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

Having worked in the news media for over 30 years I can tell you that Uniden scanners are used in a number of newsrooms. Having said that I can also tell you that if you are into listening to police calls, there might be a problem since a number of police agencies are on different frequencies that some scanners can not pick up. As hard as Ive tried I can not pick up the local police on my scanner because there are no buttons to push to a set frequency. So instead I listen to the fire and EMS calls. Just as interesting as police calls in my opinion.

Beautiful scanner. Moving from a Grecom psr700, the control is not so intuitive as I used to though. With less buttons on the grecom, I found my old scanner simpler to use. The close call functionality is still a misstory to me even after 3 or 4 YouTube videos. The build quality is first class. A good buy.

when I turned this scanner on there was no sound, I connected an external speaker and it began to work.. I removed the bottom of the the unit and repaired the broken wire . Nice scanner after all that..

brought to listen to local fire and rescue and they went digital, which it doesnot recieve

You will know whats going on with this radio

Over the years Ive owned a number of Uniden BC355 scanners. Theyre simple to use and program, and the audio output is loud and clear. Of course, this is an analog scanner, but for areas like rural Vermont, analog systems are still very much in use. The unit comes complete with AC adapter, DC cigarette lighter cord for mobile use, telescopic whip antenna, and tilt-desk stand. AM aircraft reception is superb, and weather scan requires just simple one-button access. You wont have to worry about what CTCSS tone to use, because the 355N uses carrier squelch, only. If you live in an area served by analog public service radio, this model is perfect to catch up on all the action. (Note if you require digital P25 reception, this isnt the unit for you...for that see the BC996P2 or other digital scanners).

Im a beginner when it comes to police scanners and am glad this was very easy to set up. You just literally plug in the power and plug in the antenna and you are good to go. Thanks to earlier reviews I bought an aftermarket antenna and used it at the get go so i havent run into the issues with reception that other reviewers have mentioned. Also thanks to another earlier review I was able to (fairly) easily program my local police departments channel into the private bank. Although it did take a little extra time because for one I couldnt input the channel directly and for two the search arrows have to be pushed over and over again for each channel change instead of being able to simply hold the button down and have it scroll through quickly to the channel I wanted. This lead to me having to hit the scroll up botton I kid you not 150 times before I got to the station I wanted and was able to save it into the private bank. But now that its in there it is super convenient. The built in speaker is adequate and quite loud when turned up all the way. It is a tad fuzzy but its hard to tell if that is due to the quality of the speaker or the quality of my local polices radio equipment (I live in a small town that is kind of behind the times when it comes to technology). That being said, even though its a little fuzzy, I am still able to understand almost all of what is being said.

It comes pre-programmed with frequencies and the search and nearby functions make it easy to find local transmissions to follow. I looked up some frequencies on the FCC website and programmed them easily. Comes with home and car adapter and car mounting kit. Lacking a lot of advanced functions though. Speaker is weak.

Good little radio, nice features easy to set up. Sound quality could be a little better but good radio over all.