Uniden Bc250d Widenband Scanner Owners Manual

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5. Replace the cover and press down until it clicks into place,
and then turn ON the scanner.
APCO  P25  CARD  INSTALLEDappears on the
display.
Installation is complete. You can monitor APCO Project 25
systems.
To use the P-25 card, you must program each channel for
Conventional mode or Trunking mode.
- Conventional mode–See “Storing Frequencies into Channels
in Menu Mode” pages 26-27.
- Trunking mode –“Programming and Receiving Digital and
Trunked Systems” pages 49-51.
Precautions for Installing the BCi25D Card
1. Do not touch the BCi25D card without first removing the
static electricity from your body. To do this, touch any
metal object to release static electricity build-up before you
touch the BCi25D card.
2. Turn OFF the scanner, before inserting the BCi25D card
into the slot.
3. Hold the BCi25D card by its edges when inserting it into
the slot.
4. Do not touch any of the terminals. The BCi25D is a
sensitive electrical device.
5. Do not operate with an open battery compartment cover.
This exposes the circuitry to dust and other environmental
particles that causes the unit to function improperly. 
6. When you remove the BCi25D card, pull out the card by
the ribbon. 
Turning ON/OFF the APCO P-25 Card
Once the P-25 Card has been installed, the P-25 Card will be
actively turned “ON”. To turn the P-25 Card “ON” or “OFF”
follow these instructions:
1. Press MENU/BACK.
2. Select 3:SYSTEM  OPTION/ 0:P-25  CARDby
rotating the VFOand pressing E.
3. Select 0:P-25  CARD/ 1:ENABLEor 2:DISABLE
by rotating the VFOand pressing Efor your desired
operation.
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							APCO P-25 Sound Quality Fine Tuning
With each APCO Project 25 system, particularly at 800MHz,
the sound quality (C4FM Demodulation Threshold) may need
to be fine tuned specifically for that system.  If the scanner is
not adjusted correctly, the P-25 voice transmissions will sound
robotic or unintelligible.
To adjust the sound quality to match the P-25 system you
want to monitor follow these four steps:
1. While monitoring a specific APCO P-25 frequency,
press the HOLD/MANkey.
Note:In the Trunking mode, press the TRUNKkey
instead of the HOLD/MANkey.
2. Press and hold the number 9key.
3. On Line 1 of the screen you will see SOUND
QULTY:  0050(for example).
This shows the Sound Quality. The lower the level the
better the Sound Quality. For better Sound Quality
rotate the VFOup or down. As the threshold adjusts in
increments of 50 at the bottom of the screen watch the
Sound Quality level increase or decrease and continue
to rotate the VFOuntil you have achieved the lowest
Sound Quality level. 
Note:• When APCO P-25 signal is not received,
SOUND  QULTY:  ****appears on the
display.
• You must have the BCi25D card installed and
have an APCO P-25 signal during this
adjustment.
- A chart showing the Threshold Adjustment
Range is listed below.
Threshold Adjustment Range
Note:• The above Min and Max values are
the calculated values that can be
78
SOUND QULTY:0050
 867.8375 P25
  Low  Mid  Upp
 0533 1985 3342 
Lower Mid UpperBandMin Default Max Default Min Default Max800MHz 33 533 1883 1985 1992 3342 3842UHF 33 633 1883 1985 1992 3342 3842VHF 330 930 2130 2147 2264 3464 4064
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assigned theoretically, and the values
are not to guarantee the operation of
the unit.
•  The Mid threshold value will not change while
adjusting the upper and lower limits.
4. Once you have adjusted the Sound Quality to the lowest possible level, press the  Ekey.
Press the  RSMkey to exit the Sound Quality
Adjustment Mode.
* To cancel the adjusted threshold level, press  (Decimal) key.
* The adjusted threshold level for the current frequency can be set back to the default value by pressing and
holding the  (Decimal) key.
* When you change the Sound Quality it affects all other APCO P-25 signals in that same band. (UHF,
VHF, or 800MHz)
* You cannot enter the  “Sound Quality Fine Tuning ”
mode when the scanner is operating as follows:
1) The receiving frequency is 0 MHz.
2) Air Band Frequency
3) BCi25D card is not inserted
4) BCi25D / P-25 monitoring is disabled
.
.
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Remote Interface
You can communicate and program your BC250D in
numerous ways with peripheral devices using the Remote
Interface Cable port. This radio offers the following modes:
❖PC Control Mode
Program and control your scanner from a PC using
Uniden’s E-Scanner software.
❖Clone Mode
Clone all the frequencies, trunking talkgroups, and fleet
maps programmed into your scanner to another BC250D
scanner or BC785D.
PC Control Mode
To connect Scanner to PC:
Plug the smaller end of the supplied Remote Interface Cable
into the remote port in accordance with the direction of the 
mark which is on the right side of the scanner. Plug the other
end of the cable (DB-9 serial connector) into a personal
computer’s serial port. A few PC’s may require an adapter,
most will not. 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 Uniden’s E-Scanner software.
After connecting the scanner to a PC, turn the scanner ON.
To use the Remote (PC Control) mode, you must install
Uniden’s E-Scanner software and use as directed. Make sure
that your scanner is connected to the serial port of the PC
using the Remote Interface Cable.
HOLD/
MAN
SCAN
CH/
FRQ
MENU/BACK
L/O
.SELECT REVERSETRUNK
RSM
E
SEARCH SERVICE
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Start Remote Mode and Change Transfer Speed:
Through the Menu system, select
3:SYSTEM  OPTION/ 5:PC
CONTROLby rotating the VFOand
pressing E. To start Remote mode,
choose from the transfer speed list
except for 5:OFF.
A unique feature of the BC250D is that all the front panel keys
as well as the VFOon the radio remain operational in Remote
mode.
For information on purchasing cables, connectors, and E-
Scanner software to program and control your BC250D, you
can contact 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)
scanner.uniden.com
PC Control Parameter
For your information:
Transfer speed : 2400/4800/9600/19200 bps (adjustable)
Start/Stop : 1 bit, 1 bit
Data Length : 8 bit
Parity bit : None
Code : ASCII code
Flow Control : None
Return Code : Carriage Return only
Clone Mode
You will need to purchase a Gender Changer and a null
modem adapter. Gender Changer cables are available as
male to male or male to female. Even if the Gender Changer
you buy already has the male to male connectors, you will still
have to have the null modem adapter. On the next page you
will see the pin connections that are internal to a standard
device. (These items are available at your local electronics
stores.)
SPEED
3:9600 bps
4:19200 bps
5:OFF
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To connect the Scanner to Scanner:
Plug the smaller end of each of the
supplied Remote Interface Cables into the
remote ports in accordance with the
direction of the  marks which are on the
right sides of each of the two scanners.
Plug the other ends of the cables (DB-9
serial connector) together using a DB-9 to
DB-9 null modem adapter, and a Gender
Changer Cable available at most computer stores.
You can clone all of the programming of one BC250D 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/BACK.
2. Select 3:SYSTEM  OPTION/6:CLONEby rotating
the VFOand pressing E.
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.
5. On the scanner that is the Slave
Unit, select SLAVE, then press E.
HOLD/
MANSCAN
CH/
FRQ
MENU/BACK
L/O
.SELECT REVERSETRUNK
RSM
E
HOLD/
MANSCAN
CH/
FRQ
MENU/BACK
L/O
.SELECT REVERSETRUNK
RSM
E
SEARCH SERVICESEARCH SERVICE
CLONE
SELECT UNIT
MASTER
SLAVE
CLONE
SELECT UNIT
MASTER
SLAVE
Female
DB9Male
DB9
14
23
32
46 & 1
55
64
78
87
9Not used
Null Modem Adapter 
Pin connections
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6. Press SCANon both scanners. 
The data transfer begins from the
Master Unit to the Slave Unit.
During the data transfer, both
scanners show the following
displays.
When the data transfer is complete,
COMPLETEdisplays.
If the data transfer is not successful,
the following error message will
appear.
Note: To clear ERROR, press  (decimal key).
To exit the Clone mode, press MENU/BACK
repeatedly.
Note: Once you have completed the cloning of the scanners,
reset the scanners by turning the scanners OFF and
then ON again. This is particularly important to know if
you wish to Clone another scanner right away.
.
CLONE
== >
MASTER UNIT
CLONE
    COMPLETE
MASTER UNIT
CLONE
ERROR
MASTER UNIT
CLONE
== <
SLAVE UNIT
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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/BACK.
2. Select 3:SYSTEM  OPTION/ 1:DIMMER/
1:DIMMER  LIGHTby rotating the VFOand pressing
E.
3. Select one from 1:HIGHor 2:MEDIUMby rotating the
VFOand pressing E.
To change lighting time:
1. Press MENU/BACK.
2. Select 3:SYSTEM  OPTION/ 1:DIMMER/
2:DIMMER  TIMEby rotating the VFOand pressing E.
3. Select 1:15  SECONDSor 2:INFINITEby rotating
the VFOand pressing E.
Enter Lock
You can lockout the keypad to prevent re-programming of
channels, talkgroups and tones (see page 92).
1. Press MENU/BACK.
2. Select 3:SYSTEM  OPTION/ 4:ENTER  LOCKby
rotating the VFOand pressing E.
3. Select 1:ONby rotating the VFOand pressing E.
Key Lock
Key Lock prevents accidental key entries except the following
keys (KEYLOCK, HOLD/MANand RSM).
1. Press and hold for 2 seconds to turn KEYPAD
LOCK  ONor KEYPAD  LOCK  OFF, and then you will
hear two beeps.
If you press any key (except KEYLOCK, HOLD/MANand
RSM) when Key Lock is ON, KEYPAD  LOCK  ON
appears on the display.
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Key Beep Option
To choose key beep sound 1:ONor 2:OFF:
1. Press MENU/BACK.
2. Select 3:SYSTEM  OPTION/ 3:KEY  BEEPby
rotating the VFOand pressing E.
3. Select 1:ONor 2:OFFby rotating the VFOand pressing
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.
Note: While Screen Mask is ON, Enter Lock is active.
1. Press MENU/BACK.
2. Select 3:SYSTEM  OPTION/ 2:SCREEN  MASKby
rotating the VFOand pressing E.
3. Select 1:ONor 2:OFFby rotating the VFOand pressing
E.
Reverse Mode
This key will allow you to observe the reverse frequency of
the repeater. While pressing REVERSE, the standard pair
frequency will be displayed. For a list of the standard pair
frequencies, refer to the table Reverse List in the Appendix.
If the frequency that you have chosen does not have an offset
frequency, the display will indicate ERRORand NO
REVERSE. This feature does not work in the Weather
Search mode.
Channel Step Selection
You can set channel steps, 5 kHz - 100 kHz or Auto, in
Conventional mode or Chain Search mode. The default
receive mode should be the proper mode setting in almost 
all cases. You may wish to set some VHF channels for NFM
mode, depending on any adjacent channel interference
problems. WFM is typically only used for broadcast
frequencies such as TV audio or FM radio.
See STEPSin Menu Description for details.
Mute On/Off
To manually turn ON the Mute function, press and hold MUTE
until MUTE  ONis displayed. 
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You will not hear any audio. This feature does not function in
the WX Alert mode, because the audio is already muted. To
turn it OFF, press and hold MUTEagain.
Receiving Mode Selection
You can also set the receiving mode, AM or FM etc., in
Conventional mode or Chain Search mode.
See MODEin Menu Description for details.
Frequency and Channel Tuning with the VFO
Control
The VFOknob can be used for stepping through frequencies
or stepping through memory channels (for Conventional
channels or Talkgroup ID Scan Lists).
To switch the setting for the VFOcontrol, press and hold
HOLD/MANfor 2 seconds. This will change modes from
Channel to Frequencies or Frequencies to Channels.
1. In Conventional mode, when the setting for the VFOis
channel, rotate the VFOto move up (to step up through
channels) or down (to step down through channels). If you
are in Trunk Manual mode, you will step through Scan List
memory locations.
2. In Chain Search mode, when the setting for the VFOis
frequency, rotate the VFOto move up to step up through
frequencies sequentially or to down to step down through
frequencies. To change the step, you will need to go into the
Chain Search menu and adjust the step for the desired
memory location.
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