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.

I have been using scanner-type radios for more than 40 years -- I am a newspaper editor whose job requires them. I have also been a ham radio operator since 1958. While I own even a Uniden Homepatrol -- arguably the top of the line, I consider the BC125AT to be the most remarkable value of any radio of this type I have ever seen. The quality of this unit, its performance, the ability to configure it many ways, the scores of features, and the FREE programming software make this an excellent value. WHAT I ESPECIALLY LIKED: * Low price: You get an awful lot for $119 (or whatever the current price is). * Free programming software: Its no-frills, but it does everything I want, include setting tone codes and text tags, without all the fuss of using the keypad and scroll control. Setting up the drivers confused me a bit, but Unidens help service responded within two days with very detailed instructions -- that worked. Virtually every other scanner thats programmable requires one to purchase software to program it. This feature alone is a substantial value. * The volume: Many lower-end scanners do not push out much sound. This one is as loud as I would ever need, even in noisy circumstances, such as a fire scene or parade. * Ability to find channels: This unit has several ways of finding active frequencies in your community, including Close Call detection for finding nearby activity and scanning predetermined regions of the spectrum (Marine, Air, railroad, ham, etc.) to find more distance channels by checking thousands of channels that have been preprogrammed in. * CTCSS and DCS squelch: Most people may not care about this, but if you have a distant police department using the same frequency as the local police department, and youre using an external antenna, programming in the squelch code will prevent you from hearing the interference from the distant department. You hear only station you have provided a code for on that frequency (codes can be gotten from Radioreference.com or you can scan for them using the radio). * Adjustability: The unit is very configurable, right down to the contrast on the screen. You will need to study the manual, but you will be rewarded doing so. * Manual: Its extensive, its clear, and its pocket size. Best of it, it exists! So many things today come without manuals -- you have to download information or read it on a screen. This has a REAL manual, and it is really useful. And its not written in broken English! * The build: Its sturdy, well-designed. It would be nice if it could be a bit smaller, like some newer transceivers, but its certainly not chunky like Radio Shack and Uniden scanners of the recent past. * USB rechargeable: The unit uses standard AA nicads (included) that can be charged in the radio with a USB cable (included). Not included is a five-volt USB power supply brick. However, everyone has those already; they come with cell phones and other gear. Just plug the charger cable into one of these transformer blocks -- or into your computer. Smart move by Uniden because you dont have to pay the added cost of transformer you already have. The unit can also use standard alkaline AAs -- making it very flexible. * Frequency range: Its got just about every frequency range you would want, including CB. WHAT I DONT LIKE: * One rotary control: One knob, called a scroll control, is used to change channels and to program, adjust volume and adjust squelch. The priority use is channel changing (and other functions requiring scrolling). To me it should be volume first. In the many situations in which I use a scanner, I am always turning up or down the volume. I need quick access; with this unit, you have to push and hold down while turning to adjust volume. One learns to do that, but its still cumbersome. I believe that volume adjustment is the most frequently used purpose of a rheostat-type control. Even better would be TWO rotary controls, one for volume/squelch and one for channel changing, etc. There is room on the top for a second control. * No digital: Well, for $119, I guess you cant expect digital coverage. (Fortunately for me, most of my local services are still analog.) But it still irks me that when you can walk into a supermarket and buy a throw-away cell phone for $10, you have to pay nearly $500 for a digital portable scanner. That $10 phone is a digital two-way radio transceiver. Its not only a scanner receiver, its a multichannel transmitter, too! Its time for technology and price to catch up with radio scanners.

Bought this for the car to go along with my ham radio hand-held. This is a great little scanner for the money. Very easy to program with a PC and great battery life. It comes with rechargeable batteries, but like other scanners, the antenna has lousy gain, so plan on getting something better. I dont care about P25 or other digital modes, so that was not a problem for me. The keypad is very easy to use and once you know the layout you can easily operate it in the dark, while driving with one hand. Audio is plenty loud. It has an extra feature that is always scanning for near field transmissions, just in case you are wondering if there is a hidden transmitter close by. :-)

Antena potente

This scanner is inexpensive for what it does. I purchased the scanner only to monitor ATC and other aircraft since I am a SUAS pilot. It works for what it need it for. The charging is a bit slow, but not a huge obstacle for me.

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 .

Will not hold a charge more than a hour. Rechargeable batteries are anything but.

Easy to use but no matter what batteries I used(ask were brand new) they lasted 2 days. I only had it on for 3 to 4 hours each day. All my previous and current scanners last weeks. Maybe it was defective but wont order unidentified anymore.

UPDATE - 8/3/2020: If you buy a Newer Unit, DO NOT TRY TO DOWNLOAD THE FIRMWARE FROM THE UNIDEN WEBSITE, as it will reload an older version, if you have a Newly purchased Unit. Their Support Documentation, and every YouTube Video I looked at, directs you to the Uniden BC125AT Website/Webpage, which is outdated, and has at least one bad link (for the Driver downloads). I repeat DO NOT Download the Firmware update, if you have a version at or higher than 1.03.01. I know there at least Two firmware updates, after the download on their support page for the BC125AT. The documentation on their webpage does not tell you which firmware you are downloading, and after you update, there is no way to reload the previous (more current version) that you had, as I found no links to newer versions on Unidens website. or on the web. You can verify the firmware version on the unit that you have, when you power it on. This is absolutely POOR documentation and product support! The only reason I am not giving it a One Star, is that the programming software (which you should download) is a nice tool to be able to modify and save files, to load your on BC125AT. However, the process of spending a whole day (for someone who is not well versed in scanners) is tedious and time consuming, since the majority of info out there is outdated. This unit is fine for monitoring what I am looking to use it for (Analog Civil/Military Air Traffic), but I would not buy it for monitoring LEO/Police frequencies, as most are using Digital in the 800-900 mhz range. I would not buy this unit, if I had to do it again, being a newbie radio/scanner operator, because of the inaccurate and lack of support information available. It is probably fine for someone who has an extensive background in HAM or Scanning, however. All that said, I stand by my Original Review... ORIGINAL REVIEW: Not really happy with the information available on how to set-up this unit, even from the Manufacturers Webpage/Website and Unidens YouTube Videos, as both places need to be updated with current information. But they sure have no problems encouraging you to PAY for them to program it for you, which is Great for bottom line profits, but CRAPPY for customer service for the product, which is why this product is getting a poor review from this customer. Sure I could spend several hours reading the manual, and eventually I will, but I wanted to get some things programmed immediately, and expected their to be current information on the Web, but obviously my expectations werent met.

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!!

This is my 3rd bearcat scanner. This is a very portable scanner and works well. Ive had a scanner since I was 14 and Im 63 now. You cannot pick up all the police and fire frequencies with this scanner.