Uniden BC246T — Vol 3: Programming

3.1 Programming workflow

The BC246T has no USB port. PC programming uses the Remote jack on the right side of the radio: per the owner’s manual, the included connection cable plugs in there and ends in a DB9 connector for a PC serial port. Uniden lists the BC246T as a USB-1 model, meaning a PC without a serial port connects through Uniden’s USB-1 cable, an external USB-to-serial adapter with a Prolific PL2303 chip that needs its Windows driver.

Uniden’s own programming software for this radio is UASD (BC246T Uniden Advanced Scanner Director), last released as version 2.0.1.7 in September 2005; the manual calls the demo “BC246T SS”. The installer is a free download from Uniden, but without a purchased registration key it runs as a demo that transfers only four systems. Uniden notes that UASD does not expose the settings added by firmware 2.60.00. Third-party tools are the more common choice today.

PSREdit300 / ARC246 — the two third-party PC programming tools for the 246T. PSREdit300 (from Starrsoft) is the original commercial PC programmer for the early Uniden trunking scanners and supports the 246T’s codeplug format natively. ARC246 (from Butel) is the Butel-family programmer for the same vintage of Uniden scanners. Both are Windows-only, both connect through the Remote-jack serial cable (with the USB-1 adapter’s PL2303 driver on a PC without a serial port), and both are paid software with the company history covered in Vol 3. Free alternatives exist: FreeSCAN (Sixspot Software) lists the BC246T as supported, and Win246 is another option. How well either handles the trunking system and talkgroup hierarchy has not been assessed here.

Codeplug format. The 246T’s codeplug is the older Uniden binary format — incompatible with the BCD396XT, BCD536HP, SDS100, SDS200, and every other newer Uniden scanner. The hierarchy is: Systems → Groups → Channels. Trunking systems carry their own talkgroup tables, control-channel frequency lists, and tone settings; conventional groups are simpler flat lists of frequencies with per-channel CTCSS/DCS/mode settings. There is no codeplug-format compatibility with the newer Uniden lineup — moving a 246T codeplug to a BCD396XT is a manual re-entry job, not a file conversion.

Direct front-panel programming is supported and is the right call for adding a single conventional channel in the field, or for one-off frequency edits when you don’t have a laptop. Programming a full county trunked system from the front panel is tedious but possible — Uniden’s manual walks through the menu hierarchy. For initial system loads, use PC software; for incremental field tweaks, use the keypad.

Programming workflow in 2026:

1. Pull system data from RadioReference — the legacy database still carries analog Motorola Type II / EDACS / LTR system definitions for the systems still on air. RadioReference can export a 246T-compatible codeplug fragment for systems it knows about.
2. Load PSREdit300, ARC246, FreeSCAN or UASD on a Windows machine (a VM works; the USB-1 adapter’s serial driver is the only OS-touching piece).
3. Connect the cable to the Remote jack, set the COM port in the software, and read the existing codeplug as a backup.
4. Edit in the software: add/remove systems, add/remove conventional channels, set scan-list membership, set lockouts.
5. Write the codeplug back to the radio. Power-cycle to verify it took.
6. Save the codeplug file to disk and version it (see §5).

3.2 Codeplug backups

Codeplug files for this radio live in ../../programs/uniden-bc246t/. Most recent backup: TBD (the radio hasn’t been programmed in some time; the on-radio codeplug is the most current state).

The 246T’s codeplug format is the older Uniden binary format — incompatible with every newer Uniden scanner in the lineup (BCD396XT, BCD536HP, SDS100, SDS200, Homepatrol). Backup discipline is therefore separate from the newer-scanner backup process. The codeplug is small (a few tens of KB), so multiple dated snapshots cost nothing.

Backup convention:

../../programs/uniden-bc246t/
├── codeplug_YYYY-MM-DD_brief-description.246  (PSREdit300 format)
├── codeplug_YYYY-MM-DD_brief-description.btl  (ARC246 / Butel format)
└── README.md                                  (current state, history, edit log)

Restore is the reverse of programming: open the codeplug file in PSREdit300 or ARC246, write to the radio, verify on power-cycle.

Cadence is light — this radio sees few programming edits per year. One backup after any meaningful change is sufficient. The flagships (SDS100 Vol 13, SDS200 Vol 14, BCD536HP Vol 15) get the active programming attention.