BEARCAT 880

This radio is fantastic* *Ok, it is fantastic for what it is. I upgraded from my old Uniden Bearcat Pro PC68XL which was a really great basic radio which followed me from car to car for ten years. The old Uniden still works but I wanted to upgrade to a unit that had weather bands and an on-board SWR meter, both of which work great on the 880. The options on this radio are fantastic (I can choose the color and set contrast and brightness? gasp!) and the black face with a hint of chrome is very classy and understated, unlike the huge chrome CBs that are obviously meant for installation in an 18-wheeler. But, it is definitely not a heavy duty radio. If you are planning on installing this in a work truck, or a commercial vehicle I would look at a more classic CB (Uniden Bearcat Pro, Cobra model 29) on which the switches are stouter and can be operated with gloves on. I haven't had any durability issues with this unit, and the build quality is top-notch but the buttons are on the smallish side and I shudder to think of a methed out trucker fiddling with this while piloting 80,000lbs down the highway at 70mph. All of the functions work really well and the adjust-ability is fantastic. The noise cancelling mic works well and the on-board speaker is very clear and loud.

Awesome unit! Make sure you get a good antenna and tune it. Below is my review(part of it) from a midland handheld about CB wavelength. Figured I would post it here for some tips. -- From midland handheld review A few people commented on the poor transmission/reception. CB band does not transfer well into handhelds in general. FCC used to allow 5 watts then lowered it to 4 watts. 4 Watts is not a lot power especially on the 27MHz AM bands. (12 watts for SSB is allowed). Radio performance is pretty simple: Power and the antenna. The technology has not changed in decades and its all the same radio principal so performance from one handheld to another should have little to do with the unit itself but rather the antenna. The 27 MHz band is pretty low and generates a fairly large wavelength. Full antenna required would be on the size on 36 feet long, ½ wave 17 feet and ¼ 8 feet. On autos with the large ground plane there is a compromise and a 36"-48" whip works well. For a handheld CB to pack all that in a small antenna does not work well at all. Back in the day the old CB handhelds had 6' retractable antennas. This is a great unit and works great for CB knowing the inherit limitations of the 27 MHz band. If you are looking for a handheld to talk to another handheld look in the FRS/GMRS band radios which start at 462 MHz. The wavelengths are much shorter and a full antenna is 2 feet, 1/s wave 1 foot and ¼ 5 Inches. So you have pack a true ¼ wave antenna on the unit. Cellphones could never work without being in the UHF and above bands so they can generate the smaller wave with a small antenna. I think this is a lot of value for the money with all the options, etc. Feels solid in your hand and I like it a lot!

I've been a Uniden fan for a long time. I have never had a bad Uniden radio. It was time to upgrade my old badly abused Uniden for my new vehicle and am happy to report that these new Unidens are even better! I was able to match the display colors to my existing displays in my vehicle, lots and lots of color choices. The performance has been great, and the speaker on the unit should be loud enough for most enclosed vehicles. Sound quality is very good compared to most CB radios. Very easy to use controls, and the scanning feature is handy. This radio is very close to a standard DIN size, but just a bit larger in all dimensions. I really wish Uniden had made this a DIN sized case with DIN mounts for easy dash mounting. I was able to mount mine into a modified DIN space. I'll try to upload a photo. I just opened up the front DIN face a bit in all 4 dimensions, and it hangs out a bit further than ideal, but is fine. The bottom firing speaker is plenty loud even installed in the center counsel. Very nice to have a built in SWR meter and various gain controls. Very happy with this radio and recommend it to friends.

Update 12/2016 I have been using this radio now for several years. I always keep it on with the squelch around 3. I have the power coming from the fuse box and the radio automatically shuts off when I turn the car off. After playing with several antennas I finally got it working 100% with the RM amp. I'm using an NMO mount browning antenna and amp. The meter shows about 100 watts output. Very nice. I want to bump up my review from 3 start 4 stars. Can't give it 5 stars because the output of the CB itself is around 2 to 3 watts, could be because I'm tapped into the fuse box. Also the meter is extremely inaccurate for tuning purposes. Oh and never go less than a 4' antenna. I did two 2' antennas. They worked OK but could not use the amp. Done one 3' antenna and got too much SWR with amp. Now using a 4" browning steel whip with NMO mount and have about 1.5 SWR with the Amp on. Unless something good smaller and sleeker looking comes along I will buy a second one for my second car soon. I purchased this from Amazon because they had the best price and free shipping. I got this for myself as a Christmass pressent. I was very happy with the build quality. I also had a 3' magnetic mout antenna and a RM italy amp. The problem was I did not get any good comploments. Everyone said my sing on the CB was low. I really like this CB and the reception, looks and the scan feature. To bad the swing is to low and not adjustable. I have a radioshack CB in my SUV and I played some music from the radio and had the Uniden on. I drove my SUV about 1/2 mile and it sounded fine to me. Regardless of the Amp in the on or off, the CB junkies will be quick to tell you that your swing is low. If I find something better that looks good and fits in my Chevy volt, I will replace this with it. So far, it has been in use since December 2012.

5 Year Update! - So you're looking for a long term use update, I got it for you. Radio has worked this entire time, the stock microphone cord finally dry rotted (baking in sun no doubt), so I got an Astatic 636l which I am told sounds absolutely amazing compared to the stocker. What has broke: The only thing that has "broke" and I say that loosely is at the channel side of the lcd screen I can definitely tell that it's faded out on the last few mm (yes millimeters) very little but I can definitely tell it has faded out. Other than that, the radio seems to work now just like it did all those years ago when it was new. I would most likely buy one of these again unless something that looks cooler comes along and works OK. I would advise buying a new mic though if you care about that at all, otherwise the stock mic is still fine. This is the end of the 5 year update, original update is below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is my first CB radio so take my comments with a bit of inexperience. The knobs feel sturdy, the buttons feel sturdy, The good: Looks Sturdy Changes color Comes with mount bracket, and mic holder Cons/other The SWR meter that is built in, I don't know how close to being right it is... when I first tested without trimming the antenna it was high, over two on some channels. I pulled it out around 1/4 inch, and now its basically perfect 1:1 on every channel, with a very small variation sometimes like 1.1. I needed a radio that looked modern and would assist me in interstate travels, this has already proven itself. UPDATE: 10 months of use I have been using the BC daily for the last 10 months, first with a little wilson antenna which did a nice job, but I moved up to a Wilson 1000 which does a better job. The radio still works great, everything still works and I have not had an issue with it, no do I have any complaints (this is a big deal). I did send my Bearcat in to be "peaked and tuned" and is now swinging 30 watts on the bird meter with a 6 watt dead key. It has continued to work fantastic with daily use and has not failed me. I wish I could nit pick and find something that annoys me in daily use but I can't think of any. Unimportant cons LCD viewing angle is not friendly if mounted on the side of the center console.... but again there is little to no reason to ever look at it, you can see it fine at night also. The beep when you turn the knob, again this only happens if you turn a knob or hit a button (the volume knob and squelch DO NOT beep). I rarely change channels, and the only time I hear the beep is if I change from day to night. It's really not annoying. Random pros The mic sounds good for stock, have had no complaints.

I bought this radio to put into my 80's Toyota, under my stock-sized 1-DIN deck. With MINOR trimming to the bezel with a dremel and some very light fabrication, it fit PERFECTLY into the lower radio spot. Originally, I bought this radio for this reason, and only required the WX-band feature and knew nothing about Uniden radios (I've always bought and been satisfied with Cobra's 29 series) This unit has changed my perspective 100%, however. Price point, quality, and features put it squarely in the quality range of the 29-LX series radios with far easier to use features and benefits, while being cheaper as of Q2 / 2023. Notable is the 4-pin to 5-pin handset adapter included, and the built in SWR/CAL features. Without being peaked/tuned, I'm getting about 5mi of range off a 3" Firestik/Firering combo with a SWR of 1:3. All with an install that looks near-factory optioned. If you're considering it, buy one.

So, I put some spade connectors on the wires, connected my coax and new mic, started it up. No surprises so far. I also have a cobra 29 and it has very good reception, this unit (880) may be slightly better. Sound is pretty good, but I think the talk back may be a bit weak. Both the cobra and this unit have all channel and men scanning. The 880 does scan a bit faster which I like. Weather channels come in loud and clear. I also used the diagnostic screen, and will say that the SWR measurement is pretty close, and the value read out is a nice touch. This CB went into a Jeep unlimited rubicon, into a tuffy box. I may go back to a footman loop mount as this unit is quite a bit lighter and smaller than the cobra 29. As far as size, picture something between a uniden 520 , and the cobra 29. About the same width as a 29 but shorter. One other nice touch I thought was the case screws. The case has the same four screws as any CB, but they are recessed, and look very clean. I used the six pin mic that came with the 880 with no issues. My jeep does hit the trails, so longevity will be a concern until it proves itself. Feel free to ask questions, and hope this was helpful.

I installed this radio in my Dodge Durango to replace my old radio .. I do have to say this is a solid radio with tons of features built it. The speaker is nice and clear and can be turned quite loud if you have a noisy vehicle to mount it in. The display though is really what makes this CB, i was really amazed at how great it looks - it is extremely easy to read, and has thoughtful features like a dedicated night button which can be programmed to switch to any of the display colors you prefer for night/day, adjustable talkback, and mic gain right on the front! Also, there are the 7 weather freq's with weather alert that makes it nice when you are traveling with the family. I like this much better than my old Uniden LT, which was a great radio but i lost my side bands (That i never used anyways) and it looked like it was out of a 1970's. The 880 looks like it belongs in a modern vehicle, and performs as great as it looks right out of the box! This radio is also nice for everyone used to the size of the "big" radios as this one has the same great features and is sightly smaller and fits much better into smaller spaces. This is a wonderful radio and i look forward to the wireless mic that uniden will be coming out with for it later this year..

Muy buenas condiciones

Este modelo de radio funcióna muy bien, su variedad de colores en la pantalla se ven bien, bien su transmision y recepcion, con una buena antena.

Tardo mucho en llegar fue dentro del límite pero creo que sí se puede mejorar pero el producto muy bien