Uniden Bearcat BC125AT Handheld Scanner, 500-Alpha-Tagged Channels, Close Call Technology, PC Programable, Aviation, Marine, Railroad, NASCAR, Racing, and Non-Digital Police/Fire/Public Safety.

Great analog scanner, however kind of outdated since just about every department is now using digital or in the process of switching to digital. However, if your only purpose is to monitor millitary planes, regular airplanes, boats, or trains then this is an excellent scanner. However, if you wish to monitor police, fire, EMS, etc... then check radio reference first to make sure your local area doesnt use digital yet. If you wish to monitor digital communications, go with the BCD436 or download the scanner app free on your phone to see if you can listen on there instead.

I have been using scanner-type radios for more than 40 years -- I am a newspaper editor whose job requires them. I have also been a ham radio operator since 1958. While I own even a Uniden Homepatrol -- arguably the top of the line, I consider the BC125AT to be the most remarkable value of any radio of this type I have ever seen. The quality of this unit, its performance, the ability to configure it many ways, the scores of features, and the FREE programming software make this an excellent value. WHAT I ESPECIALLY LIKED: * Low price: You get an awful lot for $119 (or whatever the current price is). * Free programming software: Its no-frills, but it does everything I want, include setting tone codes and text tags, without all the fuss of using the keypad and scroll control. Setting up the drivers confused me a bit, but Unidens help service responded within two days with very detailed instructions -- that worked. Virtually every other scanner thats programmable requires one to purchase software to program it. This feature alone is a substantial value. * The volume: Many lower-end scanners do not push out much sound. This one is as loud as I would ever need, even in noisy circumstances, such as a fire scene or parade. * Ability to find channels: This unit has several ways of finding active frequencies in your community, including Close Call detection for finding nearby activity and scanning predetermined regions of the spectrum (Marine, Air, railroad, ham, etc.) to find more distance channels by checking thousands of channels that have been preprogrammed in. * CTCSS and DCS squelch: Most people may not care about this, but if you have a distant police department using the same frequency as the local police department, and youre using an external antenna, programming in the squelch code will prevent you from hearing the interference from the distant department. You hear only station you have provided a code for on that frequency (codes can be gotten from Radioreference.com or you can scan for them using the radio). * Adjustability: The unit is very configurable, right down to the contrast on the screen. You will need to study the manual, but you will be rewarded doing so. * Manual: Its extensive, its clear, and its pocket size. Best of it, it exists! So many things today come without manuals -- you have to download information or read it on a screen. This has a REAL manual, and it is really useful. And its not written in broken English! * The build: Its sturdy, well-designed. It would be nice if it could be a bit smaller, like some newer transceivers, but its certainly not chunky like Radio Shack and Uniden scanners of the recent past. * USB rechargeable: The unit uses standard AA nicads (included) that can be charged in the radio with a USB cable (included). Not included is a five-volt USB power supply brick. However, everyone has those already; they come with cell phones and other gear. Just plug the charger cable into one of these transformer blocks -- or into your computer. Smart move by Uniden because you dont have to pay the added cost of transformer you already have. The unit can also use standard alkaline AAs -- making it very flexible. * Frequency range: Its got just about every frequency range you would want, including CB. WHAT I DONT LIKE: * One rotary control: One knob, called a scroll control, is used to change channels and to program, adjust volume and adjust squelch. The priority use is channel changing (and other functions requiring scrolling). To me it should be volume first. In the many situations in which I use a scanner, I am always turning up or down the volume. I need quick access; with this unit, you have to push and hold down while turning to adjust volume. One learns to do that, but its still cumbersome. I believe that volume adjustment is the most frequently used purpose of a rheostat-type control. Even better would be TWO rotary controls, one for volume/squelch and one for channel changing, etc. There is room on the top for a second control. * No digital: Well, for $119, I guess you cant expect digital coverage. (Fortunately for me, most of my local services are still analog.) But it still irks me that when you can walk into a supermarket and buy a throw-away cell phone for $10, you have to pay nearly $500 for a digital portable scanner. That $10 phone is a digital two-way radio transceiver. Its not only a scanner receiver, its a multichannel transmitter, too! Its time for technology and price to catch up with radio scanners.

This a great basic radio for the price. For a little over 100 dollars you get all the bells and whistles of a more sophisticated model. Ill call this a basic radio because its not digital, non-trunking and goes up only to 512MHz. But its all I needed for now, and it does the job I want. I work at my local airport so I use it to listen to VHF-Air and the UHF airline terminal operations channels just to keep up on whats happening. I listen at home and at work. The feature I most like is being able to name your frequencies with alpha tagging. No more guessing. Another good feature is being able to charge and/or use your radio through the supplied USB cable. Dead rechargeable batteries arent a reason anymore not to listen, at least when youre near a computer. So yes, I recommend this radio to anyone who likes to listen to VHF air, VHF Lo-Hi and UHF up to 512MHz. Theres a lot of non digital frequencies out there to be heard. Dont let some of the low ratings here deceive you, theyre all because some people had some trouble programming the radio. Ill admit its not the easiest thing in the world (even for a scanner buff like me) but read the manual, keep calm and within the first hour out of the box with some dedication, you should be able to start listening and even program your favorite frequencies. Dont let the All channels locked warning scare you. It just means you havent programmed anything yet. Use the Search button to start listening right out of the box. It took me about 30 min to an hour to get acquainted with how this radio works. After a week I mastered it.

I work in the digital LMR industry for first responders. I didnt have too much trouble figuring this radio out, but nothing about this radio is what you may be familiar with if youre used to working with analog scanners. All of the knobs and buttons are dual and triple use. For example, there is no designated volume or squelch knob. There is a single knob which serves several purposes, including volume or squelch. This is sort of a nuisance to me. However, I will live with its awkwardness for now. As far as a radio is concerned, it has good sensitivity and noise rejection.

I bought this scanner specifically for the military air band since I live near a joint military/civilian airfield. So far seems to be working well. User interface on the radio is way too confusing. That makes it no different than the previous Bearcat I had. However, that is easily overcome by the software you can download for free to program it. I entered the frequencies I wanted to scan, gave them all names and loaded to the radio using the supplied (yes it comes with it) cable and voila! Its quick and easy to use. I also discovered the data file for the software is plain text so, if you honor their format, you can also add and edit frequencies using a text editor as well. This allows you to cut and paste which makes it easier to transfer channels between banks or reorder them within banks. You still need to use the software to program the radio but editing is much easier with a text editor. My ultimate goal is to monitor all the local aviation frequencies so that I can supply them to the live atc site so I will probably buy a few more of these as decide to add more specific frequencies.

Not so user friendly

I am doing some work for our towns newspaper and wanted to know what’s going on in the area. The publisher gave me his scanner but we were to far from the sheriffs department in a valley to hear calls. I bought this Uniden and am surprised how far through mountains it picks up. What I don’t like is the horrible instructions. I was ready to return it and I decided to go on you tube to figure out how to unlock it. The instruction manual had different instructions than the web did to reset it. The web worked, instructions did not. When I got it, several channels where programmed and it immediately locked and nothing I could do to unlock it until I found the instructions on the web. I suspect this was returned and resold. The unit itself is easy to program once the kinks are worked out, which was nearly three hours. Go to YouTube for more clear instructions. We used one bank and were able to program EMS, Sheriffs department, and forestry in it and the best part, you can program with the frequency what each setting is. When police calls come over, it reads “”police” and so on. Once you use a scanner, you appreciate this feature. Before buying, be sure your area is not on digital broadcasting as this unit is analog. Any broadcast that starts with an “8” is digital. Our state police here use digital and those scanners are very expensive. There are many sites on the web that you can find all the scanner frequencies as so you can program the Uniden Scanner. Some list every single broadcast frequency’s being used in your area, most of which are construction companies. It comes with a charging cord to plug into a PC to charge it. If you have a USB wall plug, works that way as it doesn’t come with an AC adaptor. The battery life is about six hours which is disappointing. It’s pretty interesting to listen to the broadcasts. The unit it self is five stars, the instructions are two stars.

Fast scanner. Wideband. Analog only.

This is my 3rd bearcat scanner. This is a very portable scanner and works well. Ive had a scanner since I was 14 and Im 63 now. You cannot pick up all the police and fire frequencies with this scanner.

The interface is very complicated, but its a good scanner, and works for my needs (monitoring Airband).