Uniden Bearcat BC125AT Handheld Scanner, 500-Alpha-Tagged Ch...

10 reviews for Uniden Bearcat BC125AT Handheld Scanner, 500-Alpha-Tagged Ch...

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   HighSierra49er – January 30, 2024

   
   A big step up from an earlier less expensive scanner. Very strong reception quality, good speaker, solid construction and components. Easy to program. I’m very satisfied with the 125 and would definitely purchase this model again if the need warranted. I use my Uniden in the 160 MHz range primarily and probably have doubled the capability to receive weaker signals clearly. Alpha-tagging to allow me to label each channel has been a really great experience. I doubt I would want another scanner without this feature. Just adds a lot to the enjoyment of the hobby. Great purchase, good value, and a very satisfied customer.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Robert D. – January 6, 2024

   
   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.

3. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   VJ – August 6, 2018

   
   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.

4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Ryan Watson – April 3, 2019

   
   PROS: It’s a lot of scanner for the money. Battery life is about 7-8 hours before it needs recharged. Audio quality is good considering the size of the speaker. Signal sensitivity with the supplied antenna is good. The alpha tagging is awesome. The fit and finish are excellent. The display is excellent.CONS: The owner’s manual does not do an adequate job of getting the new owner over the initial learning hump needed to setup the scanner. I’m a ham radio operator with plenty of experience setting up new radios, yet it took me well over an hour before I became proficient at programming channels and tagging them. Once learned though it’s dead easy.Programming hints: Any channel that has not been assigned a frequency becomes, by default, locked out. New out of the box the scanner will display a “all channels locked out” message because you haven’t yet assigned a frequency to a channel. There is nothing wrong with your scanner.The “hold” button acts somewhat the same as a “manual” button on other scanner in that it stops the scanner on a single channel when it is scanning. Once stopped on that channel, use the volume knob to scroll through the channels. In that manner. press the hold button to access the channel you want to add the frequency to. Press “Func” followed immediately by the “PrgE” key. Use the volume knob to scroll to “enter frequency”. Press the “PrgE” key again. Enter the freq using the keypad numbers. Press “PrgE” again. Now the radio receiver has a frequency to scan.There is no “Menu” button. The menu of available actions is spread out among those keys that have secondary red lettering. To access that portion of the menu found on the “red lettering” keys you must push the “Func” immediately prior to pushing the “red lettering” keys. Then use the volume knob to scroll through the available actions, followed by the “PrgE” key to access that portion of the menu you wish to access.As clunky as my programming hints are they are more clear than the manual.

5. 

   Rated 1 out of 5

   W. Adams – January 24, 2023

   
   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.

6. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   Customer of Stuff – July 21, 2016

   
   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.

7. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Jack Sanders – September 29, 2013

   
   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.

8. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   J Ken Kuzenski – August 9, 2023

   
   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!

9. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Eric – February 9, 2024

   
   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!

10. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    J. Pilkington – March 10, 2024

    
    Great scanner for the casual user. My area still uses radio frequencies, but some have moved to encrypted frequencies. Know your area. I use energizer rechargeable batteries. I recharge them with a separate unit as charging them through the unit itself takes 12 hours! Happy consumer though.