Looking at getting a compact SSB rig for the compact car.

[543_Dallas]

 

[L2]

Another vote for the 980.

 

[rabbiporkchop]

955 AGC

Knowing which parts to change is half the battle. Any clueless parts changer can swap parts without understanding why. Now to get a variable cap and variable pot to find the precise values.

 

[Martian]

Riiiiiiiiiiiight.
Because you can find a variable cap from virtually zero to ~100uF.

Or because without even looking at a diagram, if it's a resistor and a cap I am going to hazard a guess that it's just an RC time constant and you can do that with a calculator. No parts changing required. No special ... anything....
Just do it....

 

[TheRealPorkchop]

You're correct the schematic doesn't lie.
You seem to have misinterpreted what I said. Mark's modifications aren't on cheat sheet level as you'd find on CB Tricks forum. If you had two identical Stryker 955's from him you would understand what I'm talking about. R41 and E5 for example will always be different values on identical radios (after modification). To achieve a specific attack and Decay time the values must be adjusted to whatever value necessary to achieve the desired result. All the components that he changed will also be changed on the other radio but the values will always be different between two identical radios. I'm not talking about factory-installed components. I'm talking about components that were added to the radio to change the value of stock components. When you're trying to achieve a specific result you use whichever component gives you the result that you're trying to achieve and whatever component that is it will not give you the same results on an identical radio. That value is only good for that specific radio. It would be completely worthless to write up a cheat sheet for every component replaced on a specific radio because those values will not yield the same results on an identical radio. Radios are not as identical as you think they are. There's a reason your Guru calls them black box radios. It's because he can't make them perform like true HF rigs so he blames the radio manufacturer for his inability to overcome the radios deficiencies. 20% tolerances mean you have to do all sorts of mental gymnastics to achieve identical results even between identical radios. I do agree the original poster should just pick up that Uniden Bearcat radio and keep it stock and don't let any "tweaknicians" tamper with the radio and it will work just fine.

 

[Sonar]

Good morning radio Friends, well as u may remember I had recently had installed a uniden 520 with a tram 300 mag mount to put in my 2012 Hyundai Elantra and I love having a cb back in to listen to traffic reports,ect.... well I am looking down the road to get a compact SSB rig as I miss talking on ssb in the car.it will replace my Ranger 2950 which will not fit and now I use as a base unit with a dipole antenna. The question is I have narrowed down my choices between a uniden 980 and a Galaxy 979, which would be better,smaller to work with?
They will be hooked up to a Wilson 1000 mag mount which I am in the process of repairing, aka: got a new mag mount bottom base part and a new replacement whip.
Also wondering if any of u kind folks would have any other suggestions when t comes to compact ssb rigs for small cars? I plan to use it stock,any ideas I would much appreciate it. Thanks ahead and may u all have a very Merry and blessed Christmas ahead!!!!

THE 980!!! It's a no brainier. I've yet to hear one that doesn't sound excellent right out of the box.
It's the 980's that have had fingers inside of them that don't sound so good. Fingers that don't belong inside of a perfectly sounding cb radio.
Imo. The 980 needs nothing, but voltage from your cars battery, and someone too key the mic. They sound great on AM, and SSB. As far as the receive goes I can't speak on it. I've never owned one nor been on the receiving side of one. But I have read articles online, and heard on air owners who are extremely happy with the RX of the 980. I'd take one over any other mobile CB. Especially an export! Any export!!! A great 11 meter AM SSB transceiver at a great price period. Good luck with whatever you decide to go with. 73's

 

[Sonar]

Don't buy an old pile of crap and you won't need a guru to fix it. Modern technology runs circles around that old stuff that we remember being better than is actually was. If you buy a 980 just take it out of the box and use it. Keep it as far away from cb shops and cb techs as you can.

We'll put!!!

 

[Sonar]

Well after reading all the posts,Im really leaning toward the Uniden 980, I am going to run it completely stock,no extra power or tune up and just hook it up to my Wilson 1000,I think the 980 is the size that will work and it's in my price range also which is good. Itll have everything I need, and it's simple. Thanks for all the helpful comments, information and suggestions, really appreciated, hope u all have a very Merry Christmas with all of our families and God Bless!!!!!!

You my friend have made the right choice! You're going to love, and rnjen the 980. It's an excellent AM SSB transciver. Merry Christmas. 73's. PS. No modifications needed. You're obviously not looking for any snake oil mods. And the 980 doesn't need any. 73's

 

[RoadRanger]

I have a band new one & I don't like how noisy the receive is, & that it won't pick up the weather stations.
Nice radio other then that.

 

[codeman]

Mine does a great job picking up the weather bands. I can pick some up as far way as 90 miles with a cheap 4 foot antenna. These radios do sound good and stay on frequency. I really like my 980. Pair it up with a RM 203 and you will be heard with a good antenna. you will need to have the deadkey lowered on the 980 to about 2 watts though

 

[543_Dallas]

I have a band new one & I don't like how noisy the receive is, & that it won't pick up the weather stations.
Nice radio other then that.

What kind of antenna are you using? The weather frequencies are around 162mhz. Some antennas that use a matching device can do a good job filtering them out.

 

[RoadRanger]

I watched the CB Mag. review & mine is doing the same thing out of the box as his was doing.
A few adjustment & he said it was 100%
I just need to find someone that knows what they are doing to adjust mine.
Other then that it's a nice radio.

 

[RoadRanger]

It's now back in the box.
It's been on a few different antennas with the same results.
Playing with a Galaxy 959 at the moment.

 

[codeman]

What kind of antenna are you using? The weather frequencies are around 162mhz. Some antennas that use a matching device can do a good job filtering them out.

It is an fiberglass antenna I bought at the Flying j truck stop. I dont recall the brand. I will try to look to see what brand it is. I tried my quad wrapped 4.5 ft antenna and it is no near as good for picking up the weather band.

 

[Martian]

I happen to have the 980SSB expert in my contacts so I called him.
(he did not say it and I don't think he would ever say he is the 980 expert )

He tells me that the WX receiver between versions has a different squelch configuration. Where the old version would sill receive WX broadcasts even if weak they were more aggressive with the squelch on the new version. It's also a fixed value resistor but you could bodge a trimpot in there to get the adjustable squelch back.
He said the old version was more prone to false positives on the WX alert.

He thinks its because a weaker broadcast might trigger the alert if it happened to detect the 1050Hz tone in the static of a weaker signal. He says there was also a software change to increase the duration it had to "hear" the 1050Hz tone before it set off the alert.

Not that this helps, but it probably explains why the new version seems to have a worse WX receiver.

Edit: spellage.