Bearcat 980SSB getting warm

[443 Arizona]

has anyone experienced their uniden bearcat 980ssb(newest version), getting warm and blinking out?

[gunner121]

By blinking out do you mean turning off? Is the whole radio getting warm or just one area?

[MDYoungblood]

These are a single final radio where others have a driver and a final. Your problem sounds like the regulator on the right side of the radio (looking toward the faceplate). The problem when they first came out was there wasn't any heatsink paste on the regulator to the chassis, second it was just clipped on, so that area got extremely warm when the radios had been modded to the max. I'm guessing yours being a new version, Uniden is back to there old cheap production ways.

3's

Greg

[preacherman]

Good advice here!

[MDYoungblood]

Peaking the modulation would be about the only thing I would do to any of the new single final radios, maxing out the power will just cause them to have a early death.

3's

Greg

[443 Arizona]

well i finally got to spend some time with this radio and first thing is the display is not working properly, as in when first turned on i could only read most of the channel LED but as the radio was on for about an hour, the whole screen was black.
so any function involving reading the face was impossible, i dont think the function buttons worked properly, if at all.

one thing i can say is that this radio did work for about 3 months but when summer hit, the Phoenix heat did it in. (inside a hot vehicle)
the radio is stock, never opened. i assume its out of warranty as it is about 18 months old.

[Big blue]

443: Glad you posted. I too live in the Phoenix valley and was considering a 980 for my John Deere Gator. Nope.....I'll keep looking.

[443 Arizona]

i think i will contact uniden and see what they want to fix it.

[preacherman]

Displays like that on the 980 do not react well to heat . When they turn dark
like that, they will often recover if taken out of the heat/direct sunlight for awhile.
Of course, that doesn't help in Ariz. when you want to use it in your vehicle.
Hibuck...

[443 Arizona]

this radio was subjected to interior heat, which in AZ is enough to cook with, so i guess this display got cooked, it sure acts like it, was mounted between the seats but was getting direct sun,,, its FUBAR'd, going to find one for parts or scrap this one. this model radio is pretty good otherwise according to a local trucker i talk to frequently that has one. so i either buy one for $50 or sell this one for $50,

[Big blue]

Anyone know of a reliable SSB radio I could install in my gator that would put up with Phoenix valley heat?

[443 Arizona]

i think any radio that doesnt have the black front digital display, such as and older unit with little plastic.
or new unit if you got the money, chrome faced cobra or galaxy. can always paint the case white too.

[443 Arizona]

experience with the 980ssb has been good using a wilson 1000 mag mount on a F-450.
AM has had very good results and using ssb is also good but un-able to skip, receive is very good in either mode. overall performance is just about unbeatable [for its price].

[443 Arizona]

i bumped into another CB'er with the 980, and having the same problem ,
the display blacking out(FUBAR'ed) from exposure to sunlight ,
must be made out of chinesium paste .
i wanna shove it where the sun don't shine
the radio itself works fine, it has one function, on/off,
i'm going to go curse at it for awhile,

[Big blue]

I hear you on the cursin'. I've elected to forego any gator radio install, regardless of make/model. Just too hot here in the Phoenix valley.........

[Deleted User 14043]

Peaking the modulation would be about the only thing I would do to any of the new single final radios, maxing out the power will just cause them to have a early death.

3's

Greg

Thanks, I was considering have mine turned up. Not now.

[443 Arizona]

well i picked up another bearcat 980, and yes it has the same problem,, i hooked it to my bench, ran fine for about 2 hours(tx and rx) and then the face started to dim out continually worse until 5 hours and i noticed it was crackling and was not able to squelch it out, the display would dim further, coinciding with the crackling static, (surges),
radio was in the dark cool room but was overly warm to the touch,
i shut if off.
i am going to run this experiment again and monitor the input power closely,
i also want to try and verify the tx/rx at the SNAFU because i have a suspicion that it goes bezerk too