Old Bearcat Electra Scanner, can't find info on it, HELP!

[Gil Young]

All,

I am trying to garner any history, age, and ID for a scanner I recently
picked up, can someone help me out? I am also looking for what the
power input pins shuld be driven by, as I dont have the power supply for
the unit and I want to see if I can get it working.

I have looked in a FAQ i had found, but it gave no mention of this
particular unit. The bearcat listings seem to start with the Bearcat
III in the FAQ.

It is mostly black metal box with some aluminum trim on the top and two
sides of the front of the unit (sort of like a hood). On the front, it
says "Bearcat by Electra" (could this be THE original Bearcat?). On the
left hand side of the unit is a row of 8 up and down red switches, with
red dots above each one. Below that, from left to right, is a squelch
knob, a up-down switch marked "MAN." and "SCAN.", a up-down switch
(actaully a bounce switch) marked "CHAN." and "SEL.", and finally a
off-volume knob.

To the right is a round (looks like aluminum) speaker grille.

On the back, from left to right, is a 4 prong plug interface that looks
like this:

- |

- |

Anyone know what power inputs I should apply to these metal tabs to get
the scanner working?

Then there is a ground tab that is screwed right into the box, a hole,
and then a external antenna connection. A label is on the back of the
unit that reads:

BEARCAT RECEIVER
Model BCA (I think it is an A, it is a bit faded)
Serial # 67004
117VAC 50-60 HZ. 9 WATTS
12.6 VDC, .37 AMPS MAX
Certified in accordance with FCC rules and regulations part 15.63 as of
date of manufacture

ELECTRA Corporation
Cumberland, Indiana 46229

Made in USA, Patent # 3,531,724

Also a UL certification symbol.

Many cyber thansk for your review and inputs!

Gil

[TBIRDSAND]

Sounds like a bearcat 3 or 4.
Randy

[Gil Young]

But it doesn't have a Bearcat III or IV marking, don't the III and IV
have III and IV markings on the front?

Thanks!
Gil

[pet...@my-deja.com]

In article <37915E...@iag.net>,

Gil Young <gjy...@iag.net> wrote:
> But it doesn't have a Bearcat III or IV marking, don't the III and IV
> have III and IV markings on the front?

There are pictures of the Bearcat IV on ebay, items 123673068 and
124122405. Those are both closed auctions. Item 133223265 is an active
auction and the owner may be willing to answer questions to help
identify your unit. See http://www.bearcat1.com/owner.htm for
information on ordering manuals for old scanners. Sams published
service data for the Bearcat IV in SD-5. The connector on the back is
for selecting AC or DC power input. A special cable was provided with
the radio.

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

[nunya biz]

Many thanks for all of your replies! And thanks for the tip of two
inputs, AC or DC.

It is definitely not a II or a IV, because both of those models have
oval speaker grills, and mine is a round, whitish speaker grill. It
also has NO marking that it is a bearcat III or IV, as the bearcat III
and IV were clearly marked "Bearcat III" and "Bearcat IV".

More Info

I took the cover off of the unit, and inside is a old circuit board with
the words: "Copyright 1969 by Electra Corp B-151-3" The board looks as
if it was made around that era also, as it is a brown circuit board with
wide copper paths between all of the components, none of which are
surface mount, or tiny (all big brown resistors, big caps, etc..).
also, there are 8 crystal packs inserted in all of the sockets for
crystals.

Also, there is no standard date code for manufacture on the unit, as is
prevalent with most Electra Bearcat scanners, thus I would have to
assume it pre-dated their Puerto Rican manufacturing plant days.

I can get pics eventaully, i'll repost the Q when I have some if I
haven't ID'ed it yet, but if anyone can tell from my origial description
(see start of thread) plus this new info, that would be nice.

Thank you again for all your replies!
Gil

[Al & Lo]

The electra corp is back in business and will help with questions
regarding thier products pre-uniden, I don't have the contact info but
there have been posts with this info on this newsgroup in the recent
past. try a search on Deja news with Electra as the key word.
wish you luck, please post your findings, happy scanning, AL

--
Please remove the X From allo to reply, it cuts the junk mail by 85%
Thank you

[David A. Lovell]

Gil Young <gjy...@iag.net> wrote in message news:379142...@iag.net...

Hello Gil:

Well, your Bearcat is not a BC-I due to the presence of switches &
presumably LEDs. It is not a BC-III or IV due to the round speaker
but may not be a BC-II due to the "A" in the product identifier . . .

My guess is you have a "Bearcat Aircraft"! typically identifiable by a
red airplane propeller stenciled on the speaker grille - a project from
pre-Uniden Electra, I believe designed by one Cecil Mathis.

Wouldn't swear every BC-A had the prop on front, but you should be
able to see some variety of AM detector inside (SGS-440?). If the
xtals inside run 118-136 MHz, that's what ya got.

By the way, the four prong plug is a standard issue 'Cinch-Jones' type,
available via Digi-Key and many other distributors as well. 120VAC Power
applicable on tabs 2 & 4. DC +12V on pin 3 typically, Ground to case.

Hope this Helps. . . Best Wishes,

Dave Lovell - RF Eng./Pres ELECTRA CORPORATION

'makers of Tiger Scan - from the originators of Scanning Monitors'

Q. How many switches does it take to run a scanner?

A. Check out the answer at www.electracorp.com