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MAGNUM 257 HP Review
- Thread starter Robb
- Start date
thanx Jon...i was getting worried maybe things were going screwy
where better to ask than a place where those with the same rig hang out
Mine does the same thing on 19...you get a 19 and a 19A that is when you run the radio in CON2.
Speaking of which, is there any way I can change the LCD to read the frequency instead of just the channel number when the radio is ran in the CON2 mode? In other words I'd rather see "27.185" instead of "19 E".
Thanks in advance.
Speaking of which, is there any way I can change the LCD to read the frequency instead of just the channel number when the radio is ran in the CON2 mode? In other words I'd rather see "27.185" instead of "19 E".
Thanks in advance.
FUNC then CALL not work in con2?
i think i'm in con3 and that works for me...i read mhz continuously
Yeah it does...thanks for the info.
I can vouch with the OP the internal speaker really sucks. Had to get an external just to make out what was said.
Other than that mine works good, IDK if my meter is lying to me but mine says on SSB or AM, 25 watts of modulation is the limit. Mine is not peaked or tuned...I read elsewhere 60 w. is what they push bone stock. But I was able to establish contact 20 miles away on a Wilson 1000 mag mount and this radio. I could get the other guy coming thru but no bars were showing.
If you read a lot of different reviews for any radio ever produced, you will find they all have problems. I can say that, as I read a LOT more reviews than I write. Having a solid warranty from a company that distributes the radios is always a plus. Magnum really takes care of their customers. So long as one knows how to treat a radio right, it shouldn't have a problem. If it does, just send it in for warranty repair.
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Well guys I have had a few new and used without issues, this last new one I bought didn't not work 10 minutes without a recieve issue, I sent it back for warranty repair came back working the exact same as when I sent it so I guess there was a communciation problem with the way I explained the problem. One of my very local radio friends got one that sounded terrible, he sent it back, only gone a week, got it back, worked for almost a day then the lost transmit, other radio guys that I talk to have also had problems so, do I like the 257HP?? Hell Yea. Would I buy one if I was in the market for a radio?? Hell Yea. Magnum has very good service people, I feel the lastest batch of radios just have a Quality Control Issue and Sam Lewis will get it straightened out no doubt
Does anyone know how many amps this radio pulls when at full power? I noticed on my 12 amp power supply, the volts would drop from 13.7 to like 6 v. just keying up the mic and then they'd drop another 3 volts on modulation - don't ask me how this is, that's what my multimeter was reading....and here I was making 10 meter DX contacts to Washington and Nevada today.
I decided to try this radio in my car with a fully charged batt. and it drops the car's voltage by 2 volts plus the lights dim some.
My 65 w. Yaesu FT2800 on the same power supply doesn't get below 13.0 at all.
I decided to try this radio in my car with a fully charged batt. and it drops the car's voltage by 2 volts plus the lights dim some.
My 65 w. Yaesu FT2800 on the same power supply doesn't get below 13.0 at all.
Sounds to me that you are trying to run it at full output. I wouldn't do that. I did it once with my 40 amp supply and it drew as much as 16 amps. Set the output to draw no more than 10-12 amps. About 1/2 to 2/3 output and no more - IMO . . .
PEP is 100 watts sideband with a tone and RF set to 100%. Most of the time it does not exceed 50 or so watts because I set RF output at about 50%. On sideband I can turn the modulation down to nothing and there is no power output.
It's the 50 watts AM and FM I don't understand.. I only adjusted VR16, AM nothing else.
I can always replace the RFX 75 unit if it goes but I just ordered a fan so that will help.
I am getting very good audio reports with this radio.
Thanks for the comment.
I noticed the same result, adjusting RV16 for AM power also affects FM output.
After my adjustments I get the following output at 28.45MHz:
AM: 24W
FM: 24W
SSB: 65W PEP
You get more output at lower frequencies.
I added a dual-speed fan on the heat sink that also blows directly onto the ERF 7530....Keeps it nice and cool.
Not just full output, but I can set the RF power dial at 1/2 and it still pulls some juice. Just for shits and giggles I tried out a different power supply today...an Astron RS20A...which is supposed to be good for 16 amps continuous. I set the radio to 1/2 on the RF power and keyed up....volts drop on the RS20A from 13.7 down to 5-6 VDC and then drop another volt on modulation.
Well, this has happened on 2 of my power supplies. On my car with the engine running, it dropped 2 volts.
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