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Galaxy DX99V

Big Dog

Member
Sep 4, 2008
34
1
18
Hi, Im new to this forum and Im not too educated about CB radios, I just got this radio used and Id apreciate your opinions and/or comments about it. Great forum, Thanks Lou
 

Oh boy, thats bad. I hope you did not pay to much for it, it is a piece of junk and I will take it off of your hands so you won't have to suffer with it.
Just ship it to me pre-paid and include a $20.00 bill in the package for my trouble. :D

I like all of the Galaxy radios and the 99V is a good unit with several good mods available to turn it loose.

If it has not been hacked up on the inside, it will make a good radio for you.
 
Probably my all time favorite radio. There are a lot of things that be done to make it a screamer.....(y)
 
first,

make sure you are checking the SWR the proper way.
do a google search for "how to check your SWR" or something like that,
and you should find a few tutorials to make sure you are doing it right.

if you are doing it right, and still having high SWR, then check these things:

amp and radio power and ground need to be run right to the pos and neg terminals of the battery.

antenna needs to be a good one capable of handling the power, and needs to be mounted properly in the right location. (reply and give us all the details about your antenna system. include all the things you dont think you need to)

the 99v needs to have the RF power set to a 2 watt deadkey to work with that amp.
there should be a knob on the front of the radio to set this with.
with the radio's meter set to read the RF output, key the mic, and turn this knob down until the meter shows 2 watts out.

the more details you give us about your installation the more we can help you.
later,
LC
 
first,

make sure you are checking the SWR the proper way.
do a google search for "how to check your SWR" or something like that,
and you should find a few tutorials to make sure you are doing it right.

if you are doing it right, and still having high SWR, then check these things:

amp and radio power and ground need to be run right to the pos and neg terminals of the battery.

antenna needs to be a good one capable of handling the power, and needs to be mounted properly in the right location. (reply and give us all the details about your antenna system. include all the things you dont think you need to)

the 99v needs to have the RF power set to a 2 watt deadkey to work with that amp.
there should be a knob on the front of the radio to set this with.
with the radio's meter set to read the RF output, key the mic, and turn this knob down until the meter shows 2 watts out.

the more details you give us about your installation the more we can help you.
later,
LC


I agree with all of that except the part about the negative from the amp going to the battery.

When running amps you want to keep the grounds as short as possible. The longer a ground the more RF interference you are inviting.
 
I have a 250 watt Boomer amp hooked to it but Im getting high SWRs, Im hoping its the old ant. wire.

If you're not using an external meter and you're relying on the meter in the radio, there are two possibilities:

#1: The meter's wrong. A lot of built-in meters are.

#2: The input circuitry of the amplifier doesn't present a 50-ohm impedance to the radio. This is a defect in the amplifier, not the radio.

That said, are you using an external SWR meter?

If so, is the meter immediately after the radio, or immediately after the amplifier?
 
formulamojo,


im not sure i understand your logic with regards to using a short ground lead to the vehicle body rather than running the ground wire right to the battery's negative terminal.

i will lay out how i see it, and you can tell me where i might have misunderstood you or missed something somewhere.

so, you have your negative cable coming out of the back of your amp.
you need to get that cable connected to something that will complete the circuit.
the thing that completes the circuit is the negative terminal of the battery, not the chassis itself.
so, whether you connect a short ground wire to the chassis, or connect a long ground wire directly to the negative terminal of the battery, that negative cable coming out of the amp still has to get back to the negative terminal of the battery somehow.

to me, it seems like a much better idea to use a good, clean, properly gauged, copper wire to make that journey, rather than rely on old steel panels that have been bolted together, painted, sealed against leaks, possibly rusted, and were never designed or intended to be used as an RF ground, to make that same journey.

so why is it better to connect your ground cable to some arbitrary body panel, rather than using copper wire to make the connection to the negative terminal of the battery.
either way, the ground still travels the same distance from the amp to the battery.

please let me know your thoughts on this.

later,
LC
 
LC,

Yes the electrical ground is achieved but makes a longer trip for RF to get to ground.

RF and DC have different characteristics.

The longer ground acts as sort of a second antenna if you will and produces RF interference all over the vehicle.

This interference causes havoc on many things inside of the vehicle, from the Radio, to the windshield wipers, to the ecm, crank and cam shaft positioning sensor etc....

When dealing with RF you want the quickest low resistance path to ground. That is why when fully bonding a vehicle (grounding body to frame, frame to engine, alternator to engine, battery to frame) you use braided strap instead of round wire.

I agree that you should use good quality wire, I prefer 6 gauge or better. Also run the ground for the radio directly to the battery, just not the amp.
 
first,

make sure you are checking the SWR the proper way.
do a google search for "how to check your SWR" or something like that,
and you should find a few tutorials to make sure you are doing it right.

if you are doing it right, and still having high SWR, then check these things:

amp and radio power and ground need to be run right to the pos and neg terminals of the battery.

antenna needs to be a good one capable of handling the power, and needs to be mounted properly in the right location. (reply and give us all the details about your antenna system. include all the things you dont think you need to)

the 99v needs to have the RF power set to a 2 watt deadkey to work with that amp.
there should be a knob on the front of the radio to set this with.
with the radio's meter set to read the RF output, key the mic, and turn this knob down until the meter shows 2 watts out.

the more details you give us about your installation the more we can help you.
later,
LC

Ok, I have a wilson 4 foot fiberglass ant. mounted on the right side of the front bumper on my F250 diesel pick up,I put it there because I sometimes haul a slideon truck camper so I keep it in one place. I used the heavier gray ant. wire instead of the thinner Radio shack type, the wire runs along the frame to under the pas. seat to unit. I brought the radio to the shop to be sure it wasnt turned up and everything is ok. I have the radio power connected to the fuse box and the ground also. The Boomer 250 is directly wired to the battery, pos and neg. The amp and radio are right next to each other so when I key up I think it causing the radio to squeal and I have the mic gain turned down real low , so I havent been using amp. The swr meter is an old Radio Shack one that I only connect to the radio and it reads anywhere from 3.0 to 1.5. Im not sure how to connect it to the radio and the amp. The whole system was was oked by the shop, except the closeness of the radio and amp. Any tips are greatly appreciated Thanks Lou
 
Ok, I have a wilson 4 foot fiberglass ant. mounted on the right side of the front bumper on my F250 diesel pick up,I put it there because I sometimes haul a slideon truck camper so I keep it in one place. I used the heavier gray ant. wire instead of the thinner Radio shack type, the wire runs along the frame to under the pas. seat to unit. I brought the radio to the shop to be sure it wasnt turned up and everything is ok. I have the radio power connected to the fuse box and the ground also. The Boomer 250 is directly wired to the battery, pos and neg. The amp and radio are right next to each other so when I key up I think it causing the radio to squeal and I have the mic gain turned down real low , so I havent been using amp. The swr meter is an old Radio Shack one that I only connect to the radio and it reads anywhere from 3.0 to 1.5. Im not sure how to connect it to the radio and the amp. The whole system was was oked by the shop, except the closeness of the radio and amp. Any tips are greatly appreciated Thanks Lou



Can you move the box any further away from the radio than where it is?

You want to take the amp out of the picture and tune the antenna as low as you can get it. Then put the amp in line and the meter between the amp and the antenna and recheck and re-tune with the amp off. Then turn the amp on and fine tune.
 
hi fm,


that makes sense to me.
so, its about the groundplane itself, not about getting to the negative terminal.
therefore, the distance the wire has to travel to get to the groundplane is very different than when it goes all the way to the battery.
oh, and thats a big 10-4 on the differences between RF and DC ground.
i am VERY aware of the differences, still learning what to do about them. LOL
thanks,
LC
 

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