Product Review: Redman's Extreme Echo/Talkback/Recorder Box

[Wire Weasel]

Hi gang, Currently using an RCI 2995DX for the base. In our area we love noise toys and most use echo and roger beeps. It's a real circus. Anywho... I've wanted to add echo to the RCI and I'd rather not install an echo board inside the radio. Also need Talkback to set the echo and for other uses and I can't come up with the way to add talkback to this late model 2995DX with the SMT circuit board. I would be happy with an outboard product so I decided to try this multi-purpose box from Redman. And it was good to give him some business back as he has purchased a couple of Tweety Bird D104's from me. Redman has his own full-line CB store site and he sells on ebay as well. Here is a link to his noise toy box page and he has quite a large selection with various capabilities to choose from.

RedmanCB.com - CB Radio Equipment and Supplies

Scroll down the page a bit to find the Extreme/Echo/Talback Box


This one I have is performing very well as described and I'm totally happy with it.

Features dual control digital turbo echo with all the modern maximum effects. Endless repeat, reverb, robot as well as standard echo. Provides talkback for ANY radio as you are plugging an external speaker into a jack in the rear of the box. Box installs between microphone and radio. Contains a 20 second digital recording chip. You can record a spoken message direct through your microphone. Use this same method to record from over the air - unplug mic from radio, hold mic up to external speaker, key mic and push RECORD button on box to make recording. Push PLAYBACK button to play whatever is recorded. Box further has on/off switch and slow color changing LED ON light. Volume control for talkback. Comes with Redman's custom and extensive sound effects CD that also contains a popular radio mods and mic wiring section. Also includes a complete patchkit for attaching box to your computer so your can inject any sound effect from the CD or any other up-to-20 second sound bite from your computer to the box for instant playback.

The echo unit from the box is high quality and I think he is using the current dual turbo echo offering from RF Products so it's pretty much the same echo that you'll get in a Magnum radio.

Another handy use for the box is to record a CQ Call for contests.

Also included is a new wall adapter that powers the thing so I think this is an exceptional value for the $110 asking price considering all of the parts and labor that are in it.

I'm happy!

 

[MrSuburban]

Shame he couldnt put them in a metal chassis instead of a Radios shack project box.

 

[fnkycoldmedina]

he`s not doing anything that a guy with a little knowledge and a soldering gun couldnt do .i have built some in the past.built one to use with my galaxy pluto because it was mint and i didnt want to hack into it .
no magic here.
glad your happy with it though.

 

[l2en169]

I bought the 'extreme' box from redman cb...

After specifying that I needed it for DC use, I was sent an AC model...honest mistake/miscommunication, I thought. I communicated this with him and he told me it was necessary to return the unit and have it modified/replaced. I pay to ship it back. I get the box in the mail with the DC wiring. It sounds like there are BB's or something rolling around in the box. One of the two screws in the mic cord clamp was also missing. I expressed my concern and asked if it had been bench tested. He pretty much scoffed and took these questions as me insulting him.

Direct copy and past of the email convo after he shipped the second unit...

Me: "Got it back in the mail today, thanks for the quick return...it sounds like there is a ball bearing, or something, rolling around freely inside the case. It doesn't sound like an unsecured board rattle, it sounds like a big glob of solder or a bb. LOL, is this normal and did you bench test the DC unit after the exchange/conversion? I'm not trying to insult your integrity, I just wanna make sure it's okay considering the amount of money I paid for it and the fact that there is a 'warranty void' sticker keeping me from cracking the case to see what is rolling around in there."

RedmanCB: "It always amazes me that people shake things to listen for problems.
Set it on the table. If it makes noises ,rattles or moves at all, then there is a BIG problem.

There are extra cords, a button , jack and other parts inside that are used for other applications, but can NOT be cut off.
I'm not even going the answer the bench test question.

Thnx Tom"

I hook up the unit to a 78XL. No RX audio, as if there weren't a mic connected at all. I inform RedmanCB of the situation.

He tells me to return it AGAIN and he'll 'check it out'.

At this point I feel like I got hosed with this box and refuse to pay USPS three times for this guy's screw up. I take it to a HAM Tech...

Upon opening the case, he finds a small machine screw and matching nut randomly hanging out inside. The inside of the box looked like a scrap wire recycling bin at a workman pp1 assembly plant. Anywho, the HAM Tech got the box in working order but noticed my radio now had nasty TX interference...The interference disappeared once the box was d/c'd and the mic wired straight to the radio.

Sounds like the OP is either friends with this hack or lucked out like a mofo because I ran into two different people, at two different shops, in two different states that told me their misfortune with his boxes.

I'll never buy anything from there again and would strongly warn anyone thinking about getting one of these boxes.

 

[Wire Weasel]

Your comments are fair.

About 6 months ago my box got hit by lightning. I had the radio & coax n' all disconnected but left the box connected to power through its wall wart.

It still worked but there was a hum in the background of the audio.

I had never been inside the box or had a reason to look inside. So I go inside to see if I can locate an obvious problem and I found the same jungle of wires and questionable soldering work that you did.

1) As original, the box worked great and performed as advertised with no issues

2) There are a lot of parts and connections involved. Perhaps you should try hooking up all this stuff from scratch and installing into a box this size and see how much more of a neater looking job you can do.....considering that interior electronics looks has no bearing on how the unit performs.

I am still making the the Two Tone Variable Tweety Bird Modules from scratch by hand and onto a small as possible piece of circuit board. It is not particularly easy making all the connections and placing all of the capacitors and resistors where they need to be and routing circuit ground around to 5 different places on the board including both sides of a 14 pin DIP chip. The finished product LOOKS UGLY but it works.

Tom and I are in this way NOT professional manufacturing facilities. Homemade stuff lots of times ends up looking....home made.

Back in the day KenYaeCommTTecFlex-O-Matic did not exist and all hams were forced to build their entire radios from scratch. Who gave a crap over the air what it looked like?

 

[l2en169]

I'm not in the commercial sector of cb novelties but I've installed PP modules inside and outside of radios. Especially with internal installs, I would never leave something look like that. I suppose it'd cut into profit margins to clip over sized leads and put pride into your work. I'll be sure to post my before and after pictures once I tidy up the box. With all the money I have tied up in it and as good as this thing COULD be, I'm making it my personal mission to get this thing in order. It'll never get near the high dollar setup but I'd trust it with an unmolested cheapy radio. I'm gonna start with a new project box, seeing how half the holes that were drilled in it just cracked to the edge of the box. This guy really put pride into his work...

Keeping things neat makes it much, much easier when having to troubleshoot. When you're as cocky as this guy "Tom" was, you obviously don't need to troubleshoot your perfect creation though.

 

[fnkycoldmedina]

like i said no magic here .
heres a tweety box i built for a friend years ago .the finished product had another row of switches /buttons . powered by a 9 volt inside the case .i think there was 3 original d&j tweeties in it maybe 4 .

the homemade echobox i used with my pluto over 10 years ago .

yeah the pic is small its what i had at the time .

finished shot of that tweety box

had a power on light as well .until i was done we had about 120.00 into that box .
there was a 2 tone d&j and 2 other single tones in it .extra switches to slow it down ect,ect......

some 25 years ago i built what at the time had to be the first voice changer.i found a toy at a toy store that changed your voice .it had a mic and a speaker .

the wheels got turning in my head and i bought a couple (they were on clearance) i built this into a box with a 4pin mic input and a mic cord 4 pin output .powered by a internal 9 volt .

it worked great .

i took my idea to a so called friend who ran the local cb shop . he started building the boxes ,sold each one for a hundred bucks to the truckers that came in .and i never seen a dime .
i should have got a patent .but the boards werent mine .i just adapted a new idea for them .

so all this redman stuff is nothing ol john doe cant do . i just dont feel like doing it .lol....let him corner the market. i done enough of that stuff in my day.

 

[longbeard]

i have delt with redman.if you ask a stupid question from anyone over and over again.it get tiresome.nobody is doing what he does on this scale.i have a few of his toys.he stands by his work..if you got squeel.turn your mic gain back.duh .his watergates are good sounding. but if your got reflect.its gona be highlighted with a toy.

i am happy with his art.

 

[ElectronTubesRule]

longberd, I fail to see where the OP asked any stupid questions of Mr. Redman??? It turned out his fears where justified in finding a lose nut and bolt inside that is a short waiting to happen. On top of that it did not work properly after making two round trips.

If you think every time you buy a transistor it has been tested before it shipped you are a fool or live in a fantasy land.......They do lots not each transistor. If you get lucky and buy from a small guy he will maybe test each one before he ships it. So asking if it is bench tested prior to shipping is not a stupid question when asking about a unit that was first wrong in configuration sent back to be built properly and now has a rattling noise inside! Their is sticking up for a guy you like then their is worshiping at the mans feet and not conceeeding any wrong was done but instead deflecting the blame to the end user like it was his fault?!?!?!?

 

[longbeard]

longberd, I fail to see where the OP asked any stupid questions of Mr. Redman??? It turned out his fears where justified in finding a lose nut and bolt inside that is a short waiting to happen. On top of that it did not work properly after making two round trips.

If you think every time you buy a transistor it has been tested before it shipped you are a fool or live in a fantasy land.......They do lots not each transistor. If you get lucky and buy from a small guy he will maybe test each one before he ships it. So asking if it is bench tested prior to shipping is not a stupid question when asking about a unit that was first wrong in configuration sent back to be built properly and now has a rattling noise inside! Their is sticking up for a guy you like then their is worshiping at the mans feet and not conceeeding any wrong was done but instead deflecting the blame to the end user like it was his fault?!?!?!?

take it easy oldtimer.the guy asked for opinions.or if anyone has delt with him.i have and dont have any probs with him.asking if it was bench tested is a dumb question.of course it is.extra solder drips on plastic it sticks for a second in the box gets closed and shiped solder comes loosethings like this happin.guys like you make hams look like snobs.lighting up

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

"RedmanCB: "It always amazes me that people shake things to listen for problems.
Set it on the table. If it makes noises ,rattles or moves at all, then there is a BIG problem.

There are extra cords, a button , jack and other parts inside that are used for other applications, but can NOT be cut off.
I'm not even going the answer the bench test question.

Thnx Tom"

he obviously knows folks like products that sound solid and don't rattle , but isn't concerned about . his disrespectful answers to a paying customer with legitimate concerns is pretty crappy IMO .

take it easy oldtimer.the guy asked for opinions.or if anyone has delt with him.i have and dont have any probs with him.asking if it was bench tested is a dumb question.of course it is.extra solder drips on plastic it sticks for a second in the box gets closed and shiped solder comes loosethings like this happin.guys like you make hams look like snobs.lighting up

i've read some pretty dumb stuff on forums because of nut-hugging , but someone thinking loose solder blobs and nuts/bolts in electronics is acceptable is near the top . LMAO

 

[6.0 Liter]

What Booty said..........loose things inside electronics is asking for problems, anyone that would ignore that is ignorant.

 

[Turbo T]

some 25 years ago i built what at the time had to be the first voice changer.i found a toy at a toy store that changed your voice .it had a mic and a speaker .

the wheels got turning in my head and i bought a couple (they were on clearance) i built this into a box with a 4pin mic input and a mic cord 4 pin output .powered by a internal 9 volt .

it worked great .

i took my idea to a so called friend who ran the local cb shop . he started building the boxes ,sold each one for a hundred bucks to the truckers that came in .and i never seen a dime .
i should have got a patent .but the boards werent mine .i just adapted a new idea for them .

so all this redman stuff is nothing ol john doe cant do . i just dont feel like doing it .lol....let him corner the market. i done enough of that stuff in my day.

Yeah you probably should have gotten a patent. You are right though about the noise toys and how easy they are to add on. I recently took an old cheap CB that I didn't care about/used as a guinea pig....and discovered how to take one of those key chain noise toys (the kind you aim at someone and push the button and it spits out an insult) and adapt it into the CB so you can piss off an entire truck stop. LOL the best part is they all thought it was a real person behind the mic spitting out all those insults, and not a recording.

 

[jon666]

re

i bought a box from him. it never worked when i got it.
i emailed him. he gave me a smart ass email back.
so i fixed it myself. i would not recommend buying from him.

 

[hotrod]

Hi gang, Currently using an RCI 2995DX for the base. In our area we love noise toys and most use echo and roger beeps. It's a real circus. Anywho... I've wanted to add echo to the RCI and I'd rather not install an echo board inside the radio. Also need Talkback to set the echo and for other uses and I can't come up with the way to add talkback to this late model 2995DX with the SMT circuit board. I would be happy with an outboard product so I decided to try this multi-purpose box from Redman. And it was good to give him some business back as he has purchased a couple of Tweety Bird D104's from me. Redman has his own full-line CB store site and he sells on ebay as well. Here is a link to his noise toy box page and he has quite a large selection with various capabilities to choose from.

RedmanCB.com - CB Radio Equipment and Supplies

Scroll down the page a bit to find the Extreme/Echo/Talback Box


This one I have is performing very well as described and I'm totally happy with it.

Features dual control digital turbo echo with all the modern maximum effects. Endless repeat, reverb, robot as well as standard echo. Provides talkback for ANY radio as you are plugging an external speaker into a jack in the rear of the box. Box installs between microphone and radio. Contains a 20 second digital recording chip. You can record a spoken message direct through your microphone. Use this same method to record from over the air - unplug mic from radio, hold mic up to external speaker, key mic and push RECORD button on box to make recording. Push PLAYBACK button to play whatever is recorded. Box further has on/off switch and slow color changing LED ON light. Volume control for talkback. Comes with Redman's custom and extensive sound effects CD that also contains a popular radio mods and mic wiring section. Also includes a complete patchkit for attaching box to your computer so your can inject any sound effect from the CD or any other up-to-20 second sound bite from your computer to the box for instant playback.

The echo unit from the box is high quality and I think he is using the current dual turbo echo offering from RF Products so it's pretty much the same echo that you'll get in a Magnum radio.

Another handy use for the box is to record a CQ Call for contests.

Also included is a new wall adapter that powers the thing so I think this is an exceptional value for the $110 asking price considering all of the parts and labor that are in it.

I'm happy!

cheapest and easiest is just buy either a xtreme 2018 or galaxy desk mike i believe both have built in talkback.then buy those mike adapter then use it with ANY radio