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

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.

It is a little difficult to set up and program the frequencies into the PRIVATE channel. It has 100 memories which is great and close call that will automatically receive a frequency that is within a few miles without knowing the frequency. A little difficult not having to punch in a frequency. You have to scan for the frequency you are looking for.

Im a beginner when it comes to police scanners and am glad this was very easy to set up. You just literally plug in the power and plug in the antenna and you are good to go. Thanks to earlier reviews I bought an aftermarket antenna and used it at the get go so i havent run into the issues with reception that other reviewers have mentioned. Also thanks to another earlier review I was able to (fairly) easily program my local police departments channel into the private bank. Although it did take a little extra time because for one I couldnt input the channel directly and for two the search arrows have to be pushed over and over again for each channel change instead of being able to simply hold the button down and have it scroll through quickly to the channel I wanted. This lead to me having to hit the scroll up botton I kid you not 150 times before I got to the station I wanted and was able to save it into the private bank. But now that its in there it is super convenient. The built in speaker is adequate and quite loud when turned up all the way. It is a tad fuzzy but its hard to tell if that is due to the quality of the speaker or the quality of my local polices radio equipment (I live in a small town that is kind of behind the times when it comes to technology). That being said, even though its a little fuzzy, I am still able to understand almost all of what is being said.

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.

Bought one for my daughter and one for my son and one for my own present. A great scanner at a reasonable price. Easy to use, but real professional ability to program by reading the detailed manual. We live in Lake County, CA where we need to have them to keep track of the wildfires in our area, as well as weather forecasts, police and sheriff, and ambulance calls.

It works well. My only complaint is it came through the mail in it’s original packaging- just the scanner box with a shipping label popped on it. Not even an extra strip of tape to hold it closed for sure. We’re lucky it wasn’t damaged , anything missing from inside or totally stolen. We had a good laugh thinking, well it sure came fast because they just printed our address and put it straight on the box, no added hassle or time.

It does scan all 1700 available frequencies so its a little slow you miss a lot of the back and forth. It has amazing range i can pick up services 20 + miles away but I miss the local stuff cause I cant lock in only those channels. And yes you can save them in favorites but it scans them after making the the full sweep of the 1700 possible channels. Also go for the larger extension speaker the little speaker built in is a little small for the job. But all in all for the price you can hear all available channels , and it does come with everything you need to plug and play right out of the box.

As with most things you get what you paid for. There are scanners out there that are easier to use and program, but that also cost a conciderable more money. This product does sacerfice some ease of use features that are present on higher priced models like number keys for programming channels, but it doesnt skimp on sound quailty or build. For a small electronic device this is built like they did back in the day housed in a nice solid case with tight buttons and nice sturdy dials there should be no fear in mountiing this in the hardest working trucks out there. Scan is relitivly fast for a scanner at this price point. Make no mistake this is a little to no frills device but youre also not paying a premium for those features. In short this leaves out some items that are convenience items but nothing that I couldnt live without. If you want a nice scanner for the right price that delivers where it counts, you cant loose with this one. As a side note the item came in sooner then I expected and Im 100% happy with the vendor and Amazon delivery

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.

Was not able set the channels needed for my area I took it to a communication center for scannels and outcome was told to me they were pre-programmed and was not able to reset also why should I be charged restocking fee if the merchandise isnt able tp preform its job and it doesnt explain that when ordered I also contacted the Uniden company was sent instruction and still could not it set. Very poor merchandise I recommend it to no one SORRY. Thanks