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BC125AT Scanner

Setup and programming notes for a Uniden BC125AT handheld scanner in Seattle. See also my radio stations note.

button sequences I forget

Do this Press
Hold on current channel Hold
Jump to channel # Hold → number → Hold
Mute/unmute a bank number key 1–0 while scanning
Lock out junk L/O once = temp · twice = permanent
Quick-search from a freq Hold → type freq → Hold
Service Search Func → Srch/Svc
Close Call menu Func → Hold → Close Call Mode
Weather Func → 3 (WX)
Program a channel Hold → ch# → Pgm/E → Enter Frequency → Pgm/E → freq → Pgm/E
Store a freq on the fly (in Scan Hold) type freq → Pgm/E

Modes by band. AM: aircraft (108–137), mil-air (225–380), CB. FM: marine, NOAA, ham. NFM: railroad, GMRS/FRS, MURS, business.

key frequencies

NOAA Seattle 162.550 FM – KHB60, Cougar Mtn. Always on; use it to set squelch.

Seaplanes 122.900 AM – CTAF for the lakes.

Marine 16 156.800 FM – distress / calling. Bridges on Ch 13 (156.650), Seattle Traffic VTS on Ch 14 (156.700).

Sea-Tac 119.900 AM – tower; approach 120.100. Boeing Field tower 118.300.

BNSF Seattle 161.160 NFM – main-line road channel.

PSRG 146.960 FM – busiest analog ham repeater (daily nets).

To find a repeater’s tone, set the channel to CTCSS/DCS Search. It displays the tone in use but still opens on any signal.

listening without programming

  1. Squelch: set on NOAA 162.550 (lower until it opens, then +1–2 past where the hiss stops). I run 3.
  2. Service Search: Func → Srch/Svc. Enable Marine, Civil Air, Railroad, Ham, FRS/GMRS (keys 1–0); turn off Police and Fire. Press Scan.
  3. Close Call DND on for passive background hits. Bands on: 108–137, 137–174, 320–512. Off: 25–54, 225–320.
  4. Double-tap L/O on junk it keeps stopping on. Twice = permanent, and the scan stays quiet. If it stops with no audio, that’s a birdie (internal spur, worst around the 16 MHz CPU clock), not a signal.
  5. On busy channels, a negative delay (−5, −10) caps the dwell at N seconds then force-resumes instead of waiting for a reply.

Police and fire moved to PSERN (P25 trunked), so this radio won’t hear them.

programming from a Mac

The included cable enumerates as a standard USB serial device, no driver needed. bc125csv is the native tool. CHIRP does not support this radio; Uniden’s own software is Windows only.

$ ls /dev/cu.usbmodem*                          # confirm it's connected
$ pip3 install git+https://github.com/fdev/bc125csv
$ bc125csv export -o backup-factory.csv         # dump first (backup)
$ bc125csv verify -i seattle.csv                # check offline
$ bc125csv import -i seattle.csv                # write to radio

CSV columns (no header row): Channel, Name, Frequency, Modulation, CTCSS/DCS, Delay, Lockout, Priority. Leave CTCSS empty.

Factory reset if the config gets wedged: hold 2 + 9 + Hold on power-on (clears all memory). Then re-import the backup CSV.

10-bank layout

1 Air-Civil · 2 Marine · 3 Weather · 4 Railroad · 5 Ham 2 m · 6 Ham 70 cm / 220 · 7 GMRS/FRS · 8 MURS · 9 Mil-Air / CB · 10 (local finds)

Set Marine 16 and NOAA 162.550 as priority channels. Grow bank 10 from a Custom Search of 150–162 NFM and 451–470 NFM, and cross-check the RadioReference King County database. Frequencies drift.

antenna

The stock rubber duck is fine for strong nearby signals. A Diamond RH77CA BNC whip (~$23) is clearly better on VHF-high (marine, NOAA, rail, 2 m, GMRS). For a permanent home setup, a discone outside beats any whip across the whole band.

the radio

Analog only (AM/FM/NFM), conventional only, 25–512 MHz with gaps. No trunking, no digital. Hears aircraft, marine, weather, rail, ham, GMRS/FRS.