77 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun and interesting toy for an amateur like me, November 15, 2005
This review is from: Uniden BC350C 800 MHz Mobile Scanner (Electronics)
I bought my first scanner from a local Church sale about two years ago. It was a crystal based Regency brand, that luckily had all of the correct crystals for the St. Louis area. I was hooked.
To this day I would never consider myself an afficionado or an expert, but I dabble around a bit, so take this review in that context.
I bought this Bearcat BC350C scanner as a birthday present to myself just a few days ago and it's a blast. Parts of the interface are undeniably clunky. Selecting to listen for just the Police or EMS/Fire bands is easy, but programming stuff is a bit icky. It's not complex, just slow - I'd rather be able punch in a frequency and store it, but this requires you to find a frequency first, THEN store it in the "Private" bank.
Anyway, for something you want to pop right out of the box and have work as advertised? Well . . .
Within minutes I was listening to a helicopter overhead ("What's the radar look like ... garble, garble"), picking up the local bus service ("She said she put a $20 bill in the box but I wasn't looking"), and hearing the local gendarmes being dispatched to quell a domestic dispute ("Subject is a white female, attempting to break into the house. Lots of shouting, both are unarmed"). I even picked up one of our neighbor's child monitors!
This really is best used while sitting down, rather than as a mobil unit; nonetheless, I dragged it into my car (hook up was trivial with included DC lighter plugin) and tooled down the rainy highways on a Monday, listening on the police band for reported accidents (I could make out about half a dozen).
From my reading, I know there are better scanners, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the BC350C for other beginners like myself. Sit down and read the manual while you're playing with it, and you'll get the hang of things pretty quickly. If you've never listened to scanners, give yourself a little bit of time to develop an ear. I also recommend that you keep a pad and pencil nearby to jot down interesting frequencies you can usually look up on the Internet later (search for your state and the phrase "scanner frequencies").
You might move up and onward in scanner-dom, and this nifty little gadget is likely to just be your introductory toy to the exciting world of the electro-magnetic spectrum!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A scanner with good operation and size for the price, September 10, 2007
This review is from: Uniden BC350C 800 MHz Mobile Scanner (Electronics)
A good scanner with very good audio sound. The BC350C is a very good size for a table or desk.
It has limit search and every police,fire,air,cb band with plenty of freqency coverage. The Price is
also very good. the scanner doesn't have a keyboard to type in a frequency but, which is ok with
me. I like to scan,find, and store freguencies. If you want a keyboard and trunking another scanner
would be a better choice for you, but if you are a beginner , or just want a basic scanner for fun or
basic needs for a decent price this is a very good choice.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
70 of 84 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Uniden BC350C Polcie Scanner..?...Review, April 6, 2007
This review is from: Uniden BC350C 800 MHz Mobile Scanner (Electronics)
The majority of people out their who want to buy a scanner are those interested in what the police/Fire-Rescue are saying on their two way radio's. Police opperate on 800mhz and so an 800mhz scanner is necessary, so I bought one...
Well after buying the BC350C 800mhz scanner I read its owner manual and it states that the majority of police/Fire-Rescue etc. opperate an 800mhz Trunk system, and in order to properly tack the police etc. on 800mhz you need to buy a difrent scanner that is 800mhz Trunk capable...So basicly to fined this out it cost me over $100.00!!!
Uniden BC350C 800 MHz Mobile Scanner
The package showed police/fire-rescue on it and the scanner itself has police and fire buttons indicating that it scanns 800mhz frequencies. The seller never indicated it was not trunk capable nor did the manufacturer Uniden untill later in their owners manual. Well it does scann 800mhz frequencies but it will not track the 800mhz Tunk system within 800mhz. "Trunk system basics: every time a officer transmits on a truck system he transmits and recieves on a diffrent frequency. in order to track what is being said a trunk system scanner is needed or you only hear a fragment of the conversation."
The scanner is easy to use but without trunk capabilities it might as well be a old scanner from the 80's. The scanner is very limited. I would not suggest buying one, don't wast your money. Buy a scanner that is trunk capable.
Uniden Bearcat BCT8 BearTracker Warning System with 800 MHz TrunkTracker III
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No