BCD260DN Menus, Entering Data & Settings

Summary: How to use the BCD260DN’s menus, enter names and frequencies, and the Settings menu options, including backlight colour, the RX LED, reset and firmware update.

The Main Menu

Press MENU. The items are Program Channel, Search Options, Search for…, Priority Scan, WX Operation, Tone-Out for… and Settings. Turn the Scroll knob clockwise to go forward and counter-clockwise to go back.

Entering Data

• Turn the Scroll knob to choose a character (capitals, lower case, numbers, specials, blank) and press E Yes to select it.
• 4 moves the cursor left, 6 right; . No clears a character (twice clears all); E Yes saves and exits.

Valid frequencies run from 25.0000 to 1300.0000 MHz, with 513.0000-758.0000 MHz and 823.9900-849.0100 MHz not supported. Entries are rounded to the nearest supported step. An invalid Quick Search frequency shows Out of Band and beeps three times.

Set Backlight

Menu, Settings, Set Backlight has two options:

• Set Dimmer – Auto or Manual. For a vehicle installation choose Auto, then + Polarity (the orange wire gets 12V when the headlights come on) or – Polarity (the orange wire is switched to chassis ground when they come on). For home use choose Manual and pick High, Middle, Low or Off. Set the dimmer to Auto if you hard-wire the scanner in a vehicle. You can also press the VOL knob to change the backlight level.
• Set Color – the screen backlight colour: Cyan, Yellow, White, Blue, Red, Magenta or Green. The background changes as you scroll.

Set RX LED

On makes the blue RX LED light when a transmission is received; Off turns it off.

Adjust Key Beep

Off, Level 1-15, or Auto (follows the master volume). The scanner beeps at each level as you scroll.

Set Upside-Down

On inverts the display’s text and graphics, so the scanner can be mounted in an unusual orientation and still read correctly.

Adjust Contrast

Fifteen levels; the screen changes as you scroll.

Band Defaults

Change what “Auto” means for each band. These settings don’t affect service searches. For each band choose a modulation (AM, NFM, FM, WFM or FMB) and then a step (5, 6.25, 7.5, 8.33, 10, 12.5, 15, 20, 25, 50 or 100 kHz). The default table is in BCD260DN Reference Tables & How Do I…?.

Factory Reset

Warning: this clears all data and settings you’ve entered, and you can’t restore deleted programming. Choose Factory Reset, then OK (or Cancel). Power turns off after the reset. Uniden recommends backing up with BCDX60DN SS first.

Firmware Version

Shows the firmware version, serial number and checksum. Uniden recommends installing the latest firmware.

Updating the Firmware

Download Uniden’s BC_VUP update software from the BCD260DN product page on uniden.com. Connect the scanner to your PC with the USB cable, choose Model/Version in BC_VUP and follow the prompts. It connects to the internet to find the current firmware.

Backing Up

Uniden’s BCDX60DN SS program can back up and transfer your programming. UKAFG’s Squawker PC Scanner Programmer also makes an automatic backup before each write – see BCD260DN Loading Frequencies From Squawker PC & Squawker Online.