Uniden BCD325P2 Handheld TrunkTracker V Scanner. 25,000 Dynamically Allocated Channels. Close Call RF Capture Technology. Location-Based Scanning and S.A.M.E. Weather Alert. Compact Size.

Great radio but NOT for the un-tech savvy! Youll need to download FreeSCAN software and subscribe to Radioreference.com! Theres youtube videos that show you how to do this! This is not your daddys scanner or your grandpas!

I love this little scanner that fits easily in your pocket. Id give it 5 stars except for the issues noted in other reviews here - it eats batteries, doesnt charge while being used on USB power and is really complicated to program. I took one look at trying to program it, gave up, and contacted a local scanner junkie. He was happy to hook it up to his laptop and downloaded all of the frequencies I need across 3 counties in less than 5 minutes. From there, its just a matter of turning it on and listening. If you want to get more complicated with your listening you can use its various features but you dont have to. As for the batteries, get a charger and 2 sets of batteries. If you are using it for extended hours, use the USB - for listening, not for charging.

If you have no experience programming a trunk radio system, this scanner can take some time to set up. Once up and running it proved to be a good sounding unit with great signal sensitivity. I intend to upgrade the antenna for something more robust, but I am otherwise satisfied. I used ARC XT Programming software (paid version) and access to a free Radio Reference Account during the scanner set up.

Its was hard to setup but I went on line to YouTube and found the help I needed.

You have to know how to program this type of scanner before you decide to buy. Very complicated if you are a beginner. Although a nice scanner here is what I don’t like *The fact that the batteries will not charge when the scanner is on. * Why do we have to push yes to charge? It should automatically go into charge mode when plugged in. * I use to listen to my old non digital scanner steady so I was able to keep it plugged in and automatically turned on when it received power from the vehicle. This scanner does not do that and you have to physically turn it on and off each time.

Uniden makes good quality stuff, I can’t give less than 5 ⭐️‘s for something I’m sending back only because I can’t program it to do squat, but play fm radio tunes.. Graat* I bought a $300+ radio... Brush up on your nuclear algebraic physicist equations first if you plan on mentally torturing yourself by buying this. Maybe study time travel too perhaps, it might help. If you know how to operate this radio, tell the peeps at NASA I said hello.. *”GOVERNMENT” WARNING* *Wear an aluminum hat when in use*

Ive been using this scanner for 2 years now. Prior to that I had no scanner experience. The learning curve was steeper than I was expecting, but not because the scanner was poorly designed. Here is some of my experience and advice. The Scanner is Too Hard to Program This is true, not because the scanner is poorly designed, but because the nature of digital systems are so much more complicated. Most states are, or already have, converted from analog to digital systems. The reason is because coverage is so much better (by a factor of hundreds!). This also means users need more knowledge about how these systems work. You cant just buy a scanner, turn it on, and listen. With digital, there are THOUSANDS of frequencies. You have to tell the scanner what you want to hear. If youre not familiar with digital systems, youll want and need help. Fortunately, there is an excellent place to get it. Youre also going to need a computer. If thats a problem, dont buy a Digital scanner, buy an analog scanner and save several hundred dollars. Go to radioreference.com. Do it before you even buy your scanner. Youll find tons of useful information for beginners. The site has separate forums for each state that tell you what frequency is used by which talk group (they all set up their systems differently). It also has many different forums, some organized by scanner manufacturer, where you can ask questions about specific models. Theres even a forum for PROSPECTIVE Uniden buyers where you can ask questions before you buy. Theres also a forum for beginners where experienced users answer questions. Most of it is free, but they sell a one-year membership for $25 that lets you download frequency tables. Its worth it. The time savings of downloading over manually entering data is enormous. Another major help to me was links to “easier to read owners manuals”. The guy that wrote them sells them on different sites for about $30. RR.com has a link to many, at no cost. They still dont tell you WHY you might want to use one option over another, but they will tell you HOW to set it up in fairly easy to understand terms. Software You dont have to use computer operated software to program your scanner, but doing so will save you hundreds of hours of tedious data entry. Download Freescan (yes, its FREE), and read about it on RR.com. It really simplifies things. One great thing is that if you have Freescan, and you read the forum for your state, its possible you could find someone nearby willing to email you a copy of the Freescan file theyve created that you can simply download to your scanner. Its a lot easier to start with a working copy someone else is already using, than to try to build your own from scratch! Once you have one, you can tweak it to suit your preferences. Batteries When I first got mine, I thought the battery life was short too. I dont know if that’s true or not, as now, the same rechargeable batteries typically last 4-5 hours. Best to buy enough to last you a day. I listen to mine from 5 to 8 hours a day, and can easily do this with 4 rechargeable AAs. The Stock Antenna is Crap! This is my one big gripe about Uniden scanners, or at least the BCD325P2. The photos show the unit with a 6” black “rubber ducky” antenna. If you take a scissor and cut off the black plastic an inch or so above the base, youll find that the actual antenna (the cable wire inside the plastic) is actually only an inch long. This greatly reduces the scanners ability to pick out radio transmissions from the air. In order to receive the frequencies the scanner is capable of transmitting, youll have to buy an after-market antenna, at a cost of around $30. I bought the Remtronix REM 800B, available on-line (see scannermaster.com) and noticed the difference immediately. Why Uniden would build a great scanner and put such a crappy antenna on it is a mystery to me. Its an insult to customers, and given the high cost of digital scanners, the added cost for a good antenna would be minimal. Bottom line: expect to spend another $40 to $60 over and above the cost of the scanner for a decent antenna, batteries, and possibly a subscription to RR. Its a relatively small (but irritating) amount to spend to get the most out of your scanner investment, but once you get your programming catered to your interests, you wont regret it. On the plus side, this scanner is $100 cheaper now than it was two years ago!

Ive been using this scanner for 2 years now. Prior to that I had no scanner experience. The learning curve was steeper than I was expecting, but not because the scanner was poorly designed. Here is some of my experience and advice. The Scanner is Too Hard to Program This is true, not because the scanner is poorly designed, but because the nature of digital systems are so much more complicated. Most states are, or already have, converted from analog to digital systems. The reason is because coverage is so much better (by a factor of hundreds!). This also means users need more knowledge about how these systems work. You cant just buy a scanner, turn it on, and listen. With digital, there are THOUSANDS of frequencies. You have to tell the scanner what you want to hear. If youre not familiar with digital systems, youll want and need help. Fortunately, there is an excellent place to get it. Youre also going to need a computer. If thats a problem, dont buy a Digital scanner, buy an analog scanner and save several hundred dollars. Go to radioreference.com. Do it before you even buy your scanner. Youll find tons of useful information for beginners. The site has separate forums for each state that tell you what frequency is used by which talk group (they all set up their systems differently). It also has many different forums, some organized by scanner manufacturer, where you can ask questions about specific models. Theres even a forum for PROSPECTIVE Uniden buyers where you can ask questions before you buy. Theres also a forum for beginners where experienced users answer questions. Most of it is free, but they sell a one-year membership for $25 that lets you download frequency tables. Its worth it. The time savings of downloading over manually entering data is enormous. Another major help to me was links to “easier to read owners manuals”. The guy that wrote them sells them on different sites for about $30. RR.com has a link to many, at no cost. They still dont tell you WHY you might want to use one option over another, but they will tell you HOW to set it up in fairly easy to understand terms. Software You dont have to use computer operated software to program your scanner, but doing so will save you hundreds of hours of tedious data entry. Download Freescan (yes, its FREE), and read about it on RR.com. It really simplifies things. One great thing is that if you have Freescan, and you read the forum for your state, its possible you could find someone nearby willing to email you a copy of the Freescan file theyve created that you can simply download to your scanner. Its a lot easier to start with a working copy someone else is already using, than to try to build your own from scratch! Once you have one, you can tweak it to suit your preferences. Batteries When I first got mine, I thought the battery life was short too. I dont know if that’s true or not, as now, the same rechargeable batteries typically last 4-5 hours. Best to buy enough to last you a day. I listen to mine from 5 to 8 hours a day, and can easily do this with 4 rechargeable AAs. The Stock Antenna is Crap! This is my one big gripe about Uniden scanners, or at least the BCD325P2. The photos show the unit with a 6” black “rubber ducky” antenna. If you take a scissor and cut off the black plastic an inch or so above the base, youll find that the actual antenna (the cable wire inside the plastic) is actually only an inch long. This greatly reduces the scanners ability to pick out radio transmissions from the air. In order to receive the frequencies the scanner is capable of transmitting, youll have to buy an after-market antenna, at a cost of around $30. I bought the Remtronix REM 800B, available on-line (see scannermaster.com) and noticed the difference immediately. Why Uniden would build a great scanner and put such a crappy antenna on it is a mystery to me. Its an insult to customers, and given the high cost of digital scanners, the added cost for a good antenna would be minimal. Bottom line: expect to spend another $40 to $60 over and above the cost of the scanner for a decent antenna, batteries, and possibly a subscription to RR. Its a relatively small (but irritating) amount to spend to get the most out of your scanner investment, but once you get your programming catered to your interests, you wont regret it. On the plus side, this scanner is $100 cheaper now than it was two years ago!

Love the capacity & capability of this scanner. The one big negative is batteries. They only last 4 hours and you can only charge them when the scanner is off.

GREAT scanner, once programmed. (Id recommend FreeScan ($0) and d/l freqs from Radio Reference.) My only complaint is the sound quality of this unit, however, it does have a very small speaker, so great sound quality cant be expected. Id highly recommend this unit. (I also have the Uniden BCD996P2)