Yo! Julius:
Thursday September 19 1996 15:02, Julius Zulu wrote to Bill Cheek:
 JZ> New here. Notice lot of interest in US re: cell freqs.
Forbidden apples, you know.........   :-)
 JZ> Back in July I was pricing the BC9000 at Durham Radio in Ontario.
 JZ> They said it's a great set.. but not modifiable to cells. The PRO2042
 JZ> will be modifiable with a European chip they expect to get. I dropped
 JZ> purchase for now due to other priorities. (But saw an ad from
 JZ> Cellular Sec Grp and they say they can unlock BC9000 too. Don't know
 JZ> who to believe.)
1.  The BC-9000 is not a "great" scanner.  It is a Uniden scanner.  Uniden
    gives a LOT of "sizzle" but very little "steak".  FWIW.
2.  The PRO-2042 and the BC-9000 do not have cellular that can be "unlocked".
    There is a hardwiring technique to alter the PLL circuits so that
    cellular comes in on other bands....like 300-400 MHz or whatever. There
    is no good relationship between the display and what is actually 
eceived.
    AND the step will not be the correct 30 kHz.  This technique is called
    a "virtual downconverter", and is not THE answer to cellular needs.  It
    gets very boring after only a short time, trying to decipher what cell
    freq is appearing on 347.025 when it may not have stepped onto the exact
    frequency in the first place.
    The European CPU can be placed into the PRO-2042, but the step increment
    will be 12.5 kHz - not 30 kHz.  And there is a chance that the VHF-Lo
    band will be missing.  You'd have to ask about that, but the Europies are
    forbidden from monitoring VHF-Lo.
 JZ> Any feedback on performance of BC9000? Worth $$ ?
Lot of sizzle in that package.  I like steak, myself.
 JZ> Hope this helps and doesn't muddle up your book business Bill.
 JZ> Probably a mistake posting this... now Durham will raise prices due to
 JZ> extra demand, and my first scanner will cost me more.
I recommend Durham, too.  They're good people. Even if they can't tell steak
from sizzle.
:-)
Bill Cheek | Internet: bcheek@cts.com | Compu$erve: 74107,1176
Windows 95 Juggernaut Team | Microsoft MVP
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