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

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.

Im a trucck driver and really liked this radio untill the display screen started fading out. Did some research and found this is a common known problem. All functions depend on the display to operate. Shop wants 90 dollars to replace the screen. I cannot recommend this radio for the overall price you will pay.

I chose this radio after reading all the reviews. I like talking on side band, it is a kick to talk to people around the US or world for that matter. This radio does come tuned a little low, but the frequency is dead on. I had it peaked at 15 watts on side band and around 12 on AM. I removed the beep chip as well. So much better with out the beep every time you turn a dial or push a button. The mike that comes with it is great, however you do need to dismantle it and take out the little piece of paper the factory puts right over the mic int the front, doing this makes the mike A LOT louder. No need to purchase a power mic. The swr meeter is acurate, dont believe the reviews. When tested with a digital/analog meeter by a professional the swrs read 1.3 on the radio and 1.2 on the meeter. So it is accurate! I paired this with a 7 foot fire stick on my s10. First day out I talked to southern Florida and I live In Denver! If you like to talk long distance or local, this is a very good radio!

I operate this unit barefoot as a base station connected to a Tram 1499 antenna mounted about 25 feet above ground. This radio is priced cheap but has excellent performance. Without getting technical there are a lot of factors that contribute to reception and transmission distance but I can say that from my location I am able to consistently speak with people as far away as 15 to 20 air miles while operating on standard CB AM mode. But this radio also functions in (SSB) single sideband mode so dont be surprised when you realize that youre talking with people in other states and other countries, so enough said about that. I could go on and on about how good this radio is and how much sweeter it is because of the low price but I wont. If youre into CB, curious about CB or just want a radio around for a possible emergency then you shouldnt hesitate to order this one. This is a great unit and I without a doubt recommend it and would purchase it again. *I did hold back a star only because the knobs feel a little flimsy but its not something to stress over. Purchase this radio and youll be as happy as I am with its performance. This is a great CB radio.

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!

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.)

Let me start by saying I am not a CB expert. I dont crack radios open and adjust and tweak. I use then as they come from the factory. With that being said, this is one of the best out-of-the-box CB radios Ive ever used. It has a ton of features. The audio is good, the range is excellent, the output power is a perfect 4w. Sideband works well what little Ive used it, not slot of sidebanders around where I live. I love the scan and memory-scan feature. Probably my favorite feature about the radio. The mic is not bad. Ive had no one complain about not being able to hear me. Ive since switched to the wireless mic, which is also excellent. All in all, I would highly recommend this radio. It is priced right for all the features packed into it.

for the price, the radio really seems to receive pretty well. a lot of the configuration is menu driven. i am using this as base station, so i dont have to worry about trying to make changes while driving. i like the radio overall now that i have discovered its two primary flaws: the display has issues and goes out over time (mine has not yet), and the stock mic that comes with it is pretty much bad. i replaced it with a powered mic (Astatic Road Devil; $40 approximately on Amazon), and that eliminated any problems transmitting. time will tell if the display has issues for me, but, for now, this is a four star radio for the money. i also have several AnyTone AT6666s, and those are worth their weight in gold. the Bearcat 980 is a great radio for beginners so long as you get a power mic to go along with it. photo shows both the radio with the Road Devil power mic.

LED is too hard to read cant see it during the day. Settings are set to the brightest colors brightness contrast still cant see it. I really should return it.

I like the sideband, but dont like that the course and fine tune you cant see what frequency it is tuned to. I like the sound quality is great and other people say i sound great. I dont like that I had to buy a external SWR meater to get a accurate SWR reeding . I give this radio a 4.