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Really bad luck with alignments, or...?

buickid

304 'round the minigrass
Nov 22, 2012
228
134
53
Kona, Hawaii
Dunno if I just have horrible luck, or what, but the Galaxy 979 that I bought from DTB came tuned pretty far off frequency on sideband. I had to open the clarifier almost full CW to get other people dialed in, and contacts said I was pretty off frequency as well. Dave said to send it back and he'd realign it, no problems there. Been talking on it for a couple weeks now and while my Rx is pretty spot on, I've got a load of reports today that my Tx was pretty far off. This was after the radio was on sideband for at least 20 minutes, so it was warmed up. Other than that, people have said my audio is great, once they dial me in. Is Dave's frequency counter off, or do I just have really bad luck with radios? Wouldn't explain why the Rx is good and Tx isn't. Dave mentioned that it might've gotten jostled in shipping. In any case, I took this as a good excuse to buy a FC, ended up grabbing a pretty nice looking old Sencore FC45 on eBay.
 

There is a TX offset adjustment on the board at VR7. The radio may be on freq during receive; but if that VR7 isn't adjusted properly it will transmit off freq. VR7 should get you where you need to go.

Galaxy Radios DX979 Service Manual

http://www.cbtricks.com/radios/galaxy/dx979/dx979_adj.htm

Nice score on the freq counter. Of course, a freq counter is only as accurate as the last time it was calibrated. But it is definitely better than having no freq counter at all.

My personal opinion on this is:
Can't believe he made a mistake like that - twice.
Must be something wrong with the radio.
 
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At least he offered to take it back and check it. I was told to send mine to Ranger.
Absolutely, I had no problem with the way Dave handled it. I'd refer anyone to him in a heartbeat. If only he were a little closer to our little islands...

There is a TX offset adjustment on the board at VR7. The radio may be on freq during receive; but if that VR7 isn't adjusted properly it will transmit off freq. VR7 should get you where you need to go.

Galaxy Radios DX979 Service Manual

Galaxy Radios DX979 Service Manual

Nice score on the freq counter. Of course, a freq counter is only as accurate as the last time it was calibrated. But it is definitely better than having no freq counter at all.

My personal opinion on this is:
Can't believe he made a mistake like that - twice.
Must be something wrong with the radio.

Yeah, I'm gonna see how much a local tech wants to get it lined up, and keep an eye on it from there. If it keeps drifting, a trip to Galaxy might be in order...

As far as the FC goes, we're located right next to WWVH, which broadcasts on a 10MHz frequency. Apparently with a shortwave receiver, you can do a pretty decent job of dialing in the crystal on a FC by matching the frequencies to eliminate the beats created by constructive interference. Interesting!
 
Robb just gave ya the procedure, why "send it off to a tech"? It sounds like a minor adjustment to me. Have you seen what some UPS or Fedex handlers do with boxes? But i can understand its a brand new radio, so send it back, but if you're eventually gonna do some mods or peak, why not adjust the SSB yourself with a good local you trust and get it dead-nut-on. Just trying to encourage ya, lol.
 
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Use the Galaxy tech support over the phone alignment.

Hold your mic next to the speaker of a radio that is known to be on frequency.

Key the mic and turn the pot until you hear "whoop whoop whoop"

It actually works quite well.
 
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Use the Galaxy tech support over the phone alignment.

Hold your mic next to the speaker of a radio that is known to be on frequency.

Key the mic and turn the pot until you hear "whoop whoop whoop"

It actually works quite well.

Ummmm . . . not exactly . . . 'whoop whoop whoop' isn't a 'zero beat' state.

That will get you close; but not what anyone would expect from a new radio that should have been aligned right in the first place.

Some part in the radio is causing the voltage to drop too much from the RX to the TX state; and this is what may be causing the huge shift difference. Perhaps the VCO voltage is too low; or a regulator or zener is not up to spec. Hard to say just from the description. DTB may have to get his hands a little dirty on this one before it is right.

Thing is with any Galaxy is that they need a lot of time to warm up. 20 minutes isn't enough - even in Hawaii. Usually I let any Galaxy I'm aligning get warm for 30-40 minutes. That includes several key-ups into a dummy load too.
 
Last edited:
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Well... Its hard to describe the exact sound when it beats.

Anyways, Galaxy tech support is known to suggest users do that method.

I've adjusted transmit frequency by ear on many crappy radios. Once my hillbilly tune was completed, it made everyone happy.
 
Thanks for the advice guys! I'll try see if I can get my buddy to do a radio check with me while I twiddle with the VR7. If I had another known good radio, I would certainly try the zero beat method. I will certainly keep an eye on the alignment and see if it keeps sliding. Hopefully I don't have to send it back to the mainland, shipping gets spendy from Hawaii...
 
Use the Galaxy tech support over the phone alignment.

Hold your mic next to the speaker of a radio that is known to be on frequency.

Key the mic and turn the pot until you hear "whoop whoop whoop"

It actually works quite well.

That's a new one to me.
Seems like it might work sufficiently well.
I will give that a try sometime and see what the results are that I get.
 
I am sorry but that just might be the biggest load of crap I have ever heard in my life...


Not at all really. I have a Magnum Delta Force and in LSB mode RV108 is the VR frequency adjustment. After a recent alignment by a qualified tech I was told the radio was a tad off. RV108 was very very touchy, you turn it a smidge of a hair and it would change the tx freq enough for people I talk to to notice.

After we got it all set I was curious so I lifted the radio about 2 inches above the towel covered table I was working on dropped it. This slight bump would be about like hitting a medium size pot hole in the mobile. When I keyed up everyone right away said that the radio was off frequency again.

So sorry bud but the way UPS and Fed Ex toss boxes around that it very much a possibility. Heck the radio might even have an issue, DTB is a trusted tech and it is a Galaxy radio.
 
I did it to one of my 2950's a month or so. The local frequency inspector said I was off. I usually just adjust the VFO, but this time I zeroed it with my 590. Its still spot on and makes everyone happy.
 
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Use the Galaxy tech support over the phone alignment.

Hold your mic next to the speaker of a radio that is known to be on frequency.

Key the mic and turn the pot until you hear "whoop whoop whoop"

It actually works quite well.

I might can realign my 959 to my 8900 then. I haven't sent it back to DTB for a realignment after my Star Electronics bought and DTB installed and aligned Viagra board came crashing down. I can zero beat my MFJ-207 to my 8900 and maybe align the 959 to the 207(don't bump the dial)
 

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