BCT15X Overview, Features & Specifications

Summary: A tour of what the Uniden BCT15X mobile scanner can do, the frequencies it covers, and its key hardware specifications.

What the BCT15X Is

The BCT15X is a mobile (vehicle or desk) digital-trunking scanner from Uniden. It uses TrunkTracker III to follow Motorola, EDACS and LTR trunked systems, and it also scans ordinary conventional (non-trunked) channels. It’s designed for use in a car or on a desk, powered from 12V DC or the supplied AC adapter.

Note that the BCT15X is built for the North American market. Several headline features – the State-by-State preprogrammed channels, the BearTracker Warning System, NOAA Weather Radio and SAME alerts – are US/Canada-specific and only make sense there. The conventional scanning, Search, Close Call, Band Scope and Tone-Out features work on any frequency the radio covers.

Memory Limits

• Channels: 9,000 maximum (up to 1,000 per conventional system, 500 per trunked system)
• Systems: 500 maximum
• Sites: 1,000 maximum, 256 per system
• Groups: 20 per system
• System Quick Keys: 0-99; Group Quick Keys: 0-9
• Custom search ranges: 10
• Startup Keys: 10
• System and channel Number Tags: up to 999 each
• Preprogrammed service search bands: 12
• Scan rate: up to 100 channels per second (conventional); search rate: up to 300 steps per second (5 kHz steps)

Frequency Coverage

• 25 – 512 MHz
• 758 – 823.9875 MHz
• 849.0125 – 868.9875 MHz
• 894.0125 – 960 MHz
• 1240 – 1300 MHz

Cellular telephone frequencies are deliberately blocked, as required by US law. The scanner uses AM, narrowband FM (NFM), FM, wideband FM (WFM) and FM-broadcast (FMB) modulation, chosen automatically by band unless you override it. Airband (108 – 136.9916 MHz) is AM with an 8.33 kHz default step.

Main Features

• TrunkTracker III – Motorola Type I, Type II and Type I/II hybrid (800, 900, UHF and VHF, including rebanded 800 MHz), EDACS Wide, Narrow and SCAT (including systems using an EDACS System Key), and LTR. It can also follow Motorola systems by control channel only.
• Close Call – detects nearby transmitters and can tune straight to them, with Do Not Disturb, Priority and Only variants.
• Band Scope – a visual signal-strength display from 0.2 MHz to 500 MHz.
• Tone-Out – watches up to 10 channels for two-tone, single-tone and group paging tones, and can search for the tones for you.
• State-by-State scanning and the BearTracker Warning System.
• Weather scanning with Weather Priority and SAME alerts.
• Location-based scanning with a connected GPS receiver.
• Search tools – Quick Search, 12 Service searches, 10 Custom searches, Search with Scan, Search and Store, and 500 search lockouts (250 temporary plus 250 permanent).
• Convenience features – Number Tags, Quick Keys, Startup Keys, Alert Plus mode, per-channel volume offset, repeater reverse, strong-signal attenuation, 16-character text tags, a reversible display, and a RECORD OUT jack for a VOX recorder or PC sound input.
• PC programming and control, upgradeable firmware and wired cloning between two BCT15X scanners.
• BC-RH96 Remote Head compatible.

Programming the BCT15X With Squawker PC and Squawker Online

Entering channels by hand through the scanner’s menus is slow. UKAFG gives you two shortcuts, covered in detail in BCT15X Loading Frequencies From Squawker PC & Squawker Online:

• Squawker PC has a Scanner Programmer that reads and writes the BCT15X directly over the serial/USB cable. It works with conventional systems only (not trunked).
• Squawker Online can export your search results as a Uniden-BCT15X HPE file, plus formats for other Uniden scanners and other software.

The complete Squawker PC guide for this radio (shared with the UBC3500XLT and UBC800XLT) covers:

• BCT15X/UBC3500XLT/UBC800XLT Programmer – Overview & Getting Connected
• BCT15X/UBC3500XLT/UBC800XLT Programmer Screen at a Glance
• Model Differences – BCT15X, UBC3500XLT & UBC800XLT
• Filling Systems & Groups – Quick Fill, the Data Dropdown & Add To
• Editing, Sorting & Deleting Systems, Groups & Channels
• Reading, Backing Up & Restoring – BCT15X/UBC3500XLT/UBC800XLT
• Writing to Your Scanner – BCT15X/UBC3500XLT/UBC800XLT

If you’re new to it, read Before You Start – Understanding the Risks and The Programming Workflow first. This manual section explains what each scanner setting means; the Squawker guides show how to load data from your PC or the website.

Key Hardware Specifications

• Display: 64 x 128 full dot-matrix LCD with orange backlight
• Audio output: 3W into an 8-ohm speaker; 30mW into 32-ohm stereo headphones
• Attenuation: 20 dB nominal
• Power: 11.0V to 16.6V DC; the supplied AC adapter is 13.8V DC, 750 mA
• Connectors: BNC antenna jack; 3.5 mm headphone jack; 3.5 mm external speaker jack; 3.5 mm REC OUT jack; external DC power with orange illumination wire; 5.5 mm DC power jack (centre positive); 9-pin D-sub GPS/remote jack on the back; 4-pin remote interface jack on the front
• Internal speaker: 8 ohm, 5W maximum, 77 mm
• Operating temperature: -20 to +60 C (-4 to +140 F); Close Call needs -10 to +60 C
• Size and weight: 7.2 x 5.9 x 2.2 inches (W x D x H); 3.42 lbs
• Tones supported: 50 CTCSS tones and 104 DCS codes
• Two-tone sequential range: 250.0 – 3500.0 Hz in 0.1 Hz steps
• Weather alert: 1050 Hz tone system and NWR-SAME (Warning, Watch, Advisory)
• Intermediate frequencies: 1st IF 380.7 – 380.8 MHz / 265.5 – 265.6 MHz; 2nd IF 10.8 MHz; 3rd IF 450 kHz