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Magnum 257hp Garbage

"CON 1" Terminals not cut off

Well fellas, I'm afraid pkmak12 is right....I opened my radio and noticed they cut the white jumper pins off clean down to the board. Nothing left but the little metal nubs of the terminals.

On the back side they put on a blob of solder on the "CON1" terminals to keep it working in the 10 meter only mode. Maybe it's just the older 257's that have the ability for the user to change the frequencies. I'll bet the Omegaforce S45's have this same mod.

They might have made it a little more difficult to do the frequency conversion, but I'll bet all I need to do is unsolder the terminals they soldered, and then solder the ones I want. :D



Well maybe this is a good thing....they should have been doing this all along with any export radio they sell. Nothing worse than hearing some idiot transmitting voice on 28.025 MHz about not having any panties on and that he's at some truck stop somewhere, especially when he does it with his roger beep on and his echo cranked up. All because he flipped the band switch over.

I bought my 257HP from GI Joe in Dec 2011 and the CON1 terminals were not tampered with. The CON1 terminals were jumpered and the other CON terminals were left unharmed, ready to be set to CB mode.

So looks like some dealers are playing games!
 
if it still had pins sticking up it was not the latest production, I had the new box new design that had available echo and talk back, dead stock the box never opened the pins were cut flush with the circuit board
 
I bought my 257HP from GI Joe in Dec 2011 and the CON1 terminals were not tampered with. The CON1 terminals were jumpered and the other CON terminals were left unharmed, ready to be set to CB mode.

So looks like some dealers are playing games!

Yup. Even GI Joes will have the new version now. Just the way it is. The only game is with the FCC.
 
Yup. Even GI Joes will have the new version now. Just the way it is. The only game is with the FCC.

Oh too bad. Mine also has the new box package (80 Watt) and the TB designation on the heat sink.

I guess mine has a higer resell value!
 
Took delivery of a new Yenticom Optima on monday, what a great radio, a lot more features than any 257 and it's still working. Yes it is a little more than a 257hp but it's working and I am talking all over the US and Canada. Thanks Dave from Yenticom for a great product, listening to the buyers and changing a few features to make it easier to operate. A+++++++ on the Yenticom Optima. Get one while they are still in stock and sell that POS 257 to someone that just wants to listen
 
I'm glad I found this thread. It looks like you can get the 257HP for about $200 shipped now, but from what I've read here it sounds like these things are blowing up left and right. That's a shame because the best price I can find on the yeti com is $300 plus shipping.
 
Took delivery of a new Yenticom Optima on monday, what a great radio, a lot more features than any 257 and it's still working. Yes it is a little more than a 257hp but it's working and I am talking all over the US and Canada. Thanks Dave from Yenticom for a great product, listening to the buyers and changing a few features to make it easier to operate. A+++++++ on the Yenticom Optima. Get one while they are still in stock and sell that POS 257 to someone that just wants to listen
I couldn't agree with you more! I have an Optima, and will be getting a second. Superb little radio.
 
I can't believe I got another one of these dud 257HP radios. Saw it on Ebay, seller said he needed money and it worked just fine, well it gets here and it's the new box model with the 257HP on the faceplate. Hook it up and it squeels when keyed AM FM and SSB. I was really upset to say the least. Take the cover off and go over it, someone turned everything all the way up including the gate control voltage, it's the bios for the finals, so I go through it, get it working on AM and FM ok but audio on SSB is raspy, mess with mics, ALC nothing helped. Talked to Chris at the Radio Shop he said you need to change resistors for the gate voltage, trying different ones to get it to work correctly. What kind of crap is that, the radio was just manfactured wrong to start with, no wonder so many people had issues with this batch. Shame on me for buying another.
 

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Well this evening out of the blue my 257 HP decides to start clipping on AM, or either of the sidebands, but does not clip FM.

By clipping, I mean when you key up the radio, the deadkey and modulation cuts in and out. On my power meter, it shows a steady signal though.

Anyone have a clue as to why? I seldom use this radio. :headbang
 
Whip-Lash mine talks too but the locals said the audio sounds like crap. I talked all over on it also but when someone you talk to all the time tells you the audio is horrible it just ticks me off
 
A friend ordered 2 and they both sounded raspy on SSB. The last one I owned did the same. It went back for warranty repair x2, can't remember, somewhere on the east coast.

The tech said the top gun modulator was to blame. I don't know, but I'd never buy another one.
 
Well after turning everything back to where it belonged, it did sound good on AM and FM but the SSb was just horrible no matter how it was tuned, Chris at the warranty place it takes trying different resistors for the finals to get it right. Guess it was just a manfacture oversight
 

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