From the manufacturer
BC125AT 500 Channel Handheld Scanner with Alpha Tagging
Listen in and stay informed with the Uniden BC125AT Compact Bearcat Handheld Scanner. This sophisticated scanner with 500 alpha-tagged channels boasts a convenient compact design and 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. With this Bearcat scanner, you can listen to military and civilian air bands. You can also get important weather and safety alerts.
Listen to Over 40,000 Frequencies
The Bearcat BC125AT handheld scanner gives you direct access 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.
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.
Lightweight, Portable Design
Take this Bearcat handheld radio scanner with you on the road, or on outings. It packs plenty of features in a lightweight, portable design. The orange backlight display is easy to read, even in low light conditions.
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Customer Reviews 4.1 out of 5 stars
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3.9 out of 5 stars
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4.2 out of 5 stars
3,279
Price $99.99
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11 Handheld SR30C, BC125AT BCD325P2 BCD436HP Base/Mobile BC355N, BC365CRS BCT15X BCD996P2 BCD536HP Unique HomePatrol-II Use For Events, Gifts, Amateur Radio, Rural Public Safety, NASCAR, Auto Races, Boat Races, Military, Marine, Railroad Everything to the left, plus, Analog Public Safety, Technical user in areas w/o digital trunking systems Everything to the left, plus, Digital Public Safety, Technical user in areas with digital trunking systems Digital Public Safety Communications, Easy HomePatrol Programming by Zip Code
Brian Nelson –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Old tech but useable
Will pick up aircraft, fire and EMS. My area has coded Police so it will not do that. Good range. I was around 40 miles away from source and it picked it great. Using the computer to enter the frequencies in is a plus
Customer of Stuff –
3.0 out of 5 stars
This thing works and finds signals without much effort, but isn’t as useful as I had hoped.
I am disappointed with this purchase mainly due to the cost of it. It does work pretty well. Most reviewers of this device that gave it 1 star spoke of problems they had with the device and most of their problems was a result of not reading the user manual. Such as the “All Channels Locked Out!” warning that came up on one user. Scanning channels requires you to first save a frequency on the device then it will scan saved frequencies. There is a “Search” button that will search every individual frequency right out the box. Super easy to use and much faster at scanning than my Baofeng F8HP is. You can even choose if you only want certain bands scanned or all of them if you want to. If you hit “Function then Search” it will do a service search which means it will scan known police, fire/ems, Civ air, military air, ham only bands, and even walkie talkie and CB radio frequencies. FRS/MURS/GMRS. I was able to find a nearby construction site while scanning the FRS bank. It was the 2 people that have hold the Stop and Slow signs to direct traffic. I drove past them to test the Close Call feature and it couldn’t pick up their signal as I drove past them while they were visibly talking on the walkie talkie. If I just scan FRS frequencies it will find it very quickly, but the Close Call doesn’t find it so fast it needs a much stronger signal to find it. The nice thing about this scanner is it also tells you any tones it detects. So if a walkie talkie is on Channel 2 and Sub-channel 1 it would show a tone of 67Hz. Nifty for repeaters too. The Close Call feature was not as good as I hoped it would be. It hardly picked up any signal. It must be a very close range option. I was hoping it would scan and find any frequency that you can listen to. I could scan frequencies and find various conversations, but with Close Call it would only find really really close signals or a lot of interfering strong signals. Close call was one of the main reasons I bought this. I never bothered programming channels into it, but I know it would be tedious. It could be useful depending on what your needs are, but for me as just a hobbyist it isn’t worth it.I compared it’s receiving ability side by side with my Baofeng F8HP and my Baofeng could hear a handful more signals than the Uniden could. this tells me the Uniden is probably scanning over frequencies without seeing a signal. It probably isn’t the device itself, but likely just the antenna. I’m sure with a good antenna like maybe a discone antenna would help you find a lot more signals. I tried searching HF signals with this device and I could not find one. I live 30 minutes south of Salt Lake City and the Salt Lake Valley here has around 2 million people so I would assume there should be some HF signals out here. This device is probably a lot more useful in bigger cities like Chicago or New York. I did find a conversation on every other band including civilian and military air. t wish the features of this device could be built into a HAM radio without increasing its size. This thing is kind of chunky its much bigger than most HAM handhelds are, so isn’t super convenient to carry, but I really don’t see anything better an smaller on the market. I thought it would be nice in the backcountry to find signals in case you needed to contact someone to relay for help. It still might be nice for that, but I don’t know for sure.I did however find a better stationary scanning option recently called Software Defined Radio (SDR)Here on amazon there is a USB device called the RTL-SDR for $17. It turns your computer into a radio receiver. It lets software do the work of analyzing vs the bulky and expensive hardware would you have to buy otherwise. It doesn’t come with an antenna. It needs an SMA Female antenna to work with it. My dad’s rubber duckie ICOM antenna worked fine. I got the device set up from their website “Quick Start Guide” in less than 10 minutes and I was able to visually see radio frequencies and signals. It was super easy to tune to any frequency I wanted and easy to see where the spikes were on the software it was either interference or a signal. I quickly found a lot of HAM, Police, and Fire conversations as well as local FM radio. You need the right antenna to listen to HF frequencies though which I plan on getting since this device was so cheap and easy to use. I could listen to anything from 87Mhz-900Mhz with this USB device so far. It is capable of listening up to 18Ghz. Of course nothing really goes up that high, but you can even analyze wifi signals with it. Lots of fun! For a hobbyist that is definitely the more fun and affordable option. If you needed to make it portable then just get a small laptop for it.
47 people found this helpful
VJ –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Capable Scanner for the Price
I had a 25 year old Radio Shack Scanner 10 channel (not ten bank) scanner and it was time to update. Living in the rural area of Northern California, and being an ex-volunteer firefighter, my wife and I depend on our scanner to keep alerted to local emergency events.I decided on the Uniden BC125AT after helping a friend program his. There were a number of things I found that helped me decide:THE GOOD• Good sound. The filtering in this scanner was able to filter out the static noise from the various electronics in our home.• Compact size and comfortable in the hand.• Alpha Numeric channel programming and labeling. The ability to add labels to each channel as it appears on the screen during a transmission makes it easier to know what is actually happening. I can instantly know what dispatch center is transmitting.• The free Windows software available from the Uniden website (link in the owners manual) allowed me to quickly and easily enter the frequencies I wanted along with a name for each channel, save it to a file on my computer, then upload the file to the scanner. With ten separate banks of 505 channels each, it was a simple matter to create separate banks for Fire, Police, Air Firefighting Resources, and even separate banks for local city emergency resources. After I programmed the friend’s unit I received mine about two days later and it took just a few seconds to upload the data into my BC125AT.• The ability to lock out banks. It is very easy to lock out any of the banks so, for example, you can lock all out except one bank where you program local fire resources.• Scan all banks, scan one bank, or pick on channel to scan. In an emergency it is nice to be able to just listen to the main fire dispatch channel and it is easy to select that function.• The multi-function “volume knob.” The rotary knob has many functions including setting the volume, adjusting the squelch, scrolling through the channels saved in banks.• Adjustable screen brightness and contractTHE BAD (or at least, not as good)• The included rechargeable batteries are decent but the charger in the Uniden is set by time only in hours. Insert a fully-charged pair of cells and plug the Uniden in and if the charger is set to charge for six hours, it will charge for that period of time. This overheats the batteries which can shorten their life. Thy get quite warm to the touch, but so far not dangerously so. I suggest keeping a spare set of batteries charged and switch them out as needed.• It charges through the USB cable, and only charges the batteries when the unit is turned off. If the BC125AT is on, the batteries will not receive a charge. When turned off the charge restarts and will run the full length of time you selected in the menu system.• When I purchased this, the Amazon link to the warranty information was to an old PDF page from 2010 from Uniden that stated the unit had a three (3) year warranty. THAT IS INCORRECT. The printed manual that came with the scanner (©2012) states it has a one (1) year warranty. I called Uniden today (8/6/2018) and that information was confirmed.• The owners manual could be better. This is a powerful unit and can do a lot of things. To access much of the menu system takes multiple button presses. The manual describes these is somewhat more complicated text than is necessary. Flow charts for each functions would have been MUCH better. I know- I have written owners manuals and created flow charts for similar programming and function systems.CONCLUSIONI give this unit 4 stars instead of 5 only because of the outdated battery charging system. Other than that, this is a very nice scanner for under $100. I do suggest purchasing the extended warranty so that you have more than one year’s protection.NOTE: The linked PDF warranty file on the Amazon sales page when I purchased this scanner stated that the warranty was three (3) years. IT IS NOT! That PDF file was from 2010. The ©2012 owners manual that comes with the scanner states that the warranty period is one (1) year. I verified this with Uniden Customer Service.
338 people found this helpful
Barney –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good quality
This is a good item I suggest to buy it comes with the charger and battery
Dustin Hughes –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good for the money
Works fantastic for what I use it for. Only took 2weeks or so to get.. Ordered under free shipping and watched the delivery date get knocked back twice.Had to order next day delivery to get it in a reasonable amount of time before I needed it..4starts to the product1 star to the seller
葉存祐 –
5.0 out of 5 stars
非常值得購買的接收機
1.功能優勢： a.頻道分類掃描：BC125AT提供10個BANK，可以對頻道進行分類掃描。 b.數字鍵輸入：數字鍵可快速輸入頻道。 c.頻道編輯：頻道名稱可直接在機器上編輯。 d.附帶燒錄線：原廠提供的燒錄線是一項便利的配件。 e.BNC天線接口：此接口設計增加了使用的便利性。2.性能表現： a.掃描速度：掃描速度非常快，且收訊能力良好。 b.揚聲器音質：音質清晰，但略遜於MOTOROLA GP88S和ICOM IC-2300H，但優於UV-K6，與TYT UV-98相當。 c.耳機孔音質：3.5mm耳機孔的音質相當好，與SDRplay RSPdx的表現不相上下，且相容於各種耳機。3.使用建議：若為新手且不在美國或加拿大，應先了解當地的無線電頻段區分及用途，否則可能會感到困惑。對無線電頻率、頻段及步進有基本認識後，BC125AT會是非常優秀的選擇。The BC125AT offers 10 BANKs, allowing you to categorize and scan channels efficiently.The numeric keypad enables quick channel input.Channel names can be edited directly on the device.The unit comes with a programming cable from the manufacturer, adding convenience.The BNC antenna connector is a nice feature that enhances usability.Performance:Scanning Speed: The scanning speed is very fast, and the reception capability is impressive.Speaker Audio Quality: The audio is clear but slightly inferior to the MOTOROLA GP88S and ICOM IC-2300H. However, it’s better than the UV-K6 and on par with the TYT UV-98.Headphone Jack Audio Quality: The 3.5mm headphone jack delivers excellent audio quality. Tested with SHURE 840, it’s comparable to the SDRplay RSPdx in terms of performance. It’s also compatible with various headphones, which is a rare advantage.User Recommendations:For beginners, especially those outside the U.S. or Canada, it’s crucial to understand local radio frequency bands and their uses; otherwise, you might find the device difficult to operate.Once you have a basic understanding of radio frequencies, bands, and steps, the BC125AT will be an indispensable companion.
Billy J. –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great scanner for little money.
This is the 4th scanner I’ve had in 25 years, and they just keep getting smaller as technology advances. This scanner has all the features I need and is relatively inexpensive. It does not have trunking capabilities, but my area doesn’t use trunking anyway so that’s not an issue. Although you can recharge the batteries in the scanner, I use a separate charger, so as to have 4 batteries charging while using two more in the scanner. With rechargeable batteries, the life is about 6-8 hours but with alkaline batteries, I can only get about 2 hours of use, so that’s a no for me. Overall, I am very well pleased with this scanner and would suggest it for anyone who doesn’t need the trunking feature.
Edgar Perryman lll –
4.0 out of 5 stars
A background with scanners will help
Nice and compact in size, you tube videos helped me along to set it up.Works good I would do it again.
One person found this helpful
Fauna Sonden –
3.0 out of 5 stars
I may have bought the wrong thing
I was attempting to purchase a radio to use in the search for a distress beacon, if needed. I found this difficult to use for THAT purpose. And, while the directions are thorough, I still found this radio difficult to customize. I’ve decided that I am to blame for my frustration. The key word in the description is SCANNER. If I were trying to eavesdrop on railroads, NASCAR, police or fire calls, this is a great unit. Trying to get it to “stay put” on a frequency? I can’t. The reception or ‘pull’ on the unit is pretty good and the audio is clear. It is also well-sized. Just beware of that tendency to drift away. The “scanner” function is great.
One person found this helpful
glenn ross –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Working good
Nice project to have it and be prepared in case.
Gina –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Works as expected and advertised, seems well made, sturdy, quality,
Works as expected and advertised, seems well made, sturdy, quality,
Victoria –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great product.
We got these for the car races. They are a game changer. We love them. Made the race so fun. Great quality. Great value. Feel durable. Highly recommend.
SEAN –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome
Works great
Amazon CustomerAmazon Customer –
5.0 out of 5 stars
I think it be a good radio scanner if I ever figure it out
Over all it is a little complicated for the inexperience like myself but hopefully with some luck will get it straightened out.
Greg Parrigin –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great item
Worked as advertised.
Troy –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good
The scanner is good.It’s out dated with most police and fire services being trunked. comes with just a charging cord and no charger.I use it for listening in on other services and HAM channels.
Matthew W. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Radio
I got a BC72XLT a couple years ago, and never regretted that purchase. I saw the features of this radio and decided it was worth the upgrade. I think it’s definitely worth it for someone looking for a few more features.Alpha Tags – so you know what you’re listening to, you don’t have to memorize what frequencies areUSB programming – MUCH easier to program new frequencies. You can also back up everything to a file, so you can change the entire setup of the banks really quickly. Nice if you go on vacation, because you can enter all the new frequencies on the computer, back up the old setup and apply the new setup. When you get back, it takes less than a minute to put the old setup back on.USB charging – you don’t need a special AC charger for the radio, it can charge from a computer or USB charger. If you plan on using it at home or in one place a lot, I would definitely suggest getting a USB charger (maybe with a mini USB plug already on it). This helps to get it away from the computer, which can cause interference. It comes with 2 rechargeable AA batteries, which seem to last maybe 8 hours on a charge. Backlight and frequent transmissions could reduce this, but I have been very happy with battery life.Military Frequencies – one of the main things that convinced me to get this radio. I have to admit I haven’t heard anything except the UHF from airport towers, but I will be around more UHF traffic soon and I expect to get a lot more from this.Better Programming – you can set delay specifically to each channel. You can also set a temporary lockout, which only locks a channel out until you turn off the radio. Useful for localized interference.Backlight Options – you can set the backlight to come on only with squelch, so it is off until it picks up a signal.DND Mode – this stands for “do not disturb.” This means that the “close call” or priority modes will only do their checks when scanning. Once it picks up a channel, it will not interrupt the channel to do those checks. This is really nice, because even the short pauses to do those checks can make you miss key information in a transmission.Close Call memory – you can store the frequencies found in close call mode to a small bank for later review or scanning.Large banks – 50 channels in each bank. Sometimes I have to combine smaller categories into one bank, but overall it is good to have plenty of space in a bank. Also good to have more frequencies overall.Dedicated Weather Function – Fn-3 accesses weather radio modes, nice to have when there is bad weather. There is also a weather function to scan weather radio in the background for alerts.Easier service search – When in service search mode, each service is treated like a bank and can be turned on or off. This is much more intuitive and lets you only choose the ones you are interested in. These are: Police, Fire/Emergency, Ham, Marine, Railroad, Civil Air, Military Air, CB Radio, FRS/GMRS/MURS (handheld civil radios), and Racing. You can also set custom ranges.There are other features, but these are the ones I found most useful.
47 people found this helpful
J Ken Kuzenski –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simple scanner with good performance and a bargain price
This inexpensive (non-trunking non-digital) scanner was a very pleasant surprise to me. I’ve got a big fancy digital trunking scanner, but using it involves a certain amount of fuss, and a lot of settings and controls that need adjusting. That has become too much bother for me; I just like hearing the local helicopters (medical, news, military), and the occasional train passing nearby.This Bearcat BC125 appeared online to be a popular choice for a simple scanner. After using mine for a few days, I see why. The BC125 is easy to use, and I’m also surprised by the performance–the Bearcat receives signals that aren’t audible on my expensive scanner, using the same antenna–the local airport’s tower, for instance. The two rechargable AA cells (included) run the scanner for 5-6 hours for me. An external antenna does not seem to overload the front end of the Bearcat. Audio is about average considering the small speaker.About the only complaint I would have is that the programming software Uniden/Bearcat offers as a free download is Windows only. I use linux almost exclusively, but I keep one laptop that can boot win10 when needed, so I have to do that for the radio programming. A native linux solution would be a nice feature. (No, I haven’t tried running the Uniden software under “WINE” but I’ll try that one day, I suppose–it isn’t a very big problem.)So: excellent performance from the BC125, it is indeed simple to use after one browse through the manual, it’s physically small enough to be easily portable when you want, and it cost about 20% of what my big fancy scanner cost me a few years ago. The BC125AT has been a pleasant surprise for me, as I said: I have absolutely no significant complaints about any aspect of it. Solid performance at a bargain price!
19 people found this helpful
Eric –
5.0 out of 5 stars
So Easy with the PC Upload Feature!
I only use a scanner at Nascar races once a year so just enough to be frustrated every 12 months by having to relearn programming it all over again! So when I saw this scanner had a PC upload option with the included USB cable and free software I was in! Just used it now and it’s a breeze! I donwloaded the software free from Uniden site (link located in the manual) copy and pasted the 96 frequencies and drivers names from the Nascar roster and pasted them into the softwares spreadsheet like data page and pressed upload. There was a little tweaking of the data as some of the drivers names were too long for the tag field but other than that it was a 5 minute job. On other scanners you have to painstakingly muddle through a myriad of 10 button sequences to put in a single frequency and that doesnt include the drivers name being tagged on the display like I have now! It is a thing of beauty. I can easliy scan all the drivers or jump to any one directly by name that I have stored in memory locations 1-96 as there names show up next to the frequency and channel number. WOW this is going to make using this scanner so much more fun at the race!. I also bought the Rigged race talk intercom push to talk headsets to allow conversation and scanner audio all at the same time while protection our heaaring. In the 4th row at the finish line at the Daytone 500 you got to love this setup!
JW –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Works like a champ
Use it to listen to teams at NASCAR races. Works great paired with a decent headset. Why rent when you can own. Pays for itself after like two races.
One person found this helpful
Mark S. Miles –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great scanner for the price
I wish the volume could be turned up a bit louder – need to get headphones that amplify sound
Robert Mayo Great tasting tea. We feel in love with this tea in our 2 months in Ireland. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bearcat scanner
Great scanner. Easy to program even by manual inputs. Far more capable and features than my original bearcat scanner which is 44 years old.
3 people found this helpful
Sherri S. –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Like it but hard to program
Lots of different steps to program it. The channels I did get programmed works great..Wish it was more simple to program.
ChiTim –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Scanner for Scanner Nuts and Frequent Travellers.
I had a BC75XLT, which is also a good scanner from Uniden. But I upgraded my handheld ham radio and fell in love with the ability to assign an alphanumeric tag to each channel/frequency pair. The cheaper 75XLT allows you to assign channels to channel memory banks, but doesn’t allow alpha tagging. You just have to know what the frequency means. That’s hard with 100+ civilian public service frequencies. So I wanted alpha tagging for my scanner too. The 125AT displays your tag as well as the frequency and the channel memory bank. for example, I have all of Chicago PD’s District frequencies and their “City Wide” frequencies labeled, so I know where the reported action is by area. As a Ham, also nice to assign the actual callsign to repeaters. Same goes for using Amtrak route labels (AAR frequency codes) out of Chicago’s Union Station, since I take trains to downstate Illinois. One thing it does NOT do though is allow you to assign an alpha tag to memory bank numbers. My Yaesu ham radio HT does support that. So I just keep a reference note on my cell phone listing what category of frequencies I chose to store in each bank. This and the 75XLT are both great radios for travelers. They can search for nearby signals and you can easily add those to memory, without traveling with a list of local frequencies or looking them up online. There is also a great feature called “Service Search,” which is preprogrammed to search the frequency ranges of government assigned frequencies for Ham Radio, Weather, Police, Fire, Racing, FRS, Aviation, Railroad etc. Then when you find a frequency you want, you can add it to memory. I use PC software to program it with the included USB A to USB Mini cable. You can buy software from various online sources. That makes data entry a breeze and most will support auto import of known frequencies when you put in a zip code. Also, Since this radio also supports rechargeable NiMH batteries (2 AA), I recommend you buy a AA rechargeable battery starter kit with 4 batteries and a charger included. That way you have a fresh pair to swap back in when the batteries die. It also takes disposables, but you must select alkaline versus NiMH using the tiny switch under the batteries.Now the negatives. It’s expensive and has good competition from China. The 125AT isn’t waterproof or made of metal, like most Japanese handheld ham radios, so that isn’t a benefit over Chinese radios and scanners, which are pretty much all plastic and not water or shock proof, like the name brand ham radios are over their Chinese competitors. So never pay full MSRP for this scanner. Also consider a cheap $30-$50 Chinese multi-band ham radio, like a Baoefeng, Remember though, unless you have the right level of ham license, you CANNOT transmit on ham radio frequencies or you will face steep fines if discovered. But they make good generic police scanners too and can be programmed from a PC, usually requiring you buy a custom cable. But they are not durable at all.
14 people found this helpful
gofish –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good for staying informed
Nice little scanner to keep aware of what’s happening on local public communication channels.Learning the user interface (buttons and knobs) is a bit of a hurdle to get over. Requires reading the manual or watching a video tutorial then practicing.Battery life is acceptable – maybe three to four hours of continuous use with the included NiCd batteries. No direct view battery charge status ; you have to go into a status menu to see status. You get a warning for low battery charge status, so keep the charger cord at hand.
One person found this helpful
Clare –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Works great for Race Track
I bought this radio for use at Indy Car races. It has been exactly what I want it to be! I am not great with tech stuff so I have been using reddit/ other sites to help with learning how to input the channels and get it set up how I want for race day. From taking it out of the box to having it programmed how I wanted it only took about an hour. If I was trying to program it alone without a computer and how to instructions from pros it would have taken me much longer.If you are brand new to scanner radios (like me) I highly recommend this scanner. Just know you are going to have to put in some work to get used to using it and programming it how you want.
Woolly Mammoth –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best scanner for the price, hands down
I’m a little stunned by the bad reviews. I couldn’t disagree more. This is a great scanner. For the roughly 100 bucks, you really get a lot.It’s handheld, which means it travels nicely. It’s great for road trips and can keep you in the loop on weather, accidents, and umm, “other” police activities. It scans CB, FRS/GMRS/MURS and HAM bands which covers pretty much all of the individual use bands. The first two (CB, FRS/GMRS/MURS) are pretty useful on trips too.It’s rechargeable, and uses standard AA Ni-MH batteries (included) and you can recharge the batteries right in the scanner from a USB port. You can charge while it’s on. Also, just in case it matters, you can run it directly from the USB port without any batteries installed at all! Of course, in a pinch you can always use regular non-rechargeable AA batteries which are pretty much the most common batteries in America. There’s a switch inside the battery compartment to tell the scanner what kind of batteries you have so that it won’t try to recharge regular batteries. (I know, too much time on batteries but I can’t help it. A scanner’s no good if you can’t turn it on!)There are some nice storage features for storing “found” stations and you can program them in manually too, if you know the frequency. You can name all the stations as well. Additionally, there’s are banks of per-programmed frequencies for different uses (fire, police, CB, etc.) to allow you to get started right away. (If you’re looking for frequencies just google “scanner frequencies” and the city or area you live in. Pretty simple…)But really, it’s connecting to the PC that has me won over. *All* of the settings can be accessed through the PC software available from the website. (The website also includes the *manual* , drivers, and firmware updates. The software isn’t all that sexy to be sure, but it’s plenty functional! It’s a lot easier to use than typing into the scanner itself. It allows you to save different configurations in separate files so you can have, for instance, a file for Topeka, and another one for Miami. Again, a really nice feature if you’re on the road and have a laptop.Cons:You can’t actually control the scanning itself from the computer. Not a big deal but the function might be kinda cool. My biggest complaint is that there is not a standing battery indicator. You only get notification when the batteries get low, but you have no idea when that might be. It’s just a minor annoyance… maybe it’ll get fixed in a firmware update?Overall, totally useful.
298 people found this helpful
A. Dutton –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent value: BC125AT is a workhorse for this price
This scanner is an excellent choice if you want to listen in on railroad, maritime, aviation, or racing activities. It’s also a superb tool for monitoring the police/fire/EMS systems that have not yet become digital.The ability to “alpha tag” (i.e. “label”) the display so that you immediately know WHO you are listening to is my favorite attribute of this scanner. You will DEFINITELY want to use your computer to do the labeling and programming as it is SO much easier than trying to accomplish programming via the scanner keypad. The Uniden software is easy to download and pretty intuitive. It basically loads a spreadsheet looking document that is clearly labeled with fields. You just pick a blank field (bank/channel) and fill in the frequency and your custom label. You then export your data right to the radio (“write to scanner”) via the USB, and the scanner is programmed in a matter of seconds.I also love the functionality of the backlight on this thing. On my 20 year old scanner, the backlight would come on for just 10 seconds and then go off. You also had to hunt for the backlight button in the dark. The BC125AT backlight can be set to either (a) Be on all the time (b) come on when a transmission is received (c) come on anytime you push any button on the unit (d) both options c and d….which is my preference. Very useful.It’s small and discrete. Great for carrying around near airports and train stations without looking like a big dork. I was worried the speaker would be tinny on a small unit, but the speaker is every bit as good as the speakers on my older, larger scanners.
13 people found this helpful
Michael Chlopik –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great scanner
The media could not be loaded.
Easy to use, works very well at distances I didn’t think it would reach. I just wish it took more than 2 batteries, battery life is horrible. Other than that, great scanner.
14 people found this helpful
Trey –
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must buy for all nascar fans!
Having spent a significant amount of time with the Uniden Bearcat BC125AT, I can confidently say that it is one of the best handheld scanners I’ve ever come across. Here’s why it deserves a solid 5 stars:500-Alpha-Tagged Channels: The ample storage space allows me to easily categorize and store a plethora of channels, making scanning and retrieval a breeze. It’s especially useful for avid listeners like me, who have numerous frequencies of interest.Close Call Technology: This is the feature that genuinely sets the Bearcat BC125AT apart. The ability to automatically detect and tune into local transmissions without the need for pre-programming is nothing short of fantastic. It’s like having a sixth sense for radio waves!User-Friendly Interface: The learning curve was minimal, and I found navigating through the channels and settings intuitive. The alpha-tagging feature is a godsend, allowing me to label channels with custom names, making it easier to identify what I’m listening to at a glance.Compact & Durable Design: It’s lightweight and fits perfectly in my hand. Despite its compact size, it feels robust, ensuring longevity and durability.Clear Audio Quality: The sound clarity is commendable, even in areas where signal strength can be a challenge. Whether it’s emergency services, aviation, or other frequencies, the reception has always been crisp and clear.In summary, the Uniden Bearcat BC125AT has genuinely elevated my scanning experience. For anyone in the market for a reliable, feature-packed handheld scanner, this is the one to go for. Highly recommended!
16 people found this helpful
Robert D. –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Little Scanner for the Price
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.
49 people found this helpful
Jack Sanders –
5.0 out of 5 stars
An astounding value
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.
252 people found this helpful
Alan Howard –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Radio Scanner
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.
19 people found this helpful
Wayne Adams –
1.0 out of 5 stars
Nearly Impossible to Program Because of Cryptic Key Functions
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.
63 people found this helpful
EE –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Analog Only
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.
11 people found this helpful
Seventh-777 –
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good battery life, reliable, difficult to use/program.
I’m a fireman so I have several Uniden scanners at home and in my car. They are generally realiable and the reception is always great. The unfortunate other thing they all have in common is that they are mind-numbingly difficult to program. I’m a technical fellow, I’ve been in IT for the bulk of my career. I have a Masters degree in engineering. And despite all of that I have to refer to google and Youtube to do even the most simple tasks with all of my Uniden devices.This thing is no different. Anything you want to do with it will be a pain. Scan general channels? Good luck. Add a few presets and just scan them? Get ready for odd error messages that make no sense and a fair bit of time spent on Google. I don’t understand how Uniden can make hardware that’s THIS good, and a user interface that’s THIS poor, but it’s across their entire product line.Anyway. Once I got my channels inputted and cursed a few more times, this handheld has been great. With two Amazon Basics AA batteries in it, it lasts about 8 hours on standby, and that’s with plenty of incoming traffic during the day. What’s nice is that with the screen off, the display will state both CHARGING and CHARGE COMPLETE. When the unit is charging, the batteries do get a bit warm so as a fireman I advise you to keep that in mind. Once the charge is complete everything is cool, so the unit doesn’t seem to be trickle charging all the time.It’s light, the reception is great, the battery lasts long enough for what most of us would use it for and it charges up over night. That’s everythign I wanted it to do, and as long as I don’t inadvertently touch any button on the damn thing to reset all of my settings or put it in some obscure mode that I can’t get out of, I’m good.Uniden REALLY needs to fire their interface design team, but the hardware folks are still spot on.
11 people found this helpful
Chas77 –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good for aircraft (AM) and FM two way scanning from 25 Mhz to 512 Mhz
I mainly purchased this to monitor aircraft frequencies which it does well. I hear many airborne aircraft, but not much from the ground unless I am near an airport.Except for fire paging and ambulance to hospital comms, it does not receive police and fire services in my area for two reasons;1. Most of those are above 512 Mhz, and2. Those that are below 512 Mhz are mostly digital which sound like a loud buzz on this radio and any other radio that is not equiped to decode digital.The radio has 3 main modes to chose from;1. Scan mode scans 10 banks of 50 frequencies each plus a close call bank. The active banks show up at the bottom of the screen, and pressing a corresponding number on the keypad turns each bank on or off.The two search modes allow searching for CTCSS (subaudible tones) and DCS (Digital Coded Squelch). Active frequencies can be saved along with the privacy code.2. “Service search” allows searching for activity on 10 different pre-programmed frequency ranges / lists. Similar to the scan mode, the different ranges can be turned on or off by pressing a number. Service search bank 3 is ham radio and includes 6 and 2 meters and 440 Mhz. Service search bank 9 includes FRS / GMRS / and MURS frequencies (mostly UHF and a few VHF).3. “Search” gives you 10 different frequency ranges that you can program yourself – low and high limits.The close call technology works in all 3 main modes and has three options;1. “Do not disturb” turns off close call when the scanner is receiving a signal2. “Priority” mode has close call turned on all the time, and will interrupt reception of other signals. However, unlike turning a priority channel on, normal reception is unaffected while receiving other channels. With a priority channel enabled, other channels are briefly interrupted every few seconds while the priority channel is checked.3. “Close call only” listens only for close callsTemporary lockout is a nice feature. When the power is reset, all the temporary lockouts are reset. To permanently lock out a channel, press the lockout button twice. This also works for close call channels. Cons – there are a limited number of lockouts – 100 temporary and 100 permanent. If you decide that you do not want to monitor a permanent channel, it is easy to delete it.The weather alert is a nice feature if you do not have a dedicated weather alert radio. It even alerts you if it can no longer receive your local weather service channel.The computer interface works well which allows you to input information into a sheet similar to a spreadsheet. It allows you to read information from the radio or save information to the radio. Rows or blocks of rows can be copied and pasted to easily move frequencies around within a bank or put them into other banks (tabs).
49 people found this helpful
eshortess –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Starter Scanner
As a lifelong rail fan, I am always looking for ways to improve my rail fan experience. One thing that I thought would advance my experience trackside was a scanner, which would allow me to listen to railroad operations in real time. When deciding on a scanner, I chose the Uniden Bearcat BC125AT because it was within my price range and had a good amount of useful features. I use my scanner almost exclusively to listen to railroad activity, but there are many other uses for the BC125AT. A scanner can be used to receive many different bands and activities; therefore, this product would be ideal for someone who is interested in listening to a variety of radio transmissions. The BC125AT is particularly good for those who are interested in storing their commonly used frequencies and taking their scanner into the field.Many Ways To ListenThe BC125AT offers many different options to scan and listen to your desired channels and frequencies. There are nine channel banks with 50 presets each, which means you have the ability to store 450 channels in the scanner’s memory for later use. The BC125AT also comes with Uniden Bearcat programming software, which allows each channel to have an alpha tag or name so memorization of channels is not necessary. You are able to scan your saved channels to check for activity or scan all frequencies. Scanning all frequencies can be done by bank (in order of frequency) or by service. The BC125AT includes Police, Fire, HAM, Marine, Railroad, Civil Air, Military Air, CB, RRS/GMRS/MURS, and Racing frequencies, organized into banks. The BC125AT allows you to turn each bank of frequencies on and off individually, allowing for a very narrow scan if needed. I have found this very helpful, as I can scan only railroad frequencies when I am in unfamiliar territory. The only downside is that one knob controls almost all of the scrolling features, as well as the volume. This sometimes makes it difficult to adjust the volume or proper channel. The BC125AT also comes with a separate NOAA weather radio scanner and can be programmed to turn on in an emergency.Excellent Range For SizeThe range of the BC125AT is very good for the size of the antenna. Like most scanners, its range depends upon the strength of the output signal. In my current location with my scanner on the railroad frequency, I can listen to transmissions coming from locomotives about a mile away in either direction. I can always hear the dispatcher, due to repeaters along the tracks and a stronger signal. However, I have been able to receive spotty railroad transmissions from about 30 miles away in other locations, and I can receive a very strong signal from a police department in a county at least 30 miles away. Given the BC125AT’s size and large range of channels, the range is excellent and better than I expected. The range of the NOAA weather radio scanner is excellent. My previous weather radio only picked up weather in towns or locations that are at very high elevations. The BC125AT picked up a weather station in every single location I have tried it in, including some very remote canyons.Be Ready To Take Your Scanner Anywhere You WantThe BC125AT is a very portable scanner. I have no problem taking it trackside or anywhere else. It is already a very small scanner, but the secret to its success is its detachable antenna. Once the antenna is detached, the size is comparable to that of a digital camera. The BC125AT can easily fit in any standard-sized pocket, and I routinely put my scanner in my pants pocket while riding the bus or shopping. The BC125AT fits comfortably in your hand or on your belt. It also comes with a headphone port, so it is possible to listen to your scanner in public areas without others knowing.Overall, the BC125AT is a great starter scanner for anyone who is interested in listening to radio traffic, whether that is railroad, police, HAM, or something else. It is an excellent portable scanner with ample range and options to make your scanning experience more enjoyable. Please reply to this review if you have questions about my experience with the BC125AT.
18 people found this helpful
Jessica Mcdaniel –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice but a little difficult to get setup for a beginner!
This is a very nice unit but I had a hard time understanding how to get it set up. I am a beginner and wished it would explain things better. It is handheld and compact. Radio quality is pretty good. I think it would be better if I could figure out how to adjust some of the settings correctly.
Mike M –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Event Scanner
If you need a basic non-digital scanner this is the one for you. It offers 500 channels and alpha tags for each of the frequencies you enter. Banks are split into 10 banks 50 channels in each bank. I wish it had the ability to name the banks like the BCD 160DN does but that is the only thing it lacks. The receiver on this radio is more sensitive than my BCD 160DN and beats out my Pro 43 Radio Shack scanner as one of the best receiving scanners that I have ever owned.If you enjoy listening to local storm chasers, aircraft, ham radio then go get this radio. I have this as my primary go to radio and I have digital scanners that this out performs just remember this scanner is analog only.
JD Corr –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy to program and use.
I am a volunteer firefighter and own/operate an emergency towing and roadside service business. Though I have regular two-way capable radios in my vehicles, I purchased scanners for my vehicles due to price and the ability to monitor multiple channels at the same time.It takes a little time and patience to program the scanner, if you desire to program your own frequencies. I love the fact that I am able to program alpha-tags for each channel, allowing me to know who’s talking at a glance.My only complaint is that the batteries that came with my scanners do not hold a charge for as long as I’d like. They will last about an hour on battery power.
One person found this helpful
Amazon Customer –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great scanner for railfans!
I purchased this product for use when I go out railfanning, to be able to listen in on where trains are located on my local rail line. The scanner works really well and is able to receive radio signals from a pretty far distance away when you’re close to an active rail line.The build quality is good for the product, it’s mostly made of plastic. But that’s not a deal breaker in my opinion, since the product feels very durable and doesn’t feel like it will fall apart the second it falls onto a concrete floor. I found the interface very easy to understand, all the button functions are clearly labeled and are very easy to figure out all of the functions. The programming software was very easy to use as well, it’s very similar to using Microsoft Excel.I personally prefer the BC125 over the BC75, because the 125 can store a lot more frequencies and you also get the ability to add in custom names/alpha tags.The only drawback to the product is the range is not very good… But that comes with using the antenna that is provided with the scanner, since it’s not very long. The scanner can receive signals from channels I programmed as far as 10 miles away from my local railroad mail line, but that applies mainly frequencies that are used on my local railroad.Overall the scanner works very well for my uses, I am very happy with the product, and I would recommend any railroad enthusiast to purchase a radio scanner to use while railfanning. Since it will make your railfanning sessions a lot more fun, since you will know ahead of time what’s coming in your direction.
3 people found this helpful
randy reynolds –
4.0 out of 5 stars
My Wife Is Happy I Am Happy
Work’s Good For What We Want To Hear.
Jeremy Teigeler –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rechargeable batteries
They don’t last very long after charging for 14 hours either and I go to bed at 2am and low battery by 10:30am 11am
One person found this helpful
Brighton Key –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive performance for its size
Great sensitivity, even with the supplied antenna. (Better still with a better antenna.) The user interface is clumsy, especially to adjust the squelch, but it’s not too hard to learn in a day or two of using it. Sound quality is good. It’s a really good basic analog scanner, especially considering it’s small enough to easily take just about anywhere. I do have a couple complaints… it takes 7 or 8 seconds to turn on and boot up before received audio starts coming from the speaker. I think that’s too long. And, there isn’t much useful info on the display while it’s scanning your programmed frequencies. It only says “Bank 1” or “Bank 2” etc. while it’s scanning. You can’t change the name of the bank to something more helpful, like “HAM” or “Aviation” for instance. So you have to remember what you’ve programmed into each bank. I hope your memory is better than mine. It has to stop on an active frequency before the display will show the channel, the frequency, and whatever label you’ve assigned. Otherwise just the word SCAN scrolls across the display. These complains are minor, but still a bit annoying.BTW, one reason I bought it was to see if having a CB radio in the car would be helpful for long trips. After a week’s driving on the interstate while scanning the CB channels, the answer seems to be “no”.
10 people found this helpful
L. Sisk –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required equipment if you are a rail fan!
Now you can hear a train crew communicate with a dispatcher and likely know when a train will be passing by.
Nancy Butler –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Emergency scanner
So far it has worked well, but should have had a longer charging cord.
cjsec1 –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love My Bearcat Scanner
I love my Bearcat scanner. No more do I have to hear fire sirens going off and wonder what is happening in the area. I can now listen to local police, fire, and emergency calls from my own home when they occur.
2 people found this helpful
Coarsegold –
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, a Bargain for the Price
I am an experienced HAM Radio Operator and someone with substantial RF radio experience: If you have never owned radios of this type then you should know: Scanners, like this one, are not trivial pieces of equipment. many people buy them and think they are like a Mr Coffee appliance, in other words you just plug it in and it works.To get the most out of Scanners:1.) they require programming. The Uniden supplied PC software is adequate and will get the job done, however it is nothing outstanding but it is FREE2.) Antennas are the key to any radio reception. Scanners require NON-TUNED wire antennas like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NKDN6YK/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_E41kDbJ7R53JF for $8 it is a bargain. You should DISREGARD other comments you read about using 144/440 tuned ham Radio Transmitting Antennas. They will work fine if all you want to receive is in those frequency bands, but realize they are TUNED so their reception sensitivity will fall off rapidly when the antenna is out of its designed band.3.) This is a fine piece of well designed gear, and for $100 it is a bargain. It has excellent sensitivity across all bands. PROS: Super fast scan speed, Clever well laid out keypad design that gives you access to menu functions with just a few simple keystrokes.4.) Of course the CON is that they are using AA NiMH batteries. 4-6 Hours is top run time. Uniden made a bad design choice there, as this radio could have easily been designed to accept 18650 Li-Ion batteries then it would have run for days on one set. If you are going to use this radio on a daily basis then you will need a pocket full of AA and Powerex Charger to properly maintain them.I read many comments here in these reviews from well meaning folks that are simply in over their head and then say this is a bad scanner. My suggestion is to find a local Ham Radio Operator to explain some of the principles of how RF works, and to help you with programming and operation of this type of equipment. It is not rocket science, but there is a little learning curve.
40 people found this helpful
Kief Manning –
3.0 out of 5 stars
it ok
the programming isnt very intuitive, the range doesnt seem great and the sound quality is pretty rough.
Betty –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good fast scanner. A little complicated to program.
Fast scanner. Wideband. Analog only. Scans at 80 channels per second.You can use the included cable and program it with your computer.It is very sensitive and selective.I hooked it up at home to a 30 year old Radio Shack magnet mount scanner antenna mounted to my A/C sleeve about 8 feet off of the ground and I am pulling in stations from 70 miles away. I was impressed.The service band search is helpful in locating active frequencies.The only major flaw that I could find is that it is powered by 2 AA batteries, either NIMH or disposables. There is a switch inside the battery box to switch between the two. When set to NIMH, you can hook up the USB cable to a wall wart and charge the batteries. The flaw is the unit must be Off.Someone should make a dummy battery pack that will supply continuous power through the USB port for mobile installations. Otherwise, you will be changing batteries often.If boofwang can do it, Uniden should be able to, as well.
One person found this helpful
Jack –
5.0 out of 5 stars
A minimalistic must have
I am not into scanning per se, but I do consider this analog scanner to be a nice little versatile receiver.For example, if you want to know what is happening on GMRS frequencies, you can almost instantaneously find this out. The darn thing scans ~100 channels per second. The radio will also instantaneously tell you the PL tone used.Some folks buy hand-held radios (HTs) based on whether they can receive AM airband frequencies. I am yet to see an HT with good airband reception. With this scanner, however, you can program in your local airport frequencies and listen to non-stop chatter with decent audio quality.There are other pluses.A few negatives (in no particular order):1. For best results, need to replace the stock antenna with a longer one. Extra expense. Amazon sells a fake Diamond antenna. It works well, though.2. No digital modes, only analog. But I don’t care.3. Steep learning curve.4. The squelch settings are a bit off. Squelch = 1 is too low, squelch = 2 is kind of too high.Overall, it’s a good little radio. It can’t do it all, but does enough to quickly understand what is going on around you. I would say it is a “minimalistic must have” for anyone who appreciates radio.
S. Borrelli –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unit is great once you spend hours trying to do it
I am doing some work for our towns newspaper and wanted to know what’s going on in the area. The publisher gave me his scanner but we were to far from the sheriffs department in a valley to hear calls. I bought this Uniden and am surprised how far through mountains it picks up.What I don’t like is the horrible instructions. I was ready to return it and I decided to go on you tube to figure out how to unlock it. The instruction manual had different instructions than the web did to reset it. The web worked, instructions did not.When I got it, several channels where programmed and it immediately locked and nothing I could do to unlock it until I found the instructions on the web. I suspect this was returned and resold.The unit itself is easy to program once the kinks are worked out, which was nearly three hours. Go to YouTube for more clear instructions. We used one bank and were able to program EMS, Sheriffs department, and forestry in it and the best part, you can program with the frequency what each setting is. When police calls come over, it reads “”police” and so on. Once you use a scanner, you appreciate this feature.Before buying, be sure your area is not on digital broadcasting as this unit is analog. Any broadcast that starts with an “8” is digital. Our state police here use digital and those scanners are very expensive.There are many sites on the web that you can find all the scanner frequencies as so you can program the Uniden Scanner. Some list every single broadcast frequency’s being used in your area, most of which are construction companies.It comes with a charging cord to plug into a PC to charge it. If you have a USB wall plug, works that way as it doesn’t come with an AC adaptor. The battery life is about six hours which is disappointing.It’s pretty interesting to listen to the broadcasts.The unit it self is five stars, the instructions are two stars.
23 people found this helpful
Tyler Carey –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent little analog scanner.
I’ve had mine since December and it’s been a great scanner for me, programming by keypad and using the free software is easy and overall the scanner is very user friendly compared to the more high tech models offered by Uniden. Audio quality is good, no complaints there. Battery life is okay, roughly 7 hours out of two high quality rechargeable batteries. Highly recommend if you live in an area where certain systems are still analog.
Tennessee Gentleman –
3.0 out of 5 stars
High quality product, but…
Ive had this radio for several weeks now, and I’ve found it to be a nightmare to try to learn even the simplest functions it. AND I STILL CAN’T LISTEN TO RR CREWS! Which is the Primary reason I got it. I even bought a new computer to download the recommended software, what a joke. And downloading the Uniden programming assistant, turns out it’s a black screen with gibberish on it. I’m really disappointed. Trying to adjust sqelch or volume is an overly complicated process involving pressing and holding several buttons, then using the scroll knob on top. I think it’s a sad thing to keep having to refer to the owners manual everytime I need to perform these simple things. In trying to minimize knobs and whatever, Uniden has given us multi function buttons for various operations which make for an overly complicated device.
2 people found this helpful
CHARLES –
5.0 out of 5 stars
VERY GOOD
VERY GOOD.
Vagrant –
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fine Analog Scanner with Alphanumeric tags – Excellent for military air
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.
3 people found this helpful
Amazon Customer –
4.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT Conventional Scanner for Trips
Really like this Scanner, very easy to program and easy to use with a lot of nice features. I’ve always been a radio geek and like listening to radio traffic when I’m on trips and traveling. Even though this scanner can only do conventional radio traffic (not digital), for the money it is a very solid unit with a lot to like and only a few drawbacks for the price.Pro’s:- 500 Channels, with fast 80 channel per second scan rate works real well, no missing transmissions- 10 banks for easy organization of types or areas of frequencies- Very easy to program with the software available online- Has a Close Call feature that quickly locates and temporarily stores in use frequencies that are close to you, even if not programmed in- Temporary lock out for quickly preventing transmissions on busy or nuisance channels (I use this a lot)- CTCSS/DCS tone search on received channels works really really well and is handy for unknown frequencies- Reception is really really good across the spectrum, I use this with a mag mount car antenna and I can scan 2m amateur radio and main public safety repeaters from almost 100 miles away…very impressed- Awesome Alphanumeric display that quickly shows all the data about the user, frequency, tone, and other informationCons- I only have one Con with this unit, and it’s regarding the battery consumption. It can be a battery hog if you don’t have good rechargeable batteries. I usually go through 2 sets of AA’s on standard day road trips, and have gone through 3 on day/evening trips.I highly recommend this scanner and have been thoroughly satisfied with it. No it doesn’t do digital channels, but that is another total class of unit.
Ness –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great relatively small scanner.
Some reviews on this radio bash it for being unable to listen in on local police department, etc. These users need to do more research. This is an excellent analog receiver, NOT A DIGITAL RECEIVER. Check your local law enforcement radio frequencies and equipment as digital transmissions cannot be picked up by this radio. For where I live this is not an issue. I can hear my local law enforcement clearly and was easy to find their frequencies online.Another invalid complain many users had was how difficult it is to program and use the radio. Seriously, read the manual. There are three different scanning modes, not including Close Call or any of the Priority Scanning functions. I read the manual once and understood their operation and function. I mostly Hold on a single channel but occasionally scan a few banks I programmed from my computer with the included USB cable. Again, follow the directions that came with the radio and you can easily program the radio from a PC. Others have said that the program is similar to Excel, and they are not wrong. It’s very simple, it shows you the banks you can program you just fill in the form.My only complaint is the battery life. One one hand, the receiver is relatively compact as it only takes 2 x AA batteries. As a result though, I am averaging about 4 and half hours of listening time before the low battery warning. I wish they would make the receiver a little bigger to accommodate a larger amount of batteries.In summary, I like this scanner a lot. It’s relatively small, light, picks up my local frequencies quite clearly, and has decent listening times.Research which frequencies you will want to be listening to to avoid disappointment.I would recommend this to someone as a first time purchase of a police scanner.
3 people found this helpful
Patrick –
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quality scanner
Reasonably priced. Instructions could be better. Has so many features it will take time to learn to use it well. There are many YouTube videos out there that are very helpful. Take your time and don’t get frustrated.
3 people found this helpful