BC125AT vs SR30C

[Germanicus23]

What are the main differences between these two scanners? I ordered the 125AT from Amazon but it says its going to take over a month before it is delivered. I can order the SR30C and have it next week. Is there any reason to wait for the 125AT? I will be mostly using whichever scanner for listening to aviation. Is the SR30C more or less capable?

 

[letarotor]

The SR30C does not have the military aviation band. The BC125AT does. If you're interested in aviation, you probably want that 225 MHz - 380 MHz military aviation frequency coverage.

Brian
COMMSCAN

 

[Scan125]

A small assumption here is that the SR30C is the same as the BC75XLT (I believe) except that the SR30C has more channels/banks.

Given that then these to pages detail the 125 series and 75 series functions/features in comparable table formats for easy reading.

125 Series Scanners

75 Series Scanners

If anyone has an SRC30C and would like to try Scan75 with their SR30C then contact me via my website and we can work together. Note! currently Scan75 will not recognise an SR30C but this is easily fixed for testing purposes.

 

[djs9164]

BC 125 also has alpha tagging.

 

[letarotor]

BC 125 also has alpha tagging.

I haven't really looked at the SR30C other than to see the basics on it when it came out. I did not realize it didn't even have alpha tagging. I've had my BC125AT for about 3 years and I've programmed it strictly with military frequencies including the VHF frequencies near the 2 meter band. What sold me on it was being able to have a 500 channel scanner that would allow me to change the mode to AM down there in the VHF range and of course it allowed me to monitor almost all of the UHF military band. I do wish it went up to 399.975, but around my area that's not too important today since there's a DOD TRS that uses the 380-400 MHz portion of the band and there's not as much military traffic there anymore. It actually is a good receiver and does a great job on the military and civilian aviation bands and I've been pleased with it. Mine was on sale for $89 back when I got it. Uniden usually runs that kind of sale at least once or twice a year I've noticed.

Brian
COMMSCAN

 

[Scan125]

BC 125 also has alpha tagging.

Indeed. the 125 has channel name tagging and the 75 not.

Not sure about the SR30C as I've not yet dug deeper into it.

 

[SteveSimpkin]

The SR30C does not have alpha tagging for channels. That would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[Scan125]

For me and Scan75 supporting the SR30C is going to be a little easier then.

At last count there were 523 users of Scan75 (based on downloads). To add SR30C users to the list would be great.

HOWEVER! Let us not detract from the OP query of BC125AT vs SR30C (or even the older 75XLT). I think people will say/support the BC125AT as being the better all round scanner compared to the SR30C. That said we don't know what 75 issues/updates, e.g. firmware/bugs/sensitivity/circuit upgrades etc. (other than number of storage channels) have been made to the SR30C.

Hopefully peopoe with both the 75XLT and the SR30C can chip in with relevant info. I guess the same goes for 125 and SR30C dual ownership as well. I say this/these because the SR30C is a 2019 model and thus post dates the 75 and 125 scanners by a few years.

 

[Scan125]

I've just gone through the SR30C and BC75XLT manuals and the only differences I can find are:

1) SR30C has 500 channels (10 banks of 50) compared to the BC75XLT 300 channels (10 banks of 30)
2) SR30C has Two Level Backlight (Off, 1, 2) compared to the BV75XLT Off/On only

On this basis I'm going to add the SR30C to the Scan75 Control Program support.

 

[N9JIG]

The SR30C replaced the BC75XLT, they even have the same FCC ID prefix (372). The SR30C updated a few things already mentioned (extra channels, backlight). I assume that they had run out of some parts for the next run and replaced the memory section with a larger one or for some other similar type of reason updated the bottom rung of the scanner ladder. How they came up with the name is anyone's guess.

The 125 is in a very similar case to the 75/30C with the addition of MilAir, 500 channels, alpha tagging and CTCSS/DPL capabilities. For an extra $30 the 125 is a great bargain and I usually point people that way for a aviation or railfanning scanner.

 

[Scan125]

If one is looking for Civil Air Band only then the Yaesu FTA-250(L) is a really professional and certified air-band hand held transceiver.

Features (some) that set it apart from other lesser models are:

• Weatherproof/Waterproof - IPX5 rating
• Rugged inner chassis
• Li-Ion batteries - large capacity 1950 and 2500mAh
• Aviation headset connections/compatibility
• Dual Watch
• Dedicated 121.5 channel/watch ability
• Proper certified 8.33 channel operation

The downsides are:

• It is more expensive
• Being of a more solid, less hollow cavity design the audio is not quite as "full/boomy"
• So far nobody does a "full control" program for it, however Yaesu do have a free program to program all the channels and features but this has no remote/full control ability
• To PC program you need Yaesu's interface cable

NOTE / CAUTION. this is a transceiver and you must not use the transmit (TX) capability unless you are legally allowed/licensed to. So if you are not a pilot or ground support etc. then you can not and must not use the TX facility. This said the PTT button can be locked in the setup menus (avoids in advertent errors) and also be set to be a "Scan" button.

 

[N4DJC]

Having owned both, the 30 was okay for local rail where most already know the frequencies by heart. The numeric display is larger and easier to read for those with vision issues.

Frequency range, alpha tagging, inability to set mode per frequency, are negatives.

The difference in price is negligible.

Sore spot with both scanners is no key backlight and short battery life.

 

[Scan125]

I've just gone through the SR30C and BC75XLT manuals and the only differences I can find are:

1) SR30C has 500 channels (10 banks of 50) compared to the BC75XLT 300 channels (10 banks of 30)
2) SR30C has Two Level Backlight (Off, 1, 2) compared to the BV75XLT Off/On only

On this basis I'm going to add the SR30C to the Scan75 Control Program support.

Well I now have a RR User beta testing Scan75 on the SR30C scanner. In addition to SR30C support Scan75 has be heavily updated (long over due) to bring it in line with Scan125. If the beta testing goes well then I'll be releasing Scan75 soon. If we hit major issues with the SR30C then I'll release Scan75 anyway and SR30C users will have to take dot release/patches on top of the main release.