Uniden BEARCAT 980 40- Channel SSB CB Radio with Sideband NOAA WeatherBand,7- Color Digital Display PA/CB Switch and Noise Cancelling Mic, Wireless Mic Compatible

This new uniden 40 channel cb ssb mobile radio is no doubt a winner except for the annoying beeping when performing functions as simple as changing channels . Radio output was down 2 watts on am and 6 watts on ssb as others have mentioned. We easily found the 2 pots inside the radio to adjust both power levels am to 4 watts and ssb to 12 watts . I will give it a 8 out of 10 and is a definite keeper .I now have plans to purchase another just to keep in the house sometime after xmas 2012 . We was very happy to find that the sideband frequencies were aligned properly at the factory on lsb and usb. I left the radio on for 48 hours to burn it in and there was no drifting period on sideband. The receiver was very quiet and when needed the noise blanker took out any noise . We easily heard a station on 38 lsb 50 miles away on our base antenna at the house for those wanting to try sideband at home. While trying to talk locally in the midwest we had several stations in california commenting about the transmit audio quality of this 4 lb radio .Yes it is very light weight and will be a easy install in the car. Below is a added plus in my book ........ Having the 7 noaa weather channels will be a plus on long trips to keep track of changing weather conditions on vacations with the weather alert function .We took a vacation trip to Wyoming last year and ran right into bad weather up in the high country of NW Nebraska 80+ mph winds . Had we had the weather warnings we could have avoided the 2 lane highway and stayed on the major I 80 interstate instead we was 50 miles up the road in the middle of no where before we seen what was headed right at us. !!!If you want a radio that can be modified for extra illegal channels This is not your radio !!!

This CB works quite well. It receives signals better than I thought it would, and seems to be putting out a decent amount of wattage with a variety of antennas. a Cobra unit had outrput problems, so I had to send back...twice. It has a load of features, including weather and SSB, which I have yet to use. The only complain I have is that the readout is a bit dim to be seen in daylight, no matter what color you put it on. Too bad as it has a nice look t it at night. I was also able to figure out a way to mount it in a 2014 F150.

Radio has a lot of features but does not come calibrated. Took quite a while to calibrate the channels where they need to be

Awesome looking radio. Easy to adjust vr pots for best performance. Great on side band, no drift. You will not find a new radio with the features of the Uniden Bearcat 980. Now the 4 star comes from the SMT board this radio uses. There are NO MODS out for the radio because the radio is run by a cpu. The radio beeps EVERYTIME you push a button or change the channel. The beep can be turned off by removing a very small resistor on the smt board, hard to see but easy enough to do. There is no mod for extra channels. But for a first time ssb radio or a great sounding stable ssb radio this can not be beat. Get a power mic and your good to go. Size is about the same as a cobra 29 ltd but not as deep. If you want a LOUD radio to freeband with this is not for you. I love mine and will live without extra channels

This radio lets you test SWR. Has mic gain, Rf gain, and noise blocking.

I absolutely love this radio. All the features and accessibility make this the best Ive owned so far. I was skeptical at first due to some of the negative reviews on Amazon, but after playing with it all day today, Im glad I bought it. It can be peaked and tuned though its set perfect out of the box. Doesnt drift at all and the internal diagnostics is a plus though Im not sure how accurate it is. I purchased this as a replacement from a burned up unit, so I thought. Old one wouldnt transmit and it was very old. Plugged in my new, cheaper antenna to this one and the diagnostic test failed the antenna. Actually metered it finally and sure enough my antenna is bad. So I threw away my old unit for nothing Im sure. Albeit aside, Im more than happy with the clarity out of this one and is a huge upgrade from what I had. Weather bands sound great. Memory scan and full channel scan as well as side band are great features. Can fine tune everything quite easily. I watched a single YouTube video about this radio and thats all I needed. No need to break out the manual for this unit. Once you get the idea, its very simple to navigate through all the features. I put this one in my 2014 Silverado z71 right in the center console. Easy power access and ability to hide all the wires. Looks like it belongs. Highly recommend this unit for new or seasoned operators. Just make sure you dont skimp on the antenna. Ill be buying another Firestick and mounting opposite my radio antenna on the hood. I would also recommend not getting a roof mount antenna for this unit. From other reviews, the cb will fail the diagnostics test. Get a good center load and ground it properly and make sure its tuned right. Order a Firestix antenna as well Walcott radio has the best prices.

good unit for the price I have been around cb for a number of years I like the colors and easy scan different channels only issue I am having is my aerial

Ive had the exact same model of this CB for many years without any issues. The display on the old one started becoming dim when it got warm and I was unable to read it (a known issue with this model), so I opted to purchase a new one just like it. What a mistake. First, the display is very dim on its highest setting. Hard to read in bright light. (that never happens outside!) Second, I was unable to get an SWR below 2.3. Three different antennas--same thing. Power output was ~2 watts, half of what it should be. On a different radio, SWR about 1.1 on each antenna with ~4 watt output. I was really hoping this would be a good radio like the old one I have. I love its features and the fact it is SSB. With a couple mods and better QC, this would be the radio to have! Returned it for a refund as I dont know what I want to get now. My 15 yr old Cobra SSB still works great!

Pros: 1) Good solid state typical well designed Uniden radio/unit! Cons: 1) There is no real time clock, so the dim profile display lighting settings do not revert automatically during the morning hours. As such, during the daytime, manual setting to the daytime brighter display setting is required with a display not easily viewed due to being too dimly lit. (Luckily the display brightness/contrast profile setting is the first menu item!) 2) Can be not bright enough or not enough contrast during daytime, and/or not dark enough during night time. My Uniden BCD996T had an inverted display, and the inverted display is more easily dimmed during nighttime use and/or easily bright enough during daytime?? 3) Corded microphone is a little on the weak side? 4) Does not seem to scan the frequencies as fast as some of Unidens other units. 5) No mic key signal, albeit most CB mic key sound effects (AKA roger beeps) are horrid sounding versus the more professional FM/VHF radios which typically use something called wait tones and are usually extremely brief. TIP: Make sure you buy a good CB antenna, and tune the antenna by adjusting the antenna length and the 980SSB menu antenna tuning option!

Excellent price verses truck stops!!! Great product right out of the box