Uniden BC355N 800 MHz 300-Channel Base/Mobile Scanner, Close Call RF Capture, Pre-programmed Search “Action” Bands to Hear Police, Ambulance, Fire, Amateur Radio, Public Utilities, Weather, and More, Black

I bought this for my local fire department and ems communications to listen to in my vehicle and when I get home. The sound quality is amazing and it is really easy to set up with the right support from YouTube videos!

This receiver was purchased to replace a mid-80s BearCat 20/20 scanner that had provided outstanding service for nearly 35 years. Unfortunately, the BC355N does not measure up to the high standard set by its much older sibling. The audio is weak and the optional BC23A amplified speaker is required if you want to hear an intelligible broadcast from across the hangar (40 feet). On the plus side, reception with an external VHF antenna is very good.

Very simple scanner. its a Christmas present for my father. The only down side is the light does not have a dim function. They have cats and i love that the controls are on the front. Prevents pets from walking across and messing it up. I am also using the bracket to secure it to the mantle where it will be installed so it can not be knocked off and destroyed by clumsy cats or people. It does take a little while to learn to program but there are videos to help. You may want to get a stronger antenna.

The sound is great programming is not difficult but UHF only no digital

Can`t figure how to determine the frequencies that I need, so it isn`t useable. Hopefully, I will figure it out!

I convinced myself to upgrade to this Uniden scanner to replace my old & outdated Uniden BC350C 50 channel scanner. I bought this scanner because I needed more programmable channel space for my important frequencies other than just 50 channels which was all that my old scanner had or would let me program. When I received this scanner, I was quite happy getting ready to set it up & receive 250 more programmable channels & space for frequencies than my old, outdated Uniden scanner had. Once I got it set up & started programming my frequencies, I ran into a bad downgrade issue that I was not aware of when I purchased it. The downgrade of this scanner: It will let you program up to 300 frequencies into it as described but the real catch to this is that you can only program up to 100 channels/frequencies into the best & most useful bank on this scanner being the(Private) Bank but not 300 like I was expecting to be able to program into the (Private) bank. The other 200 programmable channels are only available in the following shared banks: PD/FD/EMG & AIR/MRN. What this means is that if you need to program more than 100 channels/frequencies onto this scanner, youll have to program the other +100 of your scanner frequencies into these other shared banks/categories which then means that you cannot just listen to your own private/important frequencies that you have programmed in these shared banks on this scanner... You will in fact have to hear & listen to everything else that is going on under these Bank categories too which to me is nothing but a terrible annoyance. If you are like me, you may only want to hear & listen to your chosen programmed frequencies & not everything else too like, when the scanner gets stuck on a blank frequency with pure Black noise in the PD/FD/EMG or AIR/MRN Banks every 10 seconds & wont stop until you come & lock it out on the scanner. This means that you may not even hear anything that is going on with your important programmed frequencies in these other two Banks because there will be too much other noise & things going on under these shared banks/categories for you to hear anything that is going on with your programmed frequencies that you needed or wanted to program & listen to for your purposes. I expected for this scanner to let me program all of my important frequencies into the one bank that is most important & the most useful on this scanner. Again that is the (Private) bank which I thought it would let me program 300 channels/frequencies into that specific bank. That was not the case but instead only holds 100 channels/frequencies in this useful (Private) bank. Bummer this was to me to find this out!! (:-(

I purchased this scanner because it has a private bank i.e.; you can program your favorite frequencies into this band, and turn off all other banks. The private bank only holds 100 frequencies. This might be an issue if you live in or near a very large city. Its not an issue for me, and probably not for most people. Programming wasnt all that hard to figure out. Just follow the instructions in the owners manual. It has a weather band and has all 7 NOAA bands. Scanner comes with a telescoping antenna, and uses a standard BNC connector. It has a frequency lock out feature. Permanent and temporary. Turbo search (180 steps per second). 7 banks total. 6 pre-programmed 1 private band. Close call i.e.; checks for strong nearby signals while monitoring other frequencies. This is a great feature when you are monitoring a band that has some activity but not a lot. Im not going to use it as a mobile device, but it comes with everything you would need to go mobile, including a window mount antenna. Scanner does not have internal battery backup. I guess if you loose your house power, you can plug it into your vehicle. Use an external speaker. Ive owned several scanners and all their internal speakers pretty much suck. Ive had this scanner for 2 months, and overall, Im very satisfied.

It is a little difficult to set up and program the frequencies into the PRIVATE channel. It has 100 memories which is great and close call that will automatically receive a frequency that is within a few miles without knowing the frequency. A little difficult not having to punch in a frequency. You have to scan for the frequency you are looking for.

Doesnt pick up local lime it suppose to

Definitely need to know about scanners before buying one. The new platforms are not like 20 years ago! Some changes have happened but now makes things more difficult for home listening. With me being in the fire department I enjoy having a at hime scanner and a pager but I wanted a base at home one instead of having my portable sitting and getting knocked over. This will pick some about 4% of my local fire ems police channels. On the police side I can only get 1 and it wont stop with the static!!! I was able to pick up 3 or 4 other fire and ems but like 1 call not every call so that part I dont understand. Come to find out this scanner doesnt pick but BOTH digital and antilog