Uniden BC125AT Full Review

Uniden BC125AT Full Review

Video review of the BC125AT:

Construction and Build Quality:

The BC125AT is Uniden's latest scanner.  It is touted as an "event scanner" focused on being used at air shows and racing events.  However, this scanner is much more than that!  This is a great analog, conventional scanner for VHF-High band, Civil Air band and Mil-Air band.

The Uniden BC125AT feels solid in the hand and has a large LCD Display.  The keypad buttons are well spaced and larger than most handheld scanners.  The buttons have a soft rubber feel to them and give a nice tactile feedback when pressed.  The keypad has a nice layout and is easy to remember for manipulating in low light (keypad is not backlit).

The BC125AT has a belt clip similar to the BC246T.  The belt clip is rigid and does not hinge.  It hangs on a pocket or belt as intended, but anything over 1/4" deep will have a hard time accommodating this style belt clip.

The sides of the scanner has grooves molded into the plastic which helps to grip the scanner in the hand.  The plastic used on the case feels a bit cheap.  I don't think the outer case would handle a direct impact from a fall very well.  It's not terrible, but doesn't seem as solid as say a BC396XT or the Icom R6.  It feels similar to the BC246T or Pro-97 (Pro-164) casing material.  The BC125AT reminds me a lot of the BC246T even though they have different memory management systems.   They are similar in size but the BC125AT has a larger screen and better keypad in my opinion.   The BC125AT has banks and channels versus the Dynamic Memory or the BC246T but still incorporates some menu options for programming, setting LCD options, etc.

The BC125AT is well balanced when sitting upright on a desk, even with the Diamond RH77CA antenna, which is significantly longer than the stock antenna.  The scanner doesn't tip over easily with the extended antenna.  The BC125AT uses a BNC type antenna connection.

The battery compartment on the bottom, rear of the radio has a slide on/off door that snaps into place.  The door fits tight and has no movement when in place.  The batteries fit into the scanner very snug.  Almost too snug at times because the batteries can be hard to remove.  There is a switch on the inside of the battery compartment for selecting either rechargeable batteries or alkaline.  This switch prevents the scanner from charging alkaline batteries in the scanner when plugged into AC power or USB.  However, you do have to remember to slide that switch to the proper position.  I never recommend charging batteries in a scanner but sometimes this can't be avoided.

The large LCD display is one of the best features in my opinion.  On this large LCD display you can see your alpha tag, channel number, frequency, mode, PL Tone, and signal strength meter.  Also on screen are active banks, close call and/or weather priority symbols, if activated.  I wish I could dim the back light. It isn't overly bright but it would be nice to save the batteries.  You can turn on/off the LCD backlight with the press of a button.  Or you can set it to come on with squelch only, keypress only or both.

To access the LCD menu, press the Func button followed by the power button.  This will allow you to set the backlight modes as mentioned above and set the LCD contrast from 1 - 15.  I prefer contrast setting at 12.  In this menu you can also set the time the scanner will charge the batteries when connected to external power.  1 to 16 hours of charge time is available for your choosing.

The Uniden BC125AT covers from 25 MHz to 512 MHz (Included coverage is: 25-54, 108-174, 225-380 and 400-512 MHz).   You can set the mode on each channel that you program to FM, NFM, AM or Auto.  On service search of Mil-Air it looks like the mode is preset to NFM between 138.0000 MHz and 143.9875 MHz and 148.0000 MHz and 150.7875 MHz.  At 225.0000 MHz it changes to AM. These modes are not user changeable in service search.  There is no 800 MHz coverage on this scanner.  There is also no trunking or digital modes receive on this scanner.  It is known as a conventional, analog radio scanner.  

The Uniden BC125AT is a bank/channel type scanner.  The scanner can hold a maximum of 500 channels in 10 banks.  50 channels per bank.

Programming

The scanner is very easy to program by hand.  I have yet to break out the Owner's Manual.  I  programmed about 250 to 300 channels with tags and PL tones by hand before downloading the free Uniden software (more on the software later). It is tedious to program by hand, but not hard at all.  It is just a little time consuming.

To program a new channel manually simply press the Hold button (if you aren't already in hold mode).  Scroll to an empty channel using the multi function knob on top.  Press the Func button followed by the Pgm/E button.   From here select the Enter Frequency option by pressing E (or pressing down on the multi function knob.  Input the desired frequency.  (Note:  If the frequency is already programmed into the scanner, it will give you an alert telling you of a duplicate entry.)  Once you have the frequency entered, for instance 122.8000 press the E button.  You are returned to the Program Menu screen where you can Edit Tag, Set CTCSS/DCS, Set Modulation, Set Priority of the Channel and/or set the Delay time.  You also have the option of deleting the channel from this menu or clearing the entire bank.  To edit the alpha tag simply select the Edit Tag and press E.  Use the multi function knob to select the character desired and use the 4 and 6 key to move the cursor on the screen.  Press E to save the text.  You can press the . / clr button to clear the text entry completely.  Once you have saved the text you will be back at the program menu screen.  You can either set the other options or scroll to exit to move on.  Very simple to program the scanner.  There are several button clicks and knob turns involved but all in all I think Uniden made it easy to program their scanner.

The scanner is also PC programmable.  I downloaded ARC125 demo. It is a great piece of software and would be very handy if I wasn't such a tightwad and didn't want to spend $25 on something that, in all likelihood, I would use only one time. Uniden does provide programming software free of charge.  It doesn't provide RadioReference import like the ARC software but it may be a better solution than trying to program the scanner by hand.  A trick you can use instead of the radioreference import is if you do have a premium subscription to RadioReference (which you have to have for the import feature as well) you can download CSV files of the counties, agencies, or systems, open them in a spreadsheet program and copy/paste them into the Uniden Software.   This is the method I chose to go with!  Not to say that the ARC software isn't great.  I have ARC software for the BC396XT and PSR-500.  ARC makes excellent software.  However, I use the ARC396 and ARC500 a lot.  And I knew that I wouldn't use the ARC125 as much.  Your mileage may vary!

Main Features:

ALPHA TAGGING!!!!! I am not sure I could use a scanner without it anymore. I am glad Uniden put in the feature on this sub $140 scanner! It makes all the difference in the world.  It would be very difficult to remember what 500 channels are without the text tags.

Close Call DND and Priority DND are awesome! I have gotten several hits on Close Call. The DND (Do Not Disturb) feature checks for signals only when the scanner isn't actively receiving signals so it doesn't interrupt a transmission.  On some other scanners you will hear a pause in the audio every 2 seconds while the scanner checks for the Priority or Close Call.  To enter the Close Call Menu, press the Func key then the Hold (CC) key.  From there you can select Close Call Mode, Close Call Bands, Close Call Alert, Scan Hits, Set Delay, CTCSS/DCS Search, Review Lockouts or Exit the menu.  

The Close Call Mode menu is where you can turn Close Call on/off, activate the Close Call DND, Close Call Priority or select to use the scanner in Close Call Only mode.  Close Call Only mode will scan only the close call bands selected and not any programmed channels.  

Close Call alert menu allows you to set the scanner to alert on any close call hits.  You can set the LCD to illuminate or not and have the scanner give an audible beep or not.  These two alerts are independent of each other so you can have the light alert on and the beep off or vice versa.  You can have them both set on or off.

Close Call Bands menu allows you to turn on or off the included bands:  25-54 VHF - Low, 108-137 CIV-Air, 137-174 VHF-High, 225-320 MIL-Air, and 320-512 UHF.  

The BC125AT also has Close Call Temporary Store which stores and scans the last 10 Close Call hits in the Close Call Hits system.

As stated previously, I get Close Call hits quite regularly.  I have gotten them from my home as well in the car when mobile.  I'm not sure the exact sensitivity of Close Call, but I have found it to be quite nice.  I am sure that something like an FRS radio isn't going to activate Close Call without being very close.  But a repeater pushing 100 + watts would get picked up by Close Call at some distance.  Don't expect to get Close Call hits over about 1/4 to 1/2 mile though.  I picked up my local PD repeater about 1/2 mile with Close Call.  Police mobile radios in their cars, a few hundred feet and handheld police radios even closer than that.  So the sensitivity of the Close Call is determined by the power output of the radio it is picking up I would assume.  However, Close Call has picked up local businesses as I passed by their locations on the highway.

Temporary Lockout is one of the greatest features of this scanner in my opinion.  This is a great feature since the scanner does not have an attenuation function.  When you press the L/O button 1 time, the scanner will temporarily lockout the frequency that you are currently on.  Pressing 2 times in rapid succession will lock it out permanently, requiring you to either scroll to the channel or go into the menu and unlock that channel.  However, all channels that were locked out using temporary lockout will be restored (unlocked) after the next power cycle.   

The BC125AT has CTCSS and DCS Squelch modes.  This provides rapid search for CTCSS/DCS tones/code used on some channels. The scanner has 50 CTCSS tones and 104 DCS codes available.  It's a great feature for reducing interference as well as some agencies use the same frequencies but different CTCSS/DCS allowing for multiple uses.  The 125AT search option for CTCSS/DCS is very fast.  I would say it near instantly displays the tone/code when you have search activated on a programmed channel or Close Call.

SAME weather alert codes would have been a nice feature to have, unfortunately they are not included on the BC125AT.  However, the general weather alert (which picks up the 1050 Hz tone) is available on this scanner.  When activating the weather menu, simply press Func button then the #3 / Wx key.  You can select from Weather Scan, Alert Standby, Alert Priority, or Set Delay.  To enter any of these options, simply scroll to the option using the multi function knob on top and press the PGM / E button or press down on the multi function knob.  

Weather scan will do just that, scan the  7 US NOAA Weather channels.  The scanner will stop on an active channel or you can hold on any 1 of the 7 channels.  

Weather Alert Standby will scan the weather channels and stop on the weather channel with an active signal.  At that point the scanner will stop on that channel, remaining completely muted and wait to receive the 1050 Hz tone from the NOAA Weather Station so long as you have a receivable signal from NOAA.  When a tone is received, the scanner will produce and audible alarm and the station will open so you can hear the message.  

Weather Alert Priority can be set either Off or On (Set to off by default).  If you set the Wx Alert Priority On, when scanning your programmed channels the scanner will check the for the 1050 Hz tone every 5 seconds, which will cause you to hear a pause in the audio if a channel is being received.  I have noticed that if a Weather Channel signal cannot be received the scanner will automatically turn off the Weather Alert Priority.  This could be a safety issue if you are using this to alert you to potential severe weather, so just be aware of that fact.  Of course, if you can't receive the channel, you aren't going to hear the tone anyway.  However, I think that it would be a nice feature if the scanner would continue to look for an active NOAA frequency rather than turning off the Weather Alert Priority.  It could be that you move the scanner from one room to the next and during the transition signal is lost and the alert priority is turned off.  Then you go to bed thinking its on with severe weather approaching.  For more information on the weather operation refer to page 65 of the Owner's Manual.

Direct Access feature allows you to directly access any channel with a few presses of the buttons.  For instance if you have your local police stored on channel 200.  To go directly to that channel press the Hold button, then 2 0 0 then Hold button again.  Boom, you are on channel 200, holding waiting on a transmission!

Service Searches are separated in 10 preset banks.  1. Police, 2. Fire/Emergency, 3. Ham, 4. Marine, 5. Railroad, 6. Civil Air, 7. Military Air, 8. CB Radio, 9. FRS/GMRS/MURS, and 0. Racing.  These can come in handy for just skimming a specific range of common frequencies.  To enter the service search feature of the scanner press the Func button followed by the Srch/Svc button.  Then you can press the number keys 1 - 0 to activate/deactivate the 10 preset searches.

Priority features abound on this little radio.  Priority scan with Do Not Disturb lets you program up to 10 channels as Priority (1 in each bank) and the scanner will check the channels marked as priority every 2 seconds.  Priority Do Not Disturb works just like Close Call Do Not Disturb in that the scanner will not interupt an active transmission and will only check for activity on the priority channels when the scanner is not receiving audio from another channel.

Priority plus allows the BC125AT to scan only the priority channels. 

To enter the Priority Menu, press the Func button followed by the 1 / Pri button.  This gives you the Priority menu.  From there you can select Priority Off, Priority DND, Priority Scan, and Priority Plus.

Delay time can be set on each channel, Close Call Search, Custom Search, and Service search.  This controls whether the scanner pauses at the end of the transmission for the set amount of time.  You can set the amount of time it holds on that channel before resuming up to 5 seconds or a negative delay to -10.  

Custom searches can also be set up in the scanner.  You can set up to 10 custom search ranges.  To enter the custom search press the Srch/Svc button.  To program a custom search, enter the custom search by pressing the Srch button then press Func followed by E / Pgm button.  From there you can set the limits of the search bands, delay times, CTCSS/DCS search, review any lockouts and you can save a frequency form the search function to the programmed channel scan.

You can also do a quick search.  While the scanner is scanning programmed channels, press the Hold button.  Then input the frequency and press the Srch button and the scanner will start searching from the entered frequency frequency.  

Pressing the number keys during a programmed scan, service search, close call, or custom search will turn on/off bands, banks, or search ranges just like all other bank/channel type scanners. 

Performance

I am running the BC125AT beside the Icom R6 and the PSR-800.  The BC125AT and Icom R6 are using the Diamond RH77CA antenna, I can't tell a difference on the signals they are pulling in on civilian air band.  They seem to be pulling in the same signals at the same signal strength.  That is very impressive to say the least!  The 125AT seems to be keeping pace with the Icom R6, which is well regarded as a great receiver.  I am actually very impressed by the BC125AT.  I think that on VHF-High band the R6 edges the 125AT by a slight margin.  The R6 will pick up fringe signals where the 125AT won't.  However, the R6 also picks up a ton of interference whereas the 125AT isn't affected by it as bad.  The BC125AT vs the PSR-800 on VHF-Air, is no comparison.  The 125AT seems to win hands down in my unscientific tests.  The PSR-800 is excellent on the 800 band, but the 125AT doesn't cover that band.

Mil-Air receive seems to be quite good as well.  I have picked up several programmed Mil-Air frequencies.  I am not in a high traffic Mil-Air area (South Arkansas).  However, there is an airforce base about 100 miles to my north.  I have heard several Mil-Air comms as they fly in my area.

VHF-High band has great receive as well.  I regularly pick up a police department about 20 miles to my west with good audio and good signal strength.  As well as a county SO about 20 miles to my south and one that is about 15 miles to my north.  I think that is decent for a hand held scanner with a duck antenna.  I am pleased with its performance in this area.

UHF receive seems to be pretty decent as well.  A local fire department uses UHF Band and it sounds great.  I do not have enough low band in my area to test this.  

Audio is very good on this radio. The speaker has a clear tone and loud enough in the car to be heard over road noise.  Comparing to the R6, the 125 has a cleaner sound to me.  The R6 has a teeny sound in my opinion, although it can get loud the smaller speaker doesn't give as good of a tone.  VHF-Air audio is comparable to the PSR-800 as far as tone.  Cranking the audio all the way up to 15 on the BC125AT causes a little distortion, but not so much that it is unintelligible.  Typically sitting on my desk, I find that having the audio set between 6 and 8 is a comfortable listening volume.

The BC125AT uses batteries very quickly. I am scanning using back light on all the time. I am only getting about 4-6 hours out of a set of fully charged (and fairly new) Energizer 2300 mAh, as well as the supplied generic 2300 mAh batteries.  These batteries are always charged in a MAHA C9000 Charger.  Usually it is closer to the 4 hour mark.  Compared to my little R6 which runs for 10 + on 2 of the same batteries with back light on full time.  Of course, the R6 has a much smaller LCD and speaker to power. This isn't a huge deal since I have a backpack full of charged batteries with me most of the time.  The BC125AT has a low battery beep that becomes audible when the scanners batteries are almost exhausted.  On my 125AT the scanner will beep for about 1 to 2 minutes before the scanner powers itself off.  Not much warning, so if you hear the beep, you might want to start looking for those extra batteries or plugging your scanner into external power.

No ATT button? That is about all that is missing on this great little radio.  Some channels, especially when I place the scanner near my computer or driving around in the car, will receive interference.  Attenuation would be great in these instances but the temporary lockout works to block those channels.  Out of the 300 to 400 channels I have programmed in the scanner, 1 maybe 2 or 3 channels actually get plagued by interference regularly near my computer.  So I don't think it is a huge problem.  The scanner seems to handle strong nearby signals fairly well.  But if the channel being plagued by interference is a channel you really want to monitor, this is a problem.

You cannot rename the bank names.  This would be very handy.  As it is now, the banks are named Bank1, Bank2, etc.  I am quite sure being able to name the banks would be possible via a firmware update, but I am unsure if it will ever happen.  Being able to name the banks would allow a better memory management and easily recall what you have programmed in a specific bank.  

At the time of this review (3/23/12) having 7.5 kHz steps is not possible.  However, Paul Opitz (Uniden Product Manager) posted on radio reference that this option is coming in a future firmware update.

I have a dedicated 800 MHz P25 scanner. The 125AT makes a great 2nd (or 3rd, 4th, or 5th ) scanner if you need the 800 MHz, digital coverage.  I don't miss 800MHz coverage on this scanner because I am using it for Air band and Mil-Air mostly and some local VHF-High public safety.  

I would definitely opt for the Diamond RH77CA antenna to replace the stock duck antenna.  The RH77CA is longer but pulls in signals so much better.  I wouldn't throw away the stock antenna, but if I lost it in my junk drawer somewhere, it wouldn't bother me much.  I do use the stock antenna from time to time just to cut down on footprint of the radio.  If I clip it to my pocket or belt, then the stock antenna comes in handy.  Other than that, the BC125AT has the Diamond antenna on it and they work very well together!  Pairing the Radio Shack RS800 Mhz antenna on the BC125AT does cut down on the civil air band receive somewhat.  It seems to be only slightly better than the stock antenna in this band.  That is to be expected since the RS antenna is tuned for 800 MHz.  I used an extendable antenna from a GRE base/mobile scanner on the BC125AT and had very good results.  The extendable antenna performs similar to the Diamond antenna.  The extendable antenna is about 24" in length vs the Diamond that is 16" in length.

If you only need coverage below 512 MHz, non-digital, non-trunking scanner, I don't think you can go wrong with this little radio.  Especially at the price that Uniden released it at. ($139.99 at most dealers).  I picked mine up from Amazon for $139.99 with free shipping.  ScannerMaster or Grove are also good dealers.  All in all I think it's a great deal for $140 (and possibly cheaper online).

Matt Outlaw

Uniden BC125AT vs Icom IC-R6

BC246T vs BC125AT vs BC346T

Thanks to DaveIN from RadioReference for this pic!

Uniden BC125AT a Closer Look (in Pictures)

Below are some close up pictures of the new Uniden BC125AT.

First a video of the BC125AT in action

Click the pictures for full resolution!

BC125AT Scanning

BC125AT Holding on a programmed channel

LCD Close Up

Keypad Close Up

Speaker Close Up

Left Side Close Up

Rear View

Right Side

Top View - BNC Connector

Bottom View

Box Front

Box Side 1

Box Rear

Box Side 2

What's in the Box?  Uniden BC125AT, Wrist Strap, Antenna, 2 Rechargeable 2300 mAh AA Batteries and programming cable (not pictured), Owner's Manual, 2 informational pamphlets.

Program Mode

Weather Mode

Close Call Mode

Service Search Mode

Weather Scan

Uniden BC125AT - Icom IC-R6 size comparison

Uniden BC125AT First Impressions

Uniden BC125AT First Impressions

I've had the BC125AT for about 3 days now. Comparing it against my Icom IC-R6 on VHF-Air band, the R6 is more sensitive, but the R6 is a great receiver. The BC125AT isn't far behind though. I have been using the scanner with a Diamond RH77CA antenna. It does a really nice job on Air band. I am impressed by the BC125 and am glad I made the purchase.

No ATT button? That is about all that is missing on this great little radio. The plastic it is made of feels a bit cheap but hey it's a $140 scanner. It's not terrible but doesn't seem as solid as say a BC396T or the Icom R6. Feels similar to the BC246T to me. I picked mine up on Amazon.com for $139 with free shipping. 


ALPHA TAGGING!!!!! I am not sure I could use a scanner without it. I am glad Uniden put in this feature on this sub $140 scanner! It makes all the difference in the world. I like how they implemented it too! You can see your alpha tag, Channel #, Frequency, Mode, PL Tone, and signal strength on the screen.

SAME weather alert codes would have been a nice feature to have. However, the general weather alert (which picks up the 1050 hz tone) will suffice.

Close Call DND and Priority DND are awesome. I have gotten several hits on CC. The DND (Do Not Disturb) feature checks for signals only when the scanner isn't actively receiving signals so it doesn't interrupt a transmission. Other scanners you will hear a pause in the audio every 2 seconds while the scanner checks for the Priority.

The large display is a nice feature. I wish I could dim the back light though. It isn't overly bright but it would be nice to save the batteries. It seems to use batteries rather quickly. I am scanning using back light on all the time. I am only getting about 4-6 hours out of a set of fully charged (and fairly new) Energizer 2300 mAh. Compared to my little R6 which runs for 10 + on 2 of the same batteries with back light on full time, of course it is a much smaller LCD to power also. Not a huge deal since I have a backpack full of charged batteries.

The scanner is very easy to program and manipulate. I have yet to break out the Owner's Manual. I've programmed about 200-250 channels with tags and PL tones by hand so far. It is tedious to program by hand but not hard at all.  It is just a little time consuming.  I downloaded ARC125 demo. It is a great piece of software and would be very handy, however, I am a tightwad and don't want to spend $25 on something that in all likelihood I would use 1 time. Uniden does provide programming software free of charge.  It doesn't provide RadioReference Import but it may be a better solution than trying to program by hand.

Audio is very good. The speaker has a clear tone and loud enough in the car to be heard over road noise. Temporary lockout is a great feature when a channel has interference. This is where I would like to have an ATT feature. But the Temporary Lockout works in this instance for me.

I have a dedicated 800 MHz P25 scanner. The 125AT makes a great 2nd (or 3rd, or 4th, or 5th ) scanner. I don't miss 800MHz coverage on this scanner because I am using it for Air band and Mil-Air mostly and some local VHF-High public safety. The BC125AT reminds me a lot of the BC246T even though they have different management systems.

All in all I think it's a good deal for $140 (and possibly cheaper). 

What are you waiting for, go out and buy yourself one!

Yaesu VR-120

Yaesu VR-120 Review

What's new? Well new to me at least is the Yaesu VR-120 Communications Receiver. This is the VR-120 model. This is the older model Yaesu VR-120. The newer version, the VR-120D (note the D on the end) adds a DC Jack on the side below the speaker jack. This allows for alternate powering using either an AC adapter or a DC power cord. Also charging batteries within the radio. Since that part didn't concern me, I picked up this VR-120 at a great deal.

I use rechargeable AA batteries and usually get close to 20 hours service out of one set of Energizer (or Duracell) 2500 mAh batteries.

I purchased this little (and I mean little) receiver used for a steal! I couldn't pass up the deal. So far, I am impressed with it's performance on HF, and VHF-High. This is not my first time using a Yaesu product because our department uses Vertex radios. The Vertex VX-180 to be exact. All in all I am pleased with Yaesu. I was very surprised when I received the package containing the VR-120. It weighed almost nothing. I actually thought I had been sent a box full of air! Once I opened the box, I was shocked at the size of the receiver. I have seen pictures online and knew it was small but man, this thing is tiny! With the supplied antenna you could easily stick this in your shirt pocket, and forget it.

Ease of Use

This thing is a bugger to operate at first. With minimal buttons it is hard to figure out how to store memories, search, and execute all the many features this receiver performs. After getting used to it a little, I am getting better but I keep the owner's manual very handy! I think it is meant to be an entry level type receiver but it operates far from that.

Features

The VR-120 (D) has many features that are very useful. First off, it's size. The size of this receiver is such that you can absolutely take it anywhere and not get that "look at that nerd" stare from everyone! Alpha tags make it easy to know who belongs to each frequency, however you only get 6 characters as opposed to the 16 I am used to with Uniden and some GRE's. Other notable features include:

• Dual Watch. Basically you can set 2 frequencies to be monitored and the receiver checks those two channels for activity until a transmission is detected. Very handy! You can set up to 8 pairs of Dual Watch frequencies to be monitored. You can only monitor 1 pair at any given time though. But still very useful feature indeed.

• One Touch Memory. This feature allows you to set one frequency to each of the 4 buttons on the front of the receiver. In this mode you can push the buttons and monitor the frequency assigned to that button. Only downfall is that the receiver must be dedicated to this operation, meaning no scanning or searching.

• Channel Counter. Much like Uniden's Close Call or GRE's Signal Stalker, the Yaesu version seeks nearby transmissions and displays the frequency. The Yaesu version doesn't receive the audio so all you see is the frequency.

• Smart Search. This feature allows you to set a search range and the receiver will search that range for transmissions and store the frequency into a special memory bank. Not much use for me but some will likely find it useful.

• Preferential Memory Scan. This is a great feature! Much like having multiple priorities. The receiver only has 1 true priority channel. However using the Preferential Memory Scan, you can select as many channels as you like to be scanned with this feature. Use it how you like but I set up my most important programmed frequencies into this feature. This scans only the programmed frequencies you have assigned to the Preferential Memory Scan. Each time you assign a frequency to this feature it is indicated by a P.S. symbol even when the feature is deactivated so you can easily see which frequencies are assigned to this feature. Hold one of the functions down for a couple seconds and it's instantly activated. This is a great tool that I have used several times in the few days I have had this receiver.

• Other features that are included on this receiver is the ability to link banks together and scan them much like ordinary scanners. However it is a little more difficult to do because you have to step through the menu to do it. The receiver also features a Priority feature. You can set one programmed channel as "Priority" and the receiver will check that frequency every 5 seconds for a transmission. You can adjust the step sizes. The buttons and LCD are backlit but not bright. It is just okay for low light viewing and does nothing for you in the daylight. But on the other hand it is not annoyingly bright like some receivers. Keypad beep on and off is also a feature. The receiver has a battery save feature. A pause feature that allows you to pause from 1 to 12 seconds on an active channel. You can pause for the allotted seconds, pause until end of transmission or have the receiver stop and hold on the first transmission it finds. Also featured is a sleep timer 30 / 60 / 90 minutes to select from. Very nice when listening to Shortwave at night. Various other features allow you to check your battery voltage, also a low battery warning flashes on screen with NO beeps, I like that!!!! An S-Meter buzzer that emits an annoying tone when the S-Meter peaks but the S-Meter is disabled when the tone is enabled? I haven't quite figured that part out? There is also a simple game that is thrown in there for good measure. Basically numbers roll across the screen like a slot machine and you push the buttons below to stop the numbers. Pretty boring and waste of memory if you ask me. A great and welcome feature is the Attenuator feature which helps to block strong signals. Although the Attenuator is global meaning it is either on or off and can't be assigned to an individual channel.

Antenna Options

On AM you can select either to use the built in internal Bar antenna or the external antenna. Also on FM radio if you use headphones, the headphones can be selected to double as a FM antenna.

This receiver receives in AM/FM/WFM modes from 100 kHz to 1299.995 MHz (Cellular Blocked). It has 640 memories divided by 10 banks @ 64 channels per bank. With battery and antenna the total weight is approximately 195 grams. Very lightweight!

Audio

Don't expect booming audio from this receiver. I was expecting more audio because I was told it had big audio for it's size. However, it is very hard to hear when mobile in a car. Also sometimes in loud or busy streets it becomes almost inaudible. But in the room or next to the bedside this is a friend to be had.

Performance

I have listened to various broadcast shortwave programs with this receiver. Mostly out of Nashville, TN but have heard Radio Havana Cuba as well as China Radio International and other strong shortwave stations. There is no SSB on this unit but it isn't missed by me. Maybe a VR-500 later in life with SSB capabilities. AM radio pretty much stinks. I have a local AM station approximately 1 mile from my house and it's signal has static, even using the internal bar antenna in the radio. This isn't the radio for AM reception. FM Radio comes in just okay using the stock duck. It isn't the greatest but will get you by in a pinch. Using a better antenna than the stock improves reception, like the Diamond RH77CA. I haven't tried the earphone antenna.

VHF-Highband is where the VR-120 shines. I connected the Diamond RH77CA antenna on the 120 and can receive a great deal in the VHF-High range. I believe it is more sensitive (picks up more) than my Pro-97 and that says a lot!!!. Funny thing is if you hold the receiver in your hand, the reception improves. This is typical on all bands HF through 800. I am very impressed with the receive on the VR-120 in the VHF-High band. I have yet to find a better receiver in this band except maybe the VX-180 our department uses, but I think the 120 beats it! I haven't heard much on 800 band but I don't have very much in that range that is conventional around my part of the State. But one neighboring county uses 800 conventionally and I pick them up very well. Also Jefferson County has an analog trunked system which is about 40 + miles away and I programmed their frequencies in conventionally and picked them up with ease. Note that the Jefferson County system doesn't normally come in and I can't monitor them on a regular basis. Probably just good ducting the past week or so. Connect the RS800 antenna and the reception improves on the 800 band.

Notice I never called this radio a scanner. It is not a scanner. It is a communications receiver. With a scan rate of less than 20 channels per second you aren't going to cover large bands or numerous banks of frequencies with this scanner. It is best used for selective frequencies. I have about 70 channels programmed at the moment and it will go through those in a couple of seconds but if you are wanting a scanner, then purchase a scanner.

Conclusion

I got this for the DC to daylight coverage. Meaning Shortwave all the way up through the 800 band. It is a decent receiver and I recommend this if you want an inexpensive receiver to take along with you. It provides general reception on the AM and FM broadcast bands, HF Shortwave bands, VHF and UHF TV bands, the VHF-AM aircraft band, public safety bands, ham bands, as well as UHF Military bands 225 through 400 MHz. If you can find a good used one it is well worth $100 or less if you can pick one up. The competition Icom R5 looks promising as well but I have never used one so I can't comment too much on a comparison at this time. I do hear the R5 can't link and unlink banks together like the VR-120(D) but the audio is reported to be better on the R5. The R5 also adds CTCSS/DCS feature. For the money, this is a good receiver. I give it a 6 out of 10 because it is hard to program and operate at first because of the lack of a numerical key pad. Also the audio is lacking and of course it doesn't do trunking. But for the money and it's intended purpose, this is a great little (and I mean little) receiver.

written:  04/30/06

Icom IC-R5

Icom IC-R5 Review

written: 02/28/2007 

The Icom IC-R5 has been out for several years now, but I have only recently gotten my hands on one. The Icom R5 is tiny by comparison to other "receivers." The lack of a full keypad turns some away from this little radio but don't let that keep you from owning a true performer!

Key Features

• Wideband Coverage 150 kHz to 1309.995 MHz (less cellular and gaps)
• 1250 Memories (1000 memories, 25 scan edge pairs, 200 auto write channels)
• 30 - 120 Minute Auto Power Off
• Built-in Ferrite Bar Antenna
• CTCSS/DCS Decode
• 6 Character Alpha Tags
• Priority Channel
• Weather Alert and/or Monitor
• Channel Alert Beep
• PC Programmable
• 2 AA Battery Operation
• Pocket Sized! 2.3 (w) x 3.4 (h) x 1.1 (d) inches
• Weighs only 6 oz.

In the Box

• Wall Charger
• Flexible SMA antenna
• 2 AA Rechargeable batteries
• Belt Clip
• Wrist Strap
• Owner's Manual
• Ham Radio Terms Booklet
• Hot 100 SWL List (short wave radio frequencies list that are preprogrammed into the R5)

Construction and Physical

The R5 is an attractive little receiver. Its gloss black outer shell gives an impression of quality. The R5 is built very sturdy. The outer case is plastic but has a very rugged feel to it, despite its small size. The R5 weighs only 6 oz. (185 kg). The control buttons have a good textile feel to them. They offer good feedback when pressing them. The VFO knob is large enough to be comfortable when turning and offers good feel with its detenting while turning. The antenna connection is SMA but you can purchase a SMA to BNC adapter if you have BNC antennas you prefer to use. The battery compartment is securely closed with a clasp type lock.

LCD. The LCD is easy to read and has a nice bright backlight! The alpha tags, although limited to 6 characters are large and easy to read, as are the signal strength meter, and other symbols displayed. When scanning banks, the display can either show you the frequency, memory name, bank name or channel number. You can change this as you wish but you can only display one at a time.The information displayed on the LCD varies depending on the mode you are using, but for the most part you will see: Frequency Readout, Key Lock Indicator, Receive Mode Indicator, Duplex Indicator, CTCSS or DCS Indicators, Skip Indicator, Priority Watch Indicator, Memory Indicator, Memory Channel #, Signal Strength Meter, Volume Meter (when volume is selected), Battery Meter, and Attenuator Indicator.

Speaker. The speaker is located under the control buttons. The speaker takes up approximately 1/3 of the face of the receiver. The audio is nice on such a small rig. Audio is much better on the R5 as compared to the Yaesu VR-120.

Performance and Features

The Icom IC-R5 is a very sensitive receiver. It shines in the VHF-High band (150 to 160 MHz). The R5 does suffer from interference from other sources, but can be easily overcome either by CTCSS/DCS or using the attenuator. The R5 does have a rather slow scan sped at only 10 channels per second or 30 steps per second when searching. Albeit this is not a scanner but a "Communications Receiver" as is plainly printed on the front of the IC-R5. You can use the R5 to search for CTCSS or DCS tones but you have to select one or the other and it is not instant. This can be somewhat evasive unless you hold on a channel and catch a lengthy transmission so that it has time to find the correct tone. The R5 has 3 receive modes, FM, WFM, and AM. Also has tuning steps of 5, 6.25, 8.33, 9, 10, 12.5, 15, 20, 25, 30, 50, and 100 kHz.

Weather Alert is a feature on the Icom R5 that works, and it works well. When turned "ON" the weather alert seeks the 1050 Hz tone from NOAA Weather Radio Repeater (that you preset) every 5 seconds, or so the manual says. I think it is more like 2 seconds. If you are listening to the scanner, you will hear a break in audio every couple seconds. I usually set the R5 on a frequency I know won't have traffic, and let the Weather Alert do its thing. I like the fact that this was added as a feature on the R5. (US Version Only)

HF Bands. This isn't the best receiver you can buy for shortwave listening and other HF DXing, however it does receive the stronger stations quite well at night. But don't expect great performance in this band.

AM Radio. Even with the built-in ferrite bar antenna, the AM reception stinks. You'd be better off going with a more dedicated AM radio if you were interested in that band. (A Kaito 1103 does well on AM and SWL).

VHF-Low Band. I don't have much in this band to monitor in my area. I have monitored some local VHF-low signals in the 37.000 range with good results. But no long distance monitoring.

VHF-High Band. This is where the Icom IC-R5 shines. It pulls in VHF High signals like nobody's business. I am extremely impressed with the receive capability in this range. I can consistently monitor VHF-High frequencies from 30 to 50 miles on a daily basis with ease. Now keep in mind I am not using the stock antenna. I use an extendable antenna that came off of a Pro-2055 scanner, but even with the stock antenna the little receiver does extremely well. But adding a band specific antenna really shows the receivers strength!

UHF Band. Again, very little UHF traffic in my area. I only have about 2 frequencies that are of interest to me in this area and I have not had an opportunity to test them on this receiver, sorry.

800 MHz Band. The R5 is decent on 800 MHz. I can pull in signals from 40 miles using 800 MHz band specific antenna however I cannot do this consistently. Usually late in the evening, is when these signals roll in. Almost everything within reasonable distance to me is P25 digital so I can only hear the data.

Civilian and Military Air. Again, the R5 is a good air band receiver and is why many people buy this receiver. It has the 8.33 step size that many air band enthusiast want in a receiver. It is very sensitive in the Civ Air band but also seems to be plagued with interference in this band range, at least in my area. MilAir is a little more tricky as I have only had the chance to catch a couple of active frequencies but seems to do well in this range, but is also plagued with interference.

Audio. Audio on the R5 is surprisingly loud for such a small receiver. It is loud enough for most mobile use situations. For indoor, it is more than powerful enough. It has crisp clean audio that does not distort at higher levels. I like the fact that the audio control is on the face, the up and down buttons control the volume. This can be easily changed for those who prefer the VFO knob to control volume levels.

Memory. The R5 has 1200 programmable memory channels. These store alphanumeric memories, frequency, mode, step size, duplex direction and offset, CTCSS or DCS and skip settings. The attenuator is global and is not applied per channel, which is a small disappointment, but nothing major. You can copy a memory channels contents to VFO or another memory channel which is handy for manual programming. You can have 1 priority channel as well and can "watch" it while memory is scanning, or VFO scanning.

Battery Consumption. I use Energizer 2500 mAh rechargeable batteries. They last approximately 10 to 12 hours while scanning with the LCD back light on 100% of the time. Truly a power sipping receiver! Great battery life! The battery life can be extended further by turning the back light off or to Auto (only comes on when pressing buttons).

Squelch. Squelch on the R5 is different in that it is digitally represented on the screen. You can set it to Open, Auto, or Level 1 - 9. I find that Auto works great on most everything. I use he Open mode when using it for AM or Shortwave Listening.

Dislikes. The Icom R5 is very difficult to use and understand the functions. If not for the programming software, I think I would have given up. The controls and programming steps are awkward to say the least. To be a great receiver, I almost was put off by the complexity of the operation of the receiver (and I am no rookie). This is not for the novice or weak of heart. If you do buy, do yourself the favor and get the programming software and programming cable. You will thank me! Don't expect the Owner's Manual to shed much light on the confusing interface. The OM is poorly written and is very hard to understand.

The R5 only allows bank scanning by 1 or all. Meaning you cannot link banks together and scan them. You can either scan 1 bank, or you can scan all banks. This is annoying at times, but can also be overcome by adding duplicate channels to banks. When programming, you have to add a frequency to the master list, and then assign it to a bank. So if you want 2 of the same frequencies in different banks, you have to add it twice to the master list and assign them to different banks. Just a minor annoyance.

The interference is annoying, but as stated earlier, if you use the Attenuator function and/or CTCSS/DCS feature, it cures that problem.

The lack of a full keypad is missed but does't really bother me that much. The missing keypad helps keep it's small footprint!

Missing chunks of the 800 MHz Band are another gripe from many users. The frequency ranges covered by the Icom R5 are from 0.15 to 823.995 MHz. 849.00 to 868.995 MHz. And 894.000 MHz to 1309.995 MHz. So anything above 868.995 up to 894.000 is missing (US version only). Some public safety agencies operate in parts of that range and may be a problem for some. Fortunately it was not a problem in my area.

I would have liked to have seen NFM mode and the 7.5 step size for Narrowband. It wasn't a deal breaker as most frequencies round up or down easily with no problems.

Some complain about the belt clip being flimsy but I purchased my R5 used and did not receive a belt clip.

Conclusion

The Icom IC-R5 is a great receiver. It far surpasses any handheld that I have used on VHF-High band. The little receiver has some drawbacks, however they aren't enough that you shouldn't enjoy the features and performance it has to offer. Universal Radio has them and numerous accessories at great prices. I got my Icom R5 used at a great deal that included software and programming cables. If you find a good deal, don't pass it up. If you need a "communications receiver" then I recommend the Icom IC-R5. If, on the other hand, you need a "scanner' then look elsewhere, because the R5 is not a "scanner." Obviously there are other features on the Icom R5 that aren't covered in this review. You can view a full list of specifications and features on the Icom America website.

If you are comparing the VR120 to the Icom R5, then you will have a tough decision to make. There are features on each that are appealing. The VR120 has an easier to use interface in my opinion. The audio on the R5 is much better. Both have near equal receive sensitivity. The VR120 has some very useful features like "One Touch Memory" where you can assign a frequency to a button on the receiver for quick access. Also the "Dual Watch" and "Preferential Memory Scan" are great features on the VR120 as well. If the Icom had those few features it would be near perfect! But the VR120 lacks the audio and CTCSS/DCS and a few other features to make it useful in day to day monitoring of multiple frequencies for me.

Performance, size, and features are enough to warrant the $150 to $200 price tag on the R5. A good solid receiver that is a true performer.