REVIEW:

UNIDEN BEARCAT 980 AM/SSB

[THE END]

Yep, I finally got around with finishing this review, then spent a couple days looking for my review notes - but now I'm ready to spill the beans....

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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.

SUMMARY -

In some respects the Uniden Bearcat 980 surprised me, because if you're a regular reader of this Blog 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