Uniden BC898T manual

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Before you use this scanner , pl ease read and observe the following. IMPORT ANT! This scanning radio has been manufactured so that it will not tune to the radio frequencies assigned by the FCC for cellular telephone usage . The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, as amended, makes it a fed e ral crime to intentionally intercept cellular[...]

1. Programming and S tatus Keys 6. Numeric Keypad 2. Display 7. Scan/Manual Ke ys 3. Bank Keys 8. Mode Keys 4. Squelch/V olume Controls 9. Search Keys 5. Rotary T uner 10. Line/External S peaker Jacks TA 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 BC898T Controls and Display[...]

The FCC W ants Y ou T o Know ................................................... ........................................ 3 Scanning Legally ............ .......................................... .................................................. 3 Introduction ...................................... .......................................... .....[...]

2 S toring Found Frequencies ........................................................... ............................ 28 Automatically S toring Frequencies ............................................... ............................ 29 Setting Subaudible T ones for Searching ............................. ...................................... 29 At[...]

3 The FCC W ant s Y ou T o Know This scanner has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a scanning receiver , pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules . These limits are design ed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This scanner generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energ [...]

4 Introduction Y our BC898T scanner is a st ate-of-the-art scanner radio with T runkT racking™ and automatic scanning cap abilities. Y ou can store frequencies such as police, fire/eme rgency , marine, air , amateur , and other communicati ons into 10 banks of 50 cha nnels each. Use it at home as a base unit, or inst all it in your vehicle as a m[...]

5 Feature Highlight s T runk T racker ™ III Operation – Follows conversations on an alog Motorola, EDACS, and L TR trunked radio systems. 500 Channels – Program one frequency into each chan nel. Y ou must have at least one channel programmed to use the scan mode. 10 Banks – Each bank cont ains 50 channels, large enough for even the largest [...]

6 Unique Dat a Sk ip – Allows your scanner to skip unwanted dat a transmissions an d reduces birdies. Memory Backup – If power is lost or disconnect ed, the scanner retains the frequencies you programmed in its me mory . LCD Back Light – Makes the display easy to see in dim light. Y ou can adjust the back light and even turn it of f. Auto Rec[...]

7 Underst anding Scanning This section provides you with background on how scanning works. Y ou don’t re ally need to know all of this to use your scanner , but some background knowledge will help you get the most from your BC898T . Underst anding Banks and Channels The memory in your scanner is organized into 10 ban ks of 50 channels each. Each [...]

8 other to the point where it is impo ssible to clearly receive any of the st ations. A scanner equipped with CTCSS and DCS (like your sc anner) can code each received freq uency with a specific CTCSS or DCS frequency . Then, when you receive multiple signals, you only hear the transmission with the CTCSS or DCS tone you programmed. If you do not r[...]

9 •A i r c r a f t • Amateur radio • FRS/GMRS users • Broadcast AM/FM/TV stations • Many business radio users When you want to store a convent ional syst em, all you need to know is the frequencies they operate on. When you are scanning a conv entional system, the scanner stop s very briefly on each channel to see if there is acti vity . [...]

10 • The frequencies for many of the 800 MHz public safety systems are listed in the National Public Safety T runked System Frequency Guide included with your BC898T scanner . Conventional scanning is a simple concept. Y ou enter a frequency used by someone you want to monitor into your scanner’s memory . For example, the police in your area mi[...]

11 T ypes of T runking Systems T runking systems divide a few frequencies among many different users, but the way that each system does this is slightly dif ferent. This section describes some of the technical data behind Motorola, EDACS, and L TR trunked radio systems. Motorola T runking While there are dif ferent types of Motorola tr unking syste[...]

12 know both the frequencies used by the system and the LCN for each frequency so that you can program the frequencies in LCN order . Agency-Fleet-Subfleet – talk gro up ID’s fo r EDACS systems are assigned in a way that makes it easy to see at a glance the affiliation of the use r . Each radio is assigned a 2-digit agency identifier from 00 ?[...]

13 you would program a system with channels a t 1, 3, 5, and 9 into T runk 2 channels 51, 53, 55, and 59). Where T o Obt ain More Information By itself, this manual really only provides p art of what you need to know to have fun scanning – how to program and use the scanner . The two incl uded conventional and trunking frequency guides will give [...]

14 Included With Y our Scanner If any of these items are missing or damaged, immediately contact you r place of purchase or Uniden Customer Service at: (800) 29 7-1023, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Central, Monday through Friday . Installing Y our Scanner Owners Manual Scanner Antenna AC Adapter Frequency Guide National Public Safety T runked System Fre[...]

15 These guidelines will help you insta ll and use your new scanner: • If your scanner receives interference or electrical noise, move the scann er or its antenna away from the source. Y ou might al so t ry changing the height or angle of the telescoping antenna. • T o improve the scanner ’s reception, u se an optional external antenna design[...]

16 Adapter Safety Feature The AC adapter included with the scanner might be equipped with a polarized line plug — a plug with one blade wider than the ot her . This plug fit s into a power outlet only on e way . If you are unable to insert the adapter ’ s plug into an AC outlet, try reversing the plug. Using An Optional External S peaker/Earpho[...]

17 Connect one end of the cable to the t ape recorder’s remote jack, then connect the other end of the cable to LINE on the front of the scanner . Remember! Y ou must program a channel for t ape recording before you can recor d it. See “Recording T ransmissions” on Page 38 for more information. Using the Demo Sof t ware Y ou can operate your [...]

18 Inst alling The Scan ner In a V ehicle Mounting the Scanner 1. Select a location in your vehicle to mount the sca nner . Avoid a location th at could inter- fere with your driving. In a p assenger ca r , the ideal location is underneath the dash- board on the passenger side. Wa r n i n g : Make sure there are no obstructions such as wires or an [...]

19 Installing a Permanent Power Cord 1. Check the vehicle’ s battery connections to determine which battery terminal (positive or negative) is grounded to the engine block or chassis. Mo st of today’ s vehicles use a negative ground. If your vehicle has a negat ive ground, follow the step s below . Otherwise, consult your vehicle’s dealer fo [...]

20 Basic Operation Basic Operation T urning On the Scanner Tu r n VOLUME clockwise to turn on the scanner , or coun terclockwise until it clicks to turn it off. Setting the Squelch Y our scanner ’ s squelch control act s like a gate to reduce or eliminate noise from rece ived signals. T urning SQUELCH clockwise raises the gate so hi gh that only [...]

21 Note : Y ou can also use the keypad t o enter a frequency . Press E to program the frequency into the cha nnel you selected. Using the Frequency/Ch annel Mode Selector Repeatedly press FREQ/CHAN to switch between channel and freq uency mode. When the CHAN LED is on, you can use the rotary tu ner to step rapidly through chan nels. When the FREQ L[...]

22 Press MANUAL to stop on a channel wh ile scanning. Press SCAN to resume scanning. Locking/Unlocking Banks When you are scanning conventional banks, the scanner displays the digit corresponding to all unlocked banks. T o lock out a bank so that the scanner does not scan its channels, press the letter that corresponds to the b ank. The bank’ s l[...]

23 Changing the Priority Channel Y ou cannot eliminate the priority channel, but you can chan ge it to any of the 50 available channels in each bank. Follow these step s to change the priority channel. 1. Press MANUAL . 2. Use the keypad to enter the channel number for the new priority channel. 3. Press MANUAL . 4. Hold down PRI for about 2 seconds[...]

24 Holding On a Single T alk Group T o hold on an active talk group w hen scanning or searching, press HOLD U . The BC898T stops scanning and holds on the current trunki ng system. It only rece ives transmissions on the talk group that was active when you pre ssed HOLD U . T o select a talk group to hold on when th at group is not active, while ID [...]

25 department s scramble or encryp t their communications, and you might want t o lock out these unintelligib le transmissions. T o lock out an ID, press L/O when the ID ap pears. The ID is locked out, and the next active ID appears. Y ou can lock out up to 200 ID’ s. Note : If you lock out an ID in sea rch mode, it is also locked out in scan lis[...]

26 ID Monitor Mode T o enter manual mode for a conventional syst em in a bank se lected for a trunked system, press MANUAL . All active talk group ID’ s appear in succession. Note : Locked out ID’ s appear during ID monitor mode. Scan List s Y ou can program conve ntional or trunking fr equencies into any of your scanne r ’s banks When you de[...]

27 Searching Chain Search Y our scanner’s chain search feature let s you discover new active frequencies in yo ur area. T o use chain search, first program one or more chain search ranges (see “Se tting and Saving a Chain Search Range” below). Then , se lect one or more chain se arch ranges to search (see “Selecting Chain Search Ranges” b[...]

28 Setting Dat a Skip The scanner normally stops o n any frequency with activity , and remains there until either the activity stops or you press SRC to resume scanning. However , some signals are identifiable by the scanner as data sig nals, and you can set the scanner to auto matically skip these channels. Note : Even with this option turned on, [...]

29 Automatically St oring Frequencies During searching, you can have the scanner au tomatically store active frequencies into a bank you choose. On ce the search begins, Au to S tore will automatically program active frequencies into the available chan nels of th e bank(s) you select. For more information about your scanner’s search feature, see [...]

30 Attenuating All Search Ranges If you are near a stron g RF source, yo u might need to attenuat e the input signal in order t o search properly . Repeatedly press AT T until AT T appears (to turn on attenuation) or until AT T disappears (to turn of f attenuation). Setting Delay For All Search Ranges Y ou can set the scann er to have a 2-second de[...]

31 Searching for CT CSS/DCS T ones Y ou can use the CTCSS/DCS tone search mode to d etermine if the frequencies in you r area are transmitted with associated tones. If the scanner fin ds a CTCSS or DCS tone, the type of tone and the frequency flash on the display . Then, if you store that frequency into a channel, the tone is also stored in the cha[...]

32 Using W eather Alert (SAME) Import ant : Y our scanner has been primarily de signed to be a radio scanner . While it incorporates weather alert as one featu re, we strongly recommend that you not use the scanner as your sole means for receiving emergency alert s. Y our local electronics ret ailer carries several weather radios specif ically desi[...]

33 Y ou might receive more than one weather station in your area. When you press WX , your scanner finds the first active transmission. If a transmission seems weak or distant, press WX again to find a clearer st ation. Notes : • Weather scan does not resume automatically . Y ou must press WX again t o start th e weather scan again. In some p art[...]

34 1. Hold down WX for about 2 seconds to turn on weather alert. 2. Hold down E for abo ut 2 seconds. If the scanner has not been set to alert for a ny FIPS code, ____ appears. If the scanner is set to alert for all FIPS codes, ALLFIPS appears. If the scanner is set to alert only for the area you programmed, F1 appears. 3. T urn the rotary tuner or[...]

35 Programming The BC898T has 500 memory channels, each of which can be programmed to store one frequency . The channels are divided into ten 50-channel banks, useful for storing similar frequencies in order to maint ain faster scanning cycles. Y ou can use the keyp ad and rot ary tuner to program your scanner . Y ou can also use the scanner ’s A[...]

36 Duplicate Frequency Alert If you enter a frequency already stored in a nother channel, the scanner beep s and the other channel appears. Press . on the keyp ad to st art again or press E ag ain to store the frequency in both channels. Deleting a S tored Frequency T o delete a stored frequency , press 0 then press E . Channels with no frequencies[...]

37 Programming T ip s • Since weather transmissions are continuous, do not program a weather frequency into any of the scanner ’ s channels. T o listen to a weather transmission, press WX to select the weather information band instea d. • Group similar frequencies in to adjacent ch annels. For example, program po lice fre- quencies in channel[...]

38 Recording T ransmissions Y ou can set any chan nel for recording wh ile scanning. Then , if your scanner stops on a channel you have designated for recording, the connected t ape recorder begins to reco rd the audio. However , before you can use this feature, you must connect a tape recorder to your scanner . For information about at taching a r[...]

39 Programming Conventional Channels Each of the scanner’s banks can hold a mi x of conventional channels plus one trunked system. This section describes how to store known frequencies into convention al channels. Y ou might want to gather all informatio n about the systems you want to monitor before yo u start to prog ram the scanner . The “Co[...]

40 Setting Priority Channels Y ou can set one conventio nal channel in each bank as a priority channel. When you t urn on the priority scan option (see “Priority Sc anning” on Page 22), the scanner automatically checks these channels every 2 seconds to see if there is activity . If there is, the scanner immediately switches to the priority chan[...]

41 Programming T runked Systems Before you start programming your scanner to track a trunked system, consider t he following: • Y ou might want to gathe r all information about the syst ems you want to monitor before you start to program the scan ner . The “Motorola T runking Worksheet”, “L TR T runking Worksheet”, and “EDACS T runking [...]

42 4. If necessary , repeatedly press HOLD U or LIMIT V until PRO9 F appears. Then press E on the k eypad. 5. T o enter trunking frequencies, use the keypad to enter the first frequency , then press E on the keypad. (Press . to enter the decimal point). Note : T o clear a mistake while entering a frequency , press . twice then enter the frequency a[...]

43 Selecting a Preset Fleet Map 1. If you are still in the programming mode, press DA T A . Otherwise, select the trunking programming mode and bank you want to change. Then, rep eatedly press HOLD U or LIMIT V until E1 appears, then press E . 2. Repeatedly press HOLD U or LIMIT V until FLEET a ppears, then press E . 3. Repeatedly press HOLD U or L[...]

44 Programming T alk Group ID’s Enter the talk g roup ID for each group you entered: 1. If you are still in the programming mod e, press DA T A . Otherwise, hold TRUNK for 2 seconds, then select the ban k and system type and press E . 2. Repeatedly press HOLD U or LIMIT V until PRO9 ID appears. Then press E . 3. Repeatedly press HOLD U or LIMIT V[...]

45 7. If you selected ED-SCT in S tep 3, stop here. Otherwise, if you selected ED-HI or ED-LO in S tep 3, follow these steps to enter the talk group ID (agency , fleet, and subfleet) for the system you want to scan. a. Press DA T A . b. If necessary , turn the rotary tuner o r repeatedly press HOLD U or LIMIT V until PRO9 ID appears. Then press E o[...]

46 Care and Maintenance General Use • T urn the scanner off before disconnecting the po wer . • Always write down the programmed frequencie s in the event of memory loss. • If memory is lost, simply repr ogram each channel. The d isplay shows 000.000 0 in all channels when there has been a memory loss. • Always press each button firmly unti[...]

47 T roubleshooting If your BC898T is not performing properly , try the following steps. Problem Possible Cause Suggestion The sca nner do esn’t work. The scanner might not be receiving any power . Make sure the AC adapter is connected to an AC outlet and the scanner . If there is a wall switch that controls power to the AC outlet where you conne[...]

48 If you experience dif ficulty while in T runkT racker™ mode, try the following step s. Scan won’t start. (continued) The antenna might need to be adjusted. Check the antenna connection. Weather scan d oesn’t work. The squelch might need to be adjusted. Adjust the squelch threshold. See “Setting the Squelch” on Page 20. The antenna migh[...]

49 If you still cannot get satisfactory results whil e using your scanner or if you want additional information, please call or write t he Uniden Part s and Service Division. The address an d phone number are listed in the W arranty at the end of this manual. If you would like immediate assist ance, please call Customer Service at (800) 297-1023. I[...]

50 S pecifications Certified in accordance with FCC Rules and Regulations Part 15, Subp art C, as of date of manufacture. Channels: 500 Banks: 10 (50 channels each) Frequency Range: 25.0-27.995 MHz Citizens Band/ Business Band 28.0–29.995 MHz 10 Meter Amate ur Band 30.0–49.995 MHz VHF Low Band 50.0–54.0 MHz 6 Meter Amateur Band 137.0–143.99[...]

51 Features, specifications, and availability of opti onal accessor ies are all subject to change without notice.[...]

52 Optional Accessories Contact your local Unide n Dealer or call the Uniden Part s Center at: (800)554-3988, 8:00AM to 5:00PM EST , Monday through Friday , for information a bout ordering these optional accessories. Betty Bearcat F requency Directory/ Local Directories Mobile Mounting Bracket with Hardware (MB001) DC Power Cord Cigarette Lighter P[...]

53 Appendix Preset Fleet Map s Preset Map 1 Preset Map 2 Preset Map 3 Preset Map 4 Preset Map 5 Preset Map 6 Preset Map 7 Preset Map 8 Block Size Code Block S ize Code 0 Size Code 1 1 0S i z e C o d e 4 1 Size Code 1 1 1S i z e C o d e 4 2 Size Code 1 1 2S i z e C o d e 4 3 Size Code 1 1 3S i z e C o d e 4 4 Size Code 1 1 4S i z e C o d e 4 5 Size [...]

54 Preset Map 9 Preset Map 10 Preset Map 1 1 Preset Map 12 Preset Map 13 Preset Map 14 Preset Map 15 Preset Map 16 Block Size Code Block Size Code 0 Size Code 4 0 Size Code 0 1 Size Code 4 1 Size Code 0 2 Size Code 0 2 Size Code 0 3 Size Code 0 3 Size Code 0 4 Size Code 0 4 Size Code 0 5 Size Code 0 5 Size Code 0 6 Size Code 0 6 Size Code 4 7 Size [...]

55 User Defined Fleet Map s T ype I Programming Information When a T ype I system is designed, the address in formation for all the ID’ s is divided into 8 equal sized blocks, numbere d 0–7. When you program your scanner t o track a T ype I system, you must select a size code for eac h of these blocks. When you have assigned a size code to all [...]

56 Since these size codes require multiple blocks, you will be pro mpted for the next available block when programming a fleet map . For example, if you assign Block 0 as an S-12, you will be prompted for b2, the next block availa ble, instead of b1. And if you assign Block 0 as an S-14, you would not see another prom pt because it uses all availab[...]

57 Import ant : Evidence of original purchase is required fo r warranty service. W ARRANTOR: UNIDEN AMERICA CORPORA TION (“Uniden”) ELEMENTS OF W ARRANTY : Uniden warrants, for one year , to the original retail owne r , this Uniden Product to be free from defects in materials and craf tsmanship with only the limitations or exclusions set out be[...]

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