BCD160DN Loading Frequencies From Squawker PC & Squawker Online

Summary: The ways to get frequencies into a BCD160DN without typing each one in on the keypad: Squawker PC’s Scanner Programmer, and what Squawker Online’s exports can and can’t do for this scanner.

Which Route Should I Use?

• Squawker PC Scanner Programmer – reads and writes the scanner directly over the USB cable. The BCD160DN and BCD260DN share one programmer screen: 10 banks of 100 channels. Best for filling banks quickly from UKAFG’s frequency data.
• Typing it in on the scanner – see BCD160DN Programming Channels & Banks. Useful for one-off changes and for anything the Programmer doesn’t cover.
• Uniden’s BCDX60DN SS software – Uniden’s own PC program for transferring data to and from the scanner and controlling it; downloadable from the BCD160DN product page on uniden.com.
• Squawker Online exports – the website has no BCD160DN-specific export button, so use the Programmer for a direct load. The general CSV and Excel exports are useful for looking at, sorting or editing a list in a spreadsheet first (see below).

Squawker PC: The Scanner Programmer

Squawker PC is UKAFG’s Windows app. In Connect Settings create a profile with Scanner Type set to BCD160DN (or BCD260DN), choose the correct COM port and tick Enable Programming, then open the Programmer, choose the profile and click Open Editor. The steps are:

1. Connect – see BCD160DN/BCD260DN Programmer – Overview & Getting Connected and BCD160DN/BCD260DN Programmer Screen at a Glance.
2. Read the scanner and back it up – see Reading, Backing Up & Restoring – BCD160DN/BCD260DN.
3. Fill banks – pick a category from the Data dropdown and click Program Bank, or use Quick Fill to build a set of banks from your postcode. See Filling a Bank – The Data Dropdown & the Overwrite Prompt and Quick Fill – Auto-Populating Banks Near Your Location – BCD160DN/BCD260DN.
4. Edit channels in the grid – see Editing, Sorting & Deleting Channels – BCD160DN/BCD260DN.
5. Send to Scanner – see Writing to Your Scanner – BCD160DN/BCD260DN.

What to Know Before You Write

• 10 banks of 100 channels – 1,000 channels, twice the UBC125XLT/C’s capacity.
• The channel grid has extra columns for digital reception: Audio (analogue, digital or all), a tone dropdown of CTCSS and DCS codes, Tone Lockout, Digital (search or a specific code), Slot for DMR (any, 1 or 2), Digital Wait (0-1000 ms), Priority, Attenuator, Record, alert tone and level, LED colour and pattern, and volume offset. Quick Fill sets Digital and Audio automatically where the source data shows DMR or NXDN.
• Quick Fill uses wider radii than the UBC125XLT/C version (aviation 40 miles, ATC 70 miles), renames banks to match their contents (for example Aviation, ATC, Marine VHF, Ham 2m/70cm, PMR/Radio, Rescue, CB UK, Simplex, UK Light), and combines PMR and Baofeng/FRS/GMRS in one bank.
• Automatic backup before writing is on by default. If a bank you’re filling already has data, or the source has more than fit in 100 channels, a dialog offers choices such as filling this bank or spilling into adjacent banks.
• Write reporting: the completion message tells you how many of the 1,000 slots were programmed and how many were cleared, and how many succeeded or failed. If any fail, restore from the automatic backup and try again.
• No cancel button once a write starts, and closing the window mid-write can leave the scanner in an inconsistent state.
• Fixed connection speed: the Programmer doesn’t try other speeds, so if it can’t connect it fails outright. Check the scanner is on, the cable is seated, the COM port is right, and nothing else is using it.
• No model check: Squawker PC doesn’t verify that the connected radio matches your profile, so choose the right profile if you own several scanners.
• It writes to memory over what’s there, so read and back up first.

Squawker Online: Exports

Squawker Online lets you search UKAFG’s frequency data and download it. The search tool is at ukafg.co.uk/squawker-online-search. It has no BCD160DN-specific export, so use the Programmer above. What you can use for this scanner:

• CSV and Excel – six columns (User, Description, Short Name, Frequency, Channel, Mode) to view and edit in a spreadsheet before you type or load frequencies.
• Copy – the same data as CSV text on the clipboard.

Other export formats are for other radios and software (Uniden x36 and BCT15X HPE, UBC125XLT/Scan125, RadioScan, Whistler, CHIRP, Icom and SDR formats). Full details are in Exporting to Scanner Software, Exporting to CSV, Excel & Clipboard and Exporting to Files – What Each Format Does. Other UKAFG tools export too: Common Scanner Frequencies, WTR Business search and Amateur Repeater search.

Tips for a Good Result

• Check the coverage. The BCD160DN receives 25-960 MHz except 513-758 MHz and 823.99-849.01 MHz. Frequencies in those gaps can’t be received.
• Set the audio type. Use Analog Only for analogue channels, Digital Only for known DMR or NXDN channels, and All only when unsure. See BCD160DN Programming Channels & Banks.
• The scanner doesn’t decode P25, so P25 channels won’t work.
• Check modulation after loading; airband should be AM.
• Keep a backup of a working set-up before every write.