Galaxy radios is dead

[Pioneer621]

While there were a lot of Galaxy radios on the air when I got into in the late 90's through the 2000's, both mobiles and base radios, a lot of guys loved them, they kept that say theme for too long. Same generic stuff with a new model name. The price of one today makes zero sense when you can get a better radio with more features elsewhere. Still, the Galaxy brand is a bit nostalgic for me.

 

[Crawdad]

Cb is pretty much done for. The FCC needs to give it back to the hams

Thanks, but no thanks.....

 

[AmericanEagle575]

Cb is pretty much done for. The FCC needs to give it back to the hams

Nope as CB radio still has its place I feel!!

 

[sunbulls]

Good riddance! I just aligned a 959b for a local (that wants to buy it from me) and all I can say is, NEVER AGAIN (and I'm glad to see it go)!

The slugs are so sensitive that it will convince you telekinesis is real.

I don't even know how to go about fixing that. Would I add more series resistance to reduce Q? I noticed these slugs are almost centered, maybe I need to change capacitors to get those slugs out so they are about 30% in when on frequency? Split the coil into two, one fixed and one smaller to trim (not really practical here)?

And then that frequency counter board soldered to another board on edge is just dumb. Also, I barely bumped the connector for the counter signal and it tore traces off the back of the board. And I can hear that EL driver too (not from speaker, just magnetostriction or whatever). Looks cool, sounds like it would put my dog through hell.

"The slugs are so sensitive that it will convince you telekinesis is real". That should be a hall of fame nomination quote IMO….

 

[SuperLid]

Cb is pretty much done for. The FCC needs to give it back to the hams

Great plan. Have you listened to 10m in the past 10 years? There is more going on 11m, than 10. Besides, the majority of hams today, wouldn't know what to do with it.

 

[Gman]

The FCC needs to give US 10 meters!!!!!

 

[AudioShockwav]

Great plan. Have you listened to 10m in the past 10 years? There is more going on 11m, than 10. Besides, the majority of hams today, wouldn't know what to do with it.

We have a decent group here on Ten with weekly nets but I agree it's under used.
We used to have a AM net on 29.2 but most of the those guys are not around anymore.
It's nothing like 30 + years ago.
It's always been a favorite band of mine, cheap, easy, manageable antenna length for mobile operators and world wide DX when it is open.

73
Jeff

 

[AudioShockwav]

The FCC needs to give US 10 meters!!!!!

The test now is easy enough for you to pass with 2-3 weeks of prep and you can use ten with the Tech license now.

73
Jeff

 

[AudioShockwav]

Cb is pretty much done for. The FCC needs to give it back to the hams

Never going to happen.

73
Jeff

 

[SuperLid]

The test now is easy enough for you to pass with 2-3 weeks of prep and you can use ten with the Tech license now.

73
Jeff

I see this all the time. I was sent a link to a YT channel, for and individual, who knows absolutely nothing about radio. Went from nothing to extra in 8 days. What does this tell me? It is too easy.

All these hotshots with extra class tickets, fancy vanity call signs buying pre made dipoles and "studio mics".hahahaha.

Sorry, all of you new age hams that may refer to me as a "sad ham". I worked hard for it. I would love to see these people pass the advanced written exam, that doesn't exist anymore. Or the 20 WPM Morse exam, which was the LID filter. Can you imagine, having to wait 30 days to re-take a failed exam, at the FCC office? That's how it was folks. Seriously, extra cheese these days.

My Daughter passed the tech test when she was 9. Yeah, smart kid, but lol, my wife passed too.

Back in the day, a ham ticket opened doors for people, myself included. I worked at a batwing shop when I was 19, going to school at night. I had my call on my business card back then, so did many colleagues. After the early 90's, my call was no longer on my card or my resume. In fact, it was, and still is, a negative. The last guy I worked for at batwing corp, hated hams and non ex military. I had superiors, that were hams, that hated hams.

Yeah, I know I am gonna get burned for this post, but I don't care, it's true, all of it. So now, I get on 11m, to talk to local hams, that are sad like me. So yeah, let's get real, it ain't what it was. I'll get entertained by all of the mental cases on 11m, that are bored from the station identification requirement of part 97. I can tolerate it for a bit. Sometimes it's funny, others, not so much.

I am not usually writing rant books, but give 11m back to the hams? For what? 10m is the largest chunk of spectrum allocated to the service and they don't know what to do with it, above 28.500. I hope that the OP was a big joke.

73,

SuperLid

 

[Crawdad]

10m is the largest chunk of spectrum allocated to the service

Might want to check your nearest Band Plan. 10m is 1.7 MHz wide. 6m is 4MHz wide. 2m is 4MHz wide. UHF bands are even larger.

Even though you're the only valid amateur because of your code skills, you missed that one.


Today's Ham:

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

This is truly the end of an era, we all knew this day would come. The QX made radios with the noise reduction feature are really on the next level, its a shame Galaxy didn't step it up like Stryker and President did. Might not be too hard to buy the Galaxy name and have QX make a radio similar to the Stryker 955?

The Galaxy radios with through hole parts really attracted the electronics tinkerer. Learning to do the modifications was a ton of fun, and was the main thing that attracted me from my car stereo installation background. Car audio is fun too, and putting together a great sounding system is not hard to do now days. But I would never think of modifying an audio amplifier or head unit, it just isn't a thing. I believe the Cobra 29 LTD Classic is still through hole, are there any others?

The QX made radios (Anytone, Radiodity, CRT, Stryker, President) are all surface mount, and use the smallest parts available. This makes them really hard to work on, so I guess it is a good thing that they don't need anything changed or added, the audio on these new radios is top notch. The swing mod is about the only thing I can think of, aside from changing / adding the microphone element.

The end of Galaxy will also bring about the end of a lot of CB shops. What better way to make money than to have the radios that people want, and be able to sell modifications to make them better? People bash Galaxy quality, but it has worked out very well for the shops business model.

The great part about this hobby is that there are several different parts of it to keep my interest. If I got bored modifying radios, I would start thinking about my antennas. If I got bored with antennas, I would start thinking about amplifiers. Now there is one less thing to capture my imagination. It has been reduced to finding the right buttons for the secret menu...

 

[SuperLid]

Might want to check your nearest Band Plan. 10m is 1.7 MHz wide. 6m is 4MHz wide. 2m is 4MHz wide. UHF bands are even larger.

Even though you're the only valid amateur because of your code skills, you missed that one.


Today's Ham:
View attachment 75954

I was referring to the OP's quote "give it back to the hams", which would refer to 11m being *taken*, unlike the spectrum you have mentioned. You missed that one. 10m and 11m were close enough to be considered the same at one time.

 

[brandon7861]

I never did learn to hear and send code on a key, but I did time with another radio enthusiasts and we ended up on opposite sides of the block getting out at different times. We both cut a circle and a dash out of our neon canteen books and started flashing dits and dahs in front of our windows. By the end of the first day, the dits and dahs were flying across the glass so fast that people were starting to wonder WTF we were up to. It only took a few hours to not need to look at the paper or write things as we saw them.

People learn things out of necessity, and the fact that something is no longer a necessity does not mean they are incapable of it. If its not something you see yourself using on a regular basis, why dedicate resources to it? Learning code is a smart thing to do if you have the time and expect to need it, but I won't go around trying to convince people to learn smith charts ~ even though I very much want to.

That said, if I was required to learn something to earn a certain privilege, I would feel the same way as SL. I totally get it and I 100% agree that it's just too easy to get a ticket now. But I don't think code has to be the thing that filters out the lids. They just need to make the tests a little harder and not post the answers to the entire pool online. Make people do their homework.

 

[SuperLid]

I never did learn to hear and send code on a key, but I did time with another radio enthusiasts and we ended up on opposite sides of the block getting out at different times. We both cut a circle and a dash out of our neon canteen books and started flashing dits and dahs in front of our windows. By the end of the first day, the dits and dahs were flying across the glass so fast that people were starting to wonder WTF we were up to. It only took a few hours to not need to look at the paper or write things as we saw them.

People learn things out of necessity, and the fact that something is no longer a necessity does not mean they are incapable of it. If its not something you see yourself using on a regular basis, why dedicate resources to it? Learning code is a smart thing to do if you have the time and expect to need it, but I won't go around trying to convince people to learn smith charts ~ even though I very much want to.

That said, if I was required to learn something to earn a certain privilege, I would feel the same way as SL. I totally get it and I 100% agree that it's just too easy to get a ticket now. But I don't think code has to be the thing that filters out the lids. They just need to make the tests a little harder and not post the answers to the entire pool online. Make people do their homework.

The Advanced class exam, was not for the timid. It was way more difficult than the Extra written. I would love to see some of these egotistical, hotshot, new age extra's pass it, or even HALF of it. This was the LID filter. The 20 WPM Morse exam, was the supreme LID filter.

Yeah, it required work and knowledge.

Now, we have the 1-1-1-1-1 guys, the babies, the whale c!@k weirdo, the mud duck in the desert (I haven't heard him much of late), the recordings from Long Island regarding the Viking CB Club......