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Where to Obtain More Information
Before using your scanner, you must program frequencies into available channels. The Betty Bearcat Frequency Guide lists typical frequencies used around the U.S.A. and Canada that you may program into your new scanner. To obtain another copy of the frequency guide, contact one of the following: Uniden Parts Department (800) 554-3988 (Hours are from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Time Monday through Friday.) Local Dealer To obtain additional frequency information for your area, contact one of the following: Scanner Master (800) 722-6701 (Hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday.) Bearcat Frequency Hotline (937) 299-0414 (Hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday.)
Information on the Internet
If you have access to the Internet, you may want to visit www.trunktracker.com or www.bearcat1.com/free.htm A special website has been specifically setup for this scanner with helpful information on using this scanner and other user comments. Visit www.bc780xlt.com. For more information about Uniden and our other products, visit www.uniden.com
Included with Your Scanner
If any of these items are missing or damaged, immediately contact your place of purchase or Uniden Customer Service at: (800) 297-1023, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Central Time, Monday through Friday.

AC Adapter

Cigarette Lighter Adapter Cord

DC Cord

Mounting Bracket

Telescopic Antenna

Operating Guide
Trunk Tracker Frequency Guide and Other Printed Material

Page 7

Connecting an Antenna
You must install an antenna before you can operate the scanner. You have been provided a standard telescopic antenna that works well with this scanner, but you may want to purchases another type to increase the range. To connect the telescopic antenna, simply connect it to the BNC type ANT. connector on the rear of the scanner. You can purchase a variety of scanner antennas for both mobile and base station available at a local electronics store. Choose the one that best meets your needs. When deciding on a mobile or base station antenna and its location, consider these points. The antenna should be as high as possible on a vehicle or a house. The antenna and its cable should be as far as possible from sources of electrical noise (ignition systems, gauges, and so on). The antenna should be vertical for the best performance.

Mounting an Antenna

Once you choose an antenna, follow the mounting instructions supplied with the antenna. Then route the antenna cable to the scanner. The antenna connector on your scanner makes it easy to use the scanner with a variety of antennas, such as an external mobile antenna or an outdoor base station antenna. Always use 50 ohm coaxial cable, such as RG-58 or RG-8, to connect an outdoor antenna. For lengths over 50 feet, use RG-8 low-loss dielectric coaxial cable. If your antennas cable does not have a BNC connector, you will also need a BNC adapter (available at a local electronics store). Follow the Installation instructions supplied with the antenna, route the antenna cable to the scanner, then connect it to the ANT. jack. Warning: Use extreme caution when you install or remove an outdoor antenna. If the antenna starts to fall, let it go! It could contact overhead power lines. If the antenna touches a power line, contact with the antenna, mast, cable, or guy wires can cause electrocution and death. Call the power company to remove the antenna. DO NOT attempt to do it yourself.

Optional Antenna

If you have chosen an optional mobile antenna, connect the antenna plug into the ANT connector on the rear of the scanner. (For more information on antenna installation, please refer to the instruction guide that came with your antenna.)

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Typical Mounting Methods
The BC780XLT can be conveniently mounted on a table, bulkhead, overhead, or any other desired location (refer to figure below for typical mounting methods). Caution: Make sure there are no hidden electrical wires or other items behind the desired location before proceeding. Check that free access for mounting and cabling is available.

Table top mount

Bulkhead mount

Overhead mount

Mounting the Scanner in Your Vehicle
Before you mount the scanner, make sure you have all the necessary materials. Then confirm that the scanner fits your vehicles mounting area. This unit requires a mounting area of 2-3/8 inch high by 6-15/16 inch wide by 6 -9/16 inch deep (61 x 176.5 x 167 mm). Caution: Be sure to avoid obstructions behind the mounting surface. Follow these steps to mount the scanner in your vehicle. 1. Choose a mounting location, then use the supplied mounting bracket as a template to mark the positions for the mounting screw holes. 2. In the marked positions, drill holes slightly smaller than the supplied screws. 3. Attach the mounting bracket to the mounting location using the supplied screws and lock washers. 4. Attach the scanner to the mounting bracket using the supplied mounting knobs. 5. Connect the antennas cable to the ANT. connector on the back of the scanner. Note: If the antenna cables connector does not fit in the ANT. connector, you might also need a Motorola-to-BNC antenna plug adapter (available at a local electronics store).

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Menu Description and Numeric Keypad Equivalents
Below are the menu screens and a brief description or purpose of the feature.

1:SYSTEM DATA 1:DIMMER

Allows you to change the brightness of the display.

2:SCREEN MASK

Screen Mask allows you to limit what appears on the display to the alpha tags that you have set for a channel along with a few function icons. Screen Mask removes the frequency, receiving mode, tone data, signal strength bars, and the trunking repeater activity indicators. This mode is particularly useful in public safety vehicles where information overload is already a problem. Screen Mask does not work in Search mode.

3:KEY BEEP

Use this function to turn off the keypad acknowledgement beep. The default setting is on.

4:ENTER LOCK

Use Enter Lock to prevent accidental re-programming of channels and talkgroups entered into memory. The default setting is off.

5:PC CONTROL

Use this function to set the transfer speed (baud rate) at which your personal computer (PC) communicates with the scanner when downloading information into your scanner using the Uniden national database or third party software. See page 65 for details.

6:CLONE

You can clone all the programming, including frequencies, talkgroups and alpha tags as well as bank settings and other parameters from one BC780XLT to another.

7:SMARTSCAN

Download frequencies, talkgroups and alpha tags for any area of the 50 states from the Uniden national database using the modem in your PC or a stand alone modem. Refer to page 59 for details.

8:DATA SKIP

A scanner will normally stop on any transmission it receives. This means the BC780XLT will occasionally stop on data signals and unmodulated transmissions. You can automatically skip many of these types of transmissions during search.

9:SQUELCH MODE

The Squelch Mode allows you to set, at your option, whether the scanner will stop on all active transmissions on a particular frequency or it will only respond to transmissions with a pre-set sub-audible tone. This applies to both conventional search and scan modes.The options are as follows: 1. CSQ - The default setting is CSQ (carrier squelch). In this mode the scanner will stop on any transmission on a programmed frequency (Squelch mode does not apply to trunking). 2. Tone SQ - In Tone Squelch mode, if you have set a subaudible tone (CTCSS or DCS) for a frequency, the scanner will only stop on that frequency if the transmission includes the prescribed tone.

Storing Text Tags

You can customize your scanner by storing text tags for easy identification of banks, channel transmissions, trunking talkgroup IDs, etc. The text tags can be set at the menu mode. (Refer to Understanding Menu System on page 13.) Assigning a Bank Tag to a Bank 1. Press MENU. 2. Press E to select SYSTEM DATA. 3. Press L or M to select BANK TAG and then press E. 4. Select the bank number to be tagged using L or M and then press E. 5. The cursor appears on the display. Rotate VFO to change letters, and then press L or M to shift right or left. Both capital and lower case letters are available, as well as numbers and punctuation marks. 6. After entering the desired text, press E or SELECT.
Remember! You can also use the VFO control for scrolling. To clear a mistake while entering the frequency, press (decimal key) repeatedly until the display is cleared.
Assigning a Text Tag to a Channel 1. Press MENU. 2. Press L or M to select CH DATA and then press E. 3. Select the channel number to be tagged using L or M and pressing E. You can also enter the channel number in using the keypad and then press E. 4. Press L or M to select ALPHA TAG and then pressing E. Note: If you have not stored a frequency in the channel, UNREGISTERED will appear in the display. 5. The cursor appears on the display. Rotate VFO to change letters, and press L or M to shift right or left. Both capital and lower case letters are available, as well as numbers and punctuation marks. 6. After entering the desired text, press E, SELECT or VFO. 21

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Beep Alert
The scanner can alert you with three rapid beeps at the beginning of a transmission on an assigned frequency. Assigning the beep alert to a channel This alert can be set on/off to every channel (or to every ID memory for Trunking mode). 1. Press MENU. 2. Press L or M to select CH DATA and then press E. 3. Select the channel number to be tagged using L or M and then press E. (You can also enter the channel number in using the keypad or VFO control and then press E.) 4. Press L or M to select BEEP ALERT and then press E. 5. Press L or M to select ON or OFF and then pressing E. Note: If NOT REGISTER appears, make sure a frequency is stored in the channel.

Programming Tips

Do not program a weather frequency into one of the channels, since weather channels transmit continuously. Use the Weather Search feature to select the weather information band. Group similar services into a bank. For example, program police frequencies in channels 1 through 10 and fire/emergency into channels 51 through 60, and so on. Put the frequency that you listen to the most or the most important frequency into a Priority channel. To quickly program a series of channels, start with the lowest number channel. For example, when you are programming five new frequencies into Channels 4 through 8, start with Channel 4. After you finish programming a channel, press MAN or HOLD/L to go to the next higher channel. Write down your programmed channels and frequencies and put in a convenient place in case of accidental reprogramming. If you want to download frequencies using the SmartScan feature, go to page 59 in this manual. Frequencies are rounded off according to the step of each channel. When you are overwriting a tagged channel with a new frequency, the previous alpha tag will be deleted. You must re-enter the alpha tag. When programming frequencies, a 2 second delay is set automatically but can be changed in the Channel Data menu.

When data skip is active, your scanner may pause momentarily on an unwanted signal but will resume searching in 2 or 3 seconds. Data Skip does not function during AM/WFM band scan, chain search, or WX search, Priority Scan, and Trunking Mode.

Frequency Skip

If a particular frequency continues to interrupt search scanning, it is possible to set your scanner to skip the frequency. To skip over a frequency, press L/O when stopping at the frequency you want to skip. Note: You can program up to 200 skip frequencies. The 201st skip frequency entered causes the first skipped frequency to unlock. If all frequencies in the search range are set to skip, it moves to Search hold mode. To resume searching, do as follows: 1) Cancel the frequency skip set, or 2) Reset the search frequency range. To cancel all skipped frequencies, press and hold L/O for 2 seconds.

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Storing Search Frequencies
You can quickly store any frequency you find during Search. Caution: You must select the channel in which you will store the frequency before entering the search mode. Otherwise, you may erase a stored frequency that you want to keep. 1. During search, press HOLD/L when the scanner stops at the frequency you want to store. 2. Press E to store the frequency in the channel you selected. Note: If the frequency you want to store exists already, WARNING appears on the display with a beep. (See Duplicate Frequency Alert on page 21.) After storing the frequency, it moves to the manual mode. 3. To store another frequency, select another channel for the new frequency by pressing MAN or HOLD/L or LIMIT/M. 4. Repeat steps 1 and 2 after starting search for all the Search frequencies you want to store.

Auto Storing

The scanner automatically stores searched frequencies if its auto store feature is activated. To make use of this feature, set a search range first (see page 28), then enter into the menu mode. 1. Press MENU. 2. Press L or M to select SEARCH EVENT and then press E. 3. Press L or M to select AUTO STORE and then press E. 4. Set to ON using L, M or VFO and pressing E. All bank numbers start flashing and AUTO is lit on the display. 5. Select the bank numbers you want to use with the keypad. The selected bank numbers stop flashing. Note: If the selected bank has no free channels to store, ERROR will appear on the display with a beep. 6. Press SRCH to start auto storing.The AUTO icon on the display begins to flash. Audio is muted during the storing process. 7. After the search has gone through the search range, press MAN or MENU to stop this feature. STORE END appears in the display. You may want to let it run through the search range again because during the first pass there may not be any transmissions at that particular time.

Trunked Search

Once you have programmed all the frequencies for a trunked system, SEARCH will let you immediately start hearing transmissions. It is suggested you try SEARCH mode first. 1. Press SCAN, and select the bank(s) you wish to receive, just as you select banks in conventional scanning. 2. Press TRUNK to enable trunked reception. The radio will seek and acquire the trunked system control channel. The scanner will now be in MONITOR mode. You will hear the control channel and see active talkgroups on the screen. You will not hear the voice transmissions in MONITOR mode.
Hint: MONITOR mode is an excellent way to observe system activity and determine
which talkgroups are most active. Locked-out IDs display during MONITOR mode. 3. Press SRCH to begin searching and receiving. You will hear talkgroups and see them on the screen.

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Talkgroups display differently in Motorola, EDACS and LTR systems. You should read the appropriate parts of this guide to understand the formats. The bottom line of the display indicates the Bank and the type of trunked system you are monitoring. You can change this to display a bank tag by using the System Menu. Regardless of the system, you won't know exactly who you are receiving until you listen for awhile, or refer to frequency guides or internet sites such as www.trunktracker.com. Of course, figuring out who each ID represents is half the fun of TrunkTracking. Later, when you learn more about a system, you will want to store lists of talkgroups. Then you can scan specific agencies and users, and use the many other features your radio provides.
ID Hold and Direct Entry ID Hold Mode
Just like in conventional Search, HOLD lets you pause ID Search on an interesting transmission without storing the talkgroup into memory. If you hear an interesting ID during SEARCH mode, and want to continue listening to it - Press HOLD/L to stop the search. HOLD appears in the display. If you want to listen to a specific ID, while in HOLD - Use the keypad to enter the ID you want and press HOLD/L. HOLD appears in the display. If you want to stop holding - Press SRCH to return to Search Mode.

ID Lockout

Programming Scan Lists During Search
To select a Scan List location and store an ID during Search mode, follow these steps: 1. When your scanner stops on an ID you want to store, press HOLD/L. 2. Press E, or use HOLD/L or LIMIT/M to select the Scan List memory location you want to change, then press E. 3. Press SRCH to return to Trunk Tracking Search mode.

Deleting a Stored ID

To delete a stored ID: a. Press MAN. b. Use HOLD/L and LIMIT/M to select the scan list location you want to delete. c. Press 0. d. Then press E.
Moving between Scan List Memories
There are a number of ways to step and move through your Scan List memories: 1. Press MAN repeatedly. 2. Or, press MAN, then press HOLD/L or LIMIT/M. 3. Or, press MAN, next press 0 - 9 (scan list number), then press 0 - 9 (memory position), for example. To move to Scan List 4, memory position 10, press: MAN, 4, 0, MAN

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I-Call (Motorola/EDACS)
I-Calls are direct unit-to-unit transmissions that are not heard by other system users. Your BC780XLT can receive these transmissions. How you receive I-Calls depends on whether you are in Search or Scan mode. During I-Call reception the display will show the Unit ID number of either the transmitting or receiving mobile unit, not a talkgroup. Unit IDs will display differently according to the type of trunked system, and will replace the 'n's shown here. EDACS and MOTOROLA TYPE 1 MOTOROLA TYPE 2 innnnn 7nnnnnn
Hint -- There are thousands of Unit IDs in typical systems, but relatively few I-Calls at a given moment, so it is normally best to let the scanner to receive any I-Call without trying to specify particular units.

I-CALLS IN SEARCH MODE

In SEARCH mode, the scanner default is that I-Call reception is OFF. This means that I-Calls will not be received until you program them to be ON. You have three choices for controlling I-Call reception. Through the Menu system, go to TRUNK DATA / BANK NO / I-CALL , and make your selection. The menu choices are:

1 OFF 2 ON

I-CALLs TALKGROUPS Not received Received normally YES Received normally

3 ONLY YES

NOT RECEIVED
This is the BC780XLT default Use this choice to receive I-Calls together with normal talkgroup traffic. Use this setting to listen to I-Calls, and block all talkgroup reception. For quick access to this mode, press then SRCH.

To scan a mix of trunking and conventional banks, select the banks you wish to be active with trunking off, then press TRUNK. The scanner will instantly begin scanning. If you have not programmed a trunking bank with talkgroup IDs, you will receive NO ID (----) message for that bank. You can switch to SEARCH mode and the scanner will search for any active IDs on the system.
Multi-Track Operational Details
When more than one trunk system is active (for example two or more trunked systems or a trunked system and one or more conventional frequencies), the radio jumps between systems/frequencies as follows:
TRUNK SCAN: The scanner moves to a trunked system and looks for IDs in your Scan List(s) for up to one second. If it finds no activity on your programmed talkgroups, it moves on to conventional channels in the same bank or to the next active bank.
If the scanner finds that a talkgroup in one of your active Scan Lists is on the air, you will begin to hear that communication and the scanner will of course display the proper talkgroup number and any alpha tag. When the communication ends, the scanner will wait for any delay period (such as a default of two seconds) for any further replies and, if none, the scanner will move to the conventional channels in the same bank or to the next bank. The scanner will not look for any other IDs within the same trunked system (as this would slow the scan process). Note that if you press SCAN while you are listening to one ID, the scanner will check to see if another ID in your Scan List is active. It will disregard the ID to which you were just monitoring. 47

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TRUNK SEARCH: This mode works similarly to TRUNK SCAN. If the scanner finds any (non-locked-out) ID when it checks the control channel, you will hear it. You will then hear any replies that follow within two seconds (or whatever delay you may have set). After that the scanner will move on and not continuously search the system for additional IDs (on busy systems you would never leave the system if this were the case). Note that if you press the SRCH key while monitoring one ID, the radio will check if any other IDs are active (it will disregard the ID you just left), and if none are active, it will move on. LIMIT/ M KEY: If you wish to exit a trunked system without waiting for the currently active talkgroup to finish its communication, press the LIMIT/M key. This is particularly helpful on very busy systems where many talkgroups are active and activity is frequent and longlasting. Pressing this key will move the scanner on to the conventional frequencies in the same bank or the next bank. SCAN & SEARCH Icons

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Remote (PC Control) Mode
Plug the scanner end of the RS232C straight interface cable into the remote port on the rear of your scanner. Plug the other end of the cable (DB-9 serial connector) into a personal computers serial port. A few PCs may require an adapter, most will not. You may need a DB-9 to DB-25 null modem adapter, or gender changer adapter, available at most computer stores. Of course, make sure your PC is turned on. To program your scanner: You can program and control your scanner remotely from a PC using third party software. After connecting the scanner to a PC, turn the radio on. To use the Remote (PC Control) mode, you must purchase third party software and use as directed. Make sure that your scanner is connected to the serial port of the PC using the RS232C straight cable. Start Remote Mode: Press E key for 2 seconds. REMOTE mode is selected. To distinguish from Normal operation mode, RMT icon appears. A unique feature of the BC780XLT is that all the front panel keys as well as the VFO on the radio remain operational in remote mode. For information on purchasing third party software to program and control your BC 780XLT, see the flyer included in the box with this radio. You can also go to www.bc780XLT.com on the Internet or call 1-800-722-6701 for more information on software custom-designed for your Bearcat BC780XLT. PC Control Parameter For your information: Transfer speed Start/Stop Data Length Parity bit Code Flow Control Return Code : 2400/4800/9600/19200 bps (adjustable) : 1 bit, 1 bit : 8 bit : None : ASCII code : None : Carriage Return only 65

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Change Transfer Speed To change transfer speed, enter into the menu mode. 1. Press MENU. 2. Press L or M to select SYSTEM DATA and then press E. 3. Press L or M to select PC CONTROL and then press E. 4. To change the transfer speed, press L or M. Then press E.

Clone Mode

You will need to purchase an RS232C cable and a null modem adapter. RS232C cables are available as male to male or male to female. Even if the cable you buy already has the Male to Male connectors, you will still have to have the null modem adapter. Below you will see the pin connections that are internal to a standard device. (These items are available at your local electronics stores.) To connect the scanner to scanner: Plug the male end of the RS232C straight interface cables into the remote port on the rear of one of the two scanners. Then connect the DB-9 to DB-9 null modem adapter to the cable. Then plug the the other side of the null modem adapter to the other scanner. (DB9 Gender changers are also available at your local electronics store.) Null Modem Adapter Pin connections

Female DBMale DB6&7 Not used
You can clone all of the programming of one BC780XLT into another, including frequencies, talkgroup IDs, alpha tags, delay settings, etc. After connecting the two scanners, turn the radios on. Prepare each scanner for clone mode as follows. 1. Press MENU. 2. Select SYSTEM DATA - CLONE using L, M or VFO and pressing E, SELECT or VFO. 3. Determine the scanner that has the frequency data that you want to transfer. This one must be set up as the Master Unit, and the other must be set as the Slave Unit. 4. On the scanner that is the Master Unit, select MASTER, then press E.

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5. On the scanner that is the Slave Unit, select SLAVE, then press E. 6. Press the SCAN key on both scanners. The data transfer is started from the Master Unit to the Slave Unit. During the data transfer, both scanners show the following displays.
When the data transfer is completed, COMPLETE displays.
If the data transfer is not successful, the following error message will appear.
Note: To clear ERROR, press. To exit the clone mode, press the menu key repeatedly.
Note: Once you have completed the cloning of the scanners, reset by turning the scanners off and then on again. This is particularly important to know if you wish to clone another scanner right away.

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Additional Features
The following additional features are designed for you to customize your scanner. Once these features have been turned on or off, they will remain as they are set until you reset them, even if you turn the scanner off and then on again. Dimmer To change brightness of the display:

1. Press MENU.

2. Press E to select SYSTEM DATA. 3. Press E to select DIMMER. 4. Select one from High-Medium-Off using L or M and then press E. Enter Lock You can lockout the keypad to prevent any accidental entry. To activate this feature: 1. Press MENU. 2. Press E to select SYSTEM DATA. 3. Press M to select ENTER LOCK then press E. 4. Set to ON using L or M and then press E. The icon appears on the display when locked. Key Beep Option To choose beep sound on or off: 1. Press MENU. 2. Press E to select SYSTEM DATA. 3. Press M to select KEY BEEP and then press E. 4. Set to ON or OFF using L or M and then press E. Screen Mask The trunk, frequency, receiving mode, and signal meter indications on the display are masked when this feature is activated. (except while in Search mode) This feature reduces the amount of displayed information. 1. Press MENU. 2. Press E to select SYSTEM DATA. 3. Press M to select SCREEN MASK and then press E. 4. Set to ON or OFF using L or M and then press E. 5. To quickly turn off the screen mask, press the VFO/SELECT control. 68

100 channels per second (conventional mode) 100 steps per second (Normal Search) 300 steps per second (Turbo Search) Maximum 3.0W (2.3W normal @ 10% THD) 8 ohms (56 mm outer diameter) AD580U AC Adapter (13.8V DC, 700mA) Telescopic Antenna (included) BNC type External Speaker (EXT.SP.) (3.5 mm) DC 13.8 V Power Jack, (center is positive) Remote Control (REMOTE) Jack (DB-9) Tape Recorder Out (TAPE OUT) Jack (3.5 mm) 6-15/16 in. (W) x 6-9/16 in. (D) x 2-3/8 in. (H) 176.5mm (W) x 167mm (D) x 61mm (H)
Weight: 1.33 kg (41.96 oz.) Features and specifications are all subject to change without notice. 73

bc780xlt glossary.qxd

4:52 PM

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Glossary of Terms

Glossary of terms

Alpha tag - This term refers to an alphanumeric text tag that you can enter to describe the individual frequencies that you have programmed. Rather than having to associate a specific frequency to the individuals that are using it, you can enter the actual name of the group. This will eliminate the need for memorizing the groups frequency. Attenuator - This scanner comes with a feature to attenuate or reduce the signal strength. The built-in attenuator can be turned on specific frequencies to prevent strong signals from overloading the scanner input, possibly damaging the scanner or missing other transmissions due to the repeated stopping on the stronger signal. Clone - This term identifies the ability to set up a duplicate scanner. This function allows you to clone all the programming information, including frequencies, talkgroups and alpha tags as well as bank settings and other parameters from one BC780XLT to another. Control Channel - A Control Channel is the frequency within a trunking system that runs the system. On Control Channels (sometimes called Data Channels) you will hear a buzzsaw sound. For the most part, it is the sound of the systems central computer directing talkgroups to particular voice (working) frequencies within the system. CTCSS - Continuous Tone Controlled Squelch System- refers to a system where the radio receivers are equipped with tone responsive devices which allow audio signals to appear at the audio output, select voice processing such as scrambling or control repeater functions only when a carrier modulated with a specific tone is received. This method may be used to restrict access to the repeater or receiver, or reduce interference where several stations with output frequencies in close proximity of each other make it difficult to hear the conversation you are interested in. With CTCSS squelching, you can eliminate the possibility of hearing unwanted conversations by selecting one of the 38 standard subaudible tones. You will only hear those transmissions that have been programmed on specific frequencies with the specific subaudible tone that you have selected. DCS - (Digital Controlled Squelch) refers to a system where the radio receivers are equipped with data burst responsive devices which allow audio signals to appear at the audio output, select voice processing such as scrambling or control repeater functions only when a carrier modulated with specific data burst is received. This method may be used to restrict access to the repeater or receiver, or reduce interference where several stations with output frequencies in close proximity of each other make it difficult to hear the conversation you are interested in. With DCS squelching, you can eliminate the possibility of hearing unwanted conversations by selecting one of the 104 standard data burst subaudible tones. You will only hear those transmissions that have been programmed on specific frequencies with the specific subaudible tone that you have selected.

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Enter Lock - This is the term used for locking the keypad. This prevents accidental re-programming of channels and talkgroups entered into memory. The default setting is off. When ENTER LOCK is enabled, the following functions will be disable: Enter or modify the Channel frequency Enter or modify the Tone information Enter or modify the Trunking ID. ( this can be modified through the menu screen.) FIPS codes - For the purpose of broadcasting weather information, the NWS (National Weather Service) has divided the United States into regions by state and county (or parish, where applicable) then assigned a 6 digit FIPS code to identify each county or parish. The first digit represents the county subdivision, the next two represents the state, and the last three digits represent the county or parish. Your scanner can receive all SAME alert signals broadcasted within about a 50-mile radius of where you install it. So if you only want to hear the counties that are nearest to your area, you can choose specifically the FIPS code of areas that you want. This lets you avoid hearing warnings that apply to an area within a 50-mile radius but not necessarily in your county or parish. I-Call - Most communications within a trunked system are group calls where one unit (such as a dispatcher) communicates with all the units within her group (all the patrol vehicles on the east side of town, for example). The units within this group comprise what is typically known as a talkgroup. There are some communications which are direct unit-to-unit conversations where one individual converses with another individual. The call is initiated by a radio and is directed to another single radio. Within the system, no one outside of these two users hears the conversation. This call is referred to as I-Call. Key Beep - This is another term for the tone you hear as a keypad acknowledgement beep. The default setting is on. If you have turned the Key Beep off, you now have a silent keypad. You will not hear a tone each time you press a key. NWR S.A.M.E. Weather Alert - In 1994, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began broadcasting coded signals called FIPS (Federal Information Processing System) codes along with the standard weather broadcasts for stations in your area. These codes identify an emergency and the specific geographic area (such as your county) affected by the emergency. The scanner was developed with SAME (Specific Area Messaging Encoding) technology. This allows you scanner to receive, interpret, and display the information about the codes so you can determine if the emergency might affect you area.Each FIPS code identifies a specific geographic area ( defined by the National Weather Service) so your scanner sounds an alert only when a weather emergency is declared in those locations. This helps you more efficiently track the weather conditions in and around your area. PC Control - This term is associated with the ability to program frequencies and other useful information via a computer by means of the Uniden national database or third party software. You can change the transfer speed on the scanner needed to be compatible with your PC. (See page 65) Scan List - When you designate a bank to be a trunking bank, your scanner sets up 10 Scan Lists, which are simply list of your favorite IDs. Each list can contain up to 10 IDs, so you can store a total of 100 IDs for each trunk bank. These lists are designed to help you organize the trunking system users into categories.

CANNER EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT AND ACCESSORIES FOR YOUR MONITORING POST Bob Parnass parnass@megsinet.com http://www.megsinet.com/parnass
Uniden BC780XLT Trunk Tracker III
e reviewed the Uniden BC9000XLT in March 1995. Its alpha labels, CTCSS decoding, tuning/channel select knob, and wide frequency coverage are major assets. The number of trunked radio systems has increased steadily since 1995, fueling demand for trunk tracking scanners. Uniden responded with a succession of tracking models, but none of them provides the same flexible step size and mode choices, alpha tags, and wide frequency coverage as the original BC9000XLT. The new BC780XLT combines the assets of the BC9000XLT with enhanced trunk tracking capability in a downsized cabinet. It is fitted with a DB9 serial port connector and can be controlled or downloaded by a personal computer without using a special level converter. The BC780XLT includes an additional narrow bandwidth FM mode (NFM), as found in the ICOM IC-R8500. It reduces adjacent channel interference and compensates the audio for signals modulated with lower deviation. Other improvements include Weather Alert with FIPS code programming, a mute capability, and a beep alert which emits 3 soft beeps at the start and end of transmissions on selected channels or talk group IDs.
numbers. Theres no easy way of knowing the proper order unless you find out from someone familiar with the system or devise the sequence through experimentation. Each trunked bank supports up to 10 lists of 10 talk group IDs each. The BC780XLT doesnt warn of duplicate talk group IDs. You can assign a descriptive alphanumeric label to each talk group ID. Talk groups IDs can be saved during a search or directly entered via the keypad without actually listening to the system.
trunked systems. You cannot search one trunked system while scanning the talk group lists of another. After 10 seconds of inactivity during a talk group scan, the BC780XLT hunts for (reacquires) the control channel. We didnt find this to be a minor distraction, nor a problem. You can program and link up to 10 search ranges, use tone squelch while searching, and lock out up to 200 frequencies during limit searches. A silent Auto Store facility saves active, unique frequencies in one or more memory banks. Service Search provides 10 banks of factory preprogrammed frequencies and up to 100 lockouts: rail, air, CB, FRS, special emergency, public safety, news media, TV, ham, and marine.
CTCSS, DCS, and Carrier Squelch
Unlike the PRO-2067 and PRO-92, the BC780XLT represents EDACS talk group IDs using the AFS (Agency-Fleet-Subfleet) convention. This affords the flexibility of monitoring related sets of talk groups in the same agency, fleet, or subfleet by specifying just the first few digits they have in common. An I-Call is a station-to-station conversation not heard by other users. The BC780XLT permits monitoring of I-Calls in Motorola and EDACS systems. You can exclude I-Calls, include I-Calls, or hunt for them. Our BC780XLTs carrier squelch action has too much hysteresis, and about 90 degrees of play in the squelch control. Squelch threshold settings vary by band because our scanners background noise level differs by as much as 7 dB between 40 and 460 MHz using the default modes. The squelch tail is 10 ms long on some signals and longer on others. The BC780XLT provides both CTCSS and DCS (digital controlled) squelch decoding and display. The CTCSS squelch opens on the proper signal faster than our BC9000XLT, which clips the first part of a transmission. The penalty for using CTCSS is a slower scan speed when skipping over signals without a matching CTCSS tone. The practical scan speed slowed dramati-

Memory

The 500 memory channels are divided into 10 banks of 50. The BC780XLT warns if you try to program a duplicate frequency, though you can override the warning. Channels and banks can be labeled, and both labels are displayed when receiving a conventional signal. Other per-channel parameters include attenuation, tuning step, mode (AM, FM, WFM, NFM), CTCSS and DCS tone squelch, rescan delay, and record enable. The small, multipurpose VFO/Select knob has a detent action and can be pressed like a key. It can step through the memory channels or vary the frequency, as in the BC9000XLT. The BC780XLT doesnt remember a distinct VFO frequency when changing the knob function between memory channel selector and VFO. A handy repeater offset feature permits you to monitor a repeater input by pressing the VFO/Select knob.

Scanning and Searching

Rescan parameters may be programmed differently for each channel, search bank, and trunked system. The delay may be set at 0, 1, 2, or 4 seconds or an infinite setting which terminates the scan when the BC780XLT receives its first signal. Three ruthless rescan settings are provided which resume scanning after 2, 5, or 10 seconds, even if the current frequency or talk group is still active. You can scan combinations of conventional frequency banks and trunked system talk group lists, though theres a brief delay when the BC780XLT starts scanning a trunked bank. Alternatively, you can scan conventional frequencies and search through
Programming Trunked Systems
Banks may be designated as Motorola Type 1 or 2, EDACS wide and narrow, or LTR trunked. The Motorola Type 2 category is further subdivided by band. Only one trunked system may be programmed per bank. Programming EDACS and LTR systems is tricky because the frequencies must be programmed in the proper channel

MONITORING TIMES

March 2001
cally from 69 channels/sec to 17 channels/sec when our BC780XLT heard, but skipped over a signal without the proper CTCSS. The CTCSS display feature is sluggish compared to the almost instantaneous PRO-2067 display. Our BC780XLT takes 15 seconds to step through 38 CTCSS tones then listen for a DCS code, looking for a match. The tone finder scheme doesnt work well when transmissions are brief.
Table 2: BC780XLT Birdies (MHz)
29.7, 50.16, 134.1, 163.8, 245.65, 245.7, 348.95, 349.0, 378.95, 379.0, 806.05, 820.8, 895.5, 925.2, 955.2
ting and we measured its voltage at 15 dB below the external speaker output. The full, lighted keypad is easy to see, but the information packed LCD display uses tiny digits for active banks.
Usability and Performance
Our BC780XLT is sensitive more sensitive in the 860 MHz range than our PRO-2067 (s/n 00315). We found only 15 birdies (fig. 2). It is well behaved on an outdoor antenna, though we hear a few intermod products in the VHF-high band produced by a strong 158.7 MHz pager mixing with a NOAA weather transmitter. Our BC9000XLT receives the same intermod but our ICOM IC-R8500 does not. The BC780XLT has many more features than keys on its keypad, so you set parameters by navigating an extensive menu system up to four levels deep. Enabling the attenuator or choosing a rescan delay for a channel requires a multi-key

sequence instead of a single key press. We found the menu system intuitive and easy to learn. The instruction manual documents the menu in clear, concise diagrams. Our BC780XLTs audio quality is acceptable, but tinny. We prefer to use an external speaker that can be pointed toward the listener. Two 1/8" jacks on the rear panel are provided for external speaker and reduced level audio output for recording. The reduced level audio output can be enabled on a per channel and per talk group ID basis. Its level varies with the volume control set-

Bottom Line

Except for a fussy squelch, our BC780XLT is an excellent performer the top dog in trunking scanners. It is packed with most of the features a scanner user would want and they are thoughtfully implemented. The user manual is well written and teaches better than the PRO-2067 manual. Even so, the BC780XLT is an advanced model. An inexperienced consumer may find programming EDACS and LTR trunked systems too challenging.

Table 1: Measurements

Uniden BC780XLT Trunk Tracker III s/n 06000019 Grove price $349.95 Uniden America Corp. 4700 Amon Carter Blvd. Fort Worth, TX 76155 tel. (800)554-3988 Frequency coverage (MHz): 25 - 512, 806 - 956, and 1240 - 1300 (USA version, cell bands blocked) Step sizes (kHz): 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, and auto Modes: AM, NFM, FM, WFM FM modulation acceptance: 13 kHz Intermediate Frequencies (MHz): 380.7/244, 45/10.7, and 0.45 Image rejection due to 1st IF: 45 dB @ 40 MHz 60 dB @ 15 MHz 67 dB @ 460 MHz 77 dB @ 806 MHz A ttenuator: 5 dB @ 40 MHz 12 dB @ 155 MHz 9 dB @ 460 MHz 20 dB @ 860 MHz A udio output power, measured at ext. speaker jack: 2.3 W @ 10% distortion Tape output audio: 15 dB below ext. speaker audio Squelch tail length (1uV @155 MHz): 10 ms. Practical memory scan speed: 69 channels/sec. Current consumption @ 13.8 VDC off: off: lless than 6 uA scanning (lamps off): 163 mA full volume (lamps off): 242 mA lamps: 100 mA additional
March 2001 MONITORING TIMES