This is the second digital scanner I've owned. My first is a Radio Shack Pro-97 that I haven't used much other than to tune in my local CTAF and set aside because of a persistent hum through the headphone-out jack. I can't comment much on the functionality of the scanner because I'm fairly new to the hobby, however I was able to program in my local airports' CTAFs, Approach, Tower, and Ground frequencies using
this slightly inaccurate guide.
My first thoughts about the BC125AT are that it seems ruggedly built (could take a fall,) and feels very comfortable in the hand. Reception seems good. I may hook up an external antenna to hopefully pick up some ground chat from the airport that's a mile from my house.
A couple of things that I was disappointed about were:
- There is no indication of a full charge; and there doesn't seem to be any circuitry detecting a full charge. This confused me for some time because when I first got it, I plugged it into the A/C charger (which I didn't realize was just a USB adapter of which I have many of already!) and charged it overnight. It still said CHARGING in the morning, so I took it to work and plugged it in for another 8 hours. Still CHARGING. The reason seems to be that there is a user-adjustable timer for charging the batteries that gets reset to 14 hrs every time the USB cord is connected. However, it came with 2300 hr NI-MH batteries that lasted over 8 hrs with constant use, so I was very impressed with the charge effectiveness.
- The keypad isn't illuminated. Maybe people that use scanners in their sleep know where the keys are, but it is very difficult for a newbie as myself to get much done when it's dark other than viewing the LCD screen (which is very readable.)
