Uniden 980 SSB

[roadrage]

Well I am sure that Uniden would do something inside of the radio to have a small antenna matcher for 27mhz to 160mhz.

A matcher would give you an impedence match, it wouldn't change the resonant frequency of the antenna. It would only serve to make it safe if you were to transmit on 160 Mhz wthout it harming the transmitter. Being that the radio is only receiving the signal, it wouldn't do a thing to help reception.

 

[Onthecoast]

Did they do a radio to radio comparison or just hook it up and decide it sucked? I don't always take negative comments at face value. Many times a product does suck. And many times it isn't the product at all.
My first WX CB I wasn't happy with it's performance at first. Turned out it was just the antenna I was using. I have some variance from weather conditions too, but I now have several radios with weather alert and I will say that what antenna you are using makes a huge difference. I can go up to my stepfather's lodge and slap a K30 on my roof and I have not ever heard a thing. I unhook it and hook up the Wilson 1000 and instantly hear it very clear. I also have a set of fiberglass whips that work better than the K30 for receiving WX. With them, some days I hear WX up there and some days not. They aren't nearly as good as the Wilson. I've never not gotten good WX reception up there with the Wilson hooked up.

Hooked up to my K30 I get no WX reception on either of my WX capable CB's. Hooked up to my VHF antenna I get excellent WX reception but no CB reception. The K30 apparently is not designed with an WX consideration and I don't blame them. It is probably hard enough to get a 35" antenna to work decent enough on CB on its own without taking any VHF reception into account.

 

[roadrage]

Hooked up to my K30 I get no WX reception on either of my WX capable CB's. Hooked up to my VHF antenna I get excellent WX reception but no CB reception. The K30 apparently is not designed with an WX consideration and I don't blame them. It is probably hard enough to get a 35" antenna to work decent enough on CB on its own without taking any VHF reception into account.

I have the same results. I didn't want to throw the results of my mobile 2M's weather function. It would have just resulted in confusion. I believe the HAM rigs with WX has much better quality receivers than those found in the CB's. I have hooked up a K30 to my 2M to receive WX, as well, and it worked with that radio much better than any of my WX CBs.

That same K30 don't receive WX on my CB unless it is close enough to give a strong signal. On the CB WX function the K30 vs. the Wilson 1000 yeilded a major difference. At 50 miles it is pretty up and down with reception. I lost signal completely with the K30 at 65 miles from the tower (and it is fairly flat terrain). The Wilson at 80 miles (and into hill country)was still, not only picking it up, but picking it up clearly.

I'd need to test out the WX function on the 980 myself to really be able to say how usefull the weather alert is. I'd wager it is about the same as all the others I have. With the exception of the WX on my mobile HAM, the WX funcions on all my CBs seem to work about the same if hooked to the same antenna. I may have talked my buddy into buying a 980 so I can probably try it out for a day or two and find out for sure.

 

[RatsoW8]

For someone who really wants decent wx reception you could use a cheap duplexer and run a seperate VHF antenna for the wx freqs.

 

[roadrage]

For someone who really wants decent wx reception you could use a cheap duplexer and run a seperate VHF antenna for the wx freqs.

As long as you don't forget to switch it back before trying to transmit.

 

[RatsoW8]

As long as you don't forget to switch it back before trying to transmit.

Switch it back? Duplexers are designed to receive and transmit through. There is no manual switching needed. I used a Comet CF-530. You can run a vhf and hf radio and one multiband antenna or use it in reverse for a dual band radio (or in this case CB with WX receive) and two antennas. The Comet duplexer runs about $60 and will handle 600 watts.

 

[roadrage]

Switch it back? Duplexers are designed to receive and transmit through. There is no manual switching needed. I used a Comet CF-530. You can run a vhf and hf radio and one multiband antenna or use it in reverse for a dual band radio (or in this case CB with WX receive) and two antennas. The Comet duplexer runs about $60 and will handle 600 watts.

I was thinking an antenna switch

 

[bushpilot]

got my 980ssb installed in the coach...really nice radio, ive only played w/ it a little,
and dont find the beep as annoying and i thought i would.

 

[Tucker442]

Very nice clean looking install, good job

 

[bushpilot]

Very nice clean looking install, good job

thanks !

unfortunately the previous owner ran some screws thru the mounting plate that i had to trip for the 980/hole....the only thing i had handy was some automotive carpet (glued above the radio) to cover the holes.

ill re-cover w/ some suede later.

im a nut when i comes to wires on the dash...hate 'em...so everything is as hidden as possible, the valentine one & the dash mounted remote display, the gps connects, even the tire pressure/tire temp monitor/alarm on the dash...everything has to have its wiring and connections out of site !

 

[Once Bitten]

im a nut when i comes to wires on the dash...hate 'em...so everything is as hidden as possible, the valentine one & the dash mounted remote display, the gps connects, even the tire pressure/tire temp monitor/alarm on the dash...everything has to have its wiring and connections out of site !

You will want one of these Uniden Wireless CB Microphone

 

[bushpilot]

i wasnt aware that was out yet....not sure it is (since its sold out & this is the 1st pic ive seen of it).

it will be interesting to see what they do w/ the existing plug....will it be a
short adapter (wire-less of course)....like a dummie load ?

im definitely dumping the mic that came w/ it....
i dont so much mind where it hangs now...doesnt block the view of the clock or the valentine one...and freightliner did a great job providing access to the down firing speaker (see the speaker grill)...sound is unobstructed as installed.

 

[bushpilot]

i hope the spec's on that wireless mic are wrong...12 hour battery life ??
i often make 20hr runs (houston to virginia)....id need FOUR sets of batteries for a round trip !

 

[Brake Weight]

I had a state boy fry my BelTronics in south Louisiana once. It stunned my TomTom so bad I had to go online and reboot it. The bird dog was was a loss.

 

[2RT307]

Nice install, bushpilot. That's a really nice setup! The 980 looks like a good rig, just wish channels could be added.

73,
RT307