BCD260DN Overview, Features & Specifications

Summary: A tour of the Uniden BCD260DN mobile and base digital scanner: what it can receive, what’s in the box, its main features and key specifications.

What the BCD260DN Is

The BCD260DN is a 12V mobile and desktop scanner that receives analogue signals and the DMR and NXDN digital modes. It works from banks of channels that you programme yourself (1,000 channels in 10 banks of 100), and it can also search for activity using preset service lists, custom ranges, Quick Search and a Band Scope. It doesn’t decode P25: the display shows a P25 or DAT indicator, but the scanner skips P25 signals when scanning or searching.

It’s the mounted-radio counterpart of the handheld BCD160DN: the same channel banks and digital reception, but powered from 11-16.6V DC, with a bigger speaker, DIN-E and ISO vehicle mounting, an orange dimmer wire, a record output and a coloured backlight. It has no built-in database and no trunk tracking. You give it frequencies, and it stays on them.

What’s in the Box

• Telescoping antenna
• AC adapter
• Three-wire power harness
• Vehicle accessory (cigarette lighter) power cord
• Mounting bracket and hardware
• USB cable
• Printed owner’s manual (English and French), plus the frequency and app forms

Main Features

• 10 channel banks of 100 channels – 1,000 channels in total.
• 10 Custom Searches and 26 service searches (public safety, media, ham, marine, railroad, air, CB, FRS/GMRS/MURS, racing, FM broadcast, military air) with editable service lists.
• 3 Search Keys – assign a custom search, weather scan, tone-out search, service search or Band Scope to number keys 1, 2 and 3.
• Quick Search from the current frequency or one you enter.
• Band Scope mode – a real-time picture of signal levels across a range.
• DMR and NXDN reception, with decoding and display of CTCSS/DCS tones, DMR Color Codes and NXDN Area and RAN codes, and searching for them.
• Backlit LCD and keypad, three backlight levels, and a multicolour alert backlight (blue, red, magenta, green, cyan, yellow or white).
• Orange wire vehicle connection – the scanner’s lighting dims with your vehicle’s dimmer circuit.
• DIN-E and ISO vehicle mounting (DIN-E sleeve optional).
• Record Out – a jack for a VOX-controlled recorder or PC sound input.
• Attenuator of about 20 dB per channel or search band, or global.
• Broadcast Screen – ignores hits on known broadcast and pager frequencies in search modes.
• Configurable band defaults for 30 bands.
• SAME weather alert and priority with programmable FIPS codes.
• Tone-Out Standby and Tone Search for up to 10 tone-out settings.
• Priority and Priority Plus scan, custom alerts (9 tone patterns, 15 volumes, 7 colours, 2 blink patterns) and volume offset per channel.
• Adjustable delay up to 30 seconds and forced resume up to 10 seconds, per channel or search.
• Intermediate Frequency Exchange (IFX), duplicate frequency alert, automatic channel set-up.
• Search lockouts – 400 (200 temporary, 200 permanent).
• Turbo Search – 100 to 300 steps per second on bands with 5 kHz steps.
• Text tagging – names of up to 16 characters.
• PC programming with Uniden’s BCDX60DN SS software, or UKAFG’s Squawker PC (see BCD260DN Loading Frequencies From Squawker PC & Squawker Online).

Frequency Coverage

The scanner covers 25.0000 to 1300.0000 MHz, except 513-758 MHz and 823.99-849.01 MHz, which aren’t supported. That includes the 23 cm band (1240-1300 MHz), which the BCD160DN doesn’t cover. Entries are rounded to the nearest supported step (151.473 MHz becomes 151.475 MHz).

Key Specifications

• Bands: 31
• Size: 7.24 x 5.94 x 2.2 inches (184 x 151 x 56 mm) without antenna, knob and brackets
• Weight: 3.2 lb (1.5 kg) without antenna and brackets
• Power: DC 11.0-16.6V (Ext. DC power jack or DC power jack); orange-wire input 3-16.6V (under 10 mA)
• Current draw at 13.8V: about 230 mA (squelch closed, white backlight high); 410 mA (full audio, backlight off); 540 mA (full audio, white backlight)
• Operating temperature: -4 to +140 F (-20 to +60 C); storage -22 to +158 F (-30 to +70 C)
• Display: 64 x 128 dot-matrix LCD
• LEDs: RX (blue) and Alert (red)
• Speaker: 8 ohm, 5W max, 77 mm; output about 2.5-2.7W into 8 ohm
• Headphones: 6-10 mW into 32 ohm (audio is mono)
• Jacks: BNC antenna; 3.5 mm headphone; 3.5 mm mono external speaker; 3.5 mm REC out; 5.5 mm DC power (centre positive); 5-pin mini USB B; 3-pin external DC/orange-wire jack
• Weather channels: 7
• Band Scope: span 0.2-500 MHz, step 5-100 kHz
• Sensitivity (12 dB SINAD): typically 0.26 to 0.49 microvolts on most bands (0.53-0.73 on wideband FM and broadcast FM)