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.

Bought for 86$. The scanner works fine but the interface is way too complicated from a fresh start. After many youtube videos, I was able to set up my channels and tune my banks the way I want. Have JFK, LGA, NYPD, and some military channels on separate banks and can scan what I want. I get about 10-15 miles range from aircraft that are IN THE AIR, and rarely on the ground at airports that are in the same range. Can listen to NYPD from over 15 miles away so thats cool. I wish I could listen to airport transmissions that happened on the ground like the Tower and planes on the ground with the standard antenna. Probably need a larger antenna for that though. Also, I wish I could charge and listen at the same time, i don’t think it can do that.

Before purchasing this scanner I read all the reviews online. I also went to the Uniden site, downloaded a pdf of the manual and read it before the scanner arrived. To save yourself time you may want to read the 9/29/13 Amazon review by Jack Sanders. I found it most helpful. To simplify setup I used alkaline batteries as well as the Service Search Mode (see Manual page 48) which allows you to search through 10 pre-programmed banks to receive all the frequencies allocated to police, ham, marine, railroad civil air, military air, CB radio, racing and other services. I live about 30 miles from a major metropolitan airport and a military base. When first using the scanner I was able to hear hams on the local repeaters, ships in the bay, military and civilian aircraft, CB radios about 15 miles away and other local radio services. The audio is very clear and the signals were quite strong using just the small antenna that comes with the scanner. I have not yet attempted to program the scanner with my PC because I am quite satisfied using the pre-programmed service banks. This is an excellent scanner for the price and a good choice for anyone interested in getting into the radio scanning hobby. While it is true that you can use a tablet or smartphone APP to access radio services across the globe, there is still a thrill for me to capture a radio transmission from a passing train, aircraft or ship. As a final tip, there are some excellent YouTube reviews of this product if you type the search words Bearcat Uniden BC125AT.

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.

Will not hold a charge more than a hour. Rechargeable batteries are anything but.

1st scanner purchase for me. I bought it mainly for airshow events. But, I live in the Pacific Northwest, and theres a lot of other interesting chatter going on-shipping, military, ham, etc. The radio has a steep learning curve, not so much with regards to radio freqs, as to Unidens method of user interface. Not intuitive at all. Read the manual closely, and also do a search for radio forums with this as a topic. Itll take a few days for you to get to know the ins and outs of using the radio. I like the battery feature. You can use regular alkaline AAs, or a rechargeable set. The radio can recharge these while installed, and it has a switch inside depending on which you use. I try to choose electronics that use AA batteries in order to streamline my battery needs. I see some folks have purchased an aftermarket antenna for it. I myself havent had any problems with the stock antenna. I havent been out much with it, but it seems to pull down signals fine from my patio. The only thing that annoys me about the radio is that stupid electronic squawk when you turn it on. My Uniden CB does that too. What is up with that, Uniden? Ugh. Not a fan. Other than the above, thats all I got. Seems to be a good radio so far.

This scanner is an excellent choice if you want to listen in on railroad, maritime, aviation, or racing activities. Its also a superb tool for monitoring the police/fire/EMS systems that have not yet become digital. The ability to alpha tag (i.e. label) the display so that you immediately know WHO you are listening to is my favorite attribute of this scanner. You will DEFINITELY want to use your computer to do the labeling and programming as it is SO much easier than trying to accomplish programming via the scanner keypad. The Uniden software is easy to download and pretty intuitive. It basically loads a spreadsheet looking document that is clearly labeled with fields. You just pick a blank field (bank/channel) and fill in the frequency and your custom label. You then export your data right to the radio (write to scanner) via the USB, and the scanner is programmed in a matter of seconds. I also love the functionality of the backlight on this thing. On my 20 year old scanner, the backlight would come on for just 10 seconds and then go off. You also had to hunt for the backlight button in the dark. The BC125AT backlight can be set to either (a) Be on all the time (b) come on when a transmission is received (c) come on anytime you push any button on the unit (d) both options c and d....which is my preference. Very useful. Its small and discrete. Great for carrying around near airports and train stations without looking like a big dork. I was worried the speaker would be tinny on a small unit, but the speaker is every bit as good as the speakers on my older, larger scanners.

This seems to be a very good scanner, but there is quite a steep learning curve. You do not just turn it on and start scanning. The radio requires extensive set up and programming before use which is rather difficult to understand for a novice like me. All of the frequencies and other specifics for what you want to listen to must be entered into the devices memory, which means you must know those things before you start. Luckily many of these are available online. The owners manual is not terribly well written and somewhat confusing. Hint: go to the Uniden web site and download the USB drivers and programming software. It is vastly easier than programming the scanner directly. I bought the scanner primarily to monitor aircraft traffic and it works amazingly well. I can hear the local air traffic control tower from my home which is over 15 miles away! Do your research before buying. Make sure what you want to listen to is even accessible. For example, many local police, fire and other frequencies are now encrypted or carried over proprietary networks which are not accessible to the public.

Fast scanner. Wideband. Analog only.

After unsuccessfully trying to program it manually for over an hour, I finally got online, downloaded the software and programmed it that way. Took about 10 minutes... then I was all set up and ready to listen to local, county and state agencies while out doing crimes. (Note: pictured with long-range crime-spree antenna.)

Im a little stunned by the bad reviews. I couldnt disagree more. This is a great scanner. For the roughly 100 bucks, you really get a lot. Its handheld, which means it travels nicely. Its great for road trips and can keep you in the loop on weather, accidents, and umm, other police activities. It scans CB, FRS/GMRS/MURS and HAM bands which covers pretty much all of the individual use bands. The first two (CB, FRS/GMRS/MURS) are pretty useful on trips too. Its rechargeable, and uses standard AA Ni-MH batteries (included) and you can recharge the batteries right in the scanner from a USB port. You can charge while its on. Also, just in case it matters, you can run it directly from the USB port without any batteries installed at all! Of course, in a pinch you can always use regular non-rechargeable AA batteries which are pretty much the most common batteries in America. Theres a switch inside the battery compartment to tell the scanner what kind of batteries you have so that it wont try to recharge regular batteries. (I know, too much time on batteries but I cant help it. A scanners no good if you cant turn it on!) There are some nice storage features for storing found stations and you can program them in manually too, if you know the frequency. You can name all the stations as well. Additionally, theres are banks of per-programmed frequencies for different uses (fire, police, CB, etc.) to allow you to get started right away. (If youre looking for frequencies just google scanner frequencies and the city or area you live in. Pretty simple...) But really, its connecting to the PC that has me won over. *All* of the settings can be accessed through the PC software available from the website. (The website also includes the *manual* <ahem>, drivers, and firmware updates. The software isnt all that sexy to be sure, but its plenty functional! Its a lot easier to use than typing into the scanner itself. It allows you to save different configurations in separate files so you can have, for instance, a file for Topeka, and another one for Miami. Again, a really nice feature if youre on the road and have a laptop. Cons: You cant actually control the scanning itself from the computer. Not a big deal but the function might be kinda cool. My biggest complaint is that there is not a standing battery indicator. You only get notification when the batteries get low, but you have no idea when that might be. Its just a minor annoyance... maybe itll get fixed in a firmware update? Overall, totally useful.