Galaxy DX 959 opinions

[Tucker442]

It's a Shame to have to do all that work on a new radio to get it to work right, guess that's why they have refurbs for 109.99 at Sparkys, I'll stick to my Grant XL and Cobra 148 side mic radios until I find something that is worth a damn on SSB

 

[hotrod]

It's a Shame to have to do all that work on a new radio to get it to work right, guess that's why they have refurbs for 109.99 at Sparkys, I'll stick to my Grant XL and Cobra 148 side mic radios until I find something that is worth a damn on SSB

your magnums are about your best bet but thier exports .
the rci 2950 is really good also.
cbradiomagazine is doing a review on the new connex cb with ssb
wait and see how it turns out

 

[JoeDirt]

Did you do the dual mosfets yourself?

Yes

 

[Tucker442]

got one of those new connex 566 sidebanders this week even though the chassis is the same as the 959 it sure is a lot more stable on SSB maybe my 959 was just a dud who knows the connex is a great talker and reciever after a short 10 to 15 minute warm up time and the light show is the bomb, veryu nice radio for the price Redman CB has them for 239 free shipping and he does give it a little going over before he ships nice radio and a nice dealer to deal with

 

[CroMagnum]

Yes

Care to share the procedure with us?

All the posts I've found so far are thin on many important details. A comprehensive write up would be great.

 

[Meter Beater]

I acquired a refurbished 959 on ebay and did the xtra channel mod. I do get complaints of drift though and bad audio. Im getting a new mic to see if that helps the audio.

 

[The Jerk]

Mine sounds good, doesn't seem to drift too bad; but it doesn't have near the useable output (like my PC-76). Watt for watt, it just doesn't seem to have it...this is a MosFet version.

One thing to note, mine was new in the box and had bad components...and was badly off frequency, and the clarifier was nowhere near centered on frequency. It took another batch of $$ to get it right.

My first Galaxy, I wasn't impressed...but three years later I still run it almost daily.

 

[Tucker442]

Well I use SSB 99% of the time when I got my 959 it was so far off frequency that my radio buddies had no idea who was talking, the clairfier was at the 4 oclock position to hear them, I got the alignment specs and got it on center slot to only have it drift either up or down the entire night at which point I got angry and hooked up my old Grant XL to be able to be on the radio. I sent it to a Galaxy facility, paid to have the clairfier unlocked and used it that way for about 2 weeks it was just a pain to keep messing with the clairfier, maybe mine was a lemon or had a bad part in it but to me it was just useless on SSB. I have a new Connex CX566SB which is supposed to be the same chassis and has no where near the drifting issues, once warm about 10 to 15 minutes I never touch the clairfier at all, go figure

 

[Meter Beater]

Well I use SSB 99% of the time when I got my 959 it was so far off frequency that my radio buddies had no idea who was talking, the clairfier was at the 4 oclock position to hear them, I got the alignment specs and got it on center slot to only have it drift either up or down the entire night at which point I got angry and hooked up my old Grant XL to be able to be on the radio. I sent it to a Galaxy facility, paid to have the clairfier unlocked and used it that way for about 2 weeks it was just a pain to keep messing with the clairfier, maybe mine was a lemon or had a bad part in it but to me it was just useless on SSB. I have a new Connex CX566SB which is supposed to be the same chassis and has no where near the drifting issues, once warm about 10 to 15 minutes I never touch the clairfier at all, go figure

I had the same exact problem and haven't heard many that didn't say the same about being off frequency. I also got upset and broke out my trusty Grant XL. The only good thing I can say about the 959 is it does have great receive and its easy to mod xtra channels. But it just sits there. I am really liking my new Magnum 257HP though. It took just a few minutes to open it up and move the jumper for xtra channels and what can I say Im getting lazy in my old age...

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

Just did an alignment on one of the 959/mosfet version last night. The receive went from being a dog - to excellent. Make sure the SSB/APC voltage is 12.5v on TX; so many of them are set @ 13.5v on TX/VR-17 from the factory.

These mosfet 959's work best when the RF Output control is set @ 12 o'clock on SSB and 10 o'clock on AM. If you don't think so; just see how hot the back of the radio gets - if even turned up to the 3 o'clock position. There is NO HEATSINK on the back of these radios. You have been warned - put one on with epoxy or super glue. That you can do. Changing the APC voltage made it run a bit cooler.

DON'T mess with the radio if you don't know what you are doing - BTW!
If yours is sub par; then find a reputable tech/hobbyist nearby. They respond favorably if properly aligned!

These radios are a real pain to adjust the VCO/oscillator (L20, L21, L22). The tuning coils are UNDERNEATH the freq counter board and it must be unplugged to get to these coils and VR7 (the TX frequency output adjustment). After unplugging this board, putting it back in without bending all of those pins will make you sweat! There is also the danger that you ground one of these many exposed pins to something; so be very careful! Very tight space to work with in there.

Other than that, I like the radio and have aligned a few of them.
Had 409 Queensland, Australia pop up last night @ 11PM/PST, and talked to him briefly. The receive audio on these radios are brilliant if they have been aligned. Pretty nice - really . . .

Superglue!? I'll consider that. Thanks.

 

[9C1Driver]

Another 2 year old worthless thread dug up. I would take an old school Grant xl any day over a Galaxy 959. If I won a free 959 I would sell it on E-Bay as soon as I could. Nuff said.

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

Another 2 year old worthless thread dug up. I would take an old school Grant xl any day over a Galaxy 959. If I won a free 959 I would sell it on E-Bay as soon as I could. Nuff said.

I've never known a Grant. The 959 is my Grant. I still haven't put my heat sink on my 959. I think I would have to modify(rearrange) the back a little but that's another project. :

P.S. I was trying to get Robb's attention on anything more he might have to say about 959's.

 

[Robb]

It is preferred to use heat sink compound between the heat sink and the chassis. But superglue will work just fine. Just make sure that the screws for the finals can still be removed when installed, it should be OK. Superglue will keep the surface of the heat sink solid against the chassis for heat transfer. But I would prefer to use the thermal paste.

Make SURE the heat sink is flush across the entire chassis surface.
Otherwise, it will not transfer heat efficiently enough!

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

It is preferred to use heat sink compound between the heat sink and the chassis. But superglue will work just fine. Just make sure that the screws for the finals can still be removed when installed, it should be OK. Superglue will keep the surface of the heat sink solid against the chassis for heat transfer. But I would prefer to use the thermal paste.

Thanks. When I do it I'll do it right. I bought a Road Devil mic for my 959. With the mic volume at halfway,I'm doing 43 watts PEP. The heat sink would surely help and I think this little guy would too.

 

[Robb]

Yeah, when adding a 12v fan you may have to add 3-4 1N4148 diodes in series with the "+" lead. This will drop the voltage to the fan by about a volt or so. Otherwise, that fan will be so loud as to be noticed by you and anyone you might talk to. You can attach the fan to the heat sink using screws with drywall inserts and epoxy for the inserts.
That'll git 'er done . . .