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Reviews For: Bearcat 101 (Electra)

Category: Receivers: Scanners

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Review Summary For : Bearcat 101 (Electra)
Reviews: 3MSRP:
Description:
16 Programmable channels. Unique digital frequency synthesis. No channel crystals required. Non-volatile memory. Exclusive full band "track tuning". Exclusive electronically tuned antenna. Exclusive selective scan delay. Bands: 1. 30 - 50 Mhz, 2. 146 - 148 Mhz, 3. 148 - 174 Mhz, 4. 450 - 470 Mhz, 5. 470 - 512 Mhz, 416 - 450 Mhz. Sensitivity: .25 uv VHF, .6 uv UHF. Scan rate is approximately 20 channels per second. Dual gate MOSFET RF and mixer.
Product is in production
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# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0034.7
ERIEDXER Rating: 2015-01-23
Innovative Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Being an early PLL programmable scanner wasn't the BC101's biggest innovation, as Tennelec introduced that technology two years prior to the BC101 and it was carried over when Electra gained some people from Tennelec when Tennelec went bankrupt. But what was innovative about the BC101 was its non-volatile memory; this was the first scanner radio to have it. It would "remember" programmed frequencies if the radio lost AC power, and it didn't need a backup battery to do so. The single conversion radio end itself it sort of an average performer, there is some digital noise present in the signal but not as bad as the Tennelec Memoryscan models. It gets a 4 for the innovation it brought to scanner radios, 1 point knocked off for so-so radio performance.
W3ETC Rating: 2009-10-27
Still a decent performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I recently pulled my Bearcat 101 off of the display shelf where it has proudly resided for many years. I purchased it new back in 1976. Amazing it still works and sounds great. Although the manual is long gone a quick internet search revealed a neat little program so I could enter new frequencies as I had no idea what I had entered so long ago.

While it doesn't do trunking or digital decoding it sure sounds good listening to the repeaters and public service simulcast.

Sporting it rugged real metal chassis it is testament to how they were built a good while ago.
KE5QXL Rating: 2007-10-10
Innovative! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Introduced around 1975. The Bearcat 101 started the marvelous revolution in scanner technology. Digital frequency synthesis freed scanner buffs from the anchor of individual channel crystals. The technology marvels alone merit this scanner a 5! I purchaed it when it was introduced three decades ago. It still works! A marvelous part of scanner history.