The Uniden BC340CRS and BC370CRS are conventional analog-only small desktop scanners. They are similar in appearance, but of course the 370 has some very nice additional features.
I would not recommend them for those just starting out scanning, unless they knew for sure that they are only interested in the services that are using the older formats and channelization steps - like amateur, marine, airband(s), or local systems that have yet to go trunking or digital.
Both are easy to use, since they are the old-school bank/channel setup. The 340 has only 100 memories in 10 banks, whereas the 370 has 300 memories in 10 banks. The chart in the 370 manual for memory management is wrong - it shows 30 banks of 10 memories, yet the description of the memories is correct. So it is either 10 banks of 10 channels for the 340, and 10 banks of 30 channels for the 370.
Strangely enough, the box for the 370 does not show any coverage for mil-air, although it is definitely there!
Frequency coverage for the 340 stops at 512 mhz. The 370 goes all the way up to 956 mhz, but remember that these are analog-only, non-trunking, non digital, no pl, no attenuator, AND no pc-programmable units!
One of the major reasons why I'd choose a 370 over a 340 is not only for the extended coverage up to 956 mhz, but also it covers MIL-AIR 225-380 mhz! Sensitivity on both units is respectable, in fact the milair sensitivity specs are the same as the vhf airband sensitivity specs - and in actual use is more sensitive than any recent GRE/RS product that covers milair.
Scanning speed isn't too shabby at 60cps for the 340, and 70 cps for the 370.
Audio is plentiful and clean, although don't expect it to be louder than commercial radio offerings. On the back is a 32-ohm headphone jack, which has very good fidelity - almost too good if you use high-fidelity earbuds. Note that if your systems use PL, you may get tired of hearing the PL in the earbuds, whereas these low frequencies are not heard from the front-speaker. The headphone jacks are inconveniently on the back side of the unit - I imagine this was partially for safety so no children would be tempted to drop paperclips into the headphone jack if they were on the front.
The 370 has an NIST/WWV sync'ed clock, although that feature can be turned off. 8 time zones can be selected, including DST and GMT. It is unfortunate that the S-meter is only for the clock, and not the scanner, although with only 3 bars, the usefullness for scanning is not really missed.
Only the 370 has Weather/All Hazards alert - even when the unit is turned off. EAS alerts can be monitored from the AM/FM and of course NOAA channels. Up to 4 FIPS codes can be programmed and there is a relay output on the back for these alerts. Alerts will sound a tone, open the squelch, and the message will show up in the display. The 340 lacks weather alerting.
Both units use three AA batteries for backup, and are non rechargeable in the case. They have provided me many hours of service on their own, and make it easy to transport from room to room.
The clock-radio functions do their job, so I won't concentrate on that here.
To receive the standard AM broadcast stations, one has to use the supplied loop antenna included with the unit and place it somewhere.
Overall, I find them to be very useful if you want to unload some local conventional channels off your other scanners, or perhaps it would make a GREAT gift for retired or budding aviators who might not really be into scanning, but would love to monitor their local systems without a lot of complication. The addition of milair for the 370 makes it an even better gift for a military or future military aviator just getting their feet wet.
Of course, the cool thing to do would be to pre-program it for them prior to gifting it.
Both units come with that frustrating telescopic from Uniden that usually goes into a drawer immediately due to that funky connector they use. I don't know why they even make it, since a 90-degree bnc and a simple telescopic would make for a better connection.
I would not recommend them for those just starting out scanning, unless they knew for sure that they are only interested in the services that are using the older formats and channelization steps - like amateur, marine, airband(s), or local systems that have yet to go trunking or digital.
Both are easy to use, since they are the old-school bank/channel setup. The 340 has only 100 memories in 10 banks, whereas the 370 has 300 memories in 10 banks. The chart in the 370 manual for memory management is wrong - it shows 30 banks of 10 memories, yet the description of the memories is correct. So it is either 10 banks of 10 channels for the 340, and 10 banks of 30 channels for the 370.
Strangely enough, the box for the 370 does not show any coverage for mil-air, although it is definitely there!
Frequency coverage for the 340 stops at 512 mhz. The 370 goes all the way up to 956 mhz, but remember that these are analog-only, non-trunking, non digital, no pl, no attenuator, AND no pc-programmable units!
One of the major reasons why I'd choose a 370 over a 340 is not only for the extended coverage up to 956 mhz, but also it covers MIL-AIR 225-380 mhz! Sensitivity on both units is respectable, in fact the milair sensitivity specs are the same as the vhf airband sensitivity specs - and in actual use is more sensitive than any recent GRE/RS product that covers milair.
Scanning speed isn't too shabby at 60cps for the 340, and 70 cps for the 370.
Audio is plentiful and clean, although don't expect it to be louder than commercial radio offerings. On the back is a 32-ohm headphone jack, which has very good fidelity - almost too good if you use high-fidelity earbuds. Note that if your systems use PL, you may get tired of hearing the PL in the earbuds, whereas these low frequencies are not heard from the front-speaker. The headphone jacks are inconveniently on the back side of the unit - I imagine this was partially for safety so no children would be tempted to drop paperclips into the headphone jack if they were on the front.
The 370 has an NIST/WWV sync'ed clock, although that feature can be turned off. 8 time zones can be selected, including DST and GMT. It is unfortunate that the S-meter is only for the clock, and not the scanner, although with only 3 bars, the usefullness for scanning is not really missed.
Only the 370 has Weather/All Hazards alert - even when the unit is turned off. EAS alerts can be monitored from the AM/FM and of course NOAA channels. Up to 4 FIPS codes can be programmed and there is a relay output on the back for these alerts. Alerts will sound a tone, open the squelch, and the message will show up in the display. The 340 lacks weather alerting.
Both units use three AA batteries for backup, and are non rechargeable in the case. They have provided me many hours of service on their own, and make it easy to transport from room to room.
The clock-radio functions do their job, so I won't concentrate on that here.
To receive the standard AM broadcast stations, one has to use the supplied loop antenna included with the unit and place it somewhere.
Overall, I find them to be very useful if you want to unload some local conventional channels off your other scanners, or perhaps it would make a GREAT gift for retired or budding aviators who might not really be into scanning, but would love to monitor their local systems without a lot of complication. The addition of milair for the 370 makes it an even better gift for a military or future military aviator just getting their feet wet.
Of course, the cool thing to do would be to pre-program it for them prior to gifting it.
Both units come with that frustrating telescopic from Uniden that usually goes into a drawer immediately due to that funky connector they use. I don't know why they even make it, since a 90-degree bnc and a simple telescopic would make for a better connection.