Galaxy radios is dead

[SuperLid]

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...

Yep.....Galaxy should have parted company with Ranger a long time ago. I am certain, that Galaxy could have had a competitive product, in today's CB/10m market, had they tried to get out from under the RCI cost cutting quality, with the outrageous price tags and moved on to an OEM like QX.

It's a pity. He ran a good business, for a long time.

 

[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.

This may just be the coolest thing, I have heard all day.

 

[SuperLid]

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

I love 10m and would not want that to happen. BUT......they SHOULD give us the freeband and metal antennas!

 

[BC Coyote]

they SHOULD give us the freeband

They might as well. In several places including Brazil, Germany and Russia the "freeband" is already part of those countries legal CB spectrum. Brazil & Germany both have 80 channels from 26.965 to 27.855 & Russia has 160 channels.
Then there are places like New Zealand, India & the UK where there are legacy CB bands that are also in what we consider the "freeband".

Really what needs to happen is that worldwide, 26 to 28 MHz needs to be declared a de-facto license free CB band seeing as it pretty much is that already and has been for decades!

 

[Cable Guy]

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......

The tests today are rigged in your favor, with the answers given everywhere, it's easy to memorize them. But cheating like that doesn't stick it to the man as much as sticking it to yourself. I could easily graduate but until I learn it, and actually understand completely, I won't cheat myself out of the knowledge and THAT is what it's all about.

 

[SuperLid]

The tests today are rigged in your favor, with the answers given everywhere, it's easy to memorize them. But cheating like that doesn't stick it to the man as much as sticking it to yourself. I could easily graduate but until I learn it, and actually understand completely, I won't cheat myself out of the knowledge and THAT is what it's all about.

And then there are the people, that buy their ticket, because they can. Remote VE sessions? LOL $300 for a General, $300 more for the Extra. I HAD friends that did this. I lost respect for them. Needless to say, they are no longer my friends.