Deciding between two radios

**whiteastro** · 01-22-2020, 10:37 AM

Originally Posted by 222DBFL

I forgot about the wireless mic that can be used with it. Pretty neat mic they made for use with it. The 980 that is. I’ve walked around my entire house and even outside a ways from my radio and it works perfectly. I ended up drilling the mic hole a little larger. Did it by hand with a 1/8” drill bit. Been told it has clean, clear audio. If you look around you can find them for around $50 or cheaper. The BC906W. I see that there are some clone ones being made. Stick with the uniden one, JMHO.

I laughed when I read your post because I forgot about that feature also. LOL I figure if I go remote camping with my van that wireless mic will be good to monitor the radio. And yes by all means buy the uniden original with all the accessories.

**1911 guy** · 01-22-2020, 04:55 PM

Sounds like I need to look seriously at the 980 then, since i do plan on getting into side band.
Is there another antenna that has surpassed to Wilson 1000 for mobile? Will be either a roof mount or magnetic mount.

Someone mentioned an amp with the 980. Google showed the RM Italy KL203 commonly paired with the 980. Does the radio need to be tweaked first, or just hook it up? And do I really need or want the amp?

Thank you for all your help and discussion so far.

**Turboomni** · 01-22-2020, 05:49 PM

White astro your rig looks great. Why is it better to have 6 digit display over the more common 5 digit? I saw reviews saying the 5 digit was nice but not helpful like the 6 on ssb.

**whiteastro** · 01-22-2020, 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by Turboomni

White astro your rig looks great. Why is it better to have 6 digit display over the more common 5 digit? I saw reviews saying the 5 digit was nice but not helpful like the 6 on ssb.

The 6 digit I guess is for better fine tuning your clarifier, if you don't have that last digit you won't see if your clarifier is off just a tiny bit. It's for the people who want to be dead on. I'm still learning slowly so I don't have all the answers but hopefully these Old die-hards will make something out of me. LOL When you buy that 6 digit counter it comes with a accessory wire harness so it can be wired into any radio and mounting bracket. You just have to find the tech. who knows how to do it. I believe it might help more if the clarifier is unlocked

**whiteastro** · 01-22-2020, 06:41 PM

Originally Posted by 1911 guy

Sounds like I need to look seriously at the 980 then, since i do plan on getting into side band.
Is there another antenna that has surpassed to Wilson 1000 for mobile? Will be either a roof mount or magnetic mount.

Someone mentioned an amp with the 980. Google showed the RM Italy KL203 commonly paired with the 980. Does the radio need to be tweaked first, or just hook it up? And do I really need or want the amp?

Thank you for all your help and discussion so far.

JJD can help you with the antenna question. The 980 doesn't need to be tweaked for a amp just hook it up. The RM Italy KL203 doesn't have a Pre-Amp which helps your recieve. Get the KL203P or the KL 200P.

**JesseJamesDallas** · 01-22-2020, 08:12 PM

Originally Posted by 1911 guy

Sounds like I need to look seriously at the 980 then, since i do plan on getting into side band.
Is there another antenna that has surpassed to Wilson 1000 for mobile? Will be either a roof mount or magnetic mount.

Someone mentioned an amp with the 980. Google showed the RM Italy KL203 commonly paired with the 980. Does the radio need to be tweaked first, or just hook it up? And do I really need or want the amp?

Thank you for all your help and discussion so far.

I'm not a Wilson fan by any stretch of the imagination...They "USE-2-B" good antennas years ago, but they lack in the Quality Control dept. now...Hit or Miss at best.

As for as the magnet mount base loaded type antennas go, the Sirio Performer seems to be one of the better ones on the market...Now I have never used one, nor do I plan on it, but I know lots of guys who do use the Sierios and like them, plus I have yet to read any negative posts on any of the Forums or fb about them...

Another option would be the antenna made by Stryker...It's also base loaded, a little bulkier looking tho, but people who have them seem to like them...They did have a bad-batch not too long ago, but the ones on the market now are suppose to be well made.

Strykers and the Sirio antennas may be a little taller than the Wilson 1000...but that's a good thing!

Biggest problem with the Wilson antennas is with water getting inside the coil and rusting it out till it shorts...I've had two Wilson 5000's in the past that did that after just 6 months...and if you check around, you'll find i'm not the only one!

Here's the inside of a Wilson 5000 that got water inside and shorted out...

**Turboomni** · 01-22-2020, 08:28 PM

[QUOTE=1911 guy;15486]Sounds like I need to look seriously at the 980 then, since i do plan on getting into side band.
/QUOTE]

The only thing I worry about getting the 980 is I have read quite a few customer reviews complaining about the same 2 things over and over when there is a complaint. Many rave reviews too but,,

1 LED display parts of it stop working and for some stops completely and goes black.
2 LED display when working properly is hard to see in some daylight conditions in a car.
This doesn't bother me as it will be inside at a base station.

There were a few complaints about warranty time limit etc. I guess the best thing is burn it in for a good long time when you get it to make sure. Don't know if the LED problem was mostly in cars, trucks or Jeeps [rough rides etc] or base stations.

**whiteastro** · 01-22-2020, 08:54 PM

[QUOTE=Turboomni;15499]

Originally Posted by 1911 guy

Sounds like I need to look seriously at the 980 then, since i do plan on getting into side band.
/QUOTE]

The only thing I worry about getting the 980 is I have read quite a few customer reviews complaining about the same 2 things over and over when there is a complaint. Many rave reviews too but,,

1 LED display parts of it stop working and for some stops completely and goes black.
2 LED display when working properly is hard to see in some daylight conditions in a car.
This doesn't bother me as it will be inside at a base station.

There were a few complaints about warranty time limit etc. I guess the best thing is burn it in for a good long time when you get it to make sure. Don't know if the LED problem was mostly in cars, trucks or Jeeps [rough rides etc] or base stations.

The plastic they use on the 980 display screen scratches easy or at least the early ones did, don't know if they fixed it. I see it in my 1st version. I never heard of the display going out but you might have read more reviews than.me. I have used thin aluminum flashing material to make a sun screen to block the sun from blocking my view of the display. That can happen with any radio. Flashing material bends easy and is flexible.

**whiteastro** · 01-25-2020, 08:04 AM

Originally Posted by 1911 guy

Sounds like I need to look seriously at the 980 then, since i do plan on getting into side band.
Is there another antenna that has surpassed to Wilson 1000 for mobile? Will be either a roof mount or magnetic mount.

Someone mentioned an amp with the 980. Google showed the RM Italy KL203 commonly paired with the 980. Does the radio need to be tweaked first, or just hook it up? And do I really need or want the amp?

Thank you for all your help and discussion so far.

I use a K40 antenna with a mag. mount on top of my travel van and it tunes out well. It can also be used as a trunk mount. It's worth taking a look and checking out. It's made in USA for those who care.

http://www.cbradiomagazine.com/Anten...%20Review.html

**whiteastro** · 01-25-2020, 08:31 AM

Here is a link to cbradiomagazine.com which has a article about the McKinley giving the 980 some competition. Just for the fun of it!

http://cbradiomagazine.com/Radio%20R...B%20Radio.html