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 is a nice looking radio with a lot of options. First Ill explain a problem that I had because I didnt understand very well about single sideband transmission. When I installed my radio I ran it through the Diagnostic feature that is built into the radio (nice feature!). This feature allows you to test the Antenna load mismatch, RF power level and battery voltage. When I checked the RF Power output on the amplitude modulation function (normal CB mode) of the radio it showed a PASS in the diagnostic mode. However, when I switched to either the Upper or Lower Sideband function, the RF Power showed a Failure. I called Tech Support at Uniden and they said the radio must be bad and that I should return it. So I did. But, the second radio did the same thing. So I went to Amazon and asked a Community Question about what I was experiencing. Several knowledgeable people responded and educated me about SSB. Bottom line is that when the radio is in SSB mode, there is no RF Power produced until you speak into the mike. Consequently, the diagnostic will show a FAIL when testing SSB transmissions. The other thing that has been mentioned in many of the reviews is the brightness (or lack of brightness) of the digital display. And, this is a very real problem. While it is nice to have seven color display options, only one option (white) even comes close to providing enough illumination to be used in daylight, and it is still not quite enough. And that is after turning LCD Brightness and Contrast to the maximum levels. The fact is that on a sunny day, it is hard to read the display. Doable, but difficult. Another complaint in many of the reviews is the beep that occurs every time that you change something on the radio. But, that beep can be shut off!!!! (if your radio was manufactured after 2015). However, I have not found the beep to be annoying. In fact, since it is hard to see the display in bright light, it is convenient to hear the beep to know that you made what ever change on the radio that youre trying to make. And here is a comment about the Single Sideband function. I decided to get the 980 ssb because it was only about twenty three dollars more than the Bearcat 880 . And I figured that I might find the ssb function useful at some point. And while that may someday prove true, right now Im discovering that there is not much benefit in having the ssb function. If what you really want is just the CB and the 880 already puts you at the extreme of what you want to pay for a radio, but you are struggling because you think you might benefit from having the 980ssb, rest assured, at least from my point-of-view, you will not miss the ssb function. This 980ssb seems like a really good radio overall and I do not hesitate to recommend it or its non ssb counterpart the Bearcat 880 (which is exactly the same radio less the ssb function.)

Used radio didnt work at all not NEW! will be throwing it out garbage....will buy else where like a real CB store.Update my apprehension was wrong a bit,wasnt garbage like I thought it was.The radio was in fact tuned,was able to reach far out in other states.

Cant add much more than the other positive reviews except that when powered by a power supply indoors (12.5 volts) output power is 3 watts AM, 9 watts SSB. When running off of truck/alternator (13.8 - 14.3 volts) output power is dead on 4 watts AM, 10-12 watts SSB and have not made any internal adjustments. Also, as far as the screen scratching easily, I agree. My solution was to get a screen protector for a Sony PSP handheld game system and trim it to fit with an x-acto knife and a straight-edge. Made contacts from Midwest to New York, Northern Idaho, Ontario-Niagara Falls and Puerto Rico on SSB with good reports on my audio. I have this paired up with a Solarcon I-Max 2000 antenna and no radial kit running barefoot. Overall very happy with this radio and purchased another. Recommended. ***UPDATE*** My second radio stopped transmitting and the screen started going nuts 15 days after purchase. Amazon was great and sent out a replacement with 2-day shipping. I have to knock off 1 star for the transmit and screen going out. I do understand anything made on an assembly line will produce a few lemons out of the bunch but I have read of this happening to others and hope it is not a common occurrence. My first radio is still working great. I will update if anything else goes wrong. I do give amazon 5 stars for their great customer service. *****UPDATE 12/17/2016***** I purchased another one of these and it was way off frequency on receive and transmit. Contacted amazon and they sent another one very quickly. The replacement looked used (packaging looked like it had been removed, radio had large grey, possibly paint, thumbprint on back of radio, would not wipe off). This one was way off frequency also and was sent back for a refund. This is a newer design Amazon is currently selling and the model is 980SSBW (maybe the W designates worse), the older ones were model 980SSB and they are good radios. Uniden also dropped the warranty from 2 years on the older model 980 to one year on the newer 980s, that is very telling of the quality. I recently had a bad experience with two different Galaxy DX-979s (See my review, they both had receive problems). All the CB radio manufacturers seem to be making their radios in Vietnam now and I think the quality is suffering. I wonder if they use calibrated frequency counters when building these new Uniden 980s or maybe the workers are rushed or dont care. Uniden needs to step up their game on these radios. If Uniden would make their service manuals available maybe these radios would not have to be sent back when the frequency is off. I dont know what is going on with the radios going out used. I was told by an Amazon customer rep that returns dont get resold, but There are other reviewers that stated they received used radios also. Maybe Uniden is repackaging factory serviced units as new. I really like the two 980s I purchased in 2015 but these new ones are lesser radios in my opinion.

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.

Very good radio if paired with a good tuned antenna

Unidens mid-size Bearcat 980 SSB sets a gold standard for modern consumer-grade CB radios. The array of features, such as scan functionality, CB/PA/NOAA Wx, customizable screen colors, on-board diagnostics and single-sideband, are -- in my area, at least -- usually found in much more expensive radios. The 980s most direct consumer-grade competitor might be Cobras 29. The Cobra has many of these features for a similar price, but lacks the sideband that affords the 980 effectively 80 additional channels. Signals, even at the edge of reception, are incredibly crisp and clear. The sound quality is impressive, if slightly soft in my soft-top Jeep. In my first attempt at raising someone on the radio, I made a contact from my driveway that measured less than a tenth of a mile shy of five miles. The other party reported my signal was strong, loud and clear. (That’s a barefoot radio and the stock mic, pushing out on a four-foot Wilson Silver Load fiberglass antenna.) Its not the fault of the radio per se, but I do have to keep the squelch up a little higher than I’d like to drown out RF interference picked up via the antenna while Im in town. Id prefer to keep the squelch almost all the way down and use the RF gain control to dial in signal reception. But, since the 980s RF gain consists of five steps (push-button) rather than a dial, its a bit more difficult. As a result, the squelch stays up higher, and the RF gain a bit lower (setting 3 out of 5) than Id like. Out of the box, before any adjustment, my SWRs ranged from 1.0 (Channel 1) to 1.5:1 (Channel 40). Ive only two complaints with the 980: First, switching from night to day mode is slightly cumbersome. The CB-only Bearcat 880 employs a simple button to toggle back and forth. With the 980s single-sideband functionality, this is moved into the menu to make room for a clarifier knob. It’s not complicated, but it’s more than I’d like to do when the vehicle is potentially in motion. Second, the plastic used for the volume and fine clarifier knob feel of lesser quality than Id expect in a radio of this size or price range. Theyre holding up just fine, but its a shame that at least one of the controls youre most likely to use should feel inferior. Overall, this radio is a bargain!

Purchased for husband’s birthday. He installed and began using it pretty quickly.

The volume on the radio does not work out of the box couldnt tell if the rest of it worked or not there was no volume

Works good enough for me out of the box with factory Volvo coax and antenna (with that stupid multiplexer system). Lots of nice features compared to my old Cobra 29NW/ST. This thing even picks up the weather bands so much better than my cobra, despite a few other reviews saying the contrary. I bought the insurance Amazon offers just in case the screen takes a crap.

UPDATED REVIEW: I picked mine in September 2014. My initial review gave 5 stars, but my Bearcat 980 stopped transmitting after 6 1/2 months. Ive used CB radios for close to 40 years, so Im pretty familiar with whats out there. I take good care of mine. My closet has a small warehouse of about 30 different CB radios accumulated over time and put to use in various applications - mostly camping and boating. An additional CB radio was not needed, but I got too good a deal to pass this one up...or so I thought. The Uniden Bearcat 980 SSB mobile has an amazing number of features. The built in SWR meter and mic gain alone will save you $100.00 in additional components that you otherwise would have to buy. The best part is that they really work! I tweaked the mic gain adjustment and regularly got compliments on the audio quality of my transmission using just the stock microphone. Theres no need for an amplified mic. Other features include talk back, SWR warning, PA, RF gain, scan, weather channels, bright/dim control, color selection for your read outs, noise limiter/noise blanker, diagnostics (voltage in and RF out), etc. It has so many features, Im was reluctant to use it in the car. Id be so busy playing with all of the features that I could easily take my eyes off the road. Its short life span was spent exclusively as a base. On the down side, the radio only put out 3 watts instead of the legal limit of 4 watts on AM. Similarly, it put out about 10.6 watts instead of the allowable 12 in SSB mode. The below-specs output seems to be a common problem with new radios. On the other hand, the tolerances on this unit were great. It was consistently right on frequency. Other high profile manufacturers have problems with their radios drifting off frequency. Not Uniden. In the big picture, I was willing to live with the 3 watt output and enjoy everything else this unit did right. Unfortunately, my Bearcat 980 died an early death. It stopped transmitting after 6 1/2 months. Uniden requires that warranty repair be initiated by the seller. My seller ignored my requests and simply did not respond. Amazon stepped up to the plate and refunded me my money with no non-sense. Amazon is now selling these for $105.00. That would be a steal for a single side band radio, but I have seen too many reports on various radio websites about Uniden Bearcat 980 failures. Considering the reliability issues that are coming to light, Im going to pass on replacing this one - even at the bargain price Amazon is now offering them at. I now using a 23 year old Cobra 148GTL in the spot where I previously had the Uniden Bearcat 980. The 148 GTL sits next to a 34 year old Realistic Navaho TRC 490 SSB base. My Uniden Bearcat 980 experience confirms for me that they dont make CB radios like they used to.