For radio scanner enthusiasts, this is a detailed Uniden BC125AT review article.
Pick any 10 radio scanner enthusiasts and ask them what features they see as essential in their ideal radio scanner. Most would consider military and civil aviation frequencies, weather channels, and amateur bands. CB, FRS and GMRS frequency coverage is seen as added bonuses.
If that is what you want in an ideal scanner, the Uniden BC125AT fits the profile almost perfectly with the added advantage that it won’t cost you much to get one.
Many users of the unit have said lots of nice things about it. They laud its ability to quickly scan channels, it’s sensitivity and the fact that it is easy to program. One common criticism is the poor antenna though.
Are these characterizations of the Uniden’s Bearcat BC125AT true? This review, a deconstruction of the device’s feature and performance, should help you make up your mind.
Features and Specifications of the Uniden BC125AT: Summary
Weight: 6.21oz
Dimensions: 2.6 X 1.3 X 4.5 inches
Channels: 500
Sub-Channels: 50 analog; 104 digital
Antenna: External
Display: Segment-bar signal meter
Batteries: 2 AA
Audio power: 0.3 watts
Frequency Range: 25-54 MHz; 108-174 MHz; 225-380 MHz; 400-512 MHz
Speaker: Built-in
Complete Uniden BC125AT Review
What’s in the box?
2 NiMH AA Batteries
1 Uniden BC125AT
Belt Clip
Flexible BNC antenna
USB Cable
Appearance
In appearance, the device looks solid. It does actually feels solid too when you hold it, though the casing is made of plastic. It is unlikely the radio would handle a fall from a considerable height.
You would immediately notice the large LCD screen which is able to display that is able to show your alpha tag, mode, PL Tone, frequency, the signal strength meter, mode. This seems quite a lot but the large size of the display ensures a comfortable fit for all these indicators.
Unfortunately, though you can turn off the backlight, there is no button or knob to dim it if you wish to save battery juice.
The buttons on the keypad are large, soft, and well-placed. You get a nice tactile feel when you press them and the spacing of the https makes it easy to remember where the buttons are placed.
The battery compartment is located at the rear, bottom section of the scanner. You can easily access the radio through the slide door that snaps snugly into place.
Inside the battery compartment is a switch to select the type of battery you want to use. You are restricted to either alkaline or rechargeable AA batteries.
This switch is important to prevent the device from charging alkaline batteries when the radio is plugged into AC power or attached to USB. You would need to remember to move the switch to its proper position all the time though.
Programming Uniden BC125AT
Programming the scanner shouldn’t pose any difficulty as the software is quite intuitive and easy to her a grip of. Some users though complain of wasting time getting the drivers to work properly.
The combination of the manual and support section of the Uniden website should help you get around the problem of the drivers in less than 20 minutes.
The software is available for download free from Uniden’s site. And unless you are inputting frequencies with long alpha tags manually, using the software to program it is fast and easy. Manually, it would take you around 15 minutes.
Uniden BC125AT Review: Important Features
Alpha Tagging – If you have never used this feature, this would be a pleasant discovery for you.
With 500 channels, organizing them can be very tedious without Alpha Tagging. The feature allows you to organize the channels any way you want. For instance, you could assign special names to each channel and further categorize them by location, department, area of interest, etc.
You could add different tags as they occur to you to make it easy to keep track of who you are listening to.
Close Call RF Capture/ Close Call DND – The two features work in together to ensure you get the best reception at any time. While the Close Call RF Capture tracks and tunes to the nearest signal the Close Call DND prevents interruption from other transmitters in the vicinity.
The DND would resume checking for signals when you are not actively engaged with a signal or channel on the scanner. Basically, the features ensure your transmission is never interrupted.
Temporary Lockout – This feature ranks alongside the DND as one of the most common features of the BC125AT. Due to the absence of the attenuation function in the radio, you can either temporarily or permanently lockout the active frequency.
Pressing the button once lockouts the frequency temporarily. To permanently lock it out, you must press the button twice in rapid succession.
Other features
Weather Alert Standby scans weather channels
Directly Access function allows users to access any channel easily
Narrowband compatibility
Built-in Auto service Searches in 10 preset bands: police, fire/emergency, Ham, Marine, Railroad, Civil Air, Military Air, CB Radio, FRS/GMRS/MURS/, and Racing.
Delay function to control how long the radio pauses at the end of a transmission
Custom search range for up to 10 different frequency ranges
Performance Of The Uniden BC125AT Scanner
Audio – The audio is rather excellent with a clear tone. It is loud enough to be heard over traffic noises of you are in a busy area. But a little distortion in audio quality is noticed of the volume is increased all the way up. Just a little mind you.
Battery – The jury is still out on the battery performance. Some claim the would power the unit for a few days with extensive usage. Others though are not impressed. The truth lies somewhere in between and depends on how much you use it.
You might have to pack extra batteries to be on the safe side.
The low battery warning comes on when you’ve nearly exhausted the batteries. You get about 2 minutes of beeping to let you know you need to change the power source before the scanner auto-powers down.
Receiver – Generally, whether on VHF or UHF bands, the scanner does well as far as pulling in signals is concerned. It also does extremely well in receiving signals from civilian and military air bands without too much interference because of its ability to exclude interfering RF.
However, you might to use a better antenna because the stock rubber antenna doesn’t cut it for weak signals from miles away.
Pros
Easy to switch from Mil-Air to Marine, Police, Marine, Civilian Air, etc.
Compact and great for universal monitoring
Features 500 channels
Has both civil and military bands
Comes with Alpha Tagging
Has Priority Scan with DND
Close Cal RF Capture with DND
Cons
Battery life is not great
Can only receive analog signals
Walkie Talkies for Emergencies
Conclusion
The Uniden BC125AT is a small compact analog radio scanner that can easily fit into your pocket. It is great for monitoring both civilian, military and aviation bands.
For a radio of this size and price tag, the performance is amazing and you would find it easy to use once you get round to programming it. This shouldn’t be hard with the free software you can get from the Uniden website.
You might want to invest in a better antenna if you want your experience with the device to be worth the investment. But if you target transmitters are close by, the stock antenna would do nicely.
- LISTEN IN AND STAY INFORMED, this sophisticated scanner has 500 alpha-tagged channels in a convenient compact design with loads of features. Close Call RF capture technology instantly tunes to signals from nearby transmitters and the Do Not Disturb Mode prevents Close Call checks during a transmission.
- LISTEN TO OVER 40,000 FREQUENCIES, you can listen to both civilian and military bands, including Non-Digital Police, Ambulance, Fire, Weather, Marine, Aircraft, Railroad, Civil Air, Amateur radio services, and Racing events.
- SEARCH MORE EFFICIENTLY with 500 Alpha-Tagged Channels finding the channel you want to listen to is easy, with 500 channels divided into 10 storage banks. Organize your channels by department, location, area of interest, or any other way you prefer. Alpha Tagging lets you assign names to your channels, so you can keep track of who you are listening to.
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