Uniden BC355N 800 MHz 300-Channel Base/Mobile Scanner, Close Call RF Capture, Pre-programmed Search “Action” Bands to Hear Police, Ambulance, Fire, Amateur Radio, Public Utilities, Weather, and More, Black

Programming can be a bit confusing to figure out at first but once programmed you wont need to do it anymore. A numeric keypad would have made it easier and faster than scrolling to look for the one you want to save. With the speaker being on the bottom of the unit you must use the fold-out stand to avoid the sound from being muffled and doing so makes the telescopic antenna extend at an angle instead of straight up so it takes up more space than its footprint would lead you to believe. But the unit is tiny so this shouldnt be an issue for most though I would assume that reception would be slightly better if the antenna was straight up and down instead of at an angle. Having small feet on all four corners or having the speaker come out of the top of the unit would have been a better idea. You can also use an external speaker to avoid this small issue. I have no idea on its range as I live relatively close to the repeaters in my town but it seems to do pretty well. I can hear car communications just fine too. Having 800MHz capabilities is not useful where I live but most scanners at this price point dont have that frequency range so it might be useful for some. CB is a feature that I will probably never use. I tried it and got nothing. CB is pretty much dead anyway. Overall its a decent scanner and you wont find very many others with all of the features that this one has at this price.

A nice item which I unfortunately had to return. While I understood that this was an analog scanner, I did not know that every agency in NH is digital. That was my mistake and had nothing to do with the product; but all I could pick up was the weather band channels which came in quite clearly. I followed the programming steps outlined by a reviewer and it was easy to operate, far better instructions than in the manual, which I found confusing. Before buying, a quick check out radioreference.com will help determine whether this scanner will work for you. If your location uses P25, it is digital and this is not the item for you.

hello i recently bought this scanner for my uncle. Since buying this item i have found myself listening it just as much as he does. When we got the scanner it was programmed out of the box with some preset codes that work perfectly for our area, the box came with all the accessories to hook up to a car or home and is loud enough that anyone can hear it. My only complaint is that the antennae does not pick up alot of traffic if you live outside of a town but that can be corrected by buying a bigger antennae. Another problem is if you already have codes to program in, there is no key pad to program them in to the private bank but beyond these problems this is a good beginner to intermediate scanner for anyone. Still i like it and am happy i bought it.

Difficult to program.

I really wanted to like this scanner. I bought it to replace another Uniden that I had 20+ years ago. I live in an area where our public safety uses digital trunked systems. Not a problem, as I only purchased it to monitor air, marine, rail, and ham traffic in the area. Sadly, this scanner just doesnt fit my needs and is being returned. I really did not like how the memory channels were allocated and how you had to go through the entire band, air for example, BEFORE the unit would scan the small handful of air frequencies you programmed. In all honesty, this radio only has 100 programmable channels that are functional. The other 200 are useless. Those 100 usable channels in the Private bank cannot be broken out into subsections. So, all the frequencies you want to monitor need to be stored there, and not in the service banks. As far as overall quality and audio output, the scanner is a nice compact package and sounds really good. Buyer beware...

Great scanner for the money as long as the agencies around you aren’t using trunked or digital frequencies. I would check the radio reference website to verify what is being used in your area. As for programming: Yeah it’s a bit tedious, but really no harder than setting stations on your fm stereo in your car. Just a heck of a lot more channels to sift through, lol. Check the internet for what frequencies are used by agencies around you. Again radio reference is a good source. Reception and sound: This is really dependent on your antenna and the signal strength of the broadcaster. The supplied antenna is ok for about 20 to 30 miles. If you’re looking to get further broadcasts I’d get a different one. Speaker quality is clear, good, and is quite loud. Again it is dependent on the signal. Broadcasts that are farther away are going to be more faint. I have not used the close capture technology, so I can’t speak to its effectiveness. Is this better than using mobile scanner apps? Heck yeah. With the mobile apps, you’re stuck to whatever frequencies they have programmed, or if there is even a broadcast for your area. Overall I’m very pleased with the scanner. I would recommend this to everyone looking for a great cheap little analog unit.

This is a no frills basic scanner that works great for anyone in an area that has police and fire still on analog frequencies. Really simple to program; dont believe the naysayers that say it isnt. A simple 3 minute youtube video showed me how to do it. Its a bit time consuming and repetitive but very very easy once you know how. If you plan to listen to over 25 or so frequencies right of the bat, you might want to invest in a programming cable and download programming software. Also, it does have a TOTAL of 300 slots to program frequencies BUT 200 of these are under the Air/Marine slot. It is a bit confusing and if you want to listen to more than 100 frequencies and have to spill over to the Air/Marine presets, you will have to set the scanner to scan your private frequencies along with both the Air and Marine band presets. Its confusing I know, but it DOES have 300 memory slots. If some folks read the free downloadable user manual before purchasing, they would have known that. If you are listening to that many frequencies though, you should probably invest in a better, higher end scanner that has a larger custom memory bank. Its pretty small and takes up very little space on my nightstand and workbench. Worthwhile if you are like me and only listen to around 15 or 20 of the local police/fire/EMS frequencies. If that is all you are looking for out of your scanner, this will do the job. Upon arrival, the box included the scanner, a base telescopic antenna that plugs straight into the back (works well for me, your results may vary with location), a mobile mounting bracket with several feet of fused power wire, a DC cigarette power adapter for quick plug and go mobile installation, and finally a second antenna. The second antenna is basically a copper wire with suction cups on both ends and several feet of coax attached to it. According to the directions, you basically suction cup the antenna to the inside windshield on the passenger side of the vehicle or to the rear widow if you drive a standard cab truck. I currently use it in my basement window to gain better reception during the evening when I am working downstairs in my concrete surrounded shop space. Having an additional antenna stuck up in the window really helps improve the reception. Overall, its simple, it works, and its not crazy expensive because of too many bells and whistles I wont use.

Easier to set up than other reviews lead you to believe. Pages 52-55 of manual - read it carefully and you will get hang of it quickly. One drawback I (reason for 4 stars) is it scans one panel at a time (police, for example) and after a set time moves into the next panel to scan instead of across all panels at the same time. You can remedy this by enabling the closest but then CB chatter can take over if you live near an interstate. Having replaced a 20 year old 10 channel BC scanner with this all I can say is Wow!

I received this as a gift from my wife. I find the scanner a little hard to program and the sound quality is not a good as I would like. Of course it isnt a $500 scanner so I really didnt expect it to be a Cadillac but more of a Chevy. It offers a wide variety of frequencies to monitor so someone looking for a scanner that will do the job and not break the bank this is a good one!