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Looking at another radio,you can never have to many.

Grogan

W9WDX Amateur Radio Club Member
Oct 1, 2011
1,133
343
93
Southern New Jersey
Just love the Galaxy I bought 99V2 Thinking about another one for the truck. OR was looking at buying A DX-959 and have the receive and transmit mods done with a full alignment. I don't need the extra chanels in the radio echo etc just AM/SSB I could save about 80.00 aprox with the receive and transmit mods done plus a proper alignment. anyone had one done at one of the shops. Is a major improvement. I usually just buy the radio and tune not the mods. your thoughts please.
 

I run a bone stock 949 in my RC, with a 400w Fatboy - in case I get STUCK in the middle of nowhere - and have no complaints. The SWR is perfect with a 102" whip, and no one's had a problem hearing me yet. I think you'll be pleased with the 900 series.
 
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Get an optima mk3, find an icom HM36 or there is another icom mic that works well with them as well just can't remember which one it is. The other one has a small mic opening and some red lettering on it I beleive. But the HM36 seems to work well with them IMO. That is what I use anyway. Get a real one and not the cheap knock offs. They are not the same mic!! The real hm36 mics say Icom on them and are made in Japan. Like the one below. And here are few photos of optima mk3 as well with dimensions. Hope this helps or at least gives you a look at one. And it does 60 watt on SSB. About 40 watts pep on AM. Avg. on AM isn't very much but it does work on am. SSB is where it kicks butt. 10 or 11 meters. Again JMO. It's a simple radio and not a lot of BS. And it has what no other export I know of has and that is a second filter for SSB. And boy does it work well!! Doesn't kill the rx but blocks out a lot of unwanted noise. Good luck with what ever you choose.
 

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Went over the Radio Budget and made a list of stuff I need, Coax for one of the antennas. Repair My Kenwood. and Put the truck Radio on a tight Budget. Had to Have SSB so I went with a Uniden 980 ssb. Wanted to go with something More but I made a list and priority and cost was a factor.
 
Well post up your list. We may help you out. :) Possibly right out of the house into the dog house. Trust my pal....... :D
 
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The uniden 980 is a good SSB radio. They are on freq. out of the box and sound good on air. If anything add a heat sink to the back of the radio or turn the SSB power back a few watts. The transistor used in that radio isnt rated for much power and even stock can blow a final if you ragchew too long. I found mine to be getting hot so I turned power back to about 8 watts pep on SSB and it now stays cool. Or add a fan or heat sink. JMHO. But they are great radios to use with an amp as they don't over drive most amps. Turn am power back to 1.5-2 watt dk and set modulation at 100% or close as possible and it should have some forward swing on am. Stock they don't have much swing at all on AM. Again JMHO. Its the best SSB radio for the cost. Get the uniden wireless mic and it is nice to not have any cords in the way. Mic works well with this radio. So does the 2018 extreme mic. Used both and they both got good audio reports. The wireless mic isn't a power mic but has clean, clear audio. Also the cheap cobra power mics don't sound bad with that radio. Again, JMO. Get a good antenna setup and that 980 will work just fine.
 
222 I did buy the 980 when they first came out and at the closer to 150.00 price then. Somehow I burned up two of them. I figured it out to be a problem with my I Max 2000 and cleaned the threads where they screw together and put a little dielectric grease on the threads. changed it out for The Siro new Tornado when the weather got better and new coax. Figured that was the problem. I may set the modulation and check dead key and sideband out-put I think most of em are pretty good out of the box. First I will pull out the mic pile and see what sounds for Am and sideband both . Was going to use both in the Truck. 222 you have me thinking about turning the ssb out-put down to 8 watts. to keep it cool. I think I will use it on the bench stock for a few nights to see if it get hot. I didn't want to use an amp because it's a company work van with GPS. etc.The two stock radios I burned up were no out-put when I turned them on after use the night before. But I saw the antenna and match problem 2 weeks later and it started intermittent. and was not steady.
 
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They do get a bit warm on the left rear I believe it is looking at it from the back. I think that's right. Anyway hold your hand on the back and have a short qso with someone or into a dummy load. I too bought mine kind of when they first came out. Got one on sale for $129. This was over 3yrs ago. It is still on freq and is a good little SSB radio for what you pay for them. At $150 they aren't that bad of a radio either. But I think a lot of people thought they were going to be able to mod a bunch and that didn't happen. So a lot of truckers don't like them cause they don't swing the meter! They are clean, clear little radios that function as intended. Nothing more, nothing less. The 2018 mic sounds good on mine as well as a uniden bearcat mic. The silver face one with the red claw. They used to sell them with the PC68's. The wireless mic sounds good too but is not a power mic. Just clean audio. I do understand the amp thing, and these newer vehicles have poor grounding systems as well. Every one of my wires under the hood of my work van had paint under them. Don't know how they made contact lol. It was terrible. I must have sanded 20 wires and got tired. Keep it simple. The conditions should pick up some when it cools down. Get a good antenna on it, like a sirio performer 5000 mag mount. That's what I did. I also added a 2 pill but that isn't an option for you as you stated. Best thing to do if possible is get the best mag mount antenna you can and run with it. The turbo 5000 or even the megawatt 4000 rigid wouldn't be a bad option. Might be a bit high but at lest they work. Anyway. About the power, mine cooled considerably after turning it down. It was getting toasty even at stock with a minute or so of talking was hot to touch in the spot where the transistor mounts. A better transistor and driver and maybe an upgraded voltage regulator would help. I like the good old 1969 finals myself as well as the Toshiba transistors but times are moving forward. There are some very nice quality Mosfets that are made for RF that a few home builders are now starting to use and are very clean and do good as far as power goes. Just takes the know how and that is where most lack in, including me lol. But they have been using Mosfets for years in HF radios. So they do make good ones. But they also cost more!! That is another reason why most that don't know what they are doing don't mess with them. And I'm not talking about the cheap irf520 type stuff though. Anyway. Hope you get it figured out and let me know what comes of the radio as far as the heat stock vs it at 8 watts. Have a good one and God Bless.
 
Got the radio today, Tried it out on am and SSB sounds good on both Stock radio... 4 watts AM a little swing and 10 maby ssb Ratchet Jaw on both AM and SSB and the spot on the back of the radio where the final is gets scary hot. Don't ratchet Jaw in the mobil for the norm But damm it does get hot. WTF
 
Yep. There is enough room I would think to mount a heatsink. Told you that it would get hot with long rag chews. Turn power back on SSB to about 8 watts and it will help cool it down at bit. Also a heatsink or fan isn't a bad idea.
 

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