2024 the best police scanner review


Price: $149.99 - $119.99
(as of Dec 03, 2024 07:05:07 UTC - Details)

Warranty & Support

Product Warranty: For warranty information about this product, please click here [PDF ] Spanish (Mexico) 771770 [PDF 1.89 MB]

"The Bearcat BC125AT Handheld Scanner has a feature called Close Call Technology. The Close Call RF Capture instantly tunes to signals from nearby transmitters and the Close Call Do Not Disturb Mode prevents close call checks during a transmission. This radio is compact and features Weather Alert technology and is capable of attaching to civilian and military air bands.Receives conventional channels on the following frequencies: (25-54 MHz) (108-174 MHz) (225-380 MHz) (400-512 MHz) ". Pre-Sets for Popular Channels
LISTEN IN AND STAY INFORMED, this sophisticated scanner has 500 alpha-tagged channels in a convenient compact design with loads of features. Close Call RF capture technology instantly tunes to signals from nearby transmitters and the Do Not Disturb Mode prevents Close Call checks during a transmission.
LISTEN TO OVER 40,000 FREQUENCIES, you can listen to both civilian and military bands, including Non-Digital Police, Ambulance, Fire, Weather, Marine, Aircraft, Railroad, Civil Air, Amateur radio services, and Racing events.
SEARCH MORE EFFICIENTLY with 500 Alpha-Tagged Channels finding the channel you want to listen to is easy, with 500 channels divided into 10 storage banks. Organize your channels by department, location, area of interest, or any other way you prefer. Alpha Tagging lets you assign names to your channels, so you can keep track of who you are listening to.
LIGHTWIEGHT PORTABLE DESIGN, take this Bearcat handheld radio scanner with you on the road, or on outings. It packs plenty of features, the orange backlight display is easy to read, even in low light conditions.
GET STARTED LISTENING RIGHT AWAY with convenient Pre-sets for the most popular searches. Frequencies are preset in ten separate Non -Digital Police/Fire/Emergency, Ham, Marine, Railroad, Civil Air, Military Air, CB Radio, FRS/GMRS/MURS, and Racing search bands. This makes it easy to find channels that interest you.
EXCELLENT HAND-HELD SCANNER (Please note: model BC125AT is NOT suitable for Trunking or Digital Radio system monitoring, (e.g. Project 25, DMR, NXDN). Some Police/Fire/Emergency/Public Safety Agencies in larger cities are switching over to DIGITAL Trunking systems. If you live in an area where Trunking or Digital Radio systems are used, you need to upgrade to a Uniden Digital model (“D” stands for Digital), such as models BCD436HP, BCD536HP, BCD996P2, BCD325P2, or HomePatrol-2.
NOTE: The product does not have 2-way communication, is only a scanner for receiving radio transmissions
How can we help? Uniden Customer Support web site is designed to conveniently walk you through product setup and troubleshooting, Web site: https://uniden.com/pages/support-1 . Contact customer support at email: [email protected] or phone: 1-800-297-1023.
Reviewer: Robert D.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Little Scanner for the Price
Review: So far, I haven't explored all the features of my scanner. That said, it's full featured and provides a very generous storage capacity for channel frequencies. Everyone complains about battery life, however, I have an extra set of batteries and a stand-alone charger which does a better job of charging the batteries anyway. By swapping out the batteries, they are always ready to go and their life isn't shortened by using the internal charger on an overly long charge time (charging isn't limited except to the time set for charge cut off). Of course, the receiver can be operated using the cable provided and a USB charge brick which eliminates the need for changing batteries.Sensitivity is great. A local (not geographically) weather channel comes in with full bars (signal strength indicator) and the audio is loud and clear considering the small speaker and my using it indoors with the provided antenna. I purchased a separate antenna for the bands I want to use (aviation) for even better performance. Programming is daunting at first (and I mentioned that I'm still learning), but straight forward if one reads the manual (which was supplied with my unit and is also available as a downloadable PDF). Many on-line videos are available detailing the programming and operation of this unit and the XLT version which is nearly identical in operation. The unit is pocketable and compact, and fairly lightweight for its class, although some (long) antennas may need removal to make it practical to pocket. The shorter antenna provided isn't that obtrusive though. Don't believe those who say the programming is overly hard. Once done a couple of times, it becomes easier and easier with use and is really pretty simple. The number of adjustments available is what makes it a bit overwhelming at first so it is best to go with the default settings and learn the features one at a time (slowly) as most aren't that essential for basic operation but are valuable later on.

Reviewer: Jack Sanders
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: An astounding value
Review: 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: It's 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 Uniden's help service responded within two days with very detailed instructions -- that worked. Virtually every other scanner that's 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 you're 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: It's extensive, it's clear, and it's 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 it's not written in broken English!* The build: It's sturdy, well-designed. It would be nice if it could be a bit smaller, like some newer transceivers, but it's 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 don't 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: It's got just about every frequency range you would want, including CB.WHAT I DON'T 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 it's 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 can't 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. It's not only a scanner receiver, it's a multichannel transmitter, too! It's time for technology and price to catch up with radio scanners.

Reviewer: Alan Howard
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good Radio Scanner
Review: Uniden Bearcat BC125AT Handheld Scanner and well worth considering. It does have two draw backs but don't let that put you off. Firstly the antenna it come with is poor by replacing it with a high gain one increases reception. I recommend either the HYS -701N or the UAYESOK VHF 136-174 Antennas being double wound. The second one is programming can be hard until you get used to it and slow. But there is software you can buy about around about 20 dollars well worth getting, programming and updating is a doddle. If you decide to get one enjoy.

Reviewer: EE
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Analog Only
Review: BC125AT This is a very good little analog only scanner. I bought it to monitor air band ATC and tower of a close by airport. It works well, very sensitive. Unless you are at or very close to the airport you will need an outside antenna to hear the groundside transmission noise free. At five miles from the airport, I can hear both sides with the included short antenna inside my house, but the tower and ATC are noisy (but readable). All are perfect when connected to my outside antenna. This scanner also covers the military UHF air band.I downloaded the free programming software prior to ordering then input my local airport frequencies and , when the scanner arrived, I had it programmed and scanning in minutes after opening. It is quite easy to learn and use for its basic functions. It comes with rechargeable batteries.Understand that his scanner is for analog only and most police, fire, EMT, city, etc. are now all digital. There are other, much more expensive, scanners that can receive the digital and trunking systems, but many are now adding full encryption, making all scanners unable to receive.This is probably a good scanner for racing fans or any systems still using analog and non-trunking.

Reviewer: David John White
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Works as expected, not that difficult to program, decent battery life.

Reviewer: Jorge tirado chávez
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Pro:- Costo- Incluye baterías recargables AA- Diseño- PesoContra:- No tiene manual en español- la versión de software es del año 2012 (pero es funcional)- Para recargar las baterías es, a través, de equipo- Muchos botones multifunciones (pero es para ahorrar espacio)Conclusión: si lo recomiendo, pero deberán de ver muchos videos de su manejo o pasar algún tiempo traduciendo el manual

Reviewer: John
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Just what I needed. Really easy to program if you download the Bearcat software.Works like a charm.American unit, works fine in Australia.

Reviewer: 雷
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: 日本語説明書が無いですが日本製の似たような品物を使った事が有れば弄ってれば割りと使い方は判ります(YouTube等の動画もありますし) 米国から出荷だったので時間は掛かりますが配達期限までには届くので問題無しでした梱包は海外からにしては簡素かな

Reviewer: Daniel Acosta Aguayo
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Buen producto, al principio da trabajo usar, pero con tutoriales en youtube todo excelente

Customers say

Customers like the performance and quality of the two-way radio. They mention it works well enough for their needs and is a great starter scanner. However, some customers disagree on the ease of programming, value for money, reception, battery life, sound quality, and channels.

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