"The slugs are so sensitive that it will convince you telekinesis is real". That should be a hall of fame nomination quote IMO….
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Galaxy radios is dead
- Thread starter Eldorado828
- Start date
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...
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.
I love 10m and would not want that to happen. BUT......they SHOULD give us the freeband and metal antennas!
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!
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Yes ..
A couple years ago FCC opened public comments for several cb radio changes, when they dropped the 155 limit on comms was one of them.
Higher output and expansion was also on the table and honestly the response was dismal from the CB radio community.
Plenty of naysayers complained in public comments about interference potential and already lax enforcement, but not much on the side of why it would be beneficial to the actual users of the service.
As much as I can see a expanded cbrs service as useful I don't see it happening unless the users get some effort together to get some FCC attention.
I can see advantages to users if they allowed 40+/40-
And give you 100 watts.
It's clear now, even to the FCC, that cbrs is no longer the short range service it was meant to be and a significant number of users are hobbiest.
You do have to remember that there are some legitimate users in the spectrum around CB, even if they don't get used very often.
I know that in 2011 FEMA used frequencies outside of 10 meters for e comms around NY after the towers fell, they might not use the spectrum much but it's there if they need it.
But unless users get motivated and write, call, petion, and explain good reasons why the changes "could" be beneficial, it's just another day at the office.
73
Jeff
A couple years ago FCC opened public comments for several cb radio changes, when they dropped the 155 limit on comms was one of them.
Higher output and expansion was also on the table and honestly the response was dismal from the CB radio community.
Plenty of naysayers complained in public comments about interference potential and already lax enforcement, but not much on the side of why it would be beneficial to the actual users of the service.
As much as I can see a expanded cbrs service as useful I don't see it happening unless the users get some effort together to get some FCC attention.
I can see advantages to users if they allowed 40+/40-
And give you 100 watts.
It's clear now, even to the FCC, that cbrs is no longer the short range service it was meant to be and a significant number of users are hobbiest.
You do have to remember that there are some legitimate users in the spectrum around CB, even if they don't get used very often.
I know that in 2011 FEMA used frequencies outside of 10 meters for e comms around NY after the towers fell, they might not use the spectrum much but it's there if they need it.
But unless users get motivated and write, call, petion, and explain good reasons why the changes "could" be beneficial, it's just another day at the office.
73
Jeff
I'm so old I remember when 10 meters was dead as a post, and some folks were agitating to expand the overcrowded CB allocation up above 28 MHz. Argument was that the hams aren't using it. CB WAS overcrowded, even without skip traffic.
And then the sunspots came back. The "give some of it to CB" discussion scared enough hams to bring the "10-10" club back to life for a while.
So now the shoe's on the other foot. 11 meters is largely vacant again. That's how the hams lost it in 1959, after all.
The only constant is change.
73
And then the sunspots came back. The "give some of it to CB" discussion scared enough hams to bring the "10-10" club back to life for a while.
So now the shoe's on the other foot. 11 meters is largely vacant again. That's how the hams lost it in 1959, after all.
The only constant is change.
73
I’m just curious if the discontinuation of Galaxy radios is official, or if it’s essentially a foregone conclusion at this point. A lot of us received that email from the unidentified distributor (which was hilarious because it openly displayed EVERYONE’S email addresses ), but is there anything even semi-official out there?
I guess it doesn’t have to be official. If zero radios are being shipped to Galaxy, then it’s over regardless. I know the latest shipments of 959Bs were manufactured back in 2023—they’re basically out of warranty before they even hit the dealers’ shelves.
I’m not here to argue against the common complaints about quality and performance, from EL noise to sideband drifting, but let’s face it, the CB radio market is shrinking overall. Ranger seems to be stepping in to fill the gap left by many Galaxy models. Meanwhile, QX is exploding in popularity, especially for SSB users. I hooked up a QT40 today (a bit crude compared to the rest of their lineup), and it was spot-on and rock-stable. The receive was even better than my Icom—a signal below -130 dB registered -12 dB on SINAD, and it was noticeably clearer to the ear.
That said, 95% of my customers are truck drivers. Radios that are overly menu-driven—like those from President, Anytone, or Radioddity—or ones that are too small to read easily or squeeze your fingers between the knobs to adjust a simple squelch (think Quad6 or QT80) just aren’t practical for them. They need to keep their eyes on the road, and SSB is usually unnecessary. So, there’s still a solid place in the market for straightforward radios like the Galaxies, Connex models, and the classic Cobra 29. At least for now, the Cobra LTD models have solder through boards, are still most reliable, and have kept their pricing low.
But I digress (I’ve always wanted to say that)
I’ll miss the Galaxy line, even with all their quirks.
I guess it doesn’t have to be official. If zero radios are being shipped to Galaxy, then it’s over regardless. I know the latest shipments of 959Bs were manufactured back in 2023—they’re basically out of warranty before they even hit the dealers’ shelves.
I’m not here to argue against the common complaints about quality and performance, from EL noise to sideband drifting, but let’s face it, the CB radio market is shrinking overall. Ranger seems to be stepping in to fill the gap left by many Galaxy models. Meanwhile, QX is exploding in popularity, especially for SSB users. I hooked up a QT40 today (a bit crude compared to the rest of their lineup), and it was spot-on and rock-stable. The receive was even better than my Icom—a signal below -130 dB registered -12 dB on SINAD, and it was noticeably clearer to the ear.
That said, 95% of my customers are truck drivers. Radios that are overly menu-driven—like those from President, Anytone, or Radioddity—or ones that are too small to read easily or squeeze your fingers between the knobs to adjust a simple squelch (think Quad6 or QT80) just aren’t practical for them. They need to keep their eyes on the road, and SSB is usually unnecessary. So, there’s still a solid place in the market for straightforward radios like the Galaxies, Connex models, and the classic Cobra 29. At least for now, the Cobra LTD models have solder through boards, are still most reliable, and have kept their pricing low.
But I digress (I’ve always wanted to say that)
I’ll miss the Galaxy line, even with all their quirks.
The ability to find a knob in the dark without taking eyes off the road will continue to be a selling point to drivers. Too bad the marketing departments haven't heard.
73
73
Has anyone considered that it might be the current state of global commerce and specifically importing things into the USA that ultimately crushes Galaxy's ability to generate a profit?
We all know how and why "export radios" make it to us in the first place.
Things have changed recently (can anyone say 'Tariff'?) and i would imagine that a CB wholesaler being asked to take on whatever percentage of an increase in the cost of the radios pretty much put the kibosh on any future deals.
LC
We all know how and why "export radios" make it to us in the first place.
Things have changed recently (can anyone say 'Tariff'?) and i would imagine that a CB wholesaler being asked to take on whatever percentage of an increase in the cost of the radios pretty much put the kibosh on any future deals.
LC
BayouRadioAmplifier..
What a great story! Thanks for that! It was a whole different world back then........... I remember as an 11 or 12 year old hunching over my shortwave radio with headphones clamped to my head listening to the merchant marine guys working CW..... Their sending speed amazed me then and still does to this day. Just WOW!
@nomadradio
Funny I was re reading this and there's a 10-10 contest going on right now.....
Changes aren't permanent
But change is
73
Jeff
I am sure it's part of it, I know that there's still a segment of the market that likes the Galaxy style of radios.
But.
I think Stryker pulled a good chunk of it away, and the QX radios are now eating a good chunk of sales too.
And QX still remains competitive in price regardless of tariffs.
Ranger seems so stuck in a rut , I mean every thing else now features nrc on tx/rx and is stable.
When they come out with a new radio with the GNF on the front it's
It's a throwback not a step forward.
Maybe the guys at Galaxy did want more features and ranger simply said this is what we have because they want to exhaust the remaining parts inventory?
The 2627 shows that ranger removed one of the finals to make it a single final radio so originally it was assembled for some other radio and got repurposed for this one.
Limited edition ranger 99 built on nos boards with obsolete IC's came from storage somewhere.
I don't know what's up with Ranger or at least the Jim Peng Ranger Malaysia part of it.
You guess is as good as any at this point.
73
Jeff
hey - BC Coyote
I can tell lots of "sea stories" stories.
after I drink some beers, talking with the guys at the
sports bar. lots of stories. I can tell. one after another!
it was a blast. being a Merchant Marine back then.
with one company, 1986 (Crowley) I had good living conditions on a medium sized container ship. we travelled from Florida, down to
Venezuela, several ports in Brazil, then on to Montevideo, Uruguay.
then on to Buenos Aires, Argentina, then back to several ports in Brazil
again on the way home. Maybe hit Venezuela, Columbia, Puerto Rico. then back to homeport Jacksonville Florida.
the main job was monitoring 500 kHz Morse code for 8 hours
while at sea. keeping a log book.... daily tests of radio gear
and batteries.
the GMDSS replaced all that. no monitoring 500 kHz CW,
I would listen to SW radio BBC and Radio Australia for news.
lots of troubles in South America. for example, we would be headed
to Buenos Aires, then on the BBC it was announced that
Argentina was now under "state of siege" due to all the riots.
(inflation, jobs, etc.)
damn! that meant that we could only party till maybe 10 at night,
and had to get back to our ship.
I can tell lots of "sea stories" stories.
after I drink some beers, talking with the guys at the
sports bar. lots of stories. I can tell. one after another!
it was a blast. being a Merchant Marine back then.
with one company, 1986 (Crowley) I had good living conditions on a medium sized container ship. we travelled from Florida, down to
Venezuela, several ports in Brazil, then on to Montevideo, Uruguay.
then on to Buenos Aires, Argentina, then back to several ports in Brazil
again on the way home. Maybe hit Venezuela, Columbia, Puerto Rico. then back to homeport Jacksonville Florida.
the main job was monitoring 500 kHz Morse code for 8 hours
while at sea. keeping a log book.... daily tests of radio gear
and batteries.
the GMDSS replaced all that. no monitoring 500 kHz CW,
I would listen to SW radio BBC and Radio Australia for news.
lots of troubles in South America. for example, we would be headed
to Buenos Aires, then on the BBC it was announced that
Argentina was now under "state of siege" due to all the riots.
(inflation, jobs, etc.)
damn! that meant that we could only party till maybe 10 at night,
and had to get back to our ship.
I'm sure it wasn't Galaxy's customer service that hurt them. What impressed me the most other than the large meters, was a call to Galaxy, John, would result in someone answering the phone, and getting some real help. Cathy (If I remember correctly) was always pleasant on the phone and always offering to make things right and always seemed genuine about finding solutions. If a message was left, John would call back. I have had quite a few sessions with John, test equipment hooked up and personal instruction of what to look for and where, resulting in a "CB Repair Telecall", that always ended well. That's why I have so many Galaxy radios. I remember one time calling John about a Texas Ranger Freedom One, and getting the same stellar service. He didn't have to, and I'm sure was a busy man....but that's what Galaxy used to be, at least in my view.