Precautions Before you use this scanner, please read and observe the following. IMPORTANT! This scanning radio has been manufactured so that it will not tune to the radio frequencies assigned by the FCC for cellular telephone usage. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, as amended, makes it a federal crime to intentionally intercept cellular or cordless telephone transmissions or to market this radio when altered to receive them. The installation, possession, or use of this scanning radio in a motor vehicle may be prohibited, regulated, or require a permit in certain states, cities, and/or local jurisdictions. Your local law enforcement officials should be able to provide you with information regarding the laws in your community. Changes or modifications to this product not expressly approved by Uniden, or operation of this product in any way other than as detailed by this Operating Guide, could void your authority to operate this product. EARPHONE WARNING! Be sure to use only a monaural earphone with this scanner. You can also use an optional 32 stereo headset. Use of an incorrect earphone or stereo headset might be potentially hazardous to your hearing. The output of the phone jack is monaural. Set the volume to a comfortable audio level coming from the speaker before plugging in the monaural earphone or a stereo headset of the proper impedance (32 ). Otherwise, you might experience some discomfort or possible hearing damage if the volume suddenly becomes too loud because of the volume control or squelch control setting. This might be particularly true of the type of earphone that is placed in the ear canal. WARNING! Uniden does not represent this unit to be waterproof. To reduce the risk of fire or electrical shock, do not expose this unit to rain or moisture. Motorola®, SMARTNET®, PL®, Private Line®, and PRIVACY PLUS® are registered trademarks of Motorola, Inc. LTR® is a registered trademark of E.F. Johnson Co. EDACS® is a registered trademark of M/A-COM Private Radio Systems, Inc. Uniden® and Bearcat® are registered trademarks of Uniden America Corporation. TrunkTrackerTM and Trunk TrackingTM are proprietary trademarks of Uniden America Corporation. Other trademarks used throughout this manual are the property of their respective holders. BC898T Controls and Display 1 2 3 4 TA 10 9 8 7 6 5 6. Numeric Keypad 7. Scan/Manual Keys 8. Mode Keys 9. Search Keys 10. Line/External Speaker Jacks 1. Programming and Status Keys 2. Display 3. Bank Keys 4. Squelch/Volume Controls 5. Rotary Tuner Contents The FCC Wants You To Know ........................................................................................... 3 Scanning Legally ........................................................................................................ 3 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 4 Feature Highlights ............................................................................................................. 5 About This Manual ...................................................................................................... 6 Understanding Scanning ................................................................................................... 7 Understanding Banks and Channels .......................................................................... 7 What is Scanning? ....................................................................................................... 7 What is Searching? .................................................................................................... 7 What is CTCSS/DCS? ................................................................................................ 7 Conventional Scanning ............................................................................................... 8 What is Trunk Tracking? ............................................................................................. 9 Trunked Scanning ...................................................................................................... 10 Types of Trunking Systems ........................................................................................ 11 Where To Obtain More Information ............................................................................ 13 Using a Computer to Control Your BC898T ............................................................... 13 Included With Your Scanner ............................................................................................ 14 Installing Your Scanner .................................................................................................... 15 For Home Use (Desktop Installation) ......................................................................... 15 Using An Optional External Speaker/Earphone/Headphone .................................... 16 Using An Optional Tape Recorder ............................................................................. 16 Using the Demo Software .......................................................................................... 17 Installing The Scanner In a Vehicle ............................................................................ 18 Basic Operation ............................................................................................................... 20 Turning On the Scanner ............................................................................................. 20 Setting the Squelch .................................................................................................... 20 Using the Rotary Tuner ............................................................................................... 20 Using the Frequency/Channel Mode Selector .......................................................... 21 Using the Lock Key/LED ............................................................................................ 21 Manually Selecting a Channel ................................................................................... 21 Scanning Programmed Channels .............................................................................. 21 Locking/Unlocking Banks ........................................................................................... 22 Locking/Unlocking Channels ..................................................................................... 22 Restoring All Locked Out Channels ........................................................................... 22 Priority Scanning ........................................................................................................ 22 Using the Dimmer ...................................................................................................... 23 Trunk Scanning Options ............................................................................................ 23 Setting the Attenuator ............................................................................................... 24 ID Lockout .................................................................................................................. 24 Searching Tips .......................................................................................................... 25 Scan Lists ................................................................................................................. 26 Searching ........................................................................................................................ 27 Chain Search ............................................................................................................. 27 Holding On An Active Frequency ............................................................................... 27 Setting Data Skip ...................................................................................................... 28 Skipping Frequencies ................................................................................................ 28 Storing Found Frequencies ....................................................................................... 28 Automatically Storing Frequencies ........................................................................... 29 Setting Subaudible Tones for Searching ................................................................... 29 Attenuating All Search Ranges .................................................................................. 30 Setting Delay For All Search Ranges ....................................................................... 30 Searching a Trunked Bank ........................................................................................ 30 Searching for CTCSS/DCS Tones ............................................................................ 31 Using Weather Alert (SAME) ........................................................................................... 32 Turning Weather Alert On/Off .................................................................................... 32 Searching for a Weather Broadcast ........................................................................... 32 Programming a FIPS Code ........................................................................................ 33 Programming ................................................................................................................... 35 Transferring a Programmed Frequency ..................................................................... 35 Duplicate Frequency Alert ......................................................................................... 36 Deleting a Stored Frequency .................................................................................... 36 Programming a Channel With a CTCSS/DCS Tone ................................................ 36 Programming Tips .................................................................................................... 37 Setting the Delay Mode .............................................................................................. 37 Recording Transmissions ......................................................................................... 38 Data Skip .................................................................................................................. 38 Frequency Skip .......................................................................................................... 38 Programming Conventional Channels ............................................................................. 39 Changing the Frequency Step .................................................................................. 39 Setting the Modulation Mode ................................................................................... 39 Setting Priority Channels ........................................................................................... 40 Programming Trunked Systems ...................................................................................... 41 Setting the Scanner to Trunking Programming Mode ............................................... 41 Programming Motorola Systems................................................................................ 41 Programming a Hybrid System ................................................................................... 44 Programming EDACS Systems .................................................................................. 44 Programming LTR Systems ...................................................................................... 45 Care and Maintenance ..................................................................................................... 46 General Use ............................................................................................................... 46 Location ..................................................................................................................... 46 Cleaning .................................................................................................................... 46 Repairs ...................................................................................................................... 46 Birdies ......................................................................................................................... 46 Troubleshooting ............................................................................................................... 47 Specifications .................................................................................................................. 50 Optional Accessories....................................................................................................... 52 Appendix ........................................................................................................................ 53 Preset Fleet Maps ...