Reddit reviews Uniden BC75XLT, 300-Channel Handheld Scanner, Emergency, Marine, Auto Racing, CB Radio, NOAA Weather, and More. Compact Design. (New replacement model, Replaced by Uniden SR30C Bearcat)
We found 21 Reddit comments about Uniden BC75XLT, 300-Channel Handheld Scanner, Emergency, Marine, Auto Racing, CB Radio, NOAA Weather, and More. Compact Design. (New replacement model, Replaced by Uniden SR30C Bearcat). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
300 channels , 10 Programmable Search RangesVhf low/high, uhf frequenciesClose call RF capture Technology with do Not disturbPc programming port & free softwareNarrow band compatibleOperating system: Linux300 Channels: You can program up to 300 channels into the scanner's memory, 30 channels in each of 10 banks. Then, you can scan for transmissions on the stored channelsClose Call RF Capture Technology: Close Call automatically detects and tunes to nearby transmissions, even if the frequency isn't programmed into a channelRuns on 2 AA alkaline or Simple USB charging allows you to recharge your scanner's batteries from a computer, or adapters for many wireless telephonesNarrowband Compliant: Properly tunes to channels using the Narrowband modulation now required for business and public safety operationTen Preprogrammed Service Search Bands: Easily search for frequencies typically used by Police, Fire/Emergency, Marine, Racing, Civil Air, Ham Radio, Railroad, CB Radio, Weather, and moreRefer user manual below.
Uniden BC75XLT: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A1VSO9M/
I've always loved aviation, airports, airport operations and all that. So many cool things going on.
This was taken to the next level as I started taking pilot lessons. Man nothing and I do mean nothing instills that sense of freedom better than climbing into a small airplane and taking off. You quite literally feel that there is no place you can't go. So awesome.
We have a small airport in OKC that actually has a restaurant that overlooks the runway. You can watch all kinds of small and medium sized aircraft take off and land. It's so cool.
Also if you're into plane watching, you should look into buying a small hand held scanner and look for your airport's frequencies. It's quite interesting even if it takes awhile to understand what they're saying.
A simple radio scanner would be your best option. SDR is a bit advanced for just getting started.
https://www.amazon.com/Uniden-BC75XLT-300-Channel-Handheld-Emergency/dp/B00A1VSO9M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1540419650&sr=8-2&keywords=race+scanner
A google search for your local airports frequencies will give you what you need to program into the scanner.
Forgive me if I'm over explaining but it sounds like you're not familiar with scanners. You can buy a police scanner. The police use radios, similar to a walkie-talkie or a CB radio that truckers use. The police radios are on a special frequency and it is illegal to broadcast on that frequency, but anybody can buy a radio that listens to the emergency frequencies.
Just like an FM radio has many stations, and a CB radio has many channels, the police also use several different channels for communicating. If you were manually picking the station, you might be on channel A while the police are talking on channel B. A 'scanner' gets its name from scanning through all the police channels really fast and then stopping on a channel as soon as someone is talking on it.
More recently, people have combined radio scanners with internet streaming. So one can also listen to police from the comfort of a computer.
80 bucks for a low-end portable scanner will do this without tying up your computer.
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https://www.amazon.com/Uniden-BC75XLT-300-Channel-Handheld-Emergency/dp/B00A1VSO9M?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00A1VSO9M
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Small enough to take with you. Runs on AC or batteries so you can still hear when the power goes out.
How many races do you go to a year?
Do a bit of math, it might make more sense to buy one.
Just for this year, you're looking at $75 in rental fees. Or you could buy this one for $5 more and use it for years, maybe decades...
If you have a backup two-way already and want something to keep/throw in the car and not your flight bag, this receiver is $85:
https://www.amazon.com/Uniden-Handheld-Scanner-Black-BC75XLT/dp/B00A1VSO9M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473644638&sr=8-1&keywords=uniden+bearcat+75
LiveATC is a great source. Here is JFK's Tower right now.
If you are around an airport, you can listen with a scanner (here is a Uniden handheld).
I have an older version of this. https://www.amazon.com/Uniden-BC75XLT-Public-Scanner-Channels/dp/B00A1VSO9M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526171697&sr=8-1&keywords=nascar+scanner&refinements=p_89%3AUniden
Unfortunately I don't know of any major race tracks that broadcast FM anymore. Even IMS used to until last year. And IndyCar radio doesn't seem to have FM affiliates in southern California.
http://indymotorspeedway.com/500broadcast.html
You can check if it updates by the end of the week.
http://indycarradio.com/index.php/fans/local-stations/
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Your best bet is to rent a Racing Electronics scanner, or buy a UHF scanner and program yourself like a Uniden or Baofeng.
https://racingelectronics.com/collections/rentals/products/long-beach-indycar
https://www.amazon.com/Uniden-BC75XLT-300-Channel-Handheld-Emergency/dp/B00A1VSO9M/
https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV-5R-Dual-Radio-Black/dp/B007H4VT7A
IMS Radio is usually 454.0000 most anywhere, Except Toronto which was 454.1000 last year.
If you need to monitor multiple channels and you don't need to transmit, then what you're looking for is a scanner.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A1VSO9M/
Uniden BC75XLT. You can probably score a used one for ~$50 on eBay/craigslist/ham swap meet.
Unless you're above ground in the outer boroughs, I don't think it would be reliable for live audio. You will either have dropouts between stations, or high latency. Or both. Try an inexpensive scanner.
Will I have success with the 60 dollar ones or will I end up returning it to get a more expensive one?
To me 60 bucks isn't all that bad when you are used to seeing 200-400 for them.
I was thinking something like this Amazon
Uniden's scanners have a cheaper street price, and more features.
Uniden BC75XLT
I'm looking at this one here, Worth buying?
Get a handheld Bearcat analog scanner. Something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Uniden-Handheld-Scanner-Black-BC75XLT/dp/B00A1VSO9M
Here are the aviation frequencies https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Aircraft
Scrolled through the replies, so I won't repeat what everybody else has said as they are all correct. But I didn't see anybody mention getting a Weather Radio. Here's the one I have (non-affiliate link, and not promoting anything):
https://www.amazon.com/Midland-WR300-MIDLAND-Weather-Radio/dp/B00009V2YV
You can set the alerts to cover not only your county, but those near you. I have mine set to alert on the counties to the southwest, west, and northwest of my county so that as storms develop I know what's coming. (Storms always track from West to East. And NORMALLY track Southwest to Northeast, but sometimes track from Northwest to Southeast.) When the radio alerts on a county that is west of us, I flip on the TV and start monitoring radar. The radio has a LOUD alarm so it will wake you up in the middle of the night if there is sever weather when you're sleeping.
TV channels to watch, 4, 5, or 9. Each one has pros and cons, so pick the person who is the least annoying to you. I flip between all three as their storm trackers are scattered all over the state during severe weather.
Also, if your the technical kind of person, get a scanner and monitor the Amateur (Ham) Radio repeaters. The storm chasers will use ham radio to report back to the National Weather Center in Norman. These folks are on the ground and will know what's going on before anybody else. You can normally find out about a tornado on the ground about 90 seconds earlier than they report on the news channels. Here's a good handheld scanner:
https://www.amazon.com/Uniden-BC75XLT-300-Channel-Handheld-Emergency/dp/B00A1VSO9M/ref=zg_bs_172530_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4X5AMGKE7X3W7Z5NRNE3
The frequency to monitor with your scanner is 145.41. This is the WX5OKC repeater and is connected to a network of radio towers all over the state. This is the repeater that the Weather Center in Norman will monitor for updates from storm chasers, so it's usually pretty quiet except during severe weather. As an added bonus, the scanner will also pick up the different weather radio frequencies (pre-programmed), which can give you an update on warnings and watches.
http://www.amazon.com/Uniden-Handheld-Scanner-Black-BC75XLT/dp/B00A1VSO9M
I didn't realize how much having a scanner adds to my kit, it's way more convenient to see who is on the air at any given moment, especially when you are unsure of the repeaters that are in range.
You can read about it here. It is between 108 and 137 MHz and is AM modulated. Like 2gigch1 said, you need a good antenna. Here is an homemade antenna that works great for me. If it's for plane spotting you can buy an handheld like the Uniden BC75XLT. The better the line of sight, the better the signal will be. If you go the SDR route, there is an awesome project: rtl_airband (works great on raspberry pi). Have fun!
It scans slower than a dedicated scanner does, but it's reasonably fast. I haven't been in the scanner market for awhile now, so I don't have any suggestions based on personal use, but here are a few from some quick searching:
Uniden BC75XLT will do VHF/UHF and airband, Uniden Bearcat 500 does the same plus military aircraft, and the Uniden BD396XT does the same, plus trunk tracking.