Uniden Bearcat BC125AT Handheld Scanner, 500-Alpha-Tagged Channels, Close Call Technology, PC Programable, Aviation, Marine, Railroad, NASCAR, Racing, and Non-Digital Police/Fire/Public Safety.

Works for all frequencies, police, fire and ambulance

I mainly purchased this to monitor aircraft frequencies which it does well. I hear many airborne aircraft, but not much from the ground unless I am near an airport. Except for fire paging and ambulance to hospital comms, it does not receive police and fire services in my area for two reasons; 1. Most of those are above 512 Mhz, and 2. Those that are below 512 Mhz are mostly digital which sound like a loud buzz on this radio and any other radio that is not equiped to decode digital. The radio has 3 main modes to chose from; 1. Scan mode scans 10 banks of 50 frequencies each plus a close call bank. The active banks show up at the bottom of the screen, and pressing a corresponding number on the keypad turns each bank on or off. The two search modes allow searching for CTCSS (subaudible tones) and DCS (Digital Coded Squelch). Active frequencies can be saved along with the privacy code. 2. Service search allows searching for activity on 10 different pre-programmed frequency ranges / lists. Similar to the scan mode, the different ranges can be turned on or off by pressing a number. Service search bank 3 is ham radio and includes 6 and 2 meters and 440 Mhz. Service search bank 9 includes FRS / GMRS / and MURS frequencies (mostly UHF and a few VHF). 3. Search gives you 10 different frequency ranges that you can program yourself - low and high limits. The close call technology works in all 3 main modes and has three options; 1. Do not disturb turns off close call when the scanner is receiving a signal 2. Priority mode has close call turned on all the time, and will interrupt reception of other signals. However, unlike turning a priority channel on, normal reception is unaffected while receiving other channels. With a priority channel enabled, other channels are briefly interrupted every few seconds while the priority channel is checked. 3. Close call only listens only for close calls Temporary lockout is a nice feature. When the power is reset, all the temporary lockouts are reset. To permanently lock out a channel, press the lockout button twice. This also works for close call channels. Cons - there are a limited number of lockouts - 100 temporary and 100 permanent. If you decide that you do not want to monitor a permanent channel, it is easy to delete it. The weather alert is a nice feature if you do not have a dedicated weather alert radio. It even alerts you if it can no longer receive your local weather service channel. The computer interface works well which allows you to input information into a sheet similar to a spreadsheet. It allows you to read information from the radio or save information to the radio. Rows or blocks of rows can be copied and pasted to easily move frequencies around within a bank or put them into other banks (tabs).

The bearcat ac125 handheld ,well its ok its not bad i like pretty good except for ,the batterylife the batteries that came with it are cheep but maybe you can buy some duracell or energiser rechagable will be tour best bet its a good thing it comes with a charger ,and it a usb not a traditional 120amp cord but it will work ,and its a pain anoying to program the frequencies into the unit and its because you cant go fast its bit like texting on my phone if you go to fast it wont take it , and youll have to reenter the frequency .if you try to put more than probly 2 at a time you mite have to do it again so ok there ya go other than these issues i like it pretty good .oh and it does have a couple of interesting maybe useful features that some scanners dont have .that make it more usefull it will.tell you when there is a week signol.that you lock out to help prevent static so there ya go and have fun .

I am an experienced HAM Radio Operator and someone with substantial RF radio experience: If you have never owned radios of this type then you should know: Scanners, like this one, are not trivial pieces of equipment. many people buy them and think they are like a Mr Coffee appliance, in other words you just plug it in and it works. To get the most out of Scanners: 1.) they require programming. The Uniden supplied PC software is adequate and will get the job done, however it is nothing outstanding but it is FREE 2.) Antennas are the key to any radio reception. Scanners require NON-TUNED wire antennas like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NKDN6YK/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_E41kDbJ7R53JF for $8 it is a bargain. You should DISREGARD other comments you read about using 144/440 tuned ham Radio Transmitting Antennas. They will work fine if all you want to receive is in those frequency bands, but realize they are TUNED so their reception sensitivity will fall off rapidly when the antenna is out of its designed band. 3.) This is a fine piece of well designed gear, and for $100 it is a bargain. It has excellent sensitivity across all bands. PROS: Super fast scan speed, Clever well laid out keypad design that gives you access to menu functions with just a few simple keystrokes. 4.) Of course the CON is that they are using AA NiMH batteries. 4-6 Hours is top run time. Uniden made a bad design choice there, as this radio could have easily been designed to accept 18650 Li-Ion batteries then it would have run for days on one set. If you are going to use this radio on a daily basis then you will need a pocket full of AA and Powerex Charger to properly maintain them. I read many comments here in these reviews from well meaning folks that are simply in over their head and then say this is a bad scanner. My suggestion is to find a local Ham Radio Operator to explain some of the principles of how RF works, and to help you with programming and operation of this type of equipment. It is not rocket science, but there is a little learning curve.

1st scanner purchase for me. I bought it mainly for airshow events. But, I live in the Pacific Northwest, and theres a lot of other interesting chatter going on-shipping, military, ham, etc. The radio has a steep learning curve, not so much with regards to radio freqs, as to Unidens method of user interface. Not intuitive at all. Read the manual closely, and also do a search for radio forums with this as a topic. Itll take a few days for you to get to know the ins and outs of using the radio. I like the battery feature. You can use regular alkaline AAs, or a rechargeable set. The radio can recharge these while installed, and it has a switch inside depending on which you use. I try to choose electronics that use AA batteries in order to streamline my battery needs. I see some folks have purchased an aftermarket antenna for it. I myself havent had any problems with the stock antenna. I havent been out much with it, but it seems to pull down signals fine from my patio. The only thing that annoys me about the radio is that stupid electronic squawk when you turn it on. My Uniden CB does that too. What is up with that, Uniden? Ugh. Not a fan. Other than the above, thats all I got. Seems to be a good radio so far.

Great analog scanner, however kind of outdated since just about every department is now using digital or in the process of switching to digital. However, if your only purpose is to monitor millitary planes, regular airplanes, boats, or trains then this is an excellent scanner. However, if you wish to monitor police, fire, EMS, etc... then check radio reference first to make sure your local area doesnt use digital yet. If you wish to monitor digital communications, go with the BCD436 or download the scanner app free on your phone to see if you can listen on there instead.

I was new to railfanning, and after some research I chose this model over the slightly lower in price SR30C due to the better overall reviews. Now to the basics: Pros: Easy to use and program (I never tried manual input) It has a companion software you can install on your PC for easier channel programming (great if you have the frequencies you plan to use) Battery life is solid, when using a pair of 2300 mAh energizer rechargeable batteries it lasts a good 12-14 hours from testing. Cons: The stock antenna is great if you’re less than 2-3 miles from the transmission source, but it can be spotty at times depending on radio environment (the diamond rh77ca is a good choice for better range and clarity) Audio quality: it can be tough to clearly hear at times if you have interruption factors such as metal or thick walls, that can be mitigated with headphones (it comes with a 3.5 mm jack for connecting headphones)

I bought this scanner because, according to data cited on RadioReference.com, my local police department is accessible with this scanner. TIP for the unaware: DONT believe a thing that RadioReference.com tells you. I just got finished talking with someone in the communications department of my local PD and they changed over to digital communications TWO YEARS AGO! Since I live in a little po-dunk city, you can be sure that your local emergency departments have all changed over to digital as well. The only chatter this scanner picks up is the local cab company. If you download the available software, this scanner is easy to program. But thats a moot point when you cant tune in to any of the important channels broadcasting in your area. Be sure to note the date of any positive review for this product. Time has moved on. Due to advances in technology, this radio is useful only if you specifically want to listen to NOAA weather reports and the pedantic conversations of local amateur radio operators. Dont get me wrong, this is a nice scanner. But its a total waste of money if your intent is to listen to your local emergency services. BUY A DIGITAL SCANNER. This one is WAY behind the times.

I bought this scanner specifically for the military air band since I live near a joint military/civilian airfield. So far seems to be working well. User interface on the radio is way too confusing. That makes it no different than the previous Bearcat I had. However, that is easily overcome by the software you can download for free to program it. I entered the frequencies I wanted to scan, gave them all names and loaded to the radio using the supplied (yes it comes with it) cable and voila! Its quick and easy to use. I also discovered the data file for the software is plain text so, if you honor their format, you can also add and edit frequencies using a text editor as well. This allows you to cut and paste which makes it easier to transfer channels between banks or reorder them within banks. You still need to use the software to program the radio but editing is much easier with a text editor. My ultimate goal is to monitor all the local aviation frequencies so that I can supply them to the live atc site so I will probably buy a few more of these as decide to add more specific frequencies.

The BC125AT is a fine analog only scanner. The sensitivity on receive is very good. Almost as good as my Icom R30 which is hundreds of dollars more. The scan rate is typical of other scanners and I dedicate one of my BC125AT scanners for military air on 225-380 Mhz AM and it works very well for that. Of course, using good quality coax like LMR-400, a military air band tuned antenna on the roof, or a discone, and a 225-400 MHz filter really helps. Additionally, most scanners /receivers are plagued by interference from FM broadcast stations that transmit using an incredible amount of watts. Every scanner user should have an FM Broadcast filter inline on their coax. The FM filters range from $20 to $100. *The BC125AT is not a digital scanner. It will not decode P25, DMR, NXDN, D-Star, C4FM, etc. It will never have a firmware upgrade to enable that. It will also never decode encrypted audio. I never charge my batteries in my scanners. I adjust the battery settings to alkaline so that it never charges the batteries even if rechargeable. I use an external charger for my batteries. I also use an external USB battery bank to keep it powered up for long periods of time when remote. At home I leave the BC125AT powered on 24/7 via the USB power port. It also programs using the same USB power cable. For programming I use Scan125 made by a guy in the U.K. The software is free. The only thing I regret is not buying one earlier. It works well enough for my needs that I purchased another. Military air to air or air to ground communications are quick. With two or more scanners one can split (not share) the frequencies in order to increase odds of hearing something. I do not use the antenna that came with it. I always use after market antennas. An all around good one is the Diamond RH77CA. For military air I use a Diamond RH951S. I swept it with an analyzer and the results were so good I purchased another, compared to the RH77CA and many other handheld flexible antennas.