Uniden Bearcat BC75XLT Handheld Scanner, 300 Channels, 10 banks, Close Call Technology, PC Programable, NOAA Weather, Aviation, Marine, Railroad, NASCAR, and Non-Digital Police/Fire/Public Safety

This unit eats batteries. AA alkaline do not last more than 6 hours. I will try rechargeable batteries. Another negative is, as others have said, it is not easy to program. I have some experience with scanning radios and bluffed my way through it but have a hunch I still dont understand all its features. It works for my limited purposes. Lastly, the clip is not very strong and the unit frequently falls from my best. So far, no breakage. On the good side, the reception is stronger than either a paging radio or the scanner I have. It seems to filter out some noise. I use it to monitor two (only) fire frequencies, as I work part time in a fire house with no in-house alarm system and I like to know when the troops are going to converge. It has good range and for a user who must keep track of many frequencies yet be able to set one as a priority, this works just fine. I would buy it again...four starts despite the shortcomings.

I should have done my due diligence BEFORE buying this item. The equipment works well enough BUT the laws have changed dramatically since I was a kid. Most police agencies now use only encrypted vehicle-to-vehicle transmission. Seems like many emergency crews (fire and rescue, marine and air too) are going the same route. So not much traffic to pick up. No longer possible to listen in on the day-to-day chatter among police or fire crews in my area. (Southern California). Before YOU buy this unit, Google the frequencies in your area so you know how many are encrypted ... its likely that you wont be able to pick up much real-time emergency chatter anymore either.

Owned several Uniden BC60XLT scanners unfortunately no longer manufactured, excellent scanner. Purchased (2) BC75XLT Handheld Scanner as gifts allowing my family to listen to aircraft frequencies when Im flying. Why did Uniden complicate the operation controlling squelch, volume? Why mess with a good design, not a product I would recommend. Push this knob, pull here to activate another, ridiculous

In the old days you could buy these and instantly be listening to emergency calls. This was difficult to learn and will not pick up the new digital signals (unless someone can show me otherwise). Returned

My husband really likes this, after his old one finally died. He wasnt happy that he had to have me look up the frequencies online, but it was not difficult for me. He doesnt DO computers and doesnt like that everyone expects him to. Someone else may have gotten help from the public library, but its a done deal, now. We havent listened to it yet, so I dont know how it sounds, but it arrived quickly.

Nice unit! Though, I am disappointed that it seems that everything these days is made of plastic. I feel if this were to drop onto the floor, it would crack very easily. We bought this because recently crime in our area has been on the rise, which is so sad being this neighborhood was very quiet. This actually alerted us when a break in was occurring in our neighborhood, and we were on the look out when we heard it come over the scanner. What I like about this unit, is that it is very easy to set up, and instructions are included. You will also receive a charging cord and this does take batteries so you can take it with you. The buttons and screen light up when you press and hold the lower left button. No two way communication with this one. This arrived on time, and well protected. If you feel that my review has helped you in any way, please hit the yes box below this review. I never know if I am actually helping others. I have posted a picture of the unit and hoping Amazon will keep it here.

This thing works perfectly. Im using it to feed a scannerradio.com feed for a local PD. Yes, its an incredible under utilization for a scanner like this, but Im providing a service to my neighbors and thats okay for me. Either way, its one of the least expensive scanners that can do what Im doing, and I find it works great. Word of caution, scanning correctly can actually be kind of difficult to get setup correctly. Its not really meant for people that dont have some computer-type skills, or someone available to them that can help set it up.

I saw some reviews that described this scanner as not being able to get good reception on distant transmissions or good battery life. Well,, I get aircraft traffic from an airport 10 miles away not to mention my local airport 5 miles to the south. I have had the radio on for 3 days for 2-3 hours at a time until the low battery alert came on. This is a nice little scanner and the volume is loud at full blast. I also live in an aluminum sided mobile home and it works great inside the house too. I have not done much scanning with it as I know each frequency that I want to listen to so cannot comment on this function other than it picks up our local police just fine.

quick frequency install via internet radio frequencies list for owners( 80 mile area.) antenna provided 5 inch is fine but i put it to my old analog scanner one foot long multi element (at peak of rooftop antenna )and got so much going on at s c a n mode. get one of these and you can quickly hear that police emergency vehicle transmitt clear speech going tothat location ( of your curosity.) offers options like 200 lock out channels that made noise when scanning. buy two each 2300 mh aa batteries and listen for a couple of days current draw very low.these go for twice the cost elsewhere , see you tube reviews and how to plug and play . enter scanner bc75 xlt at search space.

Owned several Uniden BC60XLT scanners unfortunately no longer manufactured, excellent scanner. Purchased (2) BC75XLT Handheld Scanner as gifts allowing my family to listen to aircraft frequencies when Im flying. Why did Uniden complicate the operation controlling squelch, volume? Why mess with a good design, not a product I would recommend. Push this knob, pull here to activate another, ridiculous