When this radio first came out, it was the premium FCC-Legal SSB radio from President. Uniden had the 980SSB radio, which looked cool and sold for around $130, and President offered the McKinley AM-SSB radio for approximately $180-$190.
The 980 had issues with their displays - they would either fade or completely go blank, which must have been corrected as it's still on the market, but sometimes the McKinley seemed to be a out-of-reach in comparison. That was my take on the situation in 2019.
In 2025, the 980SSB is still only AM and SSB, with a price that's all over the place on eBay and even Amazon! Do a search on Amazon for the 980SSB and you'll find prices ranging from $141 to $161. To my knowledge, they did not revise it by adding FM, like President did with the McKinley (McKinley II).
But let's compare apples to apples: While the McKinley with FM - the McKinley II was over $200 (now discontinued) they still had plenty non-FM McKinley's to sell, and they're still available just about everywhere from Amazon to eBay, as well as other sources on the Web. A quick glance on Amazon has the first version listed for $148.50, and that makes it quite the bargain. I covered this in 2019 in at least 3 blog posts, and one of them compared it with the 980SSB, while the other was my usual first look/review.
I didn't want to rehash those articles, so the links are in this one. I just wanted to make you aware of the lower price, which puts the McKinley almost $100 lower than the President George FCC, and a better value than the Uniden 980SSB. Both models were also featured in my 2024 end-of-the-year post about some of the "Best Selling" sideband CB radios, with a few 10m-modified-to-11m radios as well.
'Nuff said for this short post along with one other thought: If you're not picky about new vs. used, save a search for the Mckinley on eBay because I've seen a few used ones for under $100 - but they go fast.
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