View source for Repair Tips For Bearcat Scanner Radios

<br>The original Bearcat scanner line was manufactured by Electra Company, a division of Masco Corp of Indiana. In the mid 1980s, Uniden, a Japanese company, bought out the Bearcat scanner line and Uniden's first Bearcat scanner was the BC800XLT model. Most of the models discussed in this article are base/mobile units made by Electra during the 1970s and 1980s although some of the capacitor failures occur in the Uniden BC800XLT, too. Electra stamped all of its scanners with a manufacturing date code on the rear of the cabinet. Puerto Rico), followed by four digits denoting year and week the radio was built. For example, "P8422" denotes the radio was made in the Puerto Rico factory during the 22nd week of 1984. One way to roughly estimate a radio's age is to examine the 4 digit date codes often stamped on the integrated circuits. The radio must have been made after the most recent date stamp.<br><br><br>The re-incorporated Electra Corporation sells crystals, antennas, power cords, owner's manuals ($11 ea) for some older (pre-Uniden) Bearcat scanners. They will repair and return "out of warranty" items without an estimate unless the repair charges exceed the flat rate charges. I recommend you call [https://maps.app.goo.gl/aHCeWpMFNCnbPcfp6 phone repair places near me] before sending the broken scanner. Items for repair via UPS (include receipt if still under warranty) are usually sent to: Uniden America Corp. 4700 Amon Carter Blvd. Most of the classic, metal-cased Bearcat base/mobile models were built using two printed circuit boards: 1. a "radio board" containing the synthesizer, RF, IF, and audio stages, and 2. a "feature board" containing the microprocessor controller and memory circuitry which gave each model its own personality. Before addressing specific symptoms, circuit boards in the malfunctioning scanner should be inspected for poor solder joints. The Electra/Bearcat BC350, BC300, BC250, BC220, BC20/20, BC211, BC210, and BC210XL models were hand assembled, and every one I've serviced had several connections that were either soldered poorly, or not soldered at all.<br><br><br>Resoldering joints on the ribbon cable connecting the RF and keyboard logic circuit boards in a BC250 attenuated the microprocessor/synthesizer hash noise noticeably. A Bearcat 20/20 was experiencing periodic loss of memory on some, but not all channels. When the problem occurred, the frequencies on some channels would be completely changed. On other channels, the frequency would still be intact, but the channel would be locked out, and the delay toggled from "on" to "off". Some channels were not affected. The 2 "AA" memory backup batteries, and their holder, tested good. Much time was spent tracing logic, heating and cooling components, and making voltage measurements. One of the secondary leads from the power transformer was connected to the main circuit board through a hole drilled through foil traces on both the top and bottom sides of the board. A close examination revealed that this lead had been soldered only on the top of the board - the bottom side had never been soldered.<br><br><br>Soldering the lead on both sides of the board solved the memory loss problem. Matt Roberds fixed a BC220 which experienced memory loss if power was removed by resoldering the positive wire to 2-AA battery holder. As built, the BC220 logic board is grounded only through its mounting screws. In the BC220, Matt recommends adding real wire ground jumpers from the main board to the feature (logic) board to fix grounding problems. The BC300 scanner, and several other Bearcat models, employ a switching type power supply stage to generate plus and minus voltages in excess of 20 volts DC. When this switcher fails to function, the display goes blank, but the squelch control appears to work, and white noise can be heard in the speaker. In almost a dozen of the BC300 and BC800XLT scanners I've fixed, C98, a capacitor in series with the primary of the switching transformer failed, causing the output of the supply to drop below the level needed to power the display.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>visit south shop<br>https://maps.app.goo.gl/cAKYMmsGriJV9ERt5<br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br>