Im sick of cb shops

[Onelasttime]

Sooner or latter you 148 will need to be recapped or will need some other part or service.

 

[wheelman918]

Not all shops are like that. Dealerships and Pharmacy's are worse!

Galaxy radios are fine but why would anyone buy a FCC type accepted radio from Galaxy?? Oh I forgot Uniden and Cobra do not make or sell a decent radio today especially if you want SSB. The Bearcat 980 is joke as is the modern 29 and modern 148.

I agree with other's that putting a a linear in or under a radios part of it's chassis or tins is a bad move especially over 100Watts. It is even worse in the hands of the average cb'er because they tend to abuse their gear, over drive everything etc....

I like CB mostly on SSB and only if I can find people intelligent to talk to that are not dropping the f bomb and behaving badly. That said I would never want to have a business that had CB's as my main market niche.

Having apprenticed in H.S. for a year at a shop that did a lot of commercial broadcast repair, maintence and upgrades I have seen the difference between a real technician and a hack.

In college I could not find a good shop so I did all my repairs and upgrades and an alignment in the colleges electronic class rooms. No one knew I was not in a single electronics class at the college. If I want anything today I would order off the internet from someone I trust in the industry that has a reputation for quality work. Too many Johnny Come Lately's in the CB sales and cut and tune industry.

Sorry to hear about your ordeal though.

One of the problems as I see it with linear like TS is that they are basically grandfathered in. So the designs are pretty static. To add insult to injury the best bipolar transistors are gone and rather poor substitutes are all that is left. So they need to move to 24, 48, 50 volt transistors especially mosfets if they really want to keep in the game. I have no clue how much modification it will take to make the TS line handle those and if it falls inline with their static designs. ( If I got anything wrong please feel free to correct it.)

So these shops installing the TX 75,150, 250,350aremaking a killing on the parts side of things because these linears are really cheap to purchase compared to the older TS, Boomer, Siltronics, Black Cat, TNT, deer hunter etc........It makes setup easier because you do not need coax jumpers or trying to figure out where the SWR issue is etc....No long separate runs for power and ground etc....

i probably will just sell the lescomm radio i have a highly modded cobra 148f gtl and ts amp that will wipe that lescomm radio anyways i just dont want the 148 to get shaking baby syndrome in an offroad vehicle id rather tear up a honky tonk truckstop piece of crap like that lescomm

 

[wheelman918]

Sooner or latter you 148 will need to be recapped or will need some other part or service.

yes i dont want to mess up the 148f im thinking of just walking in getting a galaxy 99v2 i could walk in and just buy one. My own lack of knowledge contributed, if id have researched id have known the magnum power cabinet is like magnum or stryker radios just not worth taking home, that new lescomm 959 with 350 watt power cabinet will be here this week i also have a brand new never used aststic noise cancelling mic for it, if anyone wants to buy it let me know. It will either go on ebay, sold on here or in a box in my closet, it took me 4 yrs to build this 93 toyota 4x4 beast it has a 2800$ rear axle in it im not putting that gawdy looking truck stop radio in it.

 

[wheelman918]

I think that there has always been a communication breakdown to a small degree betwen the tech and the customer. I can understand that you didn't get what you paid for, and it sounds like you paid too much - to boot.

As far as the front panel graphics, you can buy that custom made from 'Deb's Decals'. She is found on eBay AFAIK.

May I ask? Who did the work and what all did he do to the radio?

There are exception to the general rule, that tech know what they are doing. Some aren't real techs. For ecample, I am not a real tech that works on other people;s radios for profit. However, I do work on locals radios for the cost of parts, just so that I can get more working experience with electronics. Experience is the real deciding factor for a decent tech - IMO . . .

lesters's customs the lescomm 5304 converted 959 shottkey diode and recieve upgrade and a sx-350 power cabinet, great communication till you pay then silence till you bitch to paypal then he will answer in 10 min, says it will ship monday or tuesday but already done in the wrong color display and all said he would change it out (another couple weeks) so i told him to forget it just send it ill sell it, he offered to trade me a texas star linear for it buy never said how big, i can get a 667 for what i paid for the radio? i told him just to send it get this over with. i cant change anything or it voids my warranty so i cannot even change the over the top stupid looking decal

 

[wheelman918]

I think that there has always been a communication breakdown to a small degree betwen the tech and the customer. I can understand that you didn't get what you paid for, and it sounds like you paid too much - to boot.

As far as the front panel graphics, you can buy that custom made from 'Deb's Decals'. She is found on eBay AFAIK.

May I ask? Who did the work and what all did he do to the radio?

There are exception to the general rule, that tech know what they are doing. Some aren't real techs. For ecample, I am not a real tech that works on other people;s radios for profit. However, I do work on locals radios for the cost of parts, just so that I can get more working experience with electronics. Experience is the real deciding factor for a decent tech - IMO . . .

on his website that lescomm 148 isnt a real 148 at all its fake its a texas ranger if id have paid that much money for that turd especially with them chrome cases id throw a real fit about it

 

[Robb]

The Ranger TR-296 is actually a respectable copy/version of the real 148GTL. Believe it or not, they come from the same factory (Ranger/USA) as the Cobra 148GTL NW/ST did, which is considered widely as a real crappy radio. But Ranger used their own parts & specs to build the TR-296; not Cobra specs and parts. (that number uses '296' is 2 x 148 - BTW - an inside tip).

Like I said, a well built radio and no drift - uncommon for Ranger radios. Because it uses the same schematic and decent quality parts as the original 148 . A new Cobra 148GTL NW/ST, I would not buy nor recommend, but a TR-296 is a fresh build of a proven design and worth having. I've aligned and modded one of the 296's before, and it worked like a charm. The present owner likes his radio and runs it barefoot with a 1/4w steel whip and no amp.

Let me tell another bit here, that 148F GTL you have was also built by the same Ranger/USA manufacturing plant. SO go figure . . .

The answer is this: if you have a genuine Cobra 5-pin mic radio; then it was built right. If you are having problems with the TR-296; then it may need to go back and get a looking at once again. LesComm is reputable and will probably cover the work as needed to make it right. That radio's pedigree really is OK.

 

[sonoma]

I have the tr296F radio and it is just like the old 148 radios. it works great. do not have any ssb problems with it as the 4 pin cobra 148 radios do. I run this in my own vehicle and have done so for over 1 year now and like it very well.

 

[wheelman918]

The Ranger TR-296 is actually a respectable copy/version of the real 148GTL. Believe it or not, they come from the same factory (Ranger/USA) as the Cobra 148GTL NW/ST did, which is considered widely as a real crappy radio. But Ranger used their own parts & specs to build the TR-296; not Cobra specs and parts. (that number uses '296' is 2 x 148 - BTW - an inside tip).

Like I said, a well built radio and no drift - uncommon for Ranger radios. Because it uses the same schematic and decent quality parts as the original 148 . A new Cobra 148GTL NW/ST, I would not buy nor recommend, but a TR-296 is a fresh build of a proven design and worth having. I've aligned and modded one of the 296's before, and it worked like a charm. The present owner likes his radio and runs it barefoot with a 1/4w steel whip and no amp.

Let me tell another bit here, that 148F GTL you have was also built by the same Ranger/USA manufacturing plant. SO go figure . . .

The answer is this: if you have a genuine Cobra 5-pin mic radio; then it was built right. If you are having problems with the TR-296; then it may need to go back and get a looking at once again. LesComm is reputable and will probably cover the work as needed to make it right. That radio's pedigree really is OK.

my 148f gtl is a 5 pin im having no problems or ever had all the chips in this thing say japan or germany on them the audio section is completely redone the recieve on this thing works better than any radio ive ever seen

 

[wheelman918]

my 148f gtl is a 5 pin im having no problems or ever had all the chips in this thing say japan or germany on them the audio section is completely redone the recieve on this thing works better than any radio ive ever seen

that so called 148f ltd on lescomms site is a texas ranger a 148f dont look like that and the 6 buttons are on the other side

 

[fonman]

A lot of advice offered in this thread, but no one asked what you want a radio to do....

Part of the reason I ask is there isn't much will stand up to wheeling. About the same as putting a radio in a dump truck as far as vibration? Depending on mods of course.

(I do realize this is actually off the original topic LOL)

 

[wheelman918]

A lot of advice offered in this thread, but no one asked what you want a radio to do....

Part of the reason I ask is there isn't much will stand up to wheeling. About the same as putting a radio in a dump truck as far as vibration? Depending on mods of course.

(I do realize this is actually off the original topic LOL)

thats a good question, the radio will have an amp built in, not a bunch of stuff to mount, i do have a specialized shock absorbing mount that attaches overhead in the cab. They guy makes some impressive stuff i was a little mad he wouldnt communicate with me after i paid so i dont get the color i ordered at all a red display and a blue face???? i figure if i pay 500$ for a radio custom built, communication as to what i want should be important? Anyways its supposed to ship today ive waited a long time, guess ill see when it gets here