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Uniden® BCD396T Compact Handheld Scanner image
 
(based on 13 ratings)
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Brand:Uniden®
Located in:Phones & Radio Communications, Scanners
Advanced Dynamic Memory System and Close Call RF™ Capture Technology.
More information for the Uniden® BCD396T Compact Handheld Scanner
Product Reviews Summary
Avg. Customer Rating:
 
3.2 stars
(based on 13 reviews)
55% of respondents would recommend this to a friend.

Customers most agreed on the following attributes:

Pros:
Clear signal(7), Easy to use(3), Lightweight(10), Rugged(7)
Cons:
Difficult controls(9), Drains battery(7), Poor reception(5)
Best Uses:
Camping(3), Emergencies(8), Families(4), Hiking(4)
Describe Yourself:
Casual/ recreational(7), Professional guide(3)
Primary use:
Personal(12)
 
Great scanner with updated firmware.
By RockyVerified Reviewer from Warren, Mi on 10/6/2008
Pros:
Clear Signal, Nice size built great, Rugged
Cons:
Difficult Controls
Best Uses:
Camping, Families, Hiking
Describe Yourself:
Outdoor Professional
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

When this scanner is updated, it works great. I use duracell 2650 batteries and get much better battery life.

 
Is something wrong with the design?
By Michael from Santee, CA on 7/16/2008
Pros:
Lightweight, Nice size
Cons:
Audio for Digital sucks, Difficult Controls, Drains Battery, Poor Reception
Best Uses:
Hobby
Describe Yourself:
Casual/ Recreational
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I bought this scanner to specifically pick up the Digital Transmissions in my area. It it just about impossible to understand what is being said as the audio breaks up a lot sounds like someone is trying to speak under water.

 
bcd396t
By jake from cincinnati,ohio on 4/23/2008
Pros:
Clear Signal, Lightweight, Rugged
Cons:
Difficult Controls
Best Uses:
Emergencies, Families, Hiking
Describe Yourself:
Professional Guide
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

best scanner i ever bought

 
Poor Digital Reception
By Nick from Austin, TX on 4/7/2008
Pros:
Lightweight
Cons:
Difficult Controls, Poor Reception
Best Uses:
Emergencies
Describe Yourself:
Casual/ Recreational
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Have tried the digital reception in both Raleigh and Austin. Has terrible reception with digital decoding even with a full signal strength. Have read that it needs a DSP firmware upgrade, but have no idea if this exists or how to obtain it. Thought the 800mhz antenna would help, but no major difference. Would not recommend for digital trunking.

 
Great scanner!!!!
By Tom from Indiana on 3/30/2008
Pros:
Clear Signal, Rugged
Cons:
Difficult Controls
Best Uses:
Emergencies
Describe Yourself:
Casual/ Recreational
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Great scanner!!! Although, if this is your first scanner, I hope that you have a lot of patience. I recommend the free software that comes from Uniden that you download from their website. [...]

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

 
Awesome little Scanner !!
By Mike C from El Paso, TX on 3/15/2008
Pros:
Easy To Use, Lightweight, Rugged
Cons:
Drains Battery, Poor Reception
Best Uses:
anywhere
Describe Yourself:
Avid Adventurer
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Great little scanner however the Stock Antenna is horrible. Also the SMA Connector could have been a BNC. It's best to leave the SMA-BNC adapter on it and just use BNC's as to not loosen up the middle of the SMA from removing the antenna too much and seperating the inside of the SMA.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

 
Somewhat disappointed
By Dave from Kingston, NY on 2/14/2008
Pros:
Clear Signal, Lightweight
Cons:
Difficult Controls, Drains Battery, Poor Tech Support
Best Uses:
Emergencies, Families
Describe Yourself:
Casual/ Recreational
Primary use:
Business
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

The instruction booklet is difficult to understand and the scanner is difficult to program. Uniden's techs are NO help. You can figure out how to program it with patience.
If you use the scanner a lot, as I do, you will need to carry extra batteries. They die after a few hours of continuous use.
Have not been able to figure out how to use "triple trunking" and NO ONE I have asked can figure it out also. Don't bother calling Uniden. They can't help either and hang up on you when they don't know the answer to the simplest questions.

[3 of 3 customers found this review helpful]

 
This is a good one!
By Kieran JVerified Reviewer from Carmel, NY on 1/19/2008
Pros:
Clear Signal, Lightweight, Small
Cons:
Drains Battery, Plastic case
Describe Yourself:
Professional Guide
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Uniden shrank the BC296 and came up with the 396. Nice scanner, and the dynamic memory allocation is AWESOME. No more wasted memory in the scanner. I have just about all of SE NYS, plus a few CT trunking systems and CSP in my scanner. Still has about 30% memory unused.

[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

 
Radio Should Be Better
By crash from Holiday FL on 1/17/2008
Pros:
Lightweight
Cons:
Drains Battery, Poor Reception
Best Uses:
Emergencies
Describe Yourself:
Casual/ Recreational
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

this radio has a lot of features but the reception
on vhf and uhf is bad and uhf is the worst 800mhz
isn`t to bad and the digital decode is real bad
uniden needs to work on this the pro96 is the best
for digital and reception but lacks features

[1 of 2 customers found this review helpful]

 
well its not to bad
By Last remainning dinosaur from S.E. Conn. on 12/30/2007
Pros:
Clear Signal, Rugged
Cons:
Difficult Controls, Drains Battery
Best Uses:
Emergencies
Describe Yourself:
Casual/ Recreational
Primary use:
Personal

I got the 396 as a gift,and when I got the unit it was loaded with all the Conn.State Police digital freq.s that I wanted and some of the local fire,ems and highway freq.s that I also want. It picked up fairly well concidering the area that I live in and the small antena that it comes with.
Here is where i start to feel like a dinosaur.I have a Uniden SC150 with some freq.s I wanted to program into the 396,all the fun has gone.At the risk of sounding long winded,this oldtimer(who still has an old bearcat IV) has not adapted well to the tech world.Uniden also has a downloadable progam to help you program the 396,Ohhhh lets see,how do I say its not very user freindly. Its not user freindly.
I like the unit but I am sure I'll like it more when I can get out of it what I want

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

 
Muffled Audio, good scanner
By Larry the Scanner guyVerified Reviewer from Kern County CA on 12/17/2007
Pros:
Lightweight, Rugged
Cons:
Difficult Controls, Muffled Audio
Best Uses:
Camping, Emergencies, Families, Hiking, Shopping Malls
Describe Yourself:
Professional Guide
Primary use:
Personal

This scanner is intended for those who are technical and fussy about the structure of the trunking systems they listen to. It's a challenge to learn but alot of fun to master. I have this one and the Pro-96. The 96 is easier to use and has cleaner audio but if you like the challenge go for the 396.

[1 of 2 customers found this review helpful]

 
look out for this one
By underdog from harrison, Ar. on 12/13/2007
Pros:
Easy To Use, Lightweight
Cons:
Drains Battery, Poor Reception
Describe Yourself:
Casual/ Recreational
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
No, I would not recommend this to a friend

There is nothing great about this scanner and Uniden should be ashamed to put this out for consumers to purchase. The Pro-96 blows this scanner out of the water. I have both and the BC 396T will not receive all digital transmission that the Pro does. Maybe when Uniden made the BC 386T smaller they left out some of the parts that need to be in there to work properly.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

 
THE BEST AVAILABLE
By FASTGMCVerified Reviewer from BOWLING GREEN, KY on 11/30/2007
Pros:
Clear Signal, Easy To Use, Lightweight, Rugged
Cons:
Difficult Controls
Best Uses:
Camping, Emergencies, Hiking
Describe Yourself:
Avid Adventurer
Primary use:
Personal
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

THE SCANNER HAS IT ALL!!! THE BEST ON THE MARKET!

Customer Reviews about the Uniden® BCD396T Compact Handheld Scanner at Radio Shack
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