ok. MY abridged & oversimplified review of the magnum 257, 1st gen of blue light mosfet radio, NOT the HP version. i ALMOST like it. it is a very usable EMERGENCY radio as a base or in a VERY RF QUIET MOBILE ENVIRONMENT. why? because it SUCKS UP NOISE like an award winning dyson vacuum cleaner. otherwise, its receive is more then satisfactory. its small package allows it to fit as an EXTRA radio in the mobile to get you on 10m during e skip season. its factory mic is far superior to most any replacement-unless you do a lot of tinkering. ergonomics? yea right. doing ANYTHING while actually driving-other then keying the mic-is nearly impossible. in fact, mine is NOT even mounted because i need to hold it to my face to read the markings on the switches so i know what to do. 5 digit readout for SSB? again, yea right. the way the tuner works, only going for 1 through 10 no matter where the span is actually set is VERY annoying when on say 28.480 & you can't quite get there from the clarifier, say several khz away. you have to change the span & reset the freq.....again, not fun in bumper to bumper traffic at 75mph. frequency stability.....for a cb.....pretty good. had an ss158 on the bench that would 'turn on' 2 khz low when the temp was below 50 degrees. below 10? forget it, try half way to the next channel. the 257 is FAR from that bad. no biggie to leave alone if the other guy is 'on' freq (relatively speaking), at worst, a tap of the clarifier is all that is needed. 25.165 & it won't go to 24.890????? what were you thing sam????? SSB audio? it IS loud. it IS clear. it IS pretty good. but, MANY cb's using mosfets have an imperfection in the audio. in fair qrm, it's hard to notice. a low to medium signal, in dead quiet air, received by a radio of 8719 quality receiver or better, and the imperfection can be noticeable. i've been told it is noticeable on a spectrum analyzer & even in moderate cases, on a 'scope. don't ask me to explain, cuz i can't, i just know i was told that it is 'not spectrally pure' and the original transistor version actually has a cleaner transmit.
dd18, & the NZ yeti com guys have this radio figured out!!!! if magnum were to do THAT to the 257, they WOULD have a winner in MY opinion. i think they covered EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE 257'S SHORTFALLS!!!!
overall opinion? would i buy one? yup. i have. probably a dozen of this particular version. would i buy the hp? probably not. why? i've used THIS radio with a dx500 AND a dx1200 with EXCELLENT audio reports. WHAT is EXCELLENT? again, it is relative. relative to HOW THE LISTENER FEELS HE IS HEARING IT. come on, how many cbers with the most horrendous, muffled, overmodulated, over-echoed, squealing, garbage audio have you heard compliment each other, yet YOU can only decipher 1 out of 9 words? the 257 with or without the TS SOUNDS good to the human ear, for the most part. 'spectrally pure'? yea right. away from locals, in high qrm during a wild band opening, nobody is going to know what you're doing. is that right? no, but.....
the 257 is a 'purpose' radio. that purpose could be ANYTHING. price, size, ability to be on 10 & 11, availability, 'catches the eye', WHATEVER. i AGREE that it is a PRETTY GOOD OPTION for a secondary 10m mobile radio. i also believe some (qrz) hams should get over themselves & explore the radio IF THEY SO DESIRE. if they have the bucks to put an ic7000 in ALL of their personal vehicles, more power to them. I CAN'T. in fact, based on the htx10's LEGAL STATUS, the 257 MIGHT be able to equal the radio shack version for fcc purposes.....hey, MAYBE IT DOES, just the ease of modification being the sticking point.
trying to 'stay on track' by biting my tongue, so for the purpose of 'keeping it civil', some should NOT bash it for what it is and others need to understand it is NOT the perfect 10m by any means.......
