CONNEX 3400

[Slowmover]

Going thru SimonTheWizard and saw this radio re-released ($250 in stock several places; 50W), and wondered . . .

1). A dozen or more years ago you’d hear guys proud of running a Connex 3300 (and other versions). Not much, today.

2). It was a selling point I had my Uniden PC-76 upgraded to Connex 3300 Dual Finals back in 1998.

But, when you do a search around here — or more generally online — the number of hits is much, much lower than for Galaxy, etc.

I’ve heard plenty of good ones on the road. The 3400 model looks like a decent choice (wanting this spec).

Adequate wattage for a big truck install plus backlit knobs is dead-on for mobile.

Is it me, or are they not so popular as maybe years ago?

.

 

[Rwb]

maybe not nuff cb buyers? we rarely hear truck operators cause the replacement steering wheel holders are skeert to use a cb. must be afraid their kahonas will fall off if they use em? if they got any. thats my opinion n pure speculation

 

[Crawdad]

Today's version of a first year truck driver is thinking:

"What radio? By the time I get 4 GPS', 2 cell phones and a tablet on the dash, I'm running out of places to put my feet up. I had to walk all the way into the Pilot from the fuel island and these flip-flops are killin' me. And then I lost one of my driving gloves so I could only hold the steering wheel with one hand . And to top that off, I was only a hour and half late for my appointment and they wouldn't unload me today. How's a noisy radio help me with that?? And I'm afraid my kahonas will fall off if I use it....."

 

[Handy Andy]

Well, you're Crawdad, use the other claw...

 

[nomadradio]

Terrible design. Parts on the front panel will fail, and replacements that will fit are tough to find. Seems to me the echo board in this one was encapsulated in some kind of goo. Echo board is a tiny surface-mount pc board, with no diagram for it and no parts to be found.

It's rare now because people discovered pretty promptly that it wasn't so hot, and stayed away. The ones they did sell end up in a boneyard for lack of a part, sooner or later.

73

 

[Slowmover]

Terrible design. Parts on the front panel will fail, and replacements that will fit are tough to find. Seems to me the echo board in this one was encapsulated in some kind of goo. Echo board is a tiny surface-mount pc board, with no diagram for it and no parts to be found.

It's rare now because people discovered pretty promptly that it wasn't so hot, and stayed away. The ones they did sell end up in a boneyard for lack of a part, sooner or later.

73

Thx. Was genuinely curious if someone had an opinion (reasoned) as — when a truck driver and listening to AM-19 — the C-3300 was like an insider thing.

.

 

[Handy Andy]

Man! You guys are brutal!

Might as well bury it too...

Come on guys! One of perhaps few types of thru-hole radios that are left!

Remember! These things are THE REASON you sell;

• - power mics'
• - Charge a Bench Fee...
• - offer a "Hey I'll fix it for ya' better than the Factory can" warranty.
• - Sell them an amp to insert in line...
• - and install, an antenna no one else would ever want to be seen with, bolted drilled, welded onto their vehicle.
• - along with Power Meters, SWR Spray and Accessories
• - along with a store full of boxes of equipment hiding behind inside them - unbeknownst to the overwhelmed owner of such equipment.

This is just a hook to sell the stuff from the 70's you still have on the shelves of your shop!

Time to start the hype!

like...

Or...

​

There's so little time left...

Life is short...

 

[Crawdad]

Hilarious Andy..........

 

[Tokin]

Picked up a used 3400 for $30. Works good but parts are tought if not impossible to get for this model. 3400 uses a 3 digit display thats notorious for being bad brand new out of the box and Connex has zero replacements.
So if anyone has a 3400 display they would like to part with let me know.

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

Picked up a used 3400 for $30. Works good but parts are tought if not impossible to get for this model. 3400 uses a 3 digit display thats notorious for being bad brand new out of the box and Connex has zero replacements.
So if anyone has a 3400 display they would like to part with let me know.

I wonder if a 2 digit and a 1 digit could be made to work?

 

[Rwb]

Man! You guys are brutal!

Might as well bury it too...

Come on guys! One of perhaps few types of thru-hole radios that are left!

Remember! These things are THE REASON you sell;

• - power mics'
• - Charge a Bench Fee...
• - offer a "Hey I'll fix it for ya' better than the Factory can" warranty.
• - Sell them an amp to insert in line...
• - and install, an antenna no one else would ever want to be seen with, bolted drilled, welded onto their vehicle.
• - along with Power Meters, SWR Spray and Accessories
• - along with a store full of boxes of equipment hiding behind inside them - unbeknownst to the overwhelmed owner of such equipment.

This is just a hook to sell the stuff from the 70's you still have on the shelves of your shop!

Time to start the hype!

like...

View attachment 45447

Or...

View attachment 45446​

There's so little time left...

Life is short...

handy andy thats just downrite funny,i needed a good laugh n you came through

 

[Eldorado828]

This radio is actually a rehash of the first version sold a few years back. Not much different from the earlier one with the same 3600 board. A driver I run with sometimes has one of the earlier ones and it's a talker like the Connex are known for.

 

[Tokin]

Size/space is an issue from what techs are telling me. It looks smaller than the standard readout for say a 3300 though i could be wrong. Im not the guy to be tearing into stuff like that so my hands on info is limited.
I can buy 3 digit readouts but i believe this one is 2 different colors. The band readout is red and the channel is blue. Personally i couldn't give a rats behind what color the band readout is as long as all the led's work. My question is space. I cant even find a pic of one for reference.
Bells was kind enough to give me a direct number to connex and ill keep bugging them. They took my number and said they would call when they got some in.
Just to note connex did say they finally recieved some channel boards for the 3400 so if anyone is wating on one of those you're in luck.