during Search[...]

23 KEY PURPOSE PD/FD/EMG Pr ess this key to scan the P olice, F ire, and Emergency Ser vices bands. Pr essing this key cycles through the frequencies in the f ollowing order: • P olice/F ire/Emergenc y Ser vices - all activated • P olice department only (turn o Fire/EMG bank) • F ire/EMG only (turn o P olice bank) • None a[...]

24 KEY PURPOSE AIR/MRN Pr ess this key to scan the Air and Marine bands. P ressing this key cycles through the frequencies in the follo wing order: • Air/MRN - both activated • Air only (turn o Marine bank) • Marine only (turn o Air bank) • None active (turn o both Air and Marine banks) NOTE: The AIR and MRN banks share[...]

25 KEY PURPOSE CLOS E C A LL Pr ess this key to begin monitoring f or strong , nearby signals. P ressing this key c ycles through the frequencies in the follo wing order: • Close Call ® Priority - CC checks for Close Call hits ev ery 2 seconds while monitoring other frequencies. Y ou will hear a slight break in rec eption while Close Call Pri[...]

26 KEY PURPOSE SEARCH Pr ess the SEARCH key to search f or ac tive frequencies within a selected band range. L/O Pr ess this key to temporarily or permanently lock out frequencies or channels from being searched or scanned. (L/O is explained in mor e detail in a later section.) T urn on the scanner while pressing and holding PROG + L/O to clear all[...]

27 ITEM PURPOSE VOL UME Contr ol/Po wer Switch T urn this control clockwise to turn on the BC355N unit. Continue turning this contr ol clockwise to adjust the volume. SQ (Squelch) Contr ol Adjust SQ to set the scan thr eshold. When you are monit oring a single channel in Manual Mode, adjust SQ to eliminate the background noise hear d in the absence[...]

28 BC 355N R E A R P A N E L ITEM PURPOSE ANT BNC Antenna Connector . Insert the antenna plug here. EXT SP External Speakers. Inser t optional external speaker plug here. DC 13.8V P ower C onnection. Connect the specied AC Adapter or DC po wer cor d here.[...]

29 U S I N G Y O U R B C355 N S C AN N E R SE T U P Adjusting Squelch T o Adjust Squelch - 1. T urn SQ completely counter clockwise. Y ou should hear open squelch noise. 2. T urn SQ clock wise slowly until the sound disappears. This is the threshold point at which the incoming signal is just slightly stronger than the noise will open the squelch. 3[...]

30 SCAN Scanning allows you to scan thr ough channels in various ser vice banks. Pr ess a service bank key ( PD/FD/EMG , AIR/MRN , WX , CB, or PRIV A TE ) to nd an ac tive frequency within that bank. All activated banks plus their “private ” channels are scanned . Press other bank keys to add banks to scan. The Bank label/icon f or the scann[...]

31 Pr ess BAND key to select 1 of 13 separate frequency bands to search. P ress the SEARCH key to beg in searching . The scanner displays frequencies as it sear ches and stops on ac tive frequencies until that transmission ends. If no transmission r esumes after 2 seconds, the sear ch automatically continues thr ough the rest of the band. Use the U[...]

32 Pr essing AIR/MRN more than once will cycle through the banks in this order: 1. Air/Marine 2. Air 3. Marine 4. None NO TE: The AIR and MRN banks share 100 PRIV A TE channels. These user-programmed channels ar e scanned after preprogrammed channels.[...]

33 Scanning Ser vice Bank Tips If Y ou W ant to Do This - Here ’ s Ho w - Begin scanning Pr ess any service bank key ; the bank label ashes and the SCAN message moves across the display scr een. Scanning automatically stops on an active channel and displays that fr equency (except for locked-out channels, which will be cover ed later in this g[...]

34 If Y ou W ant to Do This - Here ’ s Ho w - Stop scanning Pr ess HOLD . The scanner stays on the displayed channel until scanning is resumed. The bank’ s screen label remains steady and does not ash. Resume scanning Pr ess one of the following key s to continue scanning: • HOLD – Press this key t o release the Scan Hold and continue[...]

35 If Y ou W ant to Do This - Here ’ s Ho w - Keep scanning after the BC355N has stopped on an active channel If the BC355N stops on an active channel that you do not want t o monitor but you do not want to lock out, pr ess the bank key or the UP key . Y ou will scan to the nex t frequency . Select a dierent bank to scan Use one of the follo w[...]

36 If Y ou W ant to Do This - Here ’ s Ho w - Continue after the BC355N has stopped on an active channel If the BC355N stops on an active channel that you do not want t o monitor but you do not want t o lock out, press the SEARCH key or the UP/ DOWN keys. Stop searching Pr ess HOLD . The scanner stays on the displayed channel until sear ching is [...]

37 SCREENS This section shows typical screen displays: SCANNING BANKS police fire/emg air mrn scan SCA scan This screen show s BC355N is actively scanning a displayed bank. “ SCAN “ scrolls from right to left across the screen, and the scanned bank will ash. police 45.0600 hold scan This screen show s that the scanner has been put on HOLD to[...]

38 SEARCHING BANDS 148 ‐ 174 srch When BAND is pressed , this screen displays the band range to be searched . Pr ess BAND again (or UP / DOWN within 3 seconds) to see other band ranges. 409.9875 srch ▲ This SEARCH screen show s that frequency 409.9875 has been found through an upward sear ch. P ointers ( ▲ or ▼ ) indicate the direction of t[...]

39 • Privat e Bank • Pr ogram F requencies into Pr ogrammable Banks. • Pr ogram L ock • Clear All Memor y L OCK OUT CHANNELS / FREQUENCIES Sometimes the scanner may stop on a particular channel or frequency because of noise or other unwanted transmissions . T his featur e lets you lock out channels and frequencies y ou don ’t [...]

40 Permanent L ock Out Pr essing L/O twice permanently locks out the current frequency or channel. The scanner displays “ L/O ” for that frequency or channel and continues scanning . “ L/O ” frequencies/channels can be manually restor ed; the procedur e is provides in this section. Lock Out Limits Any of the 300 user-pr ogrammed channels ca[...]

41 in one of these banks, pressing that bank key will make the scanner emit an error tone and the scanner will not scan. Note: Y ou cannot lock out any frequencies in the WX bank. Lock Out Tips If Y ou W ant to Do This - Here ’ s Ho w - T emporary Lock Out While on a channel or frequenc y , press L/O once. The scanner beeps and temporarily locks [...]

42 If Y ou W ant to Do This - Here ’ s Ho w - T emporary Lock Out (Con t.) • Pr ess the bank you were scanning to resume scanning in that bank. • Pr ess a dieren t bank key to begin scanning that new bank. P ermanent Lock Out While on a channel or frequency, quickly press L/O key twice. The scanner locks out that channel or frequency[...]

43 If Y ou W ant to Do This - Here ’ s Ho w - Restoring a Single Locked-Out Channel or F requency (Example: Channel 12 of the Privat e bank is locked out.) 1. Pr ess the appropriate bank key ( PRIV A TE, PD/FD/EMG or AIR/ MRN) to start scanning the bank that has the channel or frequency you want to unlock. 2. Pr ess HOLD to stop scanning . ( HOLD[...]

44 If Y ou W ant to Do This - Here ’ s Ho w - Restoring a Single Locked-Out Channel (Con t.) 4. L/O disappears to indicate that Channel 12 is now unlocked and restor ed for scanning . Note: F or the fac tor y preprogrammed channels , the earliest channel will be unlocked when y ou lock out more than 100 channels. Restoring All Permanently L ocked[...]

45 If Y ou W ant to Do This - Here ’ s Ho w - Restoring All P ermanently Locked Out Channels/ F requencies (C ont.) 4. All locked out channels/ frequencies in that bank are now unlocked and restor ed for scanning. Note: When that bank is the Private bank, all locked out channels of the Priva te bank are restored CLO SE C AL L ® The Close Call f [...]

46 Close Call Priority Repeatedly press until the Close Call P riority icon displays . The scanner checks every 2 second for a nearby transmission. Y ou may hear a slight break in audio during this time . Close Call Do Not Disturb Repeatedly press until the Do Not Disturb icon displays . The scanner will periodically make Close Call checks whenever[...]

47 • C - C.PS - Set Pager scr een. 3. Use the UP or DOWN keys t o scroll through the menu selections. 4. Pr ess PROG to select a menu, and then scroll up or down to view the menu options. When you hav e selected a menu option, press PROG to set it. 5. Pr ess BAND key to return to the pr evious option, or press to return to the C C mode selec t[...]

48 1. F rom Step 4 pr eviously , selec t C ‐ C.bAnd . The rst band selection displays (B1 L O is automatically set to ON): b1 lo ▲▼ 2. Scroll up or down to select bands for Close Call t o monitor . Pr ess PROG. The screen displays that selection and “ On . ” b1 lo on ▲▼ Setting C ‐ C.ALEt Options This menu contr ols whether the s[...]

49 • PS .On - Scanner screens out pager frequencies (lter on). • PS.OFF - Scanner allows pager frequencies (lter o ). Close Call Tips If Y ou W ant T o - Here ’ s Ho w - Scan for Close Call T ransmissions while Scanning other Banks/Bands Pr ess the key . The Close Call icon displays . Every two seconds there will be a break in [...]

50 If Y ou W ant T o - Here ’ s Ho w - See a Fr equency F ound Through Close Call 1. The scanner nds a nearby signal through Close Call , it jumps to that frequency but does not display it. It does, however displa y the band number and ashes “ FOUND. ” b4 Found srch 2. Pr ess any key to c onrm the frequency . Pr ess HOLD to stay on t[...]

51 PR I VA T E BA N K The BC355N also provides 3 separ ate banks to hold fa vorite frequencies. When you nd a fr equency that you would like to listen to again, you can pr ogram it into either the PD/FD/EMG or AIR/MRN service bank or into the Private bank. The advantage to programming fr equencies into the P rivate bank is that y ou can scan tha[...]

52 located through the Search mode and thr ough manually scanning the preprog rammed banks. In addition, websites such as www . radioref erence .com pro vide listings of local broadcast frequencies . NO TE: The CB and WX banks are not programmable. ERROR display s if you try to program a fr equency into either of these two banks. Progr amming a Cha[...]

53 CH 40.0600 hold Pr ess PROG . CH displays and ashes. police fire/emg 6 000.0000 hold l/o Pr ess the key for the bank you want to pr ogram. In this example, PD/FD/EMG was pressed. police fire/emg 6 000.0000 hold l/o police fire/emg 40.0600 hold The screen cycles between two displays . The rst screen shows tha t channel 6 is the lowest av ai[...]

54 police fire/emg 6 40.0600 hold scan Pr ess PROG . The scanner programs the fr equency into the indicated channel and then goes into SCAN HOLD mode. Pr ess HOLD to release the Hold and continue scanning the rest of the prog rammed channels, starting with the one you just prog rammed. Deleting a Programmed F requency (programming “000.0000”) T[...]

55 CH 000.0000 hold F requency changes to 000.0000 and CH continues ashing. police fire/emg 3 40.0600 hold Pr ess the bank containing the channel you wish to clear . The screen displays the rst programmable channel for that bank. If that channel displays 000.0000 , press UP or DOWN until the channel/frequency you wish to clear display s. (In [...]

56 police fire/emg 3 40.0600 hold police fire/emg CH 000.0000 hold The screen cycles between two displays . The rst scr een shows that channel 3 on the POLICE bank (40.0600) is selected and the second screen shows tha t the null frequency (000.0000) is ready to be pr ogrammed. police fire/emg 3 000.0000 hold scan l/o Pr ess PROG. The screen disp[...]

57 PROGRAM L OCK FEA TURE The BC355N has a Pr ogram Lock featur e to prev ent accidentally programming entries or unauthorized pr ogramming. Pr ess and hold the PROG key for longer than 2.5 seconds t o toggle P rogram Lock on and o . Progr am Lock is av ailable in the following modes: • Scan/Scan Hold • Band Search/Band Search Hold •[...]

58 TROUBLESHOO TING GUIDE PROBLEM SOL UTION Scanner won ’t work T r y one of these options: • Check the connections at both ends of the AC adapter . • T urn on the wall switch of your room. Y ou c ould be using an outlet controlled by the wall switch. Mov e the AC adapter to another wall outlet. • Check the connections at both ends[...]

59 PROBLEM SOL UTION Improper Reception T r y one of these options: • Check the antenna and its connection. • Move the scanner . • Y ou ma y be in a fringe area. This may requir e an optional multi-band antenna. Check with your dealer or local electronics store . W eather scan won ’t work T r y one of these options: • Adjust t[...]

60 PROBLEM SOL UTION Scan won ’t stop Try one of these options: • Check and adjust Squelch • Check the antenna connection. • Check to see if all channels are locked out. It is possible that none of the programmed fr equencies are active at the time. T r y the band search. Scan won ’t star t Try one of these options: • Pr ess[...]

61 GENERAL PRODUCT CARE T urn the scanner o before disconnecting the power . Always pr ess each keypad button rmly until you hear the en tr y tone for that key en try. LOC A TI O N If strong interference or electrical noise is received , relocate the scanner or its antenna awa y from the sourc e of the noise. A higher elevation, if possible, [...]

62 REP AIRS Do not attempt any r epair . The scanner contains no serviceable parts. Contact the Uniden Customer Hotline at 1-800-297-1023 or take it to a qualied repair technician. BIRDIES All radios may r eceive undesir ed signals or birdies . If your scanner stops during Search Mode and no sound is heard, it ma y be receiving a bir die. Birdie[...]

63 Banks: 7 banks total (6 Ser vice banks / 1 Priva te bank) • Polic e (PD): 1,769 P reprog rammed plus 100 progr ammable channels shared with F ire/Emergency S er vices • F ire/Emergency (FD/EMG): 280 Pr eprogrammed plus 100 programmable channels shar ed with P olice • Air (AIR): 2,280 P reprog rammed. (Plus 100 pr ogrammable channe[...]

64 Antenna: 50 ohms (Impedance) F eatures , specications, and a vailability of optional accessories are all subject to change without notice. W A R R AN T Y One Y ear Limited W arranty Impor tant: Evidence of original pur chase is required f or warranty ser vice. W ARRANTOR: UNIDEN AMERICA CORPORA TION (“Uniden”) ELEMENTS OF W ARRANT Y: Unid[...]

65 by Uniden, (C) improperly installed, (D ) ser viced or repair ed by someone other than an authorized Uniden service center for a defect or malfunction covered b y this warranty , (E) used in any conjunction with equipment or par ts or as par t of any syst em not manufactured by Uniden, or (F) installed or programmed by any one other than as deta[...]

66 OR CONSEQUENTIAL D AMAGES. Some states do not allow this exclusion or limitation of inciden tal or consequential damages so the above limitation or ex clusion may not apply to you. LEGAL REMEDIES: This warranty gives you specic legal rights , and you may also ha ve other rights which vary from state to stat e. This warranty is void outside th[...]

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THANK YOU FOR PURCHASING A UNIDEN PRODUCT! A W orld W i thou t W ires  2012 U niden America C orp. Ft. W orth, T X Printed in V ietnam U01UB367CZZ(0) www.uniden.com[...]