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

Great scanner for the money as long as the agencies around you aren’t using trunked or digital frequencies. I would check the radio reference website to verify what is being used in your area. As for programming: Yeah it’s a bit tedious, but really no harder than setting stations on your fm stereo in your car. Just a heck of a lot more channels to sift through, lol. Check the internet for what frequencies are used by agencies around you. Again radio reference is a good source. Reception and sound: This is really dependent on your antenna and the signal strength of the broadcaster. The supplied antenna is ok for about 20 to 30 miles. If you’re looking to get further broadcasts I’d get a different one. Speaker quality is clear, good, and is quite loud. Again it is dependent on the signal. Broadcasts that are farther away are going to be more faint. I have not used the close capture technology, so I can’t speak to its effectiveness. Is this better than using mobile scanner apps? Heck yeah. With the mobile apps, you’re stuck to whatever frequencies they have programmed, or if there is even a broadcast for your area. Overall I’m very pleased with the scanner. I would recommend this to everyone looking for a great cheap little analog unit.

I program scanners all the time and I needed the manual for this one. It is not very easy to use and very tedious to program. I bought it to monitor 3 specific local analog frequencies and because of its small form factor. For my purposes, it’s adequate. However, even for beginners, spend a few extra few dollars as there are much more capable, and less frustrating, entry-level scanners available from Uniden.

Great quality of materials. Much better than expected. Appearance is great. With these lights it really improves your visibility. Great buy and price can’t be beat.

I have always had Uniden scanners and they were long-lasting and sounded clear. I got this one because of the price, the name and its compact size. I had trouble understanding what was said because it seemed to be very scratchy sounding. I used it for a couple of days and decided to send it back and order a bigger one. Hopefully, it will have better sound like my others did. I have always found Uniden to be good products. This one was a bit disappointing.

This is a hard review to write. I purchased this because as a CERT responder I wanted to know what was going on the Police, Fire, and Emergency channels. But so far the only channel I have received anything on is the Weather channel. I live near a large city in Southern Utah so it isnt like I am somewhere out in the boonies. Maybe the police, fire, and emergency people use a different range of frequencies than this radio is tuned for. I cant complain about the radio, but I am disappointed that I cant get the broadcasts I was hoping for.

I gave this item a bad review when I first got it (for static and transmission interruptions). Since then I found that this item is fine, it was the recommended external speaker that was the problem ( in a review the speaker was recommended and was sold as a package deal when I bought the Scanner). Once I removed the speaker (as I was going to return/replace the scanner) a broadcast came over PERFECTLY clear and uninterrupted. AND the built in speaker for the scanner was fine.......no external speaker needed. Just so you know, when an external speaker is attached, it by-passes the internal speaker completely. When I was purchasing and reading review it was suggested that the scanner NEEDED an external speaker........NOT TRUE!!!! The scanner works beautifully without the external speaker and I am now very pleased with this scanner. Sometimes reading reviews hurt you, I hope this one helps you. This is a really good scanner for what I needed and I am very happy with it now that I removed the external speaker.

This is a no frills basic scanner that works great for anyone in an area that has police and fire still on analog frequencies. Really simple to program; dont believe the naysayers that say it isnt. A simple 3 minute youtube video showed me how to do it. Its a bit time consuming and repetitive but very very easy once you know how. If you plan to listen to over 25 or so frequencies right of the bat, you might want to invest in a programming cable and download programming software. Also, it does have a TOTAL of 300 slots to program frequencies BUT 200 of these are under the Air/Marine slot. It is a bit confusing and if you want to listen to more than 100 frequencies and have to spill over to the Air/Marine presets, you will have to set the scanner to scan your private frequencies along with both the Air and Marine band presets. Its confusing I know, but it DOES have 300 memory slots. If some folks read the free downloadable user manual before purchasing, they would have known that. If you are listening to that many frequencies though, you should probably invest in a better, higher end scanner that has a larger custom memory bank. Its pretty small and takes up very little space on my nightstand and workbench. Worthwhile if you are like me and only listen to around 15 or 20 of the local police/fire/EMS frequencies. If that is all you are looking for out of your scanner, this will do the job. Upon arrival, the box included the scanner, a base telescopic antenna that plugs straight into the back (works well for me, your results may vary with location), a mobile mounting bracket with several feet of fused power wire, a DC cigarette power adapter for quick plug and go mobile installation, and finally a second antenna. The second antenna is basically a copper wire with suction cups on both ends and several feet of coax attached to it. According to the directions, you basically suction cup the antenna to the inside windshield on the passenger side of the vehicle or to the rear widow if you drive a standard cab truck. I currently use it in my basement window to gain better reception during the evening when I am working downstairs in my concrete surrounded shop space. Having an additional antenna stuck up in the window really helps improve the reception. Overall, its simple, it works, and its not crazy expensive because of too many bells and whistles I wont use.

You will know whats going on with this radio

Programming this thing is a nightmare.

I compared this new model,BC355N, to my older model BC147XLT, at least 30 years older. I found that the 355 was great for discovering new frequencies in my area, but comparing the scanners side by side, squelches just above white noise,with both scanners parked on the same frequency the 355 received the transmission less than half the time of the 147. Some frequencies not at all. Ill be keeping the 355 to keep searching for new frequencies, but I wont be retiring my 30 year old BC147XLT, which has been spectacular, never a problem.