Railfan Technology > Alive but Dead Bearcat Scanner????

I've had a Uniden/Bearcat BC60XLT-1 scanner that has served me well for over ten years, but now does not seem to pick up any transmissions anymore.  It scans but I receive nothing.  I live in Northwest Indiana, the Calumet Region, where railroad transmissions are constant, 24 hours a day.  It's as if all the railroads went digital at the same time.  I programmed the NOAA weather stations in and I'm not picking anything up from them, either.  I also changed the antenna, even going back to the rubber duckie that came with the scanner, still no luck.  I've reset the squelch and everything else and am now out of ideas.  Does a scanner go bad just like that?  Also, I'm pretty sure I'll have to replace the Bearcat.  Is there a comparable scanner available?  I'm not looking to spend a fortune, what with digital coming someday.  Any ideas as to what's going on and any recommendations for a replacement?  Thanks for the help.

Most likely the antenna connection has failed in the radio.  That's not an uncommon problem with a lot of scanners, amateur, and commercial radios as they age.  Likely not worth trying to fix, given the age of the scanner.  I had a Uniden scanner fail from that problem when it was only about a year old.  Last  Uniden scanner that I ever bought.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/16 12:25 by WW.

Volume controls also fail on those Bearcat scanners with similar results.

KG

Have you changed the batteries? Moved the squelch full range? I had
a problem with mine and the battery was dead.....Swede......Albany,Or.

The scanner scans OK.  It just doesn't do any good, kind of like going through the motions, not receving a thing.  Changing the batteries didn't have any effect, either.  Thinking of getting a BC125AT, on sale at Amazon for $97.  Any opinions on this scanner?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/16 06:25 by WrongMain.

The BC125AT is a difficult radio to program. If you have Microsoft machine there is software
available. I bought mine and a Diamond RH77CA. I am very pleased with the results.....
.........Swede.........Albany,Or.....

Read my general radio post on this forum for my general opinion about scanners.  As for the BC-125, it does have pretty typical sensitivity, will hold all of the AAR channels in memory, and has 380 mW of audio output--the latter not enough, in my opinion, but better than many other scanners.  Typcial of scanner specifications, they are silent on selectivity, which, in many respects, is the most important spec of all and the one that most scanner manufactuers don't want to talk about because a scanner's selectivity is usually  pretty awful. 

For an analog radio, I (somewhat hesitantly) suggest the Wouxun UV-6X commercial radio, which can be bought for around $150.   I own one of these and my particular one has been trouble-free and has performed very well.  Good audio quality, good sensitvity, and good selectivity in a compact, well-built package.  I say "hesitantly" because I have read reports of some UV-6X's having poor reception and other problems, and some failing prematurely.  I have not had those issues with mine.  It does require a programming cable, but it takes a pretty standard Kenwood type two-pin cable that is inexpensive and easy to find.  Free software is out there for UV6-X.  One pleasant thing that I did find with my UV-6X is that the standard antenna that comes with the radio performs as well as an aftermarket antenna.  There are several models of the UV-6--the "X" model is the commercial model and that is the one that I recommend.  The UV-6X is a dual-band radio, so it will tune the EOT channels, but I don't use that feature.  In analog performance, it is pretty close to  analog performance of my Icom IC-F3161D NXDN radio, which is pretty darned good.

There are newer models--the UV-8D and UV-9D out there that are also getting very good reviews, but I have not seen nor used either one.  One note: though it won't matter to railfans, the UV-6X is a Part 90 certified commercial radio, the 8 and 9D's are, so far as I can tell, only Part 97 amatuer-certified.  As long as one is not using the transmit function on the commercial bands, the Part 90 certification is not needed.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/16 09:12 by WW.

Had a Uniden BC92XLT that went into the scan-but-never-hit mode several years ago. I figured it was the result of being left on the dashboard of the fan wagon on a very hot day. Replaced it with a Radio Shack Pro-84.  Whoever stuck 'pro' on this has never seen a Motorola. 

The Radio Shack came cheap from one of their Thanksgiving sales. I live within two miles of a busy UP yard, but the ground conversations have been harder to pick up since the channels were realigned. I did add a good-quality antenna tuned for the railroad frequencies.

Received my BC125AT this past Sunday, programmed it manually, about 200 channels.  It wasn't bad to do, just a little time consuming.  But I'm retired, what else do I have to do:)  It's working well so far.  I like the large display and light and the fact that it uses only two AA batteries, where my last one used four.  I've even figured out what Narrow Band is all about.  I'm glad I made the purchase. 

If you are halfway decent with a screw driver and a little soder...

Depending on how you used it and the such, inside on the back of the antenna connection is typically one wire or solder with wire behind the connector. This flexes and over time will weaken and break. A quick trial (but hit or miss) is to open up the squelch on the local NOAA Channel, plug in the antenna and move the connector around a bit. If you get it sproatically, then you know the inside antenna connector needs to be solder back together. Not really hard to do depending on the solder iron and space available to get in there.

If that does not do the trick, then likly a board componet failed, and there really isnt much you can do unless you have SMD skills and a workstation (along with the board diagram and parts list).

At this point, a replacement scanner would be in your best interest - and it can't hurt to open up the one you have since its on the path to replacement at this point anyways)

 

Thanks for the tip.  I haven't trashed the old scanner yet.  And now, with the new one in my grubby little hands, I can afford to tinker with the old one.