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 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.

I use this scanner in my Jeep. It was easy enough to mount next to the CB. Antennas for fiberglass shells are hard to come by, so I got creative with a magnet mount, and a little hardware. Seems to receive signals satisfactory.

It works well. My only complaint is it came through the mail in it’s original packaging- just the scanner box with a shipping label popped on it. Not even an extra strip of tape to hold it closed for sure. We’re lucky it wasn’t damaged , anything missing from inside or totally stolen. We had a good laugh thinking, well it sure came fast because they just printed our address and put it straight on the box, no added hassle or time.

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.

In order to set channels (i have list of local frequencies) you can not enter frequencies directly. You have to select the band width to scan and then when to get close to your frequency hit hold then arrow up or down to lock in the channel into your private bank. Other wise you have to scan for channels manually to find local frequencies to lock into the private bank. That takes a lot of time. Also the internal speak is not very clear (tinny sounding) I used an external speak to plug into the jack (much loader and Clearer).

Bought one for my daughter and one for my son and one for my own present. A great scanner at a reasonable price. Easy to use, but real professional ability to program by reading the detailed manual. We live in Lake County, CA where we need to have them to keep track of the wildfires in our area, as well as weather forecasts, police and sheriff, and ambulance calls.

Had issues programming and had to you tube videos and Google to figure it out

Do a search online for what frequencies your town uses for fire and police. radio reference dot com is the one I used. Go down the list and find your town, to the right of your town , in the mode section if it says P25= this scanner will NOT work. means its Digital/private. This is a analog machine. If however it says FM under mode area for your town, you WILL get that station just fine, meaning its analog. You can buy scanners that pick up the P25 digital mode but they are alot more money. Hope this helps new customers in deciding as my town has the police in p25 mode and i cannot listen with this machine, but the fire is in fm so i can listen. ..........im still learning, but as for trying to GET TO A SPECIFIC STATION=... hit the band button and toggle it to the basic area you want say 100 to 200 , now hit scan, soon as your near the number you looking for hit the HOLD BUTTON, and use the up or down arrows to get to it. thats all, when someone talks on that , it will come on automatically. ........ as for saving a favorite to your bank... same deal as above, go to Bank, select the area you want example 100-200, search, soon as near number hit HOLD, use up down to get to number you want...Now hit the PROG button, then hit the PRIVATE BUTTON..there you can put it in the bank you want(it blinks to select a bank think you ca nstore 100 on here or something) now Hit PROGRAM again , and it saves it ..so next time you can just hit private and your saved banks of liked frequencies are over there, .. mine just wont work right with my saved ones but im not sure if it will listen to all my saved ones when one is activated or what yet as still learning this machine(grumbles lol) also that cc weird thing on bottom left I read will go to any live talk or something, non stop?, in reviews above, but i havent tried it out yet. Well thats all for now, if I figure anything more , ill update this post if need.

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!

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.