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

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!

WOKS GOOD LIKE THE FEATCHERS .

It is as advertised

The built in SWR meter is accurate and easy to use. I verified the reading with an external SWR meter. Power output is at specification when using a tuned antenna. The supplied microphone is adequate for mobile use but a good power mic does improve sound quality and reduce distortion. Good radio.

Let me start by saying that I have owned many CB Radios over the years, different brands and styles, and I always end up back to a Uniden. This Uniden Bearcat 980 is a great general use CB radio, receives and transmits very well when paired up with a good quality antenna. The only downfall I have found with this CB is the display lights on the front, very hard to see the display such as channels etc. when in direct sunlight or bright light such as during the day in your vehicle. The display cannot be adjusted bright enough to counteract the brightness of daylight so it is downright impossible to see the display at certain times of day. I gave this radio 4 stars because it is absolutely a great CB, 1 star knocked off due to the dim display light that can’t be seen well in bright light.

First set up as an inverted V in the attic, and the SWR was bad enough that I couldn’t use the radio; the company was no help. I changed the configuration to an L and the SWR improved and showed that the legs had to be shortened. I just folded the ends just before the plastic insulators to shorten the legs by about 3”. The SWR went from above 3:5 to about 1:0 to 1:1± on all channels (by the radio’s SWR meter). I am within five miles of an industrial area with a major rail to truck terminal, and I know that at least one business uses 19 to contact incoming trucks, so I should get a lot of traffic on 19, but so far, I don’t. I’m giving a four for the SWR, but I’ll edit this review if I don’t feel that I’m receiving correctly.

as far as the radio goes it is very good and user friendly,the problem is that it is am with side band,here in australia am is not popular cb so I have limited access to other am users,mind you this is not the sets fault it is mine as when i ordered it I didnt reaslise what it was,the limited use I have had the set functions very well you can see i have given it 4 stars and I think it derserves it,I have since purchased a uniden uh7750nb cb and have both mounted in my 4 wheel drive,guess I have the best of both worlds a mistake that may have put me in a great position when on the road,the bearcat blends well with the rest of the equipment I have mounted in my ride.

Love this CB it easy to use. Has noise cancelation. Your voice is very clear when talking. Love the weather chanels it picks up in every state im in and the areas around me so I know ahead. Nice display on the front and one touch to change channels

The CB radio itself has been fantastic. Works very well plowing snow on the Interstate. Up until this year 2023, everything has been working just swell. About two weeks ago, a coworker buddy of mine had his radio start to give him fits. It wouldnt key out. After some troubleshooting, it was determined that the key out button linkage to the electrical switch inside the microphone has a manufacturers defect. A piece of plastic wore and one part the was supposed to engage another part slipped under the linkage instead of pushing on it. Then, other pivot parts, all plastic, were found to be sheared off inside. Microphone was never subjected to abuse, just use, and it died. Now my microphone is exhibiting the same symptoms. It is starting to not key out consistently when the button is pressed. Sometimes it keys out, sometimes it doesnt. Nothing more frustrating than trying to discuss a lane transition plan with a plowing partner and they keep asking can you hear me and you hear them fine, but the stupid microphone will not key out. Buyer be warned. They arent cheap to buy either. I mean sure, Uniden could offer me a replacement...but why bother, unless they have identified and corrected a defect, youll likely just be in an important use scenario and the microphone just gives up on you. Sad. So sink of manufacturers making crap products, or crap components. You put your name on this thing Uniden...you own this. Good job in design and quality control. Astatic replacment on order.

I purchased the Uniden Bearcat 980SSB radio about a week ago and have had some mixed results after 24 hours or so of operation over the period of the week since then. The serial number on this unit is X000CIQY01 and the unit looks brand new, not refurbed or rebuilt. The radio is a real sharp looking piece of equipment, the controls and buttons have a good feel, and the price is good for being both an AM and SSB radio. Sound is good and mostly the radio can hear and talk as good as any CB or ham radio I have owned. I dont have any calibrated test gear but I believe it meets its published specifications. How-some-ever, the operation and display to have some curious faults. The RF control doesnt exist in the sense that the operators manual describes. The RF control is described in operation in two different ways in the operators manual, one way on page E-5 and another way on page E-10. The button depresses on the RF gain and a small indicator lights up with the indication of LOCAL, comeing on in the upper left hand corner of the display section of the front panel. This indicator isnt mentioned in the manual. There is no corresponding LED coming on and variability using the Channel Selector Switch as the manual describes for the RF control, rather its just a sort of On and Off with the RF gain at maximum all the time when not in LOCAL. The AGC circuit in the radio seems to work well though and the radio is very sensitive on receive. The display has 7 colors you can select which is real fine if you have time to play with this while driving, which would have about the same result as texting while driving, probably resulting in a bad car wreck. First and foremost, you cant see the indicators in the daytime. Any ambient sunlight washes out the display and you will be lucky to see the channel you are on with the settings on high brightness and maximum contrast. I like the Green setting but in fact I dont really care. I was using a PRO505 before and it had Yellow I think and was very readable in daylight. The display is dazzling at night and maybe I should mount two of these radios, one under each front wheel well of my car, for extra bling. I havent been able to get the scan to work yet, so perhaps it really does, but I will work on that with the car parked this weekend. All of this sort of leads up to the final problem which is the method in which the operator gets to most of the settings. The MENU/OK and SELECTOR knob combined with the other assorted buttons and contortions make this a pain-in-the-butt radio to set up. I suspect some young software guy who doesnt operate mobile CB, did the semi-demi-drop-down menu for this radio. Who else but a nerd-bird would think that pressing the PTT while the function button for MIC GAIN was activated for 5 seconds after pressing, and you are scrambling to run the SELECTOR knob to the desired MIC GAIN setting, would be a cool thing to do? So overall I would again say its a good radio but Uniden messed up on this one when they rushed it to market. I have read a few reviews and it is total microcomputer controlled and no schematics or service manual are available. You cant fix it and you cant mess with it, so Uniden has you by the proverbial (fill in as appropriate). Therefore I am thinking of removing the 980SSB from the car just as soon as the Galaxy 959 AM/SSB unit arrives. I will use the 980SSB as a base station rig. Probably will never take the top off until one day the microprocessor goes nuts and then just to look at all those surface mount parts. I design microprocessor driven systems plus a lot of homebrew RF, so this aint my first rodeo.