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Uniden Bearcat 980 or GALAXY DX 979
- Thread starter Brett Dean
- Start date
980 is more stable but no extra freq and while audio is good, not booming. Won't swing like 979 especially on AM. 979 has lots of mods available.
I like the 979 cause it's easy to match with amps, has variable power. 980 is a great SSB radio with clean audio but less you can do to it.
I like the 979 cause it's easy to match with amps, has variable power. 980 is a great SSB radio with clean audio but less you can do to it.
The uniden will match to any amp as well. And is much more stable on SSB. Not a powerhouse and not many mods, but it's a small radio that for the money does well. Galaxy radios are good AM radios, they just drift too much for SSB use IMO. I guess it boils down to what you talk on most, AM or SSB like posted above.
I have a 980 in my DD, and the SSB is VERY quiet, in regards to background noise. With a KL-203, I talked on it to near El Paso, from Buffalo, NY one sunny fall day. 
I run a 949 in my RC, which is primarily an offroad toy. With a steel whip and a small Fatboy, it SWR's @ 1.0, which is pretty schweet. I like both, and both work well in their intended applications.
I run a 949 in my RC, which is primarily an offroad toy. With a steel whip and a small Fatboy, it SWR's @ 1.0, which is pretty schweet. I like both, and both work well in their intended applications.
I have the 980 and have made some good contacts on sideband with just 12 watts and a Wilson 1000 magnet mount antenna on my pickup. I have had a few lengthy conversations from Texas to California and out east as well.
I have been told it is a very good sounding radio by quite a few operators without me asking. But they also tell me it needs a little heat behind it.
I also have used it at home on a dipole antenna with decent results. But here the last couple of days I have had very little luck making contacts even when skip is rolling in.
But like others says therare many mods that can be done to the Galaxy.
I have been told it is a very good sounding radio by quite a few operators without me asking. But they also tell me it needs a little heat behind it.
I also have used it at home on a dipole antenna with decent results. But here the last couple of days I have had very little luck making contacts even when skip is rolling in.
But like others says therare many mods that can be done to the Galaxy.
Go with a optima, no mods needed other than simple conversion
the optima is a good radio, no doubt about it, u can run 10-11 meters, great filtration, and ready out of the box with the minor conversion...i am planning one for base use in the future.....
if 11 meters is all you want, such as i am currently contemplating for my use in my car, then i am leaning towards the uniden as I do SSB 99% of the time. I also really like the idea of having the instant weather band in the cb.
The 979 is also a good radio, and I like the "BIG" analog meter myself, if it only had the weather channels, that is what I would get because I can live with the minor drift issue by leaving it on all the time.
so in summary strictly for 11m i am leaning towards the uniden right now until makers come out with a big analog meter SSB radio with weather band.
good day
if 11 meters is all you want, such as i am currently contemplating for my use in my car, then i am leaning towards the uniden as I do SSB 99% of the time. I also really like the idea of having the instant weather band in the cb.
The 979 is also a good radio, and I like the "BIG" analog meter myself, if it only had the weather channels, that is what I would get because I can live with the minor drift issue by leaving it on all the time.
so in summary strictly for 11m i am leaning towards the uniden right now until makers come out with a big analog meter SSB radio with weather band.
good day
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depending on where you purchase it, a big meter isn't impossible with the uniden . my 2950 is wired for an external signal meter through the PA plug.
This really helps. I have Cobra 29 wxnwst, and replaced it with a small quad band mobile amateur radio with weather, and now I miss 11m. The two radios are just too much for my Toyota Tundra, so I was just looking to sell the Cobra 29 and get a smaller 11m SSB.
That is a physical impossibility because of the board design.
Truth.
after a 2 min warm up I could talk for a long time and never adjust the claifer. was useing as a base radio with power supply. It worked great for me