By Robb Wise

 

Rating: 4.5/10 (Under Average)

 

Pros:

 

- Good on UHF
- Easy to programme
- Cheap to buy
- Great preset scanning groups (e.g. Marine, UHF CB.)

 

Cons:

 

- Adequate for VHF coverage – a bit “temperamental”
- Only 100 channels, doesn’t always have enough
- Outdated presets for Police and Railroad

 

Frequency range:

 

530-1.7Mhz, 25-50.745Mhz, 70-174Mhz, 400-512Mhz. Does not pick up EDACS on 800Mhz.

 

Price:

$139-145AU

 

The first thing any scanner enthusiast contemplates is price. We don’t want something cheap and nasty but we also don’t necessarily need something over pricey with features we’ll never use. The UBC340CRS is the cheapest Uniden scanner on the market at $139AU which makes people wonder if it is any good – lucky this is a review to answer the question.

 

This scanner reminds me of the UBC72XLT due to the similar layout. It has 100 channels and 10 in each bank. It has just enough channels to listen to most services, however if you like to test out new frequencies or have a big list than you may wish to consider another scanner with more channels.

 

The radio allows battery operation by 3 AA batteries so you can use this as both a desktop and portable scanner, however the batteries will not be recharged by the supplied adaptor, and it will require them to be manually recharged in your battery recharger.

 

Performance is an interesting question to answer. Firstly I was warned that it would not do very well. UHF reception is fine and what one would expect from any normal scanner. VHF reception is okay it has in fact outdone the UBCT9 on the Ambulance Mt. Faulkner frequency but struggles to hear the fire brigade. I am still trying to get the antenna just right and find VHF coverage to be temperamental. This is an issue which is annoying and explains the cheapness of this scanner. I use this scanner to hear TAS and TFS and to my surprise it picks up 413.700 better than any other scanner I have! How bizarre! It gives good reception for Mt. Faulkner’s repeater of TAS but somehow is struggling to accept TFS. I will keep tweaking and I’m sure eventually it will work but be warned that you may also encounter this issue.

 

The preset features work like clockwork and have no problems. It offers UHF CB, AM CB, Marine as well as Airband, Railroad and Police. Of course Railroad and Police are not on the frequencies Uniden has preset – why are they behind the times? The Frequency CD that comes with the Scanner also is very inaccurate.

 

The speaker is small but nice, the tone is good providing a good balance of treble and bass and when 3/4 turned provides good volume, I admit it could be a litter louder.

 

The screen is a good size and has a backlight that activates for about 6 seconds at a time. Operation is easy and you will probably not even look at the manual. The buttons are a good size, unlike other scanners that are too crammed - it is all layed out with nice spacing.

 

The receiver is light and is made from a good sturdy plastic, the 2 knobs are easy to turn with a metal casing, the design isn’t too bad at all – nice curves.

There is a good search feature too, atleast one would think - you can set an upper and lower limit to search the airwaves for services, however the feature does not work from 50Mhz upwards making this feature deciving to the buyer.

 

As the scanner takes 12V DC it could be possible to use this in the car.

 

To conclude, I would recommend this scanner for data decoding, a back up or as a scanner used for UHF scanning as it does this well and plus it has a quick scanning speed. I would not recommend much VHF usage as results can vary. Especially in the 70-80Mhz segment. If you are impatient and likely to throw the scanner out the window in anoyance when VHF works on some frequencies and not others then try another scanner!