(NEW) Uniden BEARCAT 980 40-Channel SSB CB Radio (Open Box)

Uniden pulled out of the am/ssb market a long time ago leaving a large vacant hole. Evidently they have decided to return to the market with the Uniden Bearcat 980SSB mobile. Initial impressions (just looking at the pictures) are that it looks like the typical cheap looking chinese stuff I've seen pushed on us for decades. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer a analog s/rf meter vs. the digital ones. Like many CB's sold today, you can play around with color schemes to find one that suits you. It doesn't have any great mods and reminds me of Radio Shack CB's which were pretty darn hard to modify, if at all, keeping their nose clean with the Feds. It does come with weather bands (Ooooooh). Personally, I'd rather have a smaller meter and a frequency readout rather than channel numbers, but that's just me. From reading about half the reviews and doing some digging around I came to three conclusions: 1. The BEEP is annoying, but apparently there is a fix for that out on the internet 2. Most of these seems to arrive dead-on frequency which you'd really (REALLY) want if you couldn't mod the clarifier for SSB transmissions, otherwise you'd get a bunch of sidebanders kinda angry at ya. 3. Unless someone comes up with anything else, the "Beep" mod is it. Okay, Review Part 1 is over. Expect updates to occur from time-to-time as I find things I like or don't care for, not to mention performance. I'll also keep updates fresh on my Blog. 'Nuff Said, Woody UPDATE: 031813 We're on PART II of this review, and I expect it to have many parts [ed. - "many" = more than 3]. In my haste to get Part 1 off, I should have proof read it AND used my reading glasses because I never saw the tiny frequency readout under the large channel number, so I sit corrected. I've yet to dive into any reading material, so I may have to correct myself another time - we'll have to see about that, or what time I will have to read. The radio has a channel 9/19 push button switch, which has been around forever (or maybe it just seems that way), and except for traffic from Mexico or further South, I've never heard anything useful on channel 9 for decades. Some radios I've run across let you set another channel for channel 9, like the local hangout channel, and I do like being able to jump to 19 for a quick update on traffic from time-to-time. With this rig, being computer controlled, it would have been nice if you were (for example) on ch.38 LSB and switched to channel 19 that it would be smart enough/or programmed to change the mode from sideband to AM for you automatically and then back again when you return to 38 LSB. Much like a Blogger, or anyone who writes regularly, they should have proof-read the box the radio comes in. For instance it has three modes: AM, USB, and LNB. I know I've been away from buying new rigs for awhile so maybe there is an "LNB" mode, but I doubt it. As far as the color schemes go, to be specific, you have 7 options, and I like the fact that it has a 9' cord on the hand microphone. While we're on things I like, I may as well mention the adjustable Backlit control. As for the physical outlay it is just "okay". Depending on how and where you mount it depends on whether or not it is more-or-less "okay" with you. The ON/OFF, squelch/volume control is located on the top left side of the front panel with the microphone jack being just below which is convenient but I would have arranged the placement of the push buttons differently. Along the bottom of the panel you have push buttons for: S/RF/SWR Calibration CB/PA Mem/Scan 9/19/Normal ANL/NB, and AM/USB/LSB Above the AM/USB/LSB button you'll find buttons for: Weather Mic Gain RF Gain, and Talkback These are farthest away from your reach, in a typical under the dash mount so I would have preferred the bottom row to be (in this order): AM/USB/LSB ANL/NB Mic Gain RF Gain, and 9/19/Normal With the remaining buttons along the right side, farthest from your reach, but not necessarily often used, and I'm torn between leaving the on-off/squelch/volume to being on-off/clarifier/volume, and yeah, I'm being a bit picky now. On the box it mentions that the radio is "wireless microphone compatible" and directs you to learn more about it on their website. I learned that there's no picture of it, that it's not available yet, and costs $99.99. A very nice surprise is the warranty - 2 years. It's not very often you'll see that, so I suspect they don't expect to get many sent back within that period, and I was also surprised to see that they furnished you with a 6-pin to 4-pin microphone adapter as well. There is some slight confusion regarding the clarifier. On the box it states that it's 1.0khz clarifier (+/-), but in the manual it says it's 1.5khz (+/-). As far as the scan feature goes (usually not any farther than I could throw it), you do get the option to select certain channels for it to scan, thus making the feature worthwhile. Adjacent channel rejection as stated in the manual is 60dB which is better than many CB's made in the last 20 years or so. And that my friends, ends Part 2 of the review. I'll have to make some room in the truck and figure out where to mount this before proceeding. UPDATE: 032413 [Part 3 & 4] One of the first things you notice when taking the radio out of the box is it's size (smaller than a Grant), in fact, it reminded me of another radio I've owned and reviewed in the past - Midland's 79-290 AM/SSB mobile rig. I didn't have the actual size of the Midland to compare with, but I think these two are fairly close in their respective "footprint". While the 980 does not have a removable front panel, the layout is strikingly close as well. Both radios have the Volume/Squelch control at the top-left of the front panel and the microphone plug below it. A set of horizontal buttons run across the bottom where, in the bottom right corner, you'll find the coarse/fine clarifier control and above it the channel selector knob. I guess if you've never held the Midland the similarities in physical size and control layout wouldn't be so obvious. I'm not inferring that these are the same radios on the inside - The 79-290 came out in the early/mid 1990's, had dual finals, and a removable faceplate; features completely different than the 980, as well as being fairly easy to modify for expanded frequencies, FM, and a open clarifier. Nonetheless it's something to wonder about....."Did the company that won the bid to make the 79-290 also win the bid to make the Uniden Bearcat 980?" As others have commented before, this is a good looking radio - right out of the box, but doesn't have that "rugged" feel to it. Give it six months in your vehicle and it won't look like the girl you took to the dance, the black plastic will show dust, dirt, and scratches easily. Used at home with a power supply, unless you own a cat that always finds an itch to scratch, it should maintain the "newness" factor longer than if it were in your car or truck. I've read about low SSB output straight out of the box on some models, and how to adjust it internally, as well as that infernal beep - which I'm pretty certain is fixable now. I don't mind that it's a straight 40 channel rig because I usually run a 40ch AM/SSB mobile in the truck along with my HAM gear - I just hope it's on frequency when I get it powered up [perhaps Sunday I'll have a chance to clear off some bench space and do some initial testing]. As far as microphones go, I may use the factory mike and call it a day, or use one of my dependable, yet older, microphones - but I'll have to test the factory mike first. Back in the 90's I owned a Uniden PC-122 am-ssb mobile. It was a little tiny thing compared to anything else available, and I did a audio test with a friend of mind using an Astatic D-104m, a Turner +3 hand mike, and of course the stock microphone which came with the PC-122. The winner? The stock microphone on the PC-122. My friend said he had never heard me sound so natural on sideband in all of our years to communications and that I'd better not replace the stock mike. I took his advice and during the period I owned it, I received many questions like "What kinda mike are you using 'cause it's one of the best sounding microphones I've ever heard", and other similar comments. No one believed me when I told them it was just a stock mike on a Uniden PC-122, so here's to crossing my fingers that I'll get the same results with this one. [....And now - finally to the end] In our last exciting episode I believe I was comparing this to Midland's 79-290, somewhat feature-wise, but mostly the footprint (the space that it takes up in your vehicle) and comparing it to my daily companion: a Cobra 138 GTL 40ch. mobile. First, the weight difference. Neither radio had mounting brackets or microphone attached, so I was weighing the radio only. The 980 was (to my surprise) 2lbs. 6oz while the 138GTL came in at 5lbs. 8oz. I can only speculate that the added plastic and SMD's in the 980 was the reason it was so light weight. Once again, it's weight was similar to the Midland. I spent a week with the 980 in the truck and came up with these non-scientific results using Wilson's "lil Wil" mag mount on the roof of my SUV: Either the receiver was too "Hot", or the Adjacent Channel rejection NOT, but I experienced/noticed an unusual amount of bleed over from channel 19 as compared to the 35 year old Cobra. YES - that damn beep was driving me freaking crazy. Why they couldn't have put an on/off control, and/or volume setting to the beep is beyond me. For instance, with Cobras re-designed 29 mobile you can easily disable the beep via the menu system in the radio. I never found a perfect visual setting for being able to see everything on the front panel, during mid-afternoon driving time (I have the same problem with my GPS). Receive audio was done with Icom's SP10 external speaker, which I've always used when mobile so it was the only fair choice I had to compare it with the Cobra's, as it too used the SP10. Except for the extra bleed over, I couldn't really tell a difference, although I missed the receive tone control on the front panel of the Cobra. Transmitting audio seemed about the same. Those that replied to my A/B test were split down the middle - about 50% preferring the Cobra, and 50% the 980, both using a non-amplified noise-blanking hand microphone. Noise Blanking. When it came to this category I'd have to call it even (which is good, because many transceivers have lousy noise blankers in them). The weather function worked very well, in fact, much better than any other CB I've had with a weather reception feature. The purchase price was very reasonable compared to some online price gouging I've seen. And.....That's about it. The only really BIG question is: "How long will this last?" My Cobra is about 35 years old and still working fine. I don't expect the 980 to do the same, but it would be nice to buy a new rig and have it last longer than a year or two before it's junked. When it really warms up (down in Texas you don't have to wait too long), I'll put the 980 back in the truck and see how it holds up under the heat. [I once owned a rig that was truck celing mount and I had to park in an outside parking lot. When I got out of work, I'd start the truck up, crank up the A/C and turn the rig on. Reception was a garbled mess, as was the front panel - I couldn't read anything, until the cab temp. cooled down. Once it dropped about 5 degrees I'd turn the rig back on and it acted normal again. So I'm curious on how well the Uniden handles the Texas heat. Look for an update then.] SUMMARY - In some respects the Uniden Bearcat 980 surprised me, because if you're a regular reader of this Blog, or my Amazon reviews, you know that I'm not a big fan of anything made in China. The fact that it's not as deep as a full-sized rig may help those with limited mounting positions/space, but they'll have to take the daylight driving vs. seeing the screen into consideration as well when choosing a mounting location. Perusing the Internet via Google I found a mod to kill the beep, but no one replied that they tried it too and it worked, so I'm still dubious about that one, and really, that's about the only Mod I found for this transceiver. If I were in the market for a new AM/SSB rig I would definitely consider this one (and probably buy it), but I'm not, so the 138 is back in it's usual spot in the truck. 'Nuff Said, Woody