Uniden Bearcat 200/205XLT Battery Extension Mod As usual, I take no responsibility if you screw up your radio or if the mod doesn't work. BC200XLT LOW BATTERY FIXES Troy T. Pummill, Here are two small articles from MT. I have not tried these mods, do so at your own risk (i.e. your mileage may vary). From Monitoring Times Bob's Tip of the Month May 1990, page 98 BC200XLT SHORT BATTERY LIFE SOLVED Short battery life--sometime only an hour or two between charges--seems to be the only major complaint among owners of the leading hand-held scanner, the Uniden Bearcat BC200XLT. Presumably, owners of similar sets like the BC100XLT BC205XLT, and Cobra 4030 could have the same prob- lem. Now that is an ailment of the past. It turns out that the batteries were not really at fault; a zener diode which determines the voltage at which the low- battery indicator would come on was defective in some units, causing the circuit to actuate prematurely. Replacing that idode and changing the value of an associated resistor pro- vides the answer. FREE FIX MT contacted Uniden and was assured that they will provide the fix for free, even if the radio is outside of the one- year warranty period. If your Uniden BC200XLT suffers from short battery life, send the radio along with a brief note describing the ailment, to Uniden Customer Service, 9900 West Point Drive, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46250. As shown in the accompanying diagram, zener diode D203 and resistor R208 are the parts in question. D203 should be about 7 volts and R208 should be 150,000 ohms. These are miniature surface-mount devices on double- sided circuit board; if your radio is under warranty, attempting this fix yourself will void that warranty. =========================================================================== BBS: The Technical Hangout BBS Date: 06-26-92 (15:17) Number: 327 From: MARSHAL PERLMAN Refer#: NONE To: ALL Recvd: NO Subj: SCANNER MODS 3/3 Conf: (22) Radio-Scan --------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> Continued from previous message The tools: You will need a small Phillips screwdriver, fine-tip soldering iron and solder wicking braid. The procedure: Remove the battery pack, then the two screws form the bottom spring clip. Carefully pull the rear cover off, bottom first. Remove the two small screws at the base of the circuit board. Pull the front panel away from the mainframe, bottom first. At the bottom of the remaining board--to the left of the speaker magnet--are two blue electrolytic capacitors; just above them are two striped components-- one resistor and one diode. Using the soldering iron and braid, carefully remove the two components without overheating the board or damaging the copper traces. When you reassemble the radio, be very careful to note the insertion of the front panel into the slot at the base of the volume/squelch panel. Be especially careful to align the screw holes perfectly, allowing the two rows of fine pin contacts to mate correctly with the socket. If this is not done correctly (and it probably won't be the first time!) no damage will occur, but the scanner display will be blank. Recharge your batteries after 6-8 hours of heavy use. If the scanner dies, recharge it as soon as possible to prevent loss of your memorized frequencies. __ || || ------ | | Voltage Regulator PARTS LOCATER | | ------ [][][] ___ [___] resistor ___ [___] diode ------ - - - - -- -- - - - - - - - - -- -- ------ capacitors (2, round) Speaker Magnet ==============================================================================