181 lines
7.1 KiB
Plaintext
181 lines
7.1 KiB
Plaintext
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UNIDEN/BEARCAT 100XLT SCANNER PREVIEW
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by Bob Parnass, AJ9S
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OK, so I couldn't resist - I bought another scanner.
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This time it's the brand new UNIDEN/Bearcat 100XLT porta-
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ble, and I'm here to give you a sneak preview.
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Physical
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The new 100XLT looks nothing like the 100XL or the ori-
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ginal Bearcat 100. Rather, it looks identical to the
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200XLT that everyone's asking about - tall, thin, and
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entirely gray plastic. The keys on the keyboard are made
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of soft rubber, and most are well labeled.
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The "real" volume and squelch knobs on top are a welcome
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The "real" volume and squelch knobs on top are a welcome
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change from the side mounted, dust vulnerable knobs on
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the 70XLT.
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The difference between the 100XLT and 200XLT appears to
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be that the 100XLT has 100 channels and excludes the 800
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MHz band.
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The 100 memory channels are divided into 10 channel
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banks. Of course, banks and channels may be selected or
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locked out. The banks are "hard partitioned", just like
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Bearcat scanners of old. By this I mean, Bank 1 includes
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channels 1-10, Bank 2 channels 11-20, etc. Regency is
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using "soft partitioned" banks in their HX1500 and TS2
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models, but the peculiar Regency system prevents channels
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from being locked out during a bank scan.
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The LCD panel has all the usual indicators, and can be
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back lit with a green light when the proper button is
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from being locked out during a bank scan.
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The LCD panel has all the usual indicators, and can be
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back lit with a green light when the proper button is
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pressed.
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CONTINUED IN BC100XLT.2
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BC100XLT.2
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Innovations
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The 100XLT feature set includes new surprises. The first
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channel of each active bank is a priority channel, making
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10 priority channels in all. There doesn't appear to be
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10 levels of priority, but channel 1 priority seems to
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take precedence over the other priority channels. When
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the priority is switched on, the 100XLT samples all the
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priority channels every 2 seconds. When the power is
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turned off, then on again, the priority key must be
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pressed manually.
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Let's see, did I program in that new K-Mart frequency,
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154.6 MHz somewhere? Just type 154.6, ENTER when posi-
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tioned to a channel you don't care about, and the LCD
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will display "CH 29", for instance, if you already have
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154.6 MHz in channel 29.
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Stated a different way, if one tries to type a frequency
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into the 100XLT that has already been programmed in
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another memory channel, the display will flash in which
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Stated a different way, if one tries to type a frequency
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into the 100XLT that has already been programmed in
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another memory channel, the display will flash in which
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channel it has been programmed. One can override by
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depressing ENTER again, and the frequency will be stored
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in the current channel.
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This is a great feature, especially in a scanner with so
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much memory.
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CONTINUED IN BC100XLT.3
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BC100XLT.3
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NiCd Battery Pack
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The 100XLT comes with a 7.2 V 600 mAH battery pack which
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slides onto the bottom of the radio. There is a charging
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jack, marked 12 VDC, and a red charging LED on the back
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of the pack. The pack is not supposed to be opened, but
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the curious need only remove 2 screws. Inside is the
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charging components, and 6 AA size cells wrapped in heat
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shrunk plastic.
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When you buy the 100XLT, the 16 hour wall charger adapter
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is supplied, and is marked 12 VDC 500 mA. There appears
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no way to fast charge the supplied NiCd pack, and the
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manual cautions against leaving the supplied charger
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plugged in for long periods of time.
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no way to fast charge the supplied NiCd pack, and the
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manual cautions against leaving the supplied charger
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plugged in for long periods of time.
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The radio can be used with the wall charger when the bat-
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teries are dead, but unlike older crystal controlled por-
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tables, there is no easy way to power the scanner exter-
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nally, without charging the internal battery.
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A PS-001 mobile power cord is available from UNIDEN, as
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is a spare antenna.
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The owner's guide says to expect "up to 5 hours of depen-
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dable use" in between charges. Now 5 hours is a lot less
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than what scanner buffs want, but perhaps UNIDEN's idea
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is to stimulate demand for extra BP-205 slide on battery
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packs.
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Memory Backup - Unimpressive
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Having 100 memory channels is great, especially when
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thoughtfully partitioned into 10 banks. It takes time to
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program a scanner with so many channels, so you wouldn't
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want to do this often.
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A weak point of the 100XLT is that the memory is only
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backed up for 30 minutes by a capacitor when the NiCd
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battery pack goes dead.
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Take the scanner outside for an afternoon of fun. When
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the BATTERY warning blinks, do you have only 30 minutes
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to find an AC outlet? The manual claims the scanner will
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shut itself down automatically if the warning has been
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flashing for 10 minutes, but it's not clear how "dead"
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the NiCd is by then.
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CONTINUED IN BC100XLT.4
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BC100XLT.4
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Great Audio
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The audio output is rated at 480 milliwatts, but who
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believes manufacturers' specifications any more? The
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good news is that the 100XLT sounds great! There is
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plenty of undistorted audio available from the front
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speaker, making a Radio Shack PRO-30 sound like a
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whisper.
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Inside Construction
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The internal construction of the 100XLT looks very clean,
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but thoughts of home repair vanish as soon as one opens
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the 100XLT case. Tiny surface mount components abound.
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You won't find these parts at Radio Shack, and you
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wouldn't want to solder them in anyway.
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The 2 main circuit boards are surrounded by an internal
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metal frame, and a few small circuit boards are mounted
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vertically on the main audio/RF board.
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I did see what appeared to be "jumper" diodes, but
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resisted the temptation to cut them. Maybe one expands
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memory capacity to 200 channels?
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How Does It Work?
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Truth be told, it is just too early to say how well this
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radio hears. UHF sensitivity seems very good, but sensi-
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tivity in the AM aircraft band needs more testing.
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Using an outside antenna, the 100XLT is sometimes both-
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ered by the obnoxious 300+ watt paging transmitter
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nearby, but so is my 800XLT on an indoor whip. Expecting
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a portable scanner to behave well on an outside antenna
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may be asking too much. More evaluation needs to be done
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here also.
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What You Get
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The 100XLT comes with a reasonably good leather-like
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case, a wall charger/AC adapter, an earphone, and what
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appears to be a VHF high band heliflex antenna. The
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antenna is blessed with a BNC connector.
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UNIDEN scanners no longer come with an owner's manual,
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but with a fold out sheet instead. The instructions
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aren't great, but will tell you most of what you need to
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know. Of course, you don't get a schematic.
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