Uniden BC80XLT 50 Channel Scanner

Recently got this Uniden Bearcat BC80XLT 50 Channel Scanner in a "turns on but is in untested" condition. It was cheap so I thought why not. First off, when I got it the seller was right - it does turn on. But the keypad was completely unresponsive. No buttons worked at all. He failed to mention that part. But to be fair, I think he was genuinely clueless when it came to scanners.

So I took it apart, cleaned it and put it back together. Then it wouldn't even switch on anymore. Me and my fixing skills! Terrible. So I left it a few days and took it apart again. Did a bit more cleaning, put it all back together again, and this time it did power up. And the keypad worked perfectly.

I was very happy. Scanning away. It picks up well. But then the batteries started to run out. And due to how bad the battery compartment is on this scanner [there looks to have been some serious leaks over the years + there has been a DIY fix also] I was concerned that when I changed the dead batteries for some new ones, there was a chance that the scanner would not work / turn on anymore.

And I was right. Putting new batteries in and then firing up the scanner resulted in nothing. No response at all. And there was me thinking it was all fixed.

At this point I knew / was convinced that it was a problem somewhere in the battery compartment, and if the Uniden Bearcat BC80XLT had a mains adapter it would work fine. So off I went looking for a mains adapter. And by sheer luck I found one that was compatible. 

That did the trick. Now the scanner works really well again. But I think the battery compartment is finished.

A few things to say about this Uniden scanner. Manual scanning is slow compared to some of my other scanners. It is a bit of an oldie though. And, it doesn't appear possible for the scanner to just scan manually by inputting a frequency, pressing enter and off you go. No, manual scanning is done only by going though the "band" options.

Silly really. Because some of the bands are quite wide. So the user has to sit there scanning through a whole band and can't type in a specific frequency and go to it directly. I couldn't find any way to do it, and there was nothing for it in the manual either. But it is over 20 years old so yeah, whatever. Other than that the scanner does work really well. And the green LCD screen light is a bit different to what I'm used to. I like it. I will probably be reselling it though as spares or repairs. -lcrmadx

Realistic PRO-26 Clicking / Buzzing [Video]

I've got this Realistic PRO-26 [not this one - another one] that suffers from a constant clicking / buzzing noise. It's there as soon as the scanner is turned on, and only stopped when its turned off. The radio does seem to stop on known frequencies but nothing can be heard other than the clicking noise. I really want to fix it. I've seen this problem talked about in a few places online, with a few potential fixes suggested.

My PRO-26 was dirty as hell and looked like some sort of liquid had been spilt on the top on and around the volume / squelch and earphone jack. So I think some of that liquid could have went down the earphone jack hole and messed things up. I have opened the radio up but could not see any obvious damage. 

I'm going to investigate further. Maybe take off the top knobs [volume, squelch] and give them a good clean. Same with the earphone jack if I can manage to get in there.

Here is a example video of the clicking / buzzing noise from my receiver for reference. Or, if you have the same problem yourself. Note: the noise happens when using the normal speaker and when headphones are plugged in. It just comes through the headphones instead when they are plugged in. Weird.

Could possibly be something on one of the boards inside me thinks. Maybe something has burned out / failed and needs replacing. Help me if you know exactly what this problem is and how to sort it out. Send a comment. Thanks. I have to admit though. In the post I linked to at the top of this post, I talked about how I didn't like this scanner at all. 

But after having this broken one, the scanner has grown on me a little. I think I now want another one. One that's in full working order. I might just hold on to this broken one and see if I can get another one being sold cheap for spares or repairs, then make one good fully working Pro-26 out of the two.

Problem is, when will a another one being sold as parts only come up for sale. I may have a long wait. I'll be keeping my eye out though on eBay. Or if you, yes you, have one that is knackered but might be good for parts that I need [possibly the first main board inside - a straight swap over] send me a comment / message. UK only though, as I'm not paying customs fees / taxes plus expensive postage from USA or Canada. If I do that I may as well just buy a fully working one from eBay UK for £60 - £100.