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