Uniden BC75XLT Review

If you are looking for your first police scanner, or if you’re set to find handheld police scanners, then we at gadgetsspy.com think we may have found the solution for you!

Today, we’re going to review the Uniden BC75XLT Police Scanner and try to find out a little more about this interesting gadget, so don’t go anywhere! We’re going to cover everything from the design specifications, to setting it up and programming your favorite channels on it.

In this article you’ll also get to see:

• General Design
• Features
• How to Set it Up
• More Interesting Features
• Final Words

For other reviews and tech information, see more here at gadgetsspy.com!

Our Opinion of Uniden BC75XLT

General Design

The LCD display is set up on the face of the scanner, and right below the display, you can find all the buttons that run the Uniden BC75XLT. The LCD display will effectively allow you to monitor the frequencies and channels you are operating, and it shows the general operating status of this scanner.

The antenna of this scanner is quite sufficient for scanning for available signals, local police, sporting events, neighborhood watch, or similar events. Although if you want to extend the range on this scanner, the BNC connector antenna holds a great advantage, because it allows you to easily find a more powerful, compatible antenna to extend the range on this scanner.

Features

• Easy-To-Use – If this is your first police scanner, you will probably get the best results from Uniden. The scanner comes with a user manual, and it features an effortless initial setup, even for people that are not so familiar with this kind of radio scanners.
• Channel Storage – This scanner is programmable up to 300 channels, and you can easily set your favorite channels with ease and no complications in the process whatsoever.
• Nighttime Use – The Uniden BC75XLT features a backlight on the screen and buttons, so if you’re using your scanner during the night, you’ll be able to easily operate the brightly lit front of this radio.
• Close Capture – This handheld radio can scan up to 32000 channels and we know that it can be tough to do it manually. The close call RF capture technology allows you to tune into a channel directly. There is no need to map out and identify the channel beforehand, and this feature will work automatically whenever you may need it. The frequencies do not need to be programmed, and that’s a great thing about this Close Call RF Capture technology. (1)
• Easy Locating – The Uniden BC75XLT comes with ten bands, so through them, you can easily reach the police channels and scan them for racing, weather, emergencies, and so on. In other words, you won’t have to spend a lot of time scanning for channels in your area, because the BC75XLT will ease your troubles.
• Questionable Durability – This scanner is made from hard plastic, so you’ll be better if you avoid dropping it on the floor. Other than that, the scanner is supposed to work just normal, like your everyday police scanner. (2)

WHAT WE DIDN’T LIKE

• Does not transmit while charging
• Made of plastic
• Questionably durable

How to Set it Up

Battery Set Up – Of course, once you have your scanner, the first thing you need to do is set up the batteries. This is an easy setup. You can easily do this by accessing the battery compartment, which is fairly easy even for first-time users. This radio scanner runs either on two rechargeable cells or two AA batteries. Our advice for you is to use rechargeables and keep AA batteries as a back-up option since Uniden will not provide you with batteries when buying this product. You can recharge your cells when needed by using the USB port that this scanner features, and that enables you to charge it whenever or wherever you can if there’s a power source nearby that works with USB ports.

We also noticed that the radio doesn’t transmit while charging, and that got us a little frustrated, to be honest.

Programming – The programming on the BC75XLT is not so complicated, and can be done in two ways. Although it doesn’t come with pre-programmed channels, this device can store up to 300 channels, so if you want to set up and save your favorite channels, you can do it by either using a laptop (you need to install the software included in the packaging first), or you can do it directly on the BC75XLT. At this point, we should tell you that doing the manual setup, especially if you want to program and save a lot of channels, will be a tedious, long process, so if your situation’s like that, we suggest you do it with a laptop. (3)

Final Words

While doing the review for the Uniden BC75XLT police scanner, we’ve come to some significant conclusions. This is a decent device, relative to its pricing. The scanner works relatively simple, making it easy to use, even for first-timers. The Close Capture feature also gives it a significant market advantage. You’ll be thankful for the Do Not Disturb mode, as well as the Power Alert mode. Of course, we didn’t quite like the plastic outer layer of the device or the fact that it does not transmit while charging, which according to us, should have been an easy fix for Uniden. All in all, the Uniden BC75XLT is a great device, at a relatively cheap price, and will surely set your standard for future police scanners you might want to buy.

You may also want to check other radio guides and reviews here: Best Shortwave Radio, Best Handheld Ham Radio, and Best BaoFeng Radio. And if you want to check also some radios that are best for outdoors like camping, please click here.

References

(1) RF capture technology – http://rfcapture.csail.mit.edu/
(2) hard plastic – https://www.lexico.com/definition/hard_plastic
(3) programming – https://www.codecademy.com/articles/what-is-programming