Uniden Bearcat SR30C, 500-Channel Compact Handheld Scanner, Close Call RF Capture, Turbo Search, PC programable, NASCAR, Racing, Aviation, Marine, Railroad, and Non-Digital Police, Fire, Public Safety

The ONLY problem you are going to have with this scanner is programming it according to the instructions in the manual, because theyre not great. However, there are a ton of YouTube videos about this unit; watch one and youll be like yeah, this is super easy. The only reason I can think of why youd want a more upscale scanner is if your local police department uses digital radios - more and more departments go that way every year - and you want to listen to the cops. This one wont do that; the one that will is $339.49. This radio will tune in any kind of auto racing, plus weather, aviation, marine and railroad traffic. This can be programmed from a Windows PC; as I am a Mac person thats not an option for me, but programming it from the front panel is easy to do. This does not support Bluetooth out of the box. If you have a good pair of Bluetooth headphones, Amazon sells adapters for less than $20 that will interface your headphones to this scanner. For MOST purposes these are fine. For auto racing they are not - it is very loud at the speedway and you need isolation headphones, such as the Race Day Electronics headphones I bought from Amazon. Those are awesome. I use them for woodworking as well as going to races and they work well both places. BIG recommendation: buy Ni-MH batteries because that will save you a lot of cash. The scanner will recharge Ni-MH batteries so you dont need a separate charger. Program it before you go to the speedway so its ready for you when you get there. It will cost you $47.95 to rent a scanner at a race, and it must be returned when you leave. If you buy this scanner and a set of headphones, youll be saving money at your third race. AND its yours! Also consider: they dont rent scanners at airports or on Amtrak trains and that traffic is a lot of fun to listen to. Its really worth it to have your own scanner.

The SR30C is compact and easy to carry. A learning curve to program it. I ended up watching a YouTube video on how to enter my own frequencies and it is easy once you know the steps. I replace the included antenna with my own longer one for better reception. Otherwise a decent scanner.

I liked how brand new it looked and worked. I have nothing bad to write about it.

Only works with analog. Most big cities are now using digital.

ITS OK, BUT YOU NEED A LICENSE

Hard to program. Tried putting in codes for police, fire. And ambulance. Would not take them. Manual scan never picked them up.

Worked fine, but the Close Detect feature is inconsistent when I tested it in both the 2m & 70CM bands. It does easily fit in a small radio pouch (provided the pouch is tall enough). Also, the programming software isnt bad, but I was disappointed that Alpha Tags (free text names for saved frequencies to monitor) is not supported in the software or the display. Id look at another model that has alpha tag memory channel support if considering this one.

Good scanner for the money. I have 2 of the Uniden BC75XLT handheld scanners besides this one and they work great. They are really tough. Their is a trick to programming the frequencies, but they receive really good.

This has to be considered a basic analog scanner. It seems to work well with good sensitivity. Programming is a bit tedious if you want to enter multiple frequencies. The most significant deficiency is that you cannot enter alphanumeric names for your banks and channels -- the only scanner Ive ever owned since the 1990s that didnt have that feature. Also note that the PC software for programming only works on a Windows PC, not Mac. They advertise something called Turbo Search but there is nothing in the User Manual that describes such a feature. UPDATE: I have returned the SR30C and replaced it with its better brother, the BC125AT. Amazon doesnt carry it (in the U.S.) but I found it for only a few dollars more than the SR30C on Walmart. (EDIT:: I see that Amazon now has the SC125AT). The BC125AT is essentially the same scanner as the SR30C but with MUCH better features (including alphanumeric channel labels) for only a few dollars more. It almost seems that Uniden intentionally crippled functions and features to make the SR30C a bit cheaper.

Pros: - Scans Quickly Cons: - Stock antenna isnt great... I dont suppose its meant to be. - No ability to name banks or channels even via computer (This is the worst part) - Should have used USB-Micro or Type-C Charging... this uses USB-Mini, a terrible antiquated port - Backlight times out quickly - Backlight cant be set to light on receive so you have to fumble in time to see a frequency at night - Function Key is Toggle, not momentary so you have to check the screen to see if its engaged For all of its cons its still a serviceable scanner for the price but these are issues that could have been (could be?) addressed at little to no cost.