🚗 Talk the Talk, Wherever You Roam!
The Uniden BEARCAT 980 is a versatile 40-channel CB radio designed for road warriors. With features like NOAA Weatherband alerts, a customizable 7-color display, and a noise-canceling microphone, it ensures you stay connected and informed, no matter where your journey takes you. Its robust IP67 waterproof rating makes it a reliable companion for any adventure.
Waterproof Rating | IP67 |
Item Dimensions D x W x H | 4"D x 15.1"W x 8.6"H |
Color | BEARCAT980SSB |
Battery Average Life | 0.01 seconds |
Water Resistance Level | Not Water Resistant |
Number of Channels | 40 |
Talking Range Maximum | 10 Miles |
Tuner Type | CB Radio |
Voltage | 12 Volts |
Frequency Range | 26.965 MHz - 27.405 MHz |
Number of Batteries | 1 Product Specific batteries required. |
Additional Features | Noise Reduction |
M**Y
Very attractive small size radio
Nice features and nice looking. The display can get washed out if the sun is shining on it. It could be brighter. Also the audio output of the speaker is not very loud. It's fine in a quiet environment but if you're in a noisy environment you may have to strain to hear it. As a single final radio don't expect to get more than 10 or 12 Watts out of it if you're lucky after massaging. Other than that it's a easy to operate scans fast has a great microphone great tactile feel to all the knobs and buttons lightweight and small. It's a very attractive radio it has held up. It is pretty easy to down tune if you want to run an amplifier.
B**R
works great for the price
works as it should very nice looking
C**.
A great, feature-packed radio
Uniden's 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 980's most direct consumer-grade competitor might be Cobra's 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.)It's 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 I'm in town. I'd prefer to keep the squelch almost all the way down and use the RF gain control to dial in signal reception. But, since the 980's RF gain consists of five steps (push-button) rather than a dial, it's 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 I'd like.Out of the box, before any adjustment, my SWRs ranged from 1.0 (Channel 1) to 1.5:1 (Channel 40).I've 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 980's 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 I'd expect in a radio of this size or price range. They're holding up just fine, but it's a shame that at least one of the controls you're most likely to use should feel inferior.Overall, this radio is a bargain!
B**0
Great Radio but a few minor issues
Nice Radio, just a couple of criticisms. The Display; even with brightness full on, the Red, Blue & Green are still too dark.Also, Uniden and other Brands as well, should stick to the standard 4-pin configuration. A 6 to 4 adapter is included but it's on a 4" length of cable.The Mic Connector is a 6 pin but upon inspection inside the microphone plug, only 4 pins are used. #4 and #6 are not. So it makes no sense! A basic 4 pin connector would have been perfectly adequate. I was able to purchase a 6 pin and wire up one of those SuperStar DM-1000 Echo Mics. Make sure that the mic-gain on the radio is no higher than 2 or 3 otherwise it only transmits an annoying squeal.The mounting plate is a bit flimsy and does not hold the radio very well. Fortunately I still have the bracket for an old Royce CB from 1975. It fits perfectly and is much more solid.You might want to order an adapter that is just a short metal tube looking thing. Good reception and surprisingly good transmission, considering that my antenna is only 24" I have no experience using SSB so I can't really make any comments about that.I'll update my review with some pics at a later date.
G**E
Don't let poor reviews scare you away from this 5 star radio
I absolutely love this radio. All the features and accessibility make this the best I've 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, I'm glad I bought it. It can be peaked and tuned though it's set perfect out of the box. Doesn't drift at all and the internal diagnostics is a plus though I'm not sure how accurate it is. I purchased this as a replacement from a burned up unit, so I thought. Old one wouldn't 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 I'm sure. Albeit aside, I'm 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 that's all I needed. No need to break out the manual for this unit. Once you get the idea, it's 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 don't skimp on the antenna. I'll 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 it's tuned right. Order a Firestix antenna as well Walcott radio has the best prices.
G**
CB Radio
I worked as described
Trustpilot
1 day ago
1 month ago