Review on Uniden Bearcat Scanner with FM Radio 📻 - 500 Channels, Model BC365crs: The Ultimate Scanning Power by Randy Albright

It works and is well built, but there are a few quirks to be aware of and the manual is disappointing. If you're frustrated trying to get him to do something, you're not alone! First, note that this scanner does not support channel naming or CTCSS/DCS noise reduction. This is a carrier only squelch. If you need these features, you need the next model, BCT15X. Next I programmed my scanner as follows: - One bank are the frequencies for ham radio calls. - A bank are local amateur radio repeaters. - A bank includes all frequencies of Family Radio Services (FRS), GMRS and MURS. - One bank is CB radio frequencies. - A bank - Frequencies of local traffic control at the airport. - A bank - frequency of the State Highway Patrol. (The city has a digital trunk system, so I can't program the city police, only the State Highway Patrol.) - One bank is my house intercom frequency. The internal frequency bank is on, and I turn on the rest when I want. Turning a bank on and off is very simple, just press that bank's number button (0-9). I found out that the manual wasn't very clear: 1. This is an analogue non-line scanner with a correspondingly low price. You can hear Airplanes and Control Towers, Ham Radio, Satellite, Nearby Businesses, CB Radios (Civil Band), FRS/GMRS/MURS Walkie-Talkies, Marine Bands, etc. You CANNOT eavesdrop on trunked or digital connections. So if your city or country uses one of these you need a bundled scanner like the BCT15X (double the price) and hopefully you don't want to hear digital or a digital scanner like the BCD996P2 (4x the price) and hope that what you want to hear is not encrypted. The California Highway Patrol still uses the 39.8 MHz analog frequency. So if that's all you need, an analog off-highway scanner will do the trick.2. FM radio does not support HD radio.3. The difference between the BC365CRS and the discontinued BC370CRS is that the 370's clock is radio controlled (self-tuning), while the 370 supports the 800MHz band and the AM broadcast band. The difference between the BC365CRS and the discontinued BC345CRS is that the 345 supports the AM.4 broadcast band. The manual does not explain how to tune to a specific frequency without programming. Answer: You can't except FM radio.5. The manual does not explain how to search for FM radio stations. You can not. Even in "search" mode, the squelch mysteriously does not work on the FM broadcast band. This is a user interface design flaw.6. The word "channel" means either a channel frequency or a programmed channel. The guide combines two meanings. This is the failure of technical writing.7. You cannot program off-channel frequencies such as 447.560 MHz, the active frequency in Southern California, with the BC365CRS. If you try, it will automatically select the closest channel.8. Channel bank 1 is always programmed for channels 1-50, bank 2 for channels 51-100, and so on. See the table on page 22.9 for this. In the manual on page 9 it says "Press 0-9 and HOLD to directly access a stored frequency." This is incorrect. Press HOLD to stop scanning, then enter the channel number (1-500) and then HOLD.10 again. The manual does not explain the difference between "DND Priority" and "OFF Priority".11. If you are programming a frequency to clear, simply press the "./CLR” button to exit.12. The method of programming FM channels is completely different from programming scanner channels. This is another UI design flaw.13. The two FM tuning modes are Direct Input Mode and Channel Memory Mode. Direct entry mode is selected by pressing SVC/DIR. Channel memory mode is selected by pressing the PRI/MEM button. You are always in one mode or another, remember that. 14. Buttons for different modes are everywhere. There is a search restriction mode (above), a service search mode (above) and a scan mode (SCAN button to the right of the numeric keypad).