Screenshots of bcTool in action
These screenshots are taken from 1.2r1 (the first official, public release of bcTool).
Simply click on a screenshot to see a larger version:
bcTool's main programming interface is based around the system/group list on the left, and the programming grid on the right. The grid changes format depending on system type and makes entering and editing programming easy.
The programming grid features a context-sensitive popup menu which allows quick access to commonly used features, such as moving channels, adding duplex frequencies or performing bulk edit operations.
The Programming menu controls most aspects of programming your scanner. You can see that bcTool supports a number of formats for importing data from other applications or sources. RadioReference data is also supported (see screenshot later on this page).
You can easily and quickly change system settings, including system type, quick key, hold/delay times, lockout status and all trunk parameters when appropriate
bcTool also provides fully featured logging options. Here you can see the 'Summary Log', which provides a brief overview of scanner activity with number of hits per channel, tone, frequency, modulation and status of any recorded audio.
For more advanced logging, a 'Detail Log' is available which allows you to drill down and see full details of activity on each received channel, including signal strength, duration and tone, so you can easily see if more than one tone is being used on a channel.
You can also configure bcTool to automatically record all received transmissions. Options are provided to automatically stop recording (and optionall move the scanner on) after a set duration, automatically delete short recordings, define filename structure and set recording format and bitrate.
Full remote radio control features are also provided, allowing you to control your scanner using your mouse and keyboard or remotely using bcTool Server. Macro features are provided to automate common atasks such as locking out systems and changing scanner settings.
Almost all scanner configuration can be performed from bcTool - here you can see Custom Search ranges being configured.
Close Call options can also be set, including setting broadcast screens.
Global Lockouts can be easily cleared, edited or saved to a file and later reloaded.
RadioReference subscription data is supported and systems can be imported directly to bcTool. You can also copy and paste a RadioReference publically available page and bcTool will parse it and construct a valid system (for best results please use Mozilla Firefox).
Full duplicate detection and search facilities are provided too. You can easily remove duplicates or export a list for use elsewhere.
These screenshots represent just a fraction of the power of bcTool! For a proper example, please download and try with your scanner!