galaxy dx949 swr shop findings

[BammBamm]

O.K. I took radio, coax, and antenna to the shop and had it all tested. The radio was purchased and peaked and tuned by Sparkys. Here's the findings
Modulation was 60% at max and had flat spot at top and bottom of scope
peak power was 2 watts swinging to 13
receive hadn't been touched
meter was WAY off an S9 would show an S3
Diode installed for?
cold solder joint on diode
PLL had 2 cold solder joints like it had been removed and replaced?
SSB carrier pot was broken
Tech said it looked like someone had attempted to install swing kit but forgot to put parts in radio.
Radio has since been fixed and works fine. So let's see I feel like I put my foot in my mouth for defending Sparky's. Refurbished DX949 peaked tuned and unlocked clarifier from sparky's plus shipping = $128.84 then add another $50.00 at my local shop to fix the radio so it would work correctly.
Many people swear by Al at Sparky's but this will be my last purchase from him and on top of that my wife bought this for me for Christmas and feels she got ripped off since I had to spend more money on it.

 

[mackmobile43]

Certainly not the glowing review I would expect for the Sparker.

 

[Peddler]

Typical report from a plethora of shops...it's all about lack of education and greed...the American Way.

 

[undertaker]

Yep more sparky junk radios......

 

[9C1Driver]

Are you the same guy that was trying to set your SWR on SSB and thought you had bad coax? You bought a factory second radio at a sale price. Alot of the stuff inside the radio was probably done at Galaxy which is why they sold it as a factory second. Who is to say that you just spent 50 bucks and the shop just diddled around inside your radio and then claimed they "fixed" it for you?

 

[BammBamm]

I went to a highly respected shop in my area that has been in business for about 15 years. I sat about 10 foot from Sean the tech and he hooked radio to scope called me over and showed me what my signal looked like then hooked another radio to the scope to show what it should look like. Then he took the case off mine and asked if I had a swing kit installed. I replied no it was a peak and tune with unlocked clarifier. He then pointed out a soldered in diode that was a blob job on soldering. I never told him who did the previous work on the radio. He said this type of work has been seen in his shop a few times but usually the solder work is better and the modulation is about 90%. I know many of you are going to ask why I didn't buy from him initially...well he was out of stock and wouldn't have any until after new years and I wanted it for Christmas. I can also hear many saying any shop can show you a scope and make it look good but this is what I know ..The radio didn't work correctly and now it works great and if you look at my post you will see I made my farthest DX contact after the radio was fixed to Robb "world radio California" yesterday. Maybe my radio was done on a hungover Monday morning at Sparky's by the janitor I'll never know but I do know it is working fine and has a lifetime warranty on all work that was done to it. And yes this was the radio with SWR problems. By no means am I trying to start a fight with anyone on here I just wanted to update on the finding in this radio for those who where trying to help me. I am just happy to be able to share my hobby with others on here. By the way my local shop spent about 1 1/2 hours on my radio for $50. I'm a mechanic and my rate is $65 an hour.

 

[psycho]

Are you the same guy that was trying to set your SWR on SSB and thought you had bad coax? You bought a factory second radio at a sale price. Alot of the stuff inside the radio was probably done at Galaxy which is why they sold it as a factory second. Who is to say that you just spent 50 bucks and the shop just diddled around inside your radio and then claimed they "fixed" it for you?

Seems most CB "Techs" love to bash whoever was in the radio last. What CB shop is going to sell/modify/warranty a radio that they know is messed up? The whole thing makes no sense.

 

[9C1Driver]

That was my point I guess.

Can one of Sparkys techs miss something, yup.

Factory second radio's have had many fingers inside before the last guy.

Your local guy could be a sharp honest tech.

If he suggested you test SWR on SSB then wow.....thats funny.

Glad you got the radio dialed in, hope it stays that way, cold solder joints are a PITA.

 

[TexasOutlaw]

I don't know anyone who works on radios for a living that hasn't made a mistake, done something they knew better than to try, ect. I've been messing with these electronic nightmares for sooooo long and have seen so many changes.I've said this over the years." find a shop that you are comfortable with, let them do your work, and keep everyone else out of it" Then you can blame the one person thats been in your radio. If they don't make it right, find someone else. I know too many OTR drivers that stop at every "radio shop" they see. As its been said, its easy to bash the next guy. I'm glad you got your radio fixed. As a thought, stay away from refurb radios, they are just something someone else sent back. Seen to many problems with them over the years. 73's

 

[psycho]

That was my point I guess.

Can one of Sparkys techs miss something, yup.

Factory second radio's have had many fingers inside before the last guy.

Your local guy could be a sharp honest tech.

If he suggested you test SWR on SSB then wow.....thats funny.

Glad you got the radio dialed in, hope it stays that way, cold solder joints are a PITA.

I have no problem with FACTORY REFURB radios....but any other type of refurbs, I wouldn't touch. If Bubba refurbed it.........throw it in the dumpster.

 

[BammBamm]

No my tech did not tell me to check SWR on SSB. I had flat AM SWR but when I went to SSB I had a 3+ SWR reading with deadkey and it went to 1.1 when modulated. I asked everybody I knew and posted the ? on this forum also. I am happy it is now working and someone made a comment about warranty...well yes I screwed up there I guess what I should have put is they warranty any work performed by them as long as the seal they put on the side of the radio is not removed or cut. I will only be going to this shop from this point on.

 

[9C1Driver]

I have no problem with FACTORY REFURB radios....but any other type of refurbs, I wouldn't touch. If Bubba refurbed it.........throw it in the dumpster.

I agree psycho. People just need to realize a radio becomes a factory second for many reasons. The worst ones will have several parts repaired and swapped out so they can be re-sold. The first shop that sold it worked on it, then maybe a factory tech or two touched it. Then it gets re-sold and re-tuned again. And the last shop that sold it gets blamed for all the other work thats been done.

 

[cbradiomagazine.com]

This is why it pays to take the time to learn and then do the work yourself. Most of this stuff is pretty simple. My soldering skills have never been great but I've managed to do everything I ever wanted to do when it comes to mods for radios. If I can do it, anyone can do it

 

[IDIeselman]

Good to hear you found a shop you are happy with and you are now happy with your 949. Sad to say but threads like this about Sparkys are becoming all to commonplace,There is much discontent even on his own forum. Sparky is a very good tech and is fortunate to be busy enough he must hire unproven help to hack peoples radios but, I'm not sure how much longer this will last.

 

[ncblt]

Refurbished DX949 peaked tuned and unlocked clarifier from sparky's plus shipping = $128.84 then add another $50.00 at my local shop to fix the radio so it would work correctly.

89.99 refurbs on his webpage with a warranty. Did you send it back ?

My 949 refurb has died twice in the last year and Galaxy has been great.

Bob's in PA has fixed it better than new. 1st time was a cols solder joint on the mic connector and the second was a final.