UnidenBEARCAT 980 40- Channel SSB CB Radio with Sideband NOAA WeatherBand,7- Color Digital Display PA/CB Switch and Noise Cancelling Mic, Wireless Mic Compatible

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.

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!

For the hard core CBer I assume this would be a prize radio. As for me, I am a ham radio operator; my use for a CB to my surprise came when we bought our Motorhome. The CB is a necessary tool on long trips, cross country journeys to listen to truckers on Channel 19. CB is handy to hear traffic reports, weather and local chatter than one would not normally be privileged to. Ham Radio would not have the arcane yet gruff world of trucking yet I find incredible utility and use when traveling with my CB. That said, the Uniden Bearcat CB Radio, is a smart system of technology.The sleek design with user-choice multiple colored display looks sharp and compliments the dashboard / cockpit of my 2016 year class A motorhome. The ease of tuning the radio without the need for an external meter - was a plus feature that I was not expecting from a radio of this class, yet Uniden always impresses me with their unique equipment options with users in mind. I use Uniden scanners and handheld radios; this CB radio is no exception, it's design is first class. I like the weather push button option, quick easy way to check the local weather from NOAA wherever you are. The microphone is high quality with a push button that feels like a team of designers decided to make this one last. Personally I like the look of the mic as it has this sort of space age look to it. The radio performed well on our last 4000 mile journey across the USA. The sound is that CB sound, that cuts through road noise but easy to squelch out if desired, signals boomed in from far away and my signal reports, combined with the Firestik CB antenna, were stellar.