BCT15X Legal, Safety & Warranty Notes

Summary: The important safety, legal and warranty information from the Uniden BCT15X manual, in plain English.

Scanning Legally

It’s legal to listen to almost every transmission the scanner can receive under US rules, but the manual highlights three things you should never intentionally listen to:

• Telephone conversations (cellular, cordless or other private means of telephone signal transmission)
• Pager transmissions
• Scrambled or encrypted transmissions

In the US, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) makes it a crime, with fines and possible imprisonment, to intentionally listen to, use or divulge the contents of such conversations without the consent of a party to them. The BCT15X is designed so it can’t receive cellular frequencies or decode scrambled transmissions. Don’t open the case to modify it: doing so, or using it in ways the manual doesn’t describe, could invalidate your warranty and, in the US, your FCC authorisation to operate it.

Rules on mobile and portable scanner use vary. In some places using a scanner in a vehicle is prohibited, regulated or needs a permit, so check with your local law enforcement. It’s also illegal in many areas to interfere with public safety officials by going to an incident scene without authorisation. A licence is required to use this digital product in Canada.

If you’re outside North America, check the law in your own country before using or importing any scanner, and note that many of the BCT15X’s features (its state databases, BearTracker, NOAA weather/SAME and the US trunking systems) are designed for the US and Canada.

General Precautions

• Earphones: use only a 32-ohm stereo headset or earphone. The phone jack output is monaural but you’ll hear it in both ears. Set the volume to a comfortable level from the speaker before plugging in earphones, because a sudden loud level can hurt your hearing, especially with in-ear types.
• Liquids: the scanner isn’t waterproof. Keep it away from rain and moisture to reduce the risk of fire or electric shock.
• Power: always turn the scanner off before disconnecting external power, because some settings are only saved as it powers down. Never unplug the AC adapter during programming or auto-store.
• Vehicle installation: keep the scanner and its wiring away from airbag deployment zones, and be sure of what’s behind any surface you drill.
• Speaker and antenna jacks: never connect anything except a recommended amplified extension speaker to the audio jacks, and never connect audio and antenna grounds together.

FCC Notice

The scanner complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules for a scanning receiver (FCC ID AMWUB361). It can radiate radio-frequency energy, so if it interferes with radio or television reception (turning it on and off shows whether it does) try moving or re-orienting the antenna or increasing the separation between the scanner and the affected receiver. Changes not approved by Uniden could void your authority to operate it.

Warranty

The manual describes a one-year limited warranty from the original retail sale, for the original retail owner, with evidence of original purchase required. It’s invalid if the product is damaged or poorly maintained, modified, improperly installed, repaired by someone other than an authorised Uniden service centre, used with non-Uniden equipment as part of a system, or installed or programmed other than as the operating guide describes. The warranty is void outside the United States. Support is provided by Uniden America Corporation (Fort Worth, Texas); see uniden.com for current contact details.

About the Source Manual

This section is a condensed, reorganised guide based on the Uniden BCT15X user guide (2009). Uniden’s manual is copyright Uniden America Corporation. Motorola, SmartNet, EDACS, LTR, TrunkTracker, Close Call, BearTracker and Uniden are trademarks of their respective owners. Your scanner’s display and menus may differ slightly depending on firmware version.