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.

Antena potente

I recommend finding a good you tube video to learn how to program the scanner out of the locked channels mode.. I spent hours trying to figure it out. You need to get on a computer, download a file to your computer, then go to Radioreference.com to program. The channels stay locked until you enter a frequency.... it was very confusing. I have a friend that was only able to figure out putting the police frequency in it... Once you do watch the video and figure it out its quite simple just time consuming. I also had to watch about 4 or 5 videos to find the right one that actually showed me how to program it.... once programmed, its a great scanner... would have given it a 5 star if it hadnt have been so time consuming to find out how to program and get out of the locked mode....

It’s a descent scanner. Battery life is about 3-4 hours (rechargeable). Could be better. Lastly, I feel Uniden could have spent literally $3 dollars more and put in a 200% much much better speaker.

Works well but user interface is not logical. Old type of NiMH batteries. LCD backlight uses old fashioned power consuming LEDs.

Is a decent analog radio

Only picks up frequencies that are well below the usual ranges used by first responders. Frequencies need to be manually entered into scanner. If you know which frequencies you want to listen to, makes sure the scanner can pick it up. Otherwise, the unit isnt very useful.

Like all cheap electronics this scanner has convoluted cryptic programming. It has those annoying multiple function keys that force you to do all manner of key pressing. You know the routine, press 1 then 4, then 5 which turns the 8 key into enter, but if you press 1 then 5, then 4, the 8 key becomes a delete key. In this case, you have to press and hold the HOLD key, enter a channel number, then press E (for enter). There is no acknowledgement of your entry. If you make a mistake entering any data, your only option is to clear the entire entry and start over, so you had better get it right the first time. If you are lucky enough to program your channel, you cannot simply go on to the next, you have to exit, then start all over from scratch. By the way, the instruction manual does not tell you that the volume key is used to scroll through the menu, as well as scroll through the alphabet when you enter labels for the channels. Speaking of the volume knob, it serves three separate functions depending on how many times you press it, and as usual there is no indication of what mode it is in, you just have to rotate it and see what happens. I programmed a few channels to scan interesting frequencies at Fort Lauderdale Airport. When I was finished, I pushed the scan button, and nothing happened except for a message that said all channels were locked out. I returned to the set-up menu and scrolled down to the unlock all channels and selected it. Still nothing. In other words, I now have a $115 chunk of useless plastic cluttering my house. This is definitely not a user-friendly device, so you had better keep the user manual within easy reach if you expect to use this scanner in the future. The only problem with that plan is that the user manual really sucks. It explains how to do the basic set up (sort of) But it offers no help if you want to change any settings once programmed, for that you are on our own using trial and error. As for me, it is winging its way back to Amazon as I write this review. I am not looking to learn a whole new programming language just to use what should be a simple scanner.

It really is a amazing scanner!! The battery life is awesome, along with way its built!! But it does require before hand knowledge...if a person has never used it before!!

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.

It is suppose to be good, and You Tube video on it shows it in action. I obtained my refurbished in Canada and it came less a wrist strap but that is easy to fix at any camera store. Also any camera power plug you have with a USB port on it will charge this up off the wall socket and it has protection circuitry in it any way if you get the one that is to high up on the volts. Bad news so far there is no Macintosh software updater on it and it is best you use a PC to get the Uniden driver sorted out properly. I have not started it at all and there is some indication it will not work until you set it up on your PC first .. or wait till you get access to a PC to set it up with the driver download on the USB port. Once UNIDEN gets this worked out for Macintosh computers then it get 5 stars. I use it for the neighborhood watch as we do not have many cops in my county and the neighbors look out for each other for the most part. Lots of theft going on here apparently as there are lots of addicts in full drug mode.