The Uniden Bearcat SR30C is an affordable and compact analog handheld scanner with loads of incredible features and enough memory for programming up to 500 frequencies. You can use this amazing scanner to quickly and effectively search frequencies that are commonly used by the police and other services. But the best part is you don’t have to spend countless hours of tedious programming – the SR30C is already pre-programmed with service bands for your convenience.
Weighing only 400 grams, the Uniden SR30C is incredibly easy to carry around and features a belt clip on the back for even easier use while on the go. On the front of the scanner, there’s a backlit LCD screen on the top and a keypad that you can lock to prevent accidental changes while using it on the go.
With the Uniden SR30C, you can get direct access to more than 32 thousand frequencies, including those of:
- Police and Fire Departments
- Utilities
- Business and Industrial Radio
- Marine and Amateur Bands
- Aircraft Band
- NOAA Weather Transmissions
And now, for the best part, let’s see what are the features that make this scanner so good.
Best Features
Close Call® RF Capture Technology
With Uniden’s exclusive Close Call technology, you can instantly tune in to signals from nearby transmitters. Use this technology to detect and identify any stronger nearby signals that may be of interest to you.
PC Programmable
You can say goodbye to the frustration of manually programming all the channels. Just connect your scanner to your PC via a USB cable and a series of screens will appear to assist you in the process. If you’re missing any USB drivers or programming software, you can find it here.
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10 Service Bands
All the frequencies are preset into ten service bands so you can easily locate and identify different types of calls. These service bands include:
- Weather
- Police
- Fire/Emergency
- Marine
- Racing
- Civil Air
- HAM Radio
- Railroad
- CB Radio
- Other (FRS/GMRS/MURS)
Priority Scan
With this amazing feature, you can set one channel out of each band to be a priority channel. What this does is it tells the scanner to check that channel every 2 seconds so you never miss important transmissions from your favorite channels. In addition, you can further set this feature to check the channels even when you’re receiving other transmissions.
2-Second Scan Delay
The delay function will make sure you don’t miss any replies from your two-way conversation when moving to other channels. The scanner will continue to monitor the channel for 2 additional seconds before continuing with scanning or searching.
Technical Specs
- Frequency Range: 25-54 MHz; 108-174 MHz; 406-512 MHz
- Channels: 500
- Banks: 10 (50 channels each)
- Scan Rate: 90 channels per second
For the full list of technical specifications of the Uniden Bearcat SR30C, click here.
What’s in the Box
The Uniden SR30C comes with the following additional items:
- Flexible BNC Antenna
- USB Charging Cable
- Belt Clip (attached)
- Owner’s Manual
What Users Love the Most about It
People who already made the purchase can’t get enough of how easy this scanner is to use and the fact that they can carry it around with them makes it even better.
“I use this scanner to listen to the International Air Show and it works great! I love how easy it is to use and that I can carry it around with me. It picks up signals from at least a couple miles radius without any modifications. Little advice: read the manual before you use it, it makes things a hundred times easier.” – Stephanie
Frequently Asked Questions
My local police have gone digital, will this work?
This is an analog-only unit. If you’re looking for a digital handheld, I would recommend BCD325P2, BCD436HP, SDS100 and Homepatrol 2 units.
Can I program the SR30C By Hand with the frequencies that I have in the older model scanners from bearcat?
Yes, the SR30C allows you to program analog frequencies by hand.
How does it compare with the BC125AT and BC75XLT?
The SR30C is the replacement model for the BC75XLT which was discontinued. The BC125AT has an alpha tagging feature and the SR30C only shows the frequency number. Both radios have 500 channels.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for an analog scanner to listen to your local transmissions, then the Uniden SR30C is the right choice for you. With a strong set of features that improve your listening experience and incredible ease of use, it’s clear that the SR30C is the analog scanner to buy. However, if you’re more interested in digital scanners, check out our other reviews here.
Final rating: 4/5
