BC 8500, Any mods?
Bob.Parnass
Subject: Re: BC 8500, Any mods?
Message-ID: <D99pA...@ssbunews.ih.att.com>
Date: Sun, 28 May 1995 02:52:02 GMT
In article <3q8fao$1...@indy-backup.indy.net>,
Daniel Troglin <tro...@indy.net> wrote:
> Does anybody(Bob) know what mods there are for the BC 8500xlt?
> ... Bob do you have any thoughts on this unit,
> and dont spare me cause I dont have much in it!
Steve Donnell published some 8500XLT modifications in National Scanning.
Here are some previous postings on the BC8500XLT. Note many
of these comments are a few years old:
| Date: Thu, 30 Sep 93 14:00:02 EDT
| From: Think Summer <br...@mkots3.enet.dec.com>
|
| The 8500 XLT is pretty decent, sensitivity seems to be on a par with the
| PRO-2004/5/6 series.....
|
| The radio does generate quite a bit of EMI from its control logic,
| and this is quite apparent if you use the back-of-the-set antenna,
| but is not a problem with an outdoor antenna.
|
| The alphanumeric dot matrix display is a nice feature, and makes for
| easier display intelligibility than the usual 7-segment type display.
|
| My main gripe is that the modes are fixed for the various band segments,
| and that there are not more tuning/search increments available. These
| increments are 5, 12.5, 25 and 50 KHz (maybe 30 KHz on restored cellular?).
|
| Also, a computer interface would have been a real nice addition.....
| A quick checkout using my Wavetek 3010 sig gen shows it ti have about
| 0.5 uV sensitivity for NBFM, about 1 uV for AM and 3 uV for WBFM.
| The antenna connector is a BNC. Power is 13.8 VDC, either from a car
| battery or the included "wall wart" which is tha same unit that powers
| the BC760XLT and others.
|
| Most of the programming and use is intuitively obvious, just one quick
| pass thru the well written user's manual should suffice, it isn't as
| user-hostile as the Shinwa or J.I.L (have that on your list ?) scanners
| are. The alphanumeric channel labelling works very much like an electronic
| version of the old DYMO label maker. It allows upper and lower case letters,
| numerals and the more common punctuations....
|
|
| Overall, I'd rate the 8500 fairly high, almost a "poor man's R7000".
|
|
| ed
|
|
| Sb: #BC8500XLT A*W*F*U*L !!!
| Fm: Jeff Goldman 76703,4224
| To: All
|
| And you thought I never met a scanner I didn't like. <g>
|
| This one takes the cake. First the good news. It's pretty. Now the bad news.
| Sensitivity is beyond merely bad and into the realm of unbelievably bad.
| There's no attenuator button that I may have hit by mistake either. And the
| audio quality is no where near the high fidelity audio from the BC890XLT,
| though it uses the same speaker.
|
| As for features, yes it is loaded with them, including Alpha and other
| goodies, BUT NO Wx Search or Alert!
|
| And, just to make matters worse, they DID change the PL board. The BC005 is
| totally different than the earlier BC002 board, though the PL freqs are
| identical. Grove does NOT have the new board in stock yet.
|
| I looked inside the scanner and there's no obvious cell mod. Guess we'll hav
e
| to wait for word on that. Memory backup is probably EEPROM, vs the over-5 yr
| lithium cell used in the BC890XLT.
|
| Datecode is OGIC, or July, 1993.
|
| I can't get rid of this thing fast enough. Yeah, I'll have to eat the cost o
f
| receiving it overnight from Grove, but that's ok. Live and learn.
|
| -Jeff
| -----------------------------------------
| Sb: #203392-#SCANNER MASTER!
| Fm: Don McVey KK6TD 70541,634
| To: Jeff Goldman 76703,4224 (X)
|
| Hi Jeff - I am pretty sure that you got a defective unit. I spent about 45
| minutes today comparing the 8500 side-by-side with a 2006 at Scanners
| Unlimited. Weak signal reception seemed very comparable. In fact, after th
e
| Bearcat warmed up a bit, it seemed in some areas to be even more sensitive
| than the Pro 2006.
|
| It was interesting, though, that when I started the comparison I had to slow
| the 8500 down to 20 cps to match the 2006 performance on weak signals. Once
| it had been on about 5 min it was equal to (better?) than the 2006. It
| consistently stopped on the same weak signals the 2006 did, and in the AM
| aircraft range actually did better. However, I agree with your comment on t
he
| audio. There is more white noise on the 8500 than on the 890, or the 2006.
| It really needs some high end filtering of some sort. Its not terrible, but
| it could be better. Until someone puts a service monitor on the thing, we
| really won't have the last word on sensitivity :).
|
| IMHO, with all the features, especially the alpha display, it is a viable
| contender to the 2006. I may seriously consider it for a base unit. There
is
| still no news on the mod, but I understand Grove is tearing into one now.
| Seems there is a large metal cover over much of the inards (as you already
| know!) Did you look under it to see what was there? I'm not into the 800MH
z
| stuff, but I am curious about the design.
|
| Regards, Don
| -----------------------------------------
| Sb: #8500 XLT Review
| Fm: DANIEL 71242,1774
| To: ALL
|
| Well, I finally received the much heralded 8500 XLT on Friday, 9/10, from
| GROVE who does have them in stock.. This unit is a base scanner with 500
| channel capability. It is larger than the Pro-2006, however, also lighter.
| The 8500 will invariably be compared to the Pro-2006 as a base scanner, and
a
| base scanner it is! You cab use it mobile, but IMHO, it is just too large...
| The radio has a lot of new bells and whistles that the Pro-2006 does not hav
e.
| It will also scan at an astounding 100 CPS. I like the large display, and th
e
| alpha-numeric feature. The unit will also auto store searched frequencies,
| and auto sort programmed frequencies, without effecting the program set up i
n
| the channels. It has auto record capabilites, and a memory counter to log t
he
| amount of times a transmission is detected on a specific freq., also a usefu
l
| feature. I LOVE the fact that this unit has CTCSS capabilties with 500
| channels. I have found when you start "toning" out frequencies, you tend to
| use more bank space. This was the case with my 760XLT and only 100 channels
.
| You can use the VFO knob to move channels OR frequencies up and down. Its
| REAL smooth, and a nice feature. Everythign functions well and logically on
| the front panel. You have plenty of room to press the buttons, and they are
| large enough to see and use easily. The down side of this is the large size
of
| the radio. Functionally, in my preliminary side by side test with a Pro-2006
,
| same antenna, the radio was just as sensitive, and at times more sensitive
| than my Pro-2006. My Pro-2006 was also peak tuned by Bill Cheek..... Now I'l
l
| tell you what I didn't like.... Depite mag and catalog listings, the 8500 DO
ES
| NOT have a weather button, OT weather alert. I don't know why they put it o
n
| the 890 XLT, and not on this one. (excuse the typo, that was no button OR
| alert). The audio quality of the 8500 is tinny, and the white noise on fring
e
| stations is louder than the Pro-2006. The audio quality of the Pro-2006 is
| far superior to the 8500 XLT. Hopefully there is a mod to correct this.. Th
e
| audio quality is not intolerable, however, just different.. They changed the
| tone board for the 8500 XLT to the BC005. You cannot use the one from your
| 760 or 890 XLT. Grove is backordered and didn't even know of the change unt
il
| Friday, 9/10 when I told them.... No known mod as of yet.... I have only had
| the unit running for about 2 hours, and not had the chance to really delve
| into features, etc... As I progress, will post my comments here. Overall, a
| serious contender to the Pro-2006, but if I had to choose between the two, a
nd
| could only afford one, it would still be the Pro-2006. I am seriously leanin
g
| toward keeping this one, however, because of the CTCSS capabilities, the
| alpha-numeric, and some other features... Dan
|
| -----------------------------------------
| Sb: #204162-#BC8500XLT A*W*F*U*L !!!
| Fm: DANIEL 71242,1774
| To: Jeff Goldman 76703,4224 (X)
|
| Jeff : Just got off the phone with Uniden : They confirmed the part number a
s
| BC 005. They DO NOT have a price set as of yet. They DO NOT know when the
| board will be available. Typical of Uniden. These things should have the ton
e
| board already as standard with the radio! Cancelled my back order on the boa
rd
| with Grove as I am leaning toward sending the thing back. May have been
| premature in my earlier assessment... Last night I was receiving NOAA weathe
r
| radio on 46.400 Mhz!!!
|
| On the one you had..... Was it that you weren't getting anything, or what yo
u
| were getting was just sounding awful?? Dan
| -----------------------------------------
| Sb: #204228-BC8500XLT A*W*F*U*L !!!
| Fm: Jeff Goldman 76703,4224
| To: DANIEL 71242,1774
|
| What I was receiving was weak and hissy. Not strong and robust like from oth
er
| topflight scanners. Side by side with the BC890XLT, the sensitivity and audi
o
| quality were both abysmal in the 8500XLT. I say, let Howard Bornstein be the
| guinea pig. <G>
| -----------------------------------------
| Sb: #204294-#BC 8500XLT
| Fm: Jeff Goldman 76703,4224
| To: Andrew Rein KD6WXM 75000,1506 (X)
|
| Boy, is that a loaded question! I ordered one, received it, and repackaged i
t
| a half hour later. Evidently, something was wrong with its sensitivity and
| I've been told this isn't normal.
|
| Tture. And the PL board is a new design and isn't even available yet!
|
| Another person on here, named Daniel, just received his days ago and is stil
l
| trying to decide whether to keep or return his. He's already killed the orde
r
| for the PL board and is almost ready to save $400. <g>
|
| Naturally, I don't want to desuade you from buying a scanner because I alway
s
| welcome reports on new scanners. <G>
|
| -Jeff
| -----------------------------------------
| Sb: #8500 XLT going back
| Fm: DANIEL 71242,1774
| To: ALL
|
| Well, I hate to say it, and my heart is breaking, but the 8500 XLT is going
| back..... It is an annoying radio to listen to, as the white noise and hiss
| overpower the audio portion of a transmission, even the strong signals!! I d
id
| get a chance to play with some of the bells and whistles, and the are really
| nice to have on a scanner. This is why I am so disappointed. They really
| dropped the ball on the audio, and quality control on the receiving end of t
he
| unit... We'll all have to sit back and wait to see what GRE comes up with fo
r
| the Pro-2007!! I can't wait! You still cannot beat the quality of the Pro
| series radios for the $$ over Uniden products... Dan
| -----------------------------------------
| Sb: #205101-New PRO-44
| Fm: Howard Bornstein 76174,637
| To: Jeff Goldman 76703,4224
|
| Jeff,
| Sorry for not posting this last night. I decided to just fool around for a
| while instead of working! The deal was that Bob Kelty and friends found a
| large, non-surface-mounted diode next to the CPU of the 8500XLT. It looked
| like it had been added as an after-thought. They surmised that this might be
| the golden-BB that would enable cellular. They did clip it but, alas, it had
| no decernable effect. So, the search is still on for a way to enable cellula
r
| in the BC8500XLT. Anyone else have any info??
|
| Howard
| -----------------------------------------
| Sb: #207869-#Why not the BC8500XLT?
| Fm: Jeff Goldman 76703,4224
| To: Brandon White 71035,1050 (X)
|
| The sensitivity on mine was awful. (It was ok on other people's though.) The
| audio is lousy (limited dynamic range vs the wonderful audio of my BC890XLT)
.
| And, yes, there seems to be no cell mod. :-)
|
| I'd take the quality and features and size (!) of the Pro2006 any day!
|
| -Jeff
| -----------------------------------------
|
|
| From att!mkots3.enet.dec.com!brown Fri Oct 1 10:22:59 1993
| Return-Path: <att!mkots3.enet.dec.com!brown>
| Received: from emsr0.emsr.att.com by ih4gp.ih.att.com (4.1/EMS main.cf 1.31
7/10/93 (SMI-4.1/SVR4))
| id AA06287; Fri, 1 Oct 93 10:22:56 CDT
| Received: by emsr0.emsr.att.com (4.1/EMS main.cf 1.33 7/21/93 (SMI-4.1/SVR4)
)
| id AA01552; Fri, 1 Oct 93 15:19:18 GMT
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f 1.33 7/21/93 (SMI-4.1/SVR4))
| id AA01546; Fri, 1 Oct 93 15:19:16 GMT
| Received: by att.att.com; Fri Oct 1 11:04:43 EDT 1993
| Received: by inet-gw-2.pa.dec.com; id AA14410; Fri, 1 Oct 93 08:15:37 -0700
| Received: by us2rmc.bb.dec.com; id AA15937; Fri, 1 Oct 93 11:09:09 -0400
| Message-Id: <931001150...@us2rmc.bb.dec.com>
| Received: from mkots3.enet; by us2rmc.enet; Fri, 1 Oct 93 11:13:22 EDT
| Date: Fri, 1 Oct 93 11:13:22 EDT
| From: Think Summer <br...@mkots3.enet.dec.com>
| To: par...@ih4gp.ih.att.com
| Apparently-To: par...@ih4gp.ih.att.com
| Subject: Re: scwnner collections
| Status: R
|
| I should have said in my last, please feel free to share my comments with
| the other scanner hobbyists. I occasionally get some stuff published in
| a couple of local newsletters and also in NESN from time to time.
|
| Once the initial 90 days or so passes, I'll probably delve into the 8500 and
| bring out some IFs and a discriminator output for hooking up to a tone reade
r
| pager decoder, SCA decoders, etc. I can't ever leave anything as-is, must
| do those mods, including that dastardly and deadly cellular mod... I paid fo
r
| those extra 50 MHz, I'm darn well gonna have them available...
|
| ed
| From att!mkots3.enet.dec.com!brown Fri Oct 1 08:04:26 1993
|
| ......
| The manual is well-written in the sense that it is actually readable English
| rather than in the usual "pidgin" as I've seen with some units, notably Azde
n.
|
|
| I'd give the PRO-2006 the higher marks as far as overall construction, and
| usefulness, in that the modes are selectable. The 8500 scans faster (up to
| 100 chann/sec) has the alphanumeric display, has the search and store, event
| per channel counter, CTCSS option, and channel selectable tape recorder
| activition output. The two things they both lack, are an S-meter and a
| computer port. These can be added by the user, but they end up being kinda
| "klugey".
|
| ed
| From att!mkots3.enet.dec.com!brown Fri Oct 1 13:54:35 1993
|
| ....about the 8500. I find mine in the "as good as a
| 2006" category, agree with the skunky audio, but an external speaker or mayb
e
| a cap or two around the audio output chip may "tailor" the audio quality.
| I normally use a Motorola speaker, it seems to make any box sound better.
|
|
| ed
|
| Subject: BC-8500XLT and long squelch
| Sender: ne...@gallant.apple.com
| Message-Id: <pvh-0410...@petehelme.apple.com>
| Organization: Apple Computer Inc.
| Followup-To: alt.radio.scanner
| Lines: 29
| Apparently-To: parnass
| Status: R
|
| So I bought a Unidex 8500XLT scanner. I like it a lot: the alpha display
| of frequencies is cool; notifying of frequency conflicts,
| auto store, auto sort and the ability to move exisitng frequencies (and
| their names) to another bank is great. But, two things really bug me:
|
| * There is a fair amount of hiss in the background. Apparently, this is a
| known problem with a leaky capacitor and will be fixed in later production
| runs.
|
| * The Squelch "tail" (the amount of lag time after a transmission stops and
| the squelch kicks in) is a bit long and annoying. Long enough that you get
| a fair amount of open static and that familiar 'pop' before the squelch
| mutes. Much longer than my Fairmate HP-100 (i.e. AOR 1000). The Fairmate
| mutes almost immediately and there is no pop. I think its spoiled me. Are
| all Unidens this way? Turning up the squelch had little effect.
|
| Now maybe the excess noise on the tail is caused by this leaky cap, I don't
| know. Also, some have said that the particular sound quality of the 8500
| may attribute to the degree of annoyance of the pop. In either case, I
| think it's the length of the pop that's the problem.
|
| I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed this and if there is a solution to
| fixing it. For instance, is their a cap or resistor inside that adjusts
| the squelch tail time? Or is this just the way things be with Bearcats and
| I should just live with it (or return it and go back to the Fairmate).
|
| Thanks!
|
| p...@apple.com
|
| Sender: ne...@gallant.apple.com
| Message-Id: <pvh-2010...@petehelme.apple.com>
| References: <1993Oct15....@cronkite.ocis.temple.edu>
| Organization: Apple Computer Inc.
| Followup-To: rec.radio.scanner
| Lines: 18
| Apparently-To: parnass
| Status: R
|
| The 8500XLT has some problems. It's loaded with background hiss and its
| squelch tail is one of the most annoying out there. Other than that it's
| not bad. ;)
|
| Cellular is locked out and there is no known mod at this time. Though you
| can pick up images above 1264 with it quite well (I thought this was
| supposed to be a triple conversion receiver??).
|
| I haven't found the sensitivity to be wanting (about the same as my
| Fairmate HP-100), though a few have said the units they got were lame in
| this area. The alpha naming and turbo scan are quite cool.
|
| Supposedly there is a fix already known for the hiss (bad capacitor or
| something). I'm waiting to hear from Uniden on that. You should really
| check one out before you buy one. Better yet wait a while and see if
| Uniden fixes the problems. Or check out an 890XLT instead.
|
| p...@apple.com
|
| Path: cbnewse!cbnewsd!att-out!rutgers!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!darwin.sura
.net!rouge!jpd
| Newsgroups: alt.radio.scanner
| Subject: Re: BC 8500 XLT -> 800MHZ Mod
| Message-Id: <1993Oct26....@usl.edu>
| References: <75154780934n12@blackhole>
| Sender: an...@usl.edu (Anonymous NNTP Posting)
| Organization: Univ. of Southwestern La., Lafayette
|
| In article <75154780934n12@blackhole> John=Roslan%NetOps%DataCenter@dewey@de
lmarva.com writes:
| > Does anyone know where, or how I can get mods for a BC8500-XLT to resto
re 800 MHZ ?
|
| I don't believe it's necessary, as I heard lots of cellular activity in
| the 1.2 to 1.3 GHz range. This radio has terrible problems with images.
| Even images at the 455 kHz IF! I returned mine for a refund.
|
| By the way, the alpha display only works for half the channels (the first
| 250). Mine radiated badly, necessitating use of an external antenna rather
| than the supplied whip. Then I needed an attenuator to reduce overloading,
| which was only partially successful.
|
| Sorry to dump on your new radio, but others may avoid learning the hard
| way of its deficiencies. Perhaps in a rural environment without pagers
| it might work OK!
|
| --
| -- James Dugal, N5KNX Internet: j...@usl.edu
| Associate Director Ham packet: n5knx @k5arh (land), UO-22 (sat.)
| Computing Center US Mail: PO Box 42770 Lafayette, LA 70504
| University of Southwestern LA. Tel. 318-231-6417 U.S.A.
| Date: 25 Feb 94 09:13:21 EST
| From: "Paul A. Miller" <73006...@CompuServe.COM>
| Original-To: <par...@ih4gp.att.com>
| Subject: BC8500 improvements.
| Message-Id: <940225141321_73...@CompuServe.COM>
| Status: R
|
| Bob,
|
| I was looking thru the December '93 issue of Monitoring Times, and I ran
| across an article entitled, "Uniden Enhances BC2500XLT and BC8500XLT
| Scanners." It seems they have corrected some of the problems that you
| heard about on the 8500. On the 8500 they modified the sound quality,
| adding more bass, and signal-to-noise improvements have increased sens-
| itivity in both models; there has been no improvement, however, in
| dynamic range (overload "intermod"). The 2500's memory keepalive current
| has been reduced by 75%, so the battery's charge lasts longer.
|
| Paul Miller
|
|
| Path: cbnewse!cbnewsd!cbnewsc!att-in!fnnews.fnal.gov!uwm.edu!caen!usenet.cis
.ufl.edu!slip-c16.cis.ufl.edu!cmcl
| Newsgroups: rec.radio.scanner
| Subject: BC8500XLT (25-1300) READ!
| Organization: University of Florida (Computer Science Department)
|
| Attention All BC8500XLT Owners (or future owners)!
|
| Don't count this one out yet!
|
| I have successfully got this thing so it is a coninuous receiver from 25 to
| 1300 MHz. It allows direct keyboard entry of any frequency. If you are doi
ng
| an AUTO search, the freqs are properly stored in memory locations! (I get
| excited about this because my first attempt wouldn't allow direct keyboard
| entry or to save freqs in memories! But never fear, ALL works great now!!!)
| I have already modified two with no problems at all!
|
| So everyone hang tight, I am trying to get a hold of the scanner guy at
| Popular Commuications (and others) to see if they want to publish.
|
| -Jon
|
| Date: Thu, 05 Jan 1995 22:22:17 -0700 (MST)
| From: D...@UWYO.EDU
| Subject: Bearcat Scanners
|
| .... I bought a BC8500XLT about 2 month ago and I have
| a problem with it being extremely noisy...after a transmission is
| complete the scanner acts as if it doesn't realize the transmission
| is over. After a transmission stops the scanner "pops" loudly, as if
| the squelch was still broken (i.e. I hear "snow"). I also have a
| Radio Shack PRO43... after a transmission is over it just quietly goes
| on scaning. The sound heard on the 8500 is only breif but it is quite
| anoying.
| Thanks...
| Date: Fri, 06 Jan 1995 09:57:48 -0700 (MST)
| From: D...@UWYO.EDU
|
| Thanks for your quick reply...
| The only band that the 8500xlt doesn't seem to have this problem with
| is the aircraft bands. All others seem to have this noise after the
| transmission is complete. I have given up on adjusting the squelch
| as it doesn't seem to help. I have used two different antenna set ups..
| the original antenna that came with the scanner and then I use a window
| suction mount (from Radio Shack) that I use the antenna from my PRO43
| with it. The noise is more "high pitched" when I use the orginal antenna,
| and more of the "snow" sound with the window mounted antenna (hope this
| makes sence). Is this problem due to the antenna, and if so, can you
| suggest any good replacements for an apartment?
| Also FYI I did send the unit in for Uniden to look at and they did replace
| something (I can look it up on the work order if you would like and git back
| to you). But after it returned the noise is still there. BUMMER. After
|
| Thanks
| Dave
|
--
==============================================================================
Copyright 1995, Bob Parnass, AJ9S AMPS Wireless Development Laboratory
par...@att.com - (708)979-5414 AT&T Bell Laboratories