radio scanners

1. ( 3 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Apr 24 2007

   This scanner is excellent. I don't have any digital systems in my area, so the fact that this scanner was analog only was not a concern. The bandwidth of the scanner is AMAZING -- .1MHz-1.3GHz is unheard of. It has so many useful features. Close Call is great, along with pre-programmed "Service Searches" (Air, CB, HAM, Military, etc). The audio sounds great and the included batteries work well. The manual is very informative -- something you don't find often. The screen is not cluttered at all, and alpha tagging is great. There are only a few cons, none of which are major: - The NASCAR logo (it's branding; I can understand it) - No programming software included (do any scanners?) - I would've liked rubber feet instead of plastic, but the base is stable regardless. In all, this is a high quality scanner that packs so many more features than it's more expensive, digital-capable brother, the BCD396T. I recommend you pick one up quickly; this scanner has been discontinued unfortunately. HINT - Hold in '0', 'E' and 'Hold' while powering on. This unlocks a hidden frequency counter mode that can be quite useful.

2. Posted: Apr 1 2007

   This product has more features than I thought I would ever use. The scanner has worked flawlessly. It was a little tough understanding the programming of the scanner. But once I worked with the programming it is fairly easy. Looking forward to taking it to the track for an upcoming NASCAR race. I currently use the scanner in public service mode. Great product from Uniden, highly recommend.

3. ( 10 of 10 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 13 2006

   I was initially not looking for another handheld scanner. However, I kept reading reviews on this scanner at several websites and forums and determined this scanner was much more than a NASCAR racing scanner. Yes, there is a NASCAR logo on the scanner and it even has preprogrammed NASCAR (and IRL and CART) frequencies preprogrammed but it is really a very capable public safety scanner that also has shortwave coverage. (In fact, I have not used it at any race track.) All public safety trunking systems except digital can be monitored as well as conventional channels. This scanner uses dynamic channel memory and has 2500 channels available. Dynamic memory is making its way into the newer Uniden scanners and allows more efficient use of memory. They dynamic allocation lets you assign the exact number of channels needed for a system or bank. No more empty (wasted) channels. The scanner supports alpha tags. You can program it for systems and talkgroup IDs so rather than just see a frequency on the LCD screen, you can see the system name and talkgroup ID if it is a trunked system. You can hold on a specific talkgroup ID or conventional frequency if you find something interesting and don't want to scan everything. The scanner has a nice solid feel and fits nicely in my hand. The controls are laid out very well and it is easy to do most programming and search tasks. The LCD screen is very readable and the back lighted keypad is a nice feature. The swivel button is much better than a traditional belt clip and allows the scanner to not come off as often when sitting down. Like most Uniden scanners, it has built in search service search banks and you can add your own as well. The Close Call feature is really nice to have as you travel about. It can quickly locate radios in use from the local drive thru to security units at the local theme park. (I use it when I am out doing sports photography to find the radio headsets used by sideline coaches.) You can auto store the new frequencies as you find them too. The supplied antenna performs well and the supplied SMA/BNC adapter allows you to use many 3rd party antennas. There are many accessories included such as a power supply for home use or recharging the 3 supplied AA batteries. (Batteries are hard to get in and out but you should not have to do that often with the rechargeable.) A programming cable (serial version) is supplies and (free) software is available for download from Uniden which can make setting up a lot of systems quick and easy. The scanner is a very good and does an acceptable job in the HF (Shortwave) range and with a cheap long wire antenna; you can pick up most shortwave broadcasters like the BBC, Voice of America, and more. It does lack SSB which means the ham bands and military on HF are not receivable. Of course adding that would have added to the cost and complexity of the unit. You will not be disappointed in this scanner and I highly recommend it.

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1. Posted: Feb 10 2008

   I've got several of these BC350C scanners and enjoy them very much. Yes, they are klutsy when programming frequencies into the "Private" bank, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes a breeze. Also there are no "Priority" channels, so you could miss some action on your favorite channel(s). That said, I'm very pleased with the BC350C scanners.

2. Posted: Feb 9 2008

   This was purchased as a Christmas gift for my husband. He has thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. He especially likes the aircraft band.

3. Posted: Oct 17 2007

   We received this scanner earlier than expected. It arrived in complete working order. This is the easiest to set up and use of all I have checked out.

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1. Posted: Jul 17 2008

   This is a great scanner...very easy to use and has excellent reception an range. With heavy use, battery life is about 5 days. The Close Call Technology with this product works great! An all around excellent product from uniden! 100%!

2. Posted: Jul 4 2008

   This is not a bad little scanner for the price. The only problem that I see with it is that the speaker is very small so the sound you get from it is not very loud. But it serves my purpose well, living in fire country in the Sierra Nevada Mts. of California.

3. Posted: Jul 3 2008

   I bought this as a gift for my dad for Father's Day-he needed a new scanner for the Nascar races we go to each year. I think it's almost better than the one he gave me! We haven't used it yet - next race isn't until Labor Day weekend, but just by testing it out, it seems like a great scanner. It's sleek and easy to carry around, and if you don't have earphones, the speaker on the scanner itself works really well. Great product for a great price!

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1. ( 0 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 24 2008

   It is quite difficult to set up, but it is of great performance. The low frequency edge 25MHz is too large. It have to be zero.

2. ( 2 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Feb 17 2008

   Whether you buy this as a toy or a tool, this is not a device that is going to spring out of its box ready to use. I consider myself fairly experienced in electronics and radio-related stuff and it took me several obsessive evenings of tinkering with the settings, reading and re-reading the manual, and searching through a half dozen online forums and reference sites dedicated to just this scanner model to get things set up properly. Most folks who own this scanner are happy to share the files they have created of their own metropolitan areas (I found and downloaded complete Baltimore County files in a few minutes after subscribing BCD396T Yahoo Group) and with the included data cable every feature of the scanner can be controlled and modified from the computer screen. Now that the unit is completely set up, it works exactly the way I want it to. This is a great portable scanner if you have digital trunking systems in your area, or anticipate your local systems going digital in the next few years. The back-light works great and lights up the buttons along with the display, which makes the scanner as easy to use in the dark as in full daylight. The included antenna is a wide-band scanner antenna, so expect to have to purchase a band-specific antenna for the unit if you're mostly concerned with listening to 700 or 800 MHz trunking bands in your area and want the best possible performance on those bands. If you have no digital systems in your area, you may want to check out some of the less expensive alternatives without digital capability such as the UNIDEN BC-246T Compact Hand Held Scanner.

3. ( 0 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Sep 11 2007

   My experience with this scanner was mostly negative. The handbook is like reading hyroglyphics. My scanner was defective with all the promised pre-programmed frequencies missing. No matter how closely I followed the manual, I could not get it programmed. The scanner itself is good style wise. Just know what you're doing and make sure your scanner is operating properly.

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1. ( 0 of 9 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 23 2007

   Solo para gomosos, tal como dicen en los foros, es dificil de programar, mas si es novato en el tema. Para los que tenemos experiencia, funciona de maravilla, posee las frecuencias justas, el tamaño adecuado y la construccion solida y de calidad que brinda Uniden. El defecto mayor para mi es que no tenga el teclado retroiluminado, ya que en las noches seria practico saber que tecla se oprime, pero en general lo recomiendo ampliamente, ah, se me olvidaba, lastima que no trae el cable como estandar para el Pc. Lo recomiendo con pilas recargables TKS

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