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 scanner seems to do well with reception for higher-powered agencies. The only problem I have, and its a pretty big problem, is that the battery life is POOR to say the least! It sat on my desk for 2 days in the off position after being fully charged. Came back to work and it was dead. Had to go back on the charger. While on, Im lucky to get a shift out of it. Has to stay plugged in whenever possible. Perhaps the batteries are bad? Not too sure but the battery life is awful. Not a bad little scanner, though.

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.

The learning curve was a little steep for programming. You have no choice but to join and use Radio Reference if you want to program trunks. After a couple days of reading and several attempts, I finally got most of the Police, Fire and Rescue, the State Police and the Public Utilities. I added the GPS and it automatically locks out stuff thats out of range. I only use that in the car because it needs to be plugged into a USB power source or it kills the battery.

Nice Trunk portable. Light weight and works great with local conventional & trunked systems. Programming manually is tedious to say the least but thats to be expected with so many options, settings, etc. FreeSCAN software (third party) is a MUST if you want to make data entry minutes instead of hours! As the name suggests, its free (http://www.sixspotsoftware.com/products/freescan) and works great with the BCD996P2 and BCD325P2. You can clone the 325 to your 996 in a minute with the software. Also comes with USB programming cable and rechargeable batteries. No power supply but any USB charger (or computer) will do. Note: will only CHARGE batteries when OFF but will also work on USB power alone or 2 standard AAs. I suggest playing with it first before getting serious about programming it all out. The Uniden Trunktracker V System-Site-Group-Channel configuration is different and requires a little learning curve. I have mine set up to look like a conventional scanner with banks although it is much different with System-Site-Group-Channel structure, The manual (on the 325 and the 996) leaves a lot to be desired in many respects. The layout is easier to see with the third party software but I would recommend the manual method to learn it and then RUN with the software. Itll make more sense.

The batteries it comes with need replacing. But the unit is fantastic! I use it daily with no issues at all. Use with chirp to program, makes it so much easier. But replace the batteries.

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.

Fair warning to the people who consider themselves smart and capable when using tech tools and may be a little concerned after reading about how difficult it is to learn how to use this device. I dont shy away from learning any tech tool but after three weeks using this I gave up and returned it. Heres a few of the problems you will run into: --There are no actual instructions for setup and use. It comes with a small booklet with several pages of details on the multiple programming features but that wont walk you through how to make the device work for your needs in your area. -- There really arent any YouTube videos that will walk you through the essential features of the device and how to set it up. There are videos that may show you a few features on this particular device, and lots of videos that show you how to work with other scanner devices (which are definitely not the same), but so far nothing that will take you through a starters set-up and programming this radio for use in your area. -- If you are serious about using the device and programming it on your own, you will likely have zero success unless you subscribe to a website such as RadioReference.com where you will actually find a much better version of the the device instructions and web boards with FAQs that will help you with your questions. There, you will at least find the frequencies that you need for programming the radio for use in your area and the people who manage the site are very friendly. But... -- You will still need to download and learn how to use a not-so-intuitive software application called FreeSCAN that will gather the multiple frequencies you will likely need to program your device and transfer the frequencies onto your new radio. It is confusing, but there are some good YT videos that will walk you through this process. --If you get this far, you will have the correct frequencies programmed on your new device and then you will be confused as hell about actually trying to use the insane amount of features and feature menus in the small mobile device. You will have some basic questions like what is squelch and how do I manage it so I can understand what is coming over the radio, and some more complicated questions like, how do I program quick menu buttons or stay on one frequency, or get back to the frequency I was listening to five minutes ago. And unless you have an experienced person who can help you learn all that, you will be frustrated about how far you got into this radio thing and you still cant listen to your local police, fire or EMT calls with any regularity. I strongly recommend if you are at all thinking of purchasing this device and learning how to use it that you find an experienced radio hobbyist in your area who is will to help you program the device and give you some personal training. If you have that, and you are willing to look at this as a project and a hobby that requires some skill you may have some success and I wish you the best of luck. For me, I concluded that using a digital scanner radio in a trunk system is no longer a hobby for someone who wants to casually listen in. No disrespect for the serious radio enthusiasts but this device was not for me. Good luck!

I bought a used BCD325P2 handheld scanner, now I know why it was returned. Reception is sporadic and unit charges when it feels like it. I went ahead and ordered the brand new one. When it DOES work, Im pleased with it. I like to keep abreast of things going on in my neighborhood (had a shooting just the other night). My local police department just switched from analog to digital transmissions and my old scanner no longer picks them up. The unit itself seems to be well built with quality materials (I just happened to get the one bum unit). The battery life leaves much to be desired though.

Feature wise, this scanner does what it says on the tin and has a good feature set. Audio is heard clearly. You better have plenty of batteries. I put in fresh Duracell AA batts and they were dead only after 6 hours!!! If not for the fact this scanner eats batteries so quickly, I would have rated it 5 stars. I knock off two stars because of this.

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!