Uniden Bearcat SR30C, 500-Channel Compact Handheld Scanner, Close Call RF Capture, Turbo Search, PC programable, NASCAR, Racing, Aviation, Marine, Railroad, and Non-Digital Police, Fire, Public Safety

This has to be considered a basic analog scanner. It seems to work well with good sensitivity. Programming is a bit tedious if you want to enter multiple frequencies. The most significant deficiency is that you cannot enter alphanumeric names for your banks and channels -- the only scanner Ive ever owned since the 1990s that didnt have that feature. Also note that the PC software for programming only works on a Windows PC, not Mac. They advertise something called Turbo Search but there is nothing in the User Manual that describes such a feature. UPDATE: I have returned the SR30C and replaced it with its better brother, the BC125AT. Amazon doesnt carry it (in the U.S.) but I found it for only a few dollars more than the SR30C on Walmart. (EDIT:: I see that Amazon now has the SC125AT). The BC125AT is essentially the same scanner as the SR30C but with MUCH better features (including alphanumeric channel labels) for only a few dollars more. It almost seems that Uniden intentionally crippled functions and features to make the SR30C a bit cheaper.

ITS OK, BUT YOU NEED A LICENSE

I bought this to try because some reviews said it was good for beginners. Id have to disagree. No matter what I did, I couldnt get it to work. I tried just scanning but it didnt pick things up very often. Tried entering frequencies but couldnt get it to take. Not for me, I returned it.

The product is very dependable and the quality is of top notch.

I liked how brand new it looked and worked. I have nothing bad to write about it.

Hard to program. Tried putting in codes for police, fire. And ambulance. Would not take them. Manual scan never picked them up.

This scanner was easy to setup and program and works really well

A potential great that falls just short. Excellent features. Excellent for the beginner and average user who enjoys listen to what is going on in areas with low band, VHF coverage. Most often. Rural areas. Not hard to program in frequencies, Ten banks to organize or group your local favorites. Lock-out button to remove unnecessary chatter when something big is going on ( the banks help there also). I am very pleased with the operation of this scanner. But my only beef with the designers of this portable scanner is the battery life. It only uses two AA batteries, instead of four. Really guys?!?? What were you thinking??! So far, my experiments with Rechargable batteries have found Tenergy batteries to last the longest. I get 5 to 6 hours depending on scanner traffic. I always carry spare batteries and spare power cable when taking it out for extended periods. So, If w friend were to ask if they should purchase one. I would say go ahead, it will do the job you need it to do. It has some excellent features, but just understand its one major design flaw and shortcoming. And carry extra batteries when out and about.

I find this good

I’m a huge rail fan and I love that it’s got the different bands already programmed. Needed a little tweaking (meaning locking out spurious signals) and it does exactly what I need. I used it with an external antenna so I can sit in my car and have good coverage. Definitely recommend this little guy.