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Galaxy 98VHP

Mgdnow24

Member
Dec 5, 2016
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Looking to purchase a New Galaxy 98VHP. I know it needs to be converted but what type of wattage should I be looking at after I have had it peaked and tuned & aligned. Is there an actual Swing Kit Mod for this radio? Also looking to have a switch installed to turn off the linear to run low wattage as I will be running this as a base station as well. With all that being said how many amps do you think it will take to run it being I will be using a power supply. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks Steve
 

the 98VHP should be set up to put out 200-250 watts PEP.

I suggest setting it for 200 watts PEP since no one will notice that extra 50 watts at the other end.

get a power supply that can put out 40 amps continuous (not peak) and you will be all good.

do not put a swing mod in this radio. they are built to swing from the factory, and all you need is to have the modulation turned up just a bit in order to sound loud and proud.

also, do not trust that the whole rig will be aligned when you request a "peak and tune".

depending on the shop you choose, a peak and tune can consist of anywhere from "turn three of the pots and call it good" to a full transceiver alignment which is what you want.

ask them. make them tell you that the ENTIRE transceiver gets aligned.

This is VERY important when buying a radio that is tuned from the factory for 10 meters, as all your receiver sensitivity will be up there and you will be somewhat deaf on 11 meters.

most shops HATE having to do a full alignment because it ruins their profit margin.
an actual alignment can take upwards of an hour or more depending on the radio, and they don't want to have to spend more than 15 minutes on each radio in general.

also, they have to let the radio warm up for an hour before they even start, and you can see how that might affect their level of care.

the 98VHP is a fun radio to run, and sounds great when some care is taken on the initial set up.
get this wrong and the end user gives the radio a bad review because theirs sucks.
LC
 
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oh also, that switch that you want to install is not the panacea of high and low power.

It is a trade off between either condition. turning the amp off will completely neuter the output which can be too little to drive your amp at home, unless you crank the adjustments which will put it out of whack once you turn the amp back on.

LC
 
I appreciate the information that you have provided. Makes it almost not worth it to spend that kind of money on a radio that might not get the full tune up needed to preform at its best. You wouldn't happen to no where it would be possible to purchase and get the full alignment and tune up you are speaking of do you? Thanks Steve
 
We call the amplifier-standby switch the "Suicide Selector".

When it's used to place barefoot-drive amplifiers in line, everything will be okay until that switch gets flipped the wrong way. Only have to key it once with the wrong hookup to fry whatever is in line with it.

I do recommend being very sure that your SWR is low, and that all your coax jumpers have the shield braid securely soldered. This serves to reduce the resistance of the current path from the braid to the body of the plug. A marginal connection inside a coax plug may perform just fine at a low power level. But when a big radio gets put in line, a non-soldered ground connection will get hot from the added antenna current. This speeds up oxidation, and disrupts the connection inside. Bad things happen to large amplifiers when the coax connection cuts out.

73
 
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I have the DX98VHP with the amplifier switch. With amplifier section off low pwr = .5 dead key and 7 pep. High=2.5 with 11 pep. I did install the Ranger amplifier section board which is a direct drop in with 4 2879’s. The drop in board is roughly $450 with DEI 2879’s. With the amplifier section on low pwr dead key = 55 and 230 pep. High = 160 dead key and 400 pep using an Astron VS70M set at 14 volts. As measured on a Bird 43p

As mentioned if you get the amplifier switch in the wrong position you’ll let the smoke out of your external amp.

The radio itself works great and I would definitely buy it again.

IMHO for driving an external amplifier (DX500 or DX667) nothing works better than a simple Cobra 29LTD classic.
 
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Once again I appreciate everyone’s advice. I will not be running any other amplifiers in line with this radio, only reason for switch to turn off or reduce amplifier wattage is to be respectful for some of my local cb’ers. I will be running it as a base station as well as a mobile at times. My real concern is How should this radio be set up for 11 meter Tune/Recieve wise? Loose cannon I have definitely have your comment on my mind Thanks again for all comments and recommendations, Thanks Steve
 
I'd venture to say that a good tune would involve replacing all of the finals with a beta matched set of these. Personally I wouldn't waste the money on that radio.
Screenshot_20171122-101038.jpg
 
Bobs CB will tune the radio the right way. I have bought many radios from him and he does them the right way...
And how might that be?
DTB Radio isn't capable of "tuning" one of those radios using proper test equipment, so I'm kinda wondering how BOB does it with a dosy meter. The main issue with that rig is mismatched transistors, and not being able to adjust bias voltage correctly for each one. The radio is a bad design. The only fix would be to replace all finals with a beta-matched set of eight, and adjust bias accordingly. Without test equipment, it would be impossible to see how to adjust bias. Service manual might get you in the ballpark, but won't facilitate removing all IMD.
 
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And how might that be?
DTB Radio isn't capable of "tuning" one of those radios using proper test equipment, so I'm kinda wondering how BOB does it with a dosy meter. The main issue with that rig is mismatched transistors, and not being able to adjust bias voltage correctly for each one. The radio is a bad design. The only fix would be to replace all finals with a beta-matched set of eight, and adjust bias accordingly. Without test equipment, it would be impossible to see how to adjust bias. Service manual might get you in the ballpark, but won't facilitate removing all IMD.
The gentlemen stated the obvious it's got 4 pill board not 8 mosfets and for the tune I suggest bells cb shop in Florida
 

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