Uniden BCD325P2 Handheld TrunkTracker V Scanner. 25,000 Dynamically Allocated Channels. Close Call RF Capture Technology. Location-Based Scanning and S.A.M.E. Weather Alert. Compact Size.

Been using radio scanners for over 30 years now. Lifelong passion of mine. Licensed Amateur radio operator, computer science degree, etc. Some have said that this radio is impossible to figure out but that wasnt my experience. It was a little difficult but only took about a day for me to master. However, the P25 digital audio quality was pretty terrible so I ultimately returned this scanner. Sad because I really, really want a good P25 scanner. I wonder how much of the audio problem is due to the scanner and how much is due to the general design of P25. I really miss the days of trunked radio systems with convential analog audio. Btw I could probably work with this scanner if it was like $150 or $200 but I just couldnt bring myself to deal with the bad audio for $390 with tax. The audio often sounds like the adults in a Peanuts cartoon...

I bought this scanner due to my local sheriff converted over to P25 Phase 2 (simulcast as well). I hadnt realized that it was going to need simulcast functionality when I bought it, and after I read some reviews saying the simulcast reception was not very good, I was nervous. I received the scanner, programmed the system and tested. Even on firmware v1.06.00, it works ok, after I update firmware to v1.08.01, it should work even better, I recommend this scanner, very good device. **Update: scanner leaves room for improvement, but it does decode digital transmissions ok. Will not handle simulcast systems though, no matter how I configured it. Excellent seller, extremely helpful!

This scanner seems to do well with reception for higher-powered agencies. The only problem I have, and its a pretty big problem, is that the battery life is POOR to say the least! It sat on my desk for 2 days in the off position after being fully charged. Came back to work and it was dead. Had to go back on the charger. While on, Im lucky to get a shift out of it. Has to stay plugged in whenever possible. Perhaps the batteries are bad? Not too sure but the battery life is awful. Not a bad little scanner, though.

Grade scanner because it gets lots of channels. You have to pay for the upgrade to get DMR. Its also difficult. To turn systems on and off you have to go through a series of menus.

Where do I start? This thing is an absolute nightmare to program. If you dont use software forget it. Manual is totally useless. Now on to the hardware. Using a USB cable to provide power to run a portable radio is a very poor choice. Taking the cable in and out a thousand times will only result in failure at some point. I dont believe an engineer would choose this over the ultimate in reliability - the traditional round power plug. Next, in order to change the volume you have to press the button down while simultaneously turning the knob. The volume knob uses a détente which clicks. Bad design. Lastly, and most importantly, the device cannot charge batteries unless it is off. This is a FABULOUS design. I dont know anyone that buys a scanner to have it off. You also have to manually program it to tell the device how long you want to charge the batteries as the device doesnt stop charging when the batteries are fully charged. You have to constantly switch batteries or constantly turn the device off for up to 14 hours. I understand the dumb California law. Uniden should have done things like most other companies. Design a great product and then mark it as Not for sale in California. I cant believe an electronics engineer would actually design a worthless device like this one. They had to be driven by high level managers driven by profit, managers who never used a scanner in their life. Uniden blew it. Products like this are what makes companies end up going out of business...................

This scanner is great. Took me several try’s to get the “correct” trunking codes for my state but when I did it was easy to program. I used utube video to help and it did just that. Don’t pay hundreds of dollars for software. You can do it just research it. I did and it paid off big time. Do not sell your self short even you feel deficient in electronics. Research and save money, PLEASE.

Fair warning to the people who consider themselves smart and capable when using tech tools and may be a little concerned after reading about how difficult it is to learn how to use this device. I dont shy away from learning any tech tool but after three weeks using this I gave up and returned it. Heres a few of the problems you will run into: --There are no actual instructions for setup and use. It comes with a small booklet with several pages of details on the multiple programming features but that wont walk you through how to make the device work for your needs in your area. -- There really arent any YouTube videos that will walk you through the essential features of the device and how to set it up. There are videos that may show you a few features on this particular device, and lots of videos that show you how to work with other scanner devices (which are definitely not the same), but so far nothing that will take you through a starters set-up and programming this radio for use in your area. -- If you are serious about using the device and programming it on your own, you will likely have zero success unless you subscribe to a website such as RadioReference.com where you will actually find a much better version of the the device instructions and web boards with FAQs that will help you with your questions. There, you will at least find the frequencies that you need for programming the radio for use in your area and the people who manage the site are very friendly. But... -- You will still need to download and learn how to use a not-so-intuitive software application called FreeSCAN that will gather the multiple frequencies you will likely need to program your device and transfer the frequencies onto your new radio. It is confusing, but there are some good YT videos that will walk you through this process. --If you get this far, you will have the correct frequencies programmed on your new device and then you will be confused as hell about actually trying to use the insane amount of features and feature menus in the small mobile device. You will have some basic questions like what is squelch and how do I manage it so I can understand what is coming over the radio, and some more complicated questions like, how do I program quick menu buttons or stay on one frequency, or get back to the frequency I was listening to five minutes ago. And unless you have an experienced person who can help you learn all that, you will be frustrated about how far you got into this radio thing and you still cant listen to your local police, fire or EMT calls with any regularity. I strongly recommend if you are at all thinking of purchasing this device and learning how to use it that you find an experienced radio hobbyist in your area who is will to help you program the device and give you some personal training. If you have that, and you are willing to look at this as a project and a hobby that requires some skill you may have some success and I wish you the best of luck. For me, I concluded that using a digital scanner radio in a trunk system is no longer a hobby for someone who wants to casually listen in. No disrespect for the serious radio enthusiasts but this device was not for me. Good luck!

The setup is familiar with Uniden scanners. This about where the similarities to previous Uniden scanners end. Historically you could just plug in a scanner and it would charge. For some reason, Uniden decided that it would ask whether you want to charge or not. Seems silly and is a pain. The most important CON to this scanner, it fails when it comes to working a simulcast system. On my system, its performance is about a 3/10. I emailed Uniden to see if they had any planned firmware updates to address the inadequacy of decoding simulcast systems...it was met with no response. For what its worth, they do have a scanner that is supposed to be better at simulcast systems, but this scanner is not the answer. If you are in an area where simulcast is not the system in use, go for it, if not, skip this one...it will only disappoint.

This is a good scanner. Too bad it eats batteries. Maybe 4 hours of usage with one set. I use rechargables otherwise Ill be spending a fortune on batteries.

I payed full price for this scanner which is listed as new but it is clearly not new and on top of that it says batteries included both in description and in the manual, but there are no batteries and the box is smashed a little and there are scratches on the screen. The manuals are dirty like someone has handled them a lot. Also the twist tie that is on the USB cable looks like it came off a bread wrapper it is not what they use in packaging these scanners. I will see if it works after writing this review. The Scratches are hard to see when I took pictures but the slightly damaged box and bread wrapper twist tie are easily seen. There was no plastic protective bag on the scanner and no protective film to peal off of the screen.