Glossary
Every radio and app term the guide uses, defined once.
Alpha tag
The text name saved for a channel, like "FIRE DISPATCH" or "NOAA WX1." It's what shows on the big display during a hit instead of a bare frequency.
Alpha tags come from the scanner's memory, so they're blank until the memory sync finishes. Before sync completes, hits show just the frequency.
Bank
A group of channels. Every supported scanner has 10 banks, but how many channels each holds depends on the model: a BC125AT has 500 channels in banks of 50 (1 to 50 are Bank 1, 51 to 100 are Bank 2, and so on), while a BC75XLT has 300 in banks of 30 (1 to 30 are Bank 1, 31 to 60 are Bank 2). Bearpaw follows whichever scanner is plugged in. You can turn whole banks on or off for scanning (on the Scan tab), and you view and edit one bank at a time (on the Channels tab).
Close Call
Uniden's feature for detecting a strong signal from a transmitter physically close to you and jumping to it automatically, even if that frequency isn't in your channels. Configured on the Device tab.
CTCSS / tone / DCS
Sub-audible codes sent along with a transmission so a receiver can be set to open only for its own group and ignore everyone else sharing the frequency.
- CTCSS is a continuous tone, identified by its frequency in Hz (e.g. 123.0). Bearpaw lets you set a CTCSS tone when editing a channel.
- DCS is a digital version of the same idea, identified by a code number.
Bearpaw shows whichever a live signal is carrying, on the display, for as long as the signal is open.
Delay
How long the scanner waits on a channel after a transmission ends before it resumes scanning, so you have time to hear the reply. Set per channel, in seconds. Bearpaw also supports negative delays (pre-delays), where the scanner holds before the next transmission.
Draft
An edit you've made on the Channels tab that is held in the app and not yet written to the scanner. You make as many drafts as you want, then push them all to the radio at once with Upload Changes. (See Drafts and uploading.)
Hit
When the scanner stops on a frequency because a signal is present. The display switches from "Scanning…" to the live frequency and details, and if the transmission lasts long enough, it's recorded in your activity log. (See the hit workflow.)
Hold
A mode where the scanner stays parked on the current channel instead of cycling through them. You turn Hold on (with the HOLD button or Ctrl/⌘ + H). During an ordinary hit the scanner is paused but not in Hold. It's still scanning, just waiting out the transmission.
Lockout
Telling the scanner to skip a frequency or channel so it stops stopping on it.
- A temporary lockout lasts until the scanner is powered off, and targets the frequency you're currently on.
- A permanent lockout is written into the channel's memory and stays until you remove it.
Both are toggles; apply again to remove. On the Scan tab, the L/O button opens a menu with Temporary and Permanent choices. You can review and clear permanent lockouts under Locked Channels.
Memory sync
Reading every channel out of the scanner into the app — 500 on a BC125AT, 300 on a BC75XLT. Because the scanner hands them over one at a time, it takes about five seconds (less on a BC75XLT, which has fewer to read). It runs automatically when the app connects, and you can re-run it from Scanner → Sync Memory. Bearpaw doesn't store your channels between sessions; it re-reads them from the radio each time.
Modulation
How a signal carries its audio. The BC125AT handles AM, FM, and NFM (narrow FM). When editing a channel you can also choose AUTO, which lets the scanner pick based on the frequency.
Priority
A channel the scanner checks periodically even while it's scanning or holding somewhere else, so you don't miss activity on a channel that matters. Each bank can have only one priority channel. In Bearpaw, the Priority switch applies to the scanner immediately, not as a draft. Priority mode (off/on/plus) is set separately on the Device tab.
RSSI
Received Signal Strength Indicator: how strong the received signal is. Bearpaw shows it as a five-bar meter next to the frequency during a hit.
Squelch
The circuit that mutes the receiver until a signal is strong enough to be worth hearing. Raising squelch means only stronger signals get through; lowering it lets weaker ones (and more noise) in.
In the app's data, "squelch open" means a signal is present (the scanner has un-muted), which is the opposite of how "open" might sound at first.
Sync
See memory sync.
Upload (Upload Changes)
The action that writes your pending channel drafts to the scanner. Until you press Upload Changes on the Channels tab, your edits stay in the app and the radio is untouched.