Uniden BearTracker Scanner (BCT15X) with 9,000 Channels, TrunkTracker III Technology, Base/Mobile Design, Close Call RF Capture Technology with Location-Based Scanning, - Black Color

First of all I've only owned one scanner in my life and it was the old style non-trunking Type scanner.. Also like other reviewers have said I would be playing it safe and if you plan to order this make sure you order it from Amazon.com directly that way you know you will definitely get the model you paid for BCT 15 X.. There is a difference between the BCT 15 and the BCT 15 X!! And it's funny that the BCT 15 X is cheaper then the other model.. Okay on with the scanner absolutely love this thing.. I had no idea on how to do trunking or what it was or how to program it nothing!! I did my research.. If you go to YouTube and type in Uniden BCT 15 X there is a handful of videos that show you how to program this manually enough to get you started with basic trunking. I live in Portland Oregon where here we use Motorola type II trunking Systems. I watch the videos off and on for about a week and did my research for the Frequencies and talk group IDs in my area in Portland. And just watch the videos on YouTube also the bcd996xt scanner Programs basically exactly the same way as the BCT 15 X .. I learned that from the videos to. Finally I went ahead and ordered it When I got it the first thing I had to do was go into the system make my System for what I was going to scan in Oregon. Again just watch the videos for a few times off and on and it's not hard at all! Apparently most places now in bigger cities use 800 MHz trunking. So I had to re-band the scanner for 800 MHz. Keep in mind I have no computer to hook this thing up to For doing software updates or programming it. The re-banding took me literally maybe a minute and a half. Again YouTube video shows you exactly how to do it. Then I typed in my 4 control channel frequencies. Then I typed in a few talk group IDs that I want to try out first to listen to. And hit the scan button.. and there you have it I was receiving my Portland trucking system PD..fire Departments.. it works great and it wasn't hard to do.. As for the sound quality of this thing is absolutely unbelievably clear. It comes of all the accessories and wires and cables to use it in your car. or use it as a home base unit which is what I'm doing with it.. I've read some of the reviews here and Some people say that they weren't sure on how the sound quality would be if you used it as a base unit because yes the speaker is on the bottom of the unit!! But they Forget to mention that it comes with a bracket that is used for mounting in your car or truck and it just so happens that same bracket works for your base unit sitting on your table. It props up the unit at an angle that is adjustable. It works great on any surface I keep mine on my nightstand next to my bed. And I can angle the unit how I wish. Sound quality?? you can't even tell the speaker is on the bottom!! And the unit looks good to.. One of the best toys I've ever bought for $180.00 I like the fact that you can put names pretty much for everything. In the system. Name it how you want to name it whether it be the system name the scanner frequency name what you're listening to it's very easy to use the Alpha tag naming on this!! It does take a little while to get used to how everything works like pressing the buttons and where everything is at. If you go online there's a very cool free user manual that you can download in PDF format or just look it up on the Internet and bookmark it. Type in easier to read BCT 15 X user manual. The way that the manual is laid out is very cool because when it talks about something you can hit the highlighted area and it takes you right to that section on the how-to and back again to where you left off reading. Because this thing does not come with pretty much any type of user manual. Like I said I've owned one scanner in my life and it was the old-style and I was up and listening to this scanner in about less than 15 minutes!! YouTube YouTube YouTube that's all you have to do!! And you can get the frequencies for your area and the talk group IDs off the Internet I went to radio reference.com.. This is Definitely the best scanner out there that I can imagine on the market!! Don't be intimidated by the scanner and the people saying that it's a nightmare to manually program..those people chances are they didn't do any type of research or even bother to try and find online How to videos YouTube!!!!! Anyways great scanner easy to MANUALLY!! Program If you just take some time while you're waiting for it to show up on your doorstep to Watch some videos and do some research About what's used in your area. You'll absolutely love this thing once you get used to working it.. All this from somebody who has only owned one Low end old-style scanner in his lifetime Short life I'm only 36.. Just make sure you buy it from Amazon only!!! That way you know you're getting what you paid for!! UPDATE DAME THIS THING IS AMAZING!!!! It really upsets me that people I'm not going to mention names just scroll to the bottom of the screen towards the last one star review. Complaining That it can't pick up anything even if you're sitting in front of the station. Well newsflash it's Not going to pick up anything even if you're inside the freaking police station If you don't have it Programmed right!!!! This is only my First high-end trunking scanner. And like I said earlier I don't even own a computer to Program this thing I did all manually.. Anyway I can't believe how great this scanner is. Law-enforcement I get to hear every thing and then some! I hear Stakeouts .swat team. Police pursuits.. Undercover operations.. A lot of stuff that's pretty crazy. And in my town . listening to the scanner is almost more entertaining than Watching my TV!!! I've owned this scanner now for about a month. And I feel like A pro scanner enthusiast.. You simply have to buy this Scanner!!! There is a little bit of a learning curve.. But if you're willing to Just take the time To do a little research.. Believe me you will be rewarded greatly For your efforts.. I am just sorry that I waited so long to pull the trigger on buying This scanner...

I give the product a solid ten stars and the documentation zero, which nets this a five star review. Like other reviewers stated, this is a sturdily constructed unit but the user's manual is a joke. When I put the CD into my computer, it would not auto run. OK, I tried to run it manually and it threw up all sorts of errors. Even when I tried to open each HTML file individually. Why on God's green earth isn't it in PDF format? Anywayz... ;)Don't waste your time setting the "State" for preprogrammed frequencies, as you will most likely get everything that is over fifty miles away, but nothing close. Yes, this was my case. And since there is no usable documentation, I started pushing buttons and messed up a lot, but also learned a lot. There is a "reset" option in the menu so if you get it really messed up, you can return it back to factory settings. This is a good feature!Next, I figured that I would connect it to my computer to program it as it did come with a cable. Well, I guess my computer is NOT old enough because it doesn't have a serial port; only USB. At this point, I took a deep breath and ordered a serial to USB cable, which will take two days. Woo hoo!!So, I started pressing buttons again and found that if you press POL and HP enough you turn off the auto scanning and it will tell you "nothing to scan". No problem. Next, press the hold/resume knob to the right. Go to your computer and either google "radio frequencies" or just go to radioreference.com. like I did. When there click on the "databases" tab at the top of the screen and then click on your state. Then click on your county and you will be shown all the frequencies for your county. I then typed in the first frequency and then hit the "E/yes" button. You can also press the "push/function" button if you like. You don't need to enter all the zeros that follow like say 565.90000... entering 565.9 will do the same thing. You will be asked if you want to save and just use the "E/yes" button. You will then see other options like edit frequency and many more. Turn the push/func knob to the right until you see "new channel". Press push/func again and it will allow you to enter your next frequency. Repeat this until you enter all the radios you wish to scan. I entered all for my area an it only took like five minutes. After the first two or three, you get the knack of it and entering is really easy and fast.I hope this helps at least one person as this is a loaded scanner and once I/you learn all the whistles and bells it will be an invaluable tool. I just gave this info to help those like me that wanted to get it up and running with little aggravation as we mainly care about "local" radio chatter.Update: Get the Serial to USB cable and also pay the $15 at radioreference.com because while you can do all this yourself, it will save you a ton of time and it is well worth the cost. Also, they replaced the frequency numbers with the actual service (instead of ###.##### you see city/service). This in it's self is a time saver as you don't have to either memorize the frequencies or keep looking them up to see exactly where the call is coming from. I also got all the frequencies from all the surrounding counties where I live and assigned them all a unique number so going from one scan range to another is as easy as pressing a button.

There is a learning curve with this unit. The quickest and easiest way to program it is with the Freescan software. You will need a 9 pin female serial to USB cable for the back port or a Mini 4P to USB cable for the front port. There is a few good tutorials on YouTube to help with the setup & programing. With the use of an outdoor antenna I am satisfied with the performance of this model.I have this unit set up to stream to both YouTube & Broadcastify on a dedicated PC. The audio line out sends perfect audio to the pc while I can still listen to the built in speaker. Both serial ports are being used with the front port used to send alpha tags to Broadcastify and the back port to control the scanner remotely and to update channels with Freescan software.