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.

This is a damn good radio, no question, but the battery life SUCKS, and the usb charging, lord is just as bad. The radio is all around good for use. But keep extra rechargable battiers on hand in case. Decoding digital p25 and dmr is fantastic. If you can receive on the 400 mhz then you are very lucky, it lacks the reciving on that band (where most dmr is) But the 700 and 800 mhz is really good. And the 150 mhz band as well. Ease of use: Well its not easy to program if you are new to this so its not cut and dry. But it had a 3.5 out of 5 for me. Wish they would resolve the battery issue and the mute 450 band.

This scanner is impossible to program without a lot of training. I expected with modern tech that I would just sync it to my computer and it would sync the necessary frequencies for my local trunked system. Not so. It says its programable via PC, but the software is not from Uniden and obsolete. I was trying to replace a nearly 30 year old Radio Shack trunk tracking scanner that was simple to program. I will be returning this. Update: Purchased the SDS 100. While it is twice the cost, it is well worth it.

Good scanner if you know how to program p25 channels and frequencies, how ever the upgrade to hear DMR, and 2 Other systems will cost you if you can’t download the latest firmware. It can only be downloaded via windows system, will not work with chrome or other systems. But with more and more counties going p25 trunking… this scanner is one that will be useful and helpful. Wish the batteries lasted longer on charge…but all in all… it’s portable and works when the power goes out!! Would buy 2 more!! But would find a source of computer friendly for upgradable systems and firmware upgrades.

Where do I start? This thing is an absolute nightmare to program. If you dont use software forget it. Manual is totally useless. Now on to the hardware. Using a USB cable to provide power to run a portable radio is a very poor choice. Taking the cable in and out a thousand times will only result in failure at some point. I dont believe an engineer would choose this over the ultimate in reliability - the traditional round power plug. Next, in order to change the volume you have to press the button down while simultaneously turning the knob. The volume knob uses a détente which clicks. Bad design. Lastly, and most importantly, the device cannot charge batteries unless it is off. This is a FABULOUS design. I dont know anyone that buys a scanner to have it off. You also have to manually program it to tell the device how long you want to charge the batteries as the device doesnt stop charging when the batteries are fully charged. You have to constantly switch batteries or constantly turn the device off for up to 14 hours. I understand the dumb California law. Uniden should have done things like most other companies. Design a great product and then mark it as Not for sale in California. I cant believe an electronics engineer would actually design a worthless device like this one. They had to be driven by high level managers driven by profit, managers who never used a scanner in their life. Uniden blew it. Products like this are what makes companies end up going out of business...................

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.

Dad got it as Christmas present for my mom. We used to have an analog one, and would listen during storms or if something was going on in neighborhood. My uncle set it up for her (though it is really easy). They picked through which areas/channels she wanted to be able to listen to. She loves it! My dad was trying to decide between much cheaper one and then this one, I forget what his final reasoning was but he went for this one and is very happy.

I have both this unit, the BCD325P2 and also the BCD436HP. This scanner is a more user friendly model based on the awesome Uniden 396XT scanner. But this BCD325P2 scanner adds P-25 (Phase 2) Digital reception. This unit does not use an SD card for memory, it has internal memory only. But it is plenty. You cant record/playback things, nor does it have the full RadioReference database included in the memory. But it is more user friendly. The display is a standard size but the font is Big and Bold thick letters which you can easily see from a few feet away. The backlight is orange only but really, it is the best display you could ask for. The other BCD 436HP scanner display you cant read good from a few feet away, Any of you past 40? You can program this model a bit easier (by hand) if you want to, you Do Not get free software with it, but can use other vendors software. I tried to program it with the USB cable in Win7 and it works, but you have to download the specific driver for it from the Uniden site and set this up in your Windows Control Panel/Device Manager/Add Driver install screen. It is a bit confusing at first, you wont see the file to add at all. And you still need the programming software to get the channel frequencies into this. As far as reception, the digital P-25 (Starcom21 my area) sites are incredible, it receives just as good as the BCD436HP, I would say it equals or exceeds the BCD436HP in digital reception of phase 1 in terms of signal strength and actual voice quality at the speaker. It receives digital signals like an upgraded version of the 396XT, which has ears like the NSA. VHF/UHF reception is about the same as the rest of my scanners. I used the stock antenna and it works fine for me, but the RS 800 mhz will give you optimal digital signals. You dont get backlit buttons on this unit and it uses only 2 AA batteries, which give me about 6-8 hrs with 2400 NiMH. It is a Handy size scanner. The BCD325P2 also has a true Band Scope function which acts like a mini spectrum analyzer for checking signal strength of an individual frequency or a frequency area, very useful for graphically seeing how much trunking signal that youre receiving at the scanner. With digital scanners, this is gold, as moving the scanner just an inch or two will be like going from full signal to no signal with the stock antenna. Whered my signal go? Run the Band Scope and see it disappear and come right back as you move the scanner a whole two inches on the table. Now you can see signals like the engineers do and find the best place to set your scanner. A wonderful feature for the hard core scanner fans. The BCD325P2 is a digital scanner with P-25 (Phase 1 & Phase 2) that receives digital signals incredibly well. It offers a ton of features for the size and a Great Display. While digital scanners nowadays are not easy to setup, I find this one less challenging than the BCD436HP. This is a more user friendly digital scanner with really good ears for hearing digital P-25 stuff.

This is a really awesome tool, very powerful. I do wish there was an option to power it from a USB cable for when Im in the car, as it goes through batteries at a good clip, but thats the trade-off for having so much power in such a portable form-factor I think.

Great scanner. Have always had uniden scanners and always had good luck with them. It was time to upgrade and happy with the scanner once I got it programmed. The programming is difficult and the third party software down load is I little confusing to undertstand. The software also caused issues with 2 computers as far as the drivers go. But once the software was working programming was very easy. Defiantly going to get and external speaker.

This scanner is great. Took me several try’s to get the “correct” trunking codes for my state but when I did it was easy to program. I used utube video to help and it did just that. Don’t pay hundreds of dollars for software. You can do it just research it. I did and it paid off big time. Do not sell your self short even you feel deficient in electronics. Research and save money, PLEASE.