Effectiveness of Uniden BearTracker BCT2

[Ivan Sever]

In article <3g5vjq$4...@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> Blaine J Weddle,
bwe...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu writes:
>I saw an ad in a recent Damark catalog to get the Uniden BearTracker
BCT2 for $160 and was wondering if anyone has used one of these. If so
are they worth the money and do they effectively alert you to the
presence of police in the area?

Well, they _do_ alert you to the presence of police in the area.
Unfortunately, the cops waiting to hand you a speeding ticket rarely
announce over their radios: "I'm waiting here in ambush on the median of
I-95 by mile marker 34, facing the southbound traffic." Instead, you get
a lot of "...(noise)...code 14 (or 40?)...(noise)...proceed ... ABT (or
APV? or AVP?)...(noise)...Main Street...behind the warehouse (or
whorehouse?)...noise...base, copy!"
So, only YOU can decide how effective that is...
Ivan

[Blaine J Weddle]

I saw an ad in a recent Damark catalog to get the Uniden BearTracker BCT2 for
$160 and was wondering if anyone has used one of these. If so are they worth
the money and do they effectively alert you to the presence of police in the
area?

In case you're not familiar with the device, it is *not* a radar detector.
Instead it is a quote: "multi-band mobile scanner/reciever that alerts you to
the presence of radio waves....within a three mile radius." It is programmed
by state for the frequencies that are used by the cops and you just select the
state that you're in.

Thanks in advance for any comments/info.
--
Blaine J. Weddle bwe...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
OSU Dept. of Chemistry, Box 273
140 W. 18th Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210

[Joshua J Head]

: I saw an ad in a recent Damark catalog to get the Uniden BearTracker BCT2 for

: $160 and was wondering if anyone has used one of these. If so are they worth
: the money and do they effectively alert you to the presence of police in the
: area?

I bought one. I thought I owned the most awesome device ever made.

I found out that it was only supposed to detect HIGHWAY PATROL.

Then when a highway patrol officer drove past me one day, I took it back.

It was really nice to listen to local police without having to change or
program channels.

[Sleepwalker]

Blaine J Weddle (bwe...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) wrote:
: In case you're not familiar with the device, it is *not* a radar detector.

: Instead it is a quote: "multi-band mobile scanner/reciever that alerts you to
: the presence of radio waves....within a three mile radius." It is programmed
: by state for the frequencies that are used by the cops and you just select the
: state that you're in.

I've never tried the Beartracker, but my personal scanner, programmed
with frequencies for my area has saved me from far more tickets than my
radar detector ever did.
In the preprogrammed scanner, I would be concerned about outdated
information. Many public safety agencies (in the northeast) have changed to
UHF from VHF low and some are moving into 800mhz technology.

[Blaine J Weddle]

I tried to post this yesterday but it never seemed to show up....sorry if this
is an accidental repost........

I saw an ad in a recent Damark catalog to get the Uniden BearTracker BCT2 for
$160 and was wondering if anyone has used one of these. If so are they worth

the money and do they effectively alert you to the presence of police in the
area?

In case you're not familiar with the device, it is *not* a radar detector.
Instead it is a quote: "multi-band mobile scanner/reciever that alerts you to
the presence of radio waves....within a three mile radius." It is programmed
by state for the frequencies that are used by the cops and you just select the
state that you're in.

Thanks in advance for any comments/info.

[Dan Harling]

In article <3g651c$4...@decaxp.harvard.edu> Ivan Sever <se...@husc.harvard.edu> writes:
>In article <3g5vjq$4...@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> Blaine J Weddle,
>bwe...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu writes:

>>I saw an ad in a recent Damark catalog to get the Uniden BearTracker BCT2.
>>... do they effectively alert you to the presence of police in the area?

>
>Unfortunately, the cops waiting to hand you a speeding ticket rarely
>announce over their radios: "I'm waiting here in ambush on the median of
>I-95 by mile marker 34, facing the southbound traffic." Instead, you get

>a lot of "...(noise)...code 14 (or 40?)...(noise)...Main Street...

>...noise...base, copy!" So, only YOU can decide how effective that is...

True. The main benefit comes from scanning the frequencies used by
personal transcievers. These transcievers connect the police officer's
portable radio to the one in his cruiser, and have a range of about
three miles. If the BearTracker picks up a signal on one of these
frequencies, it emits a warning tone to indicate that a cruiser is in
the area.

I have also learned how to gauge the signal clarity; the amount of
static on the channel can give you an idea how close the unit is. It
also lets you know when the local police are busy with drills or some
other distraction. Around here, the BearTracker picks up the local
police frequencies almost constantly. Highway Patrol signals come in
very rarely; they seem to be much less "chatty."
____________________________________________________________________________
Daniel A. Harling <>< <har...@pictel.com>
PictureTel Corp. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of
Andover, MA PictureTel Corp. (so there!)