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.

Its pretty much what I expected, its a little hard for me to program it but Ill get it

I like it cause it fits in my pocket but, its the worst scanner that I have ever had to program !!

It is my first scanner so I knew I would have to learn how to use it, but it wasn’t as easy as the box would have you believe. The included manual is comprehensive and complete, that being said it’s a lot of information to ingest. But if you look up the frequencies you’d want to listen to online, and watch a video on how to program them, you will not be too lost. As far as signal and functionality goes, A+ With the stock antenna I get all (analog) signals within a reasonable range. Battery life is pretty good if you are fine not having the backlight on the whole time, as that cuts the usage time by 70% with my testing at full volume which is plenty loud for those wondering.

it took 4 of us (one is a phd teacher, one an Army mechanic, one with a degree) and a nerd to figure out we dont understand this at all, and returned it. I wanted a turn this on, watch it scan for emergency transmissions and go. NOPE, not this. Does not do that. Need to program it somehow.

This is just an average scanner for an average price, which is what I should have expected. The item was introduced around 2012, so its already old technology. It works, and it scans pretty fast, but theres nothing outstanding about it. One disappointment is the relatively short battery life. Im sure that I dont use it for more than an hour per day, but it seems that I have to charge it at least once per week. I have another scanner that this was supposed to replace (the LCD screen is dying on that one), and Im sure the batteries last twice as long between charges.

I purchased this product for use when I go out railfanning, to be able to listen in on where trains are located on my local rail line. The scanner works really well and is able to receive radio signals from a pretty far distance away when youre close to an active rail line. The build quality is good for the product, its mostly made of plastic. But thats not a deal breaker in my opinion, since the product feels very durable and doesnt feel like it will fall apart the second it falls onto a concrete floor. I found the interface very easy to understand, all the button functions are clearly labeled and are very easy to figure out all of the functions. The programming software was very easy to use as well, its very similar to using Microsoft Excel. I personally prefer the BC125 over the BC75, because the 125 can store a lot more frequencies and you also get the ability to add in custom names/alpha tags. The only drawback to the product is the range is not very good... But that comes with using the antenna that is provided with the scanner, since its not very long. The scanner can receive signals from channels I programmed as far as 10 miles away from my local railroad mail line, but that applies mainly frequencies that are used on my local railroad. Overall the scanner works very well for my uses, I am very happy with the product, and I would recommend any railroad enthusiast to purchase a radio scanner to use while railfanning. Since it will make your railfanning sessions a lot more fun, since you will know ahead of time whats coming in your direction.

This purchase was made when the display on my old PRO-95 quit working. I decided I didnt need the 800MHz channels or trunking capability since I mainly use the scanner for listening to railroads. I was very happy with the BC125AT and the software that you can download for free. The first two banks I programmed in all the railroad frequencies and then the remaining ones used for police, fire, HAM, and CB frequencies. The software makes it easy to replace the frequencies with only railroad frequencies with one railroad occupying one bank. I like the fact that it uses standard AA rechargeable batteries that can be charged in the scanner. Seems to hold the charge for a long time, but am considering ordering batteries with higher mAH capacities for extra batteries. I havent had a chance to use the scanner with my railroad frequency tuned antenna on my vehicle, so I dont know how sensitive it is to pick up trains calling out signals from a good distance away. Overall, I am very happy with this replacement for my old scanner.

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.

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.

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.