Sidebar Sidebar
  • You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.

Need suggestions on a radio... AM/SSB

the optima is supposedly very good on SSB. I have not had one or heard one on the air but everyone seems to rave about them which is good.

Now as far as looking for a "high power" radio i wouldnt worry about finding a radio that does a lot of power by itself. I would pick a radio that you like regardless of what it does for output power, then letting us know what radio you decide on purchasing does on power, THEN finding an amplifier to go with it. Most radio's with built in amplifiers or high power radios usually get very hot and can suffer damage from being long winded (talking for a long period of time)

if youre going to get a optima mk3 get yourself a nice texas star 350 which will get you out of the noise level and will do a decent job and if you look around they can be had for anywhere between 100-170 bucks. if they are used, i wouldnt worry too much they can take a hell of a beating and keep on ticking. i had one for a while and it served me very well. they will get you to around 200 watts which will make a huge difference over a stock radio.

are you looking for something to run base or mobile?

good luck with your purchase and welcome to the forum.

222 Connecticut
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
Thanks Red,
Im honestly having a hard time on figuring out where I wanna be power wise. I read the page over at cbradiomagazine and pretty much 100w and 450w are the two levels worth being at. Anything else pretty much is a small gain to money spent ratio.

100w being the best and then 450w being second best.


Radio wise is where Im having the issue. I find something that looks from the reviews I watch and then bam, someone says the SSB sucks. Or the SSB is good but AM sucks. I know there are trade-offs... but can someone brand new into CBs tell the difference? I have never been on the bands before, so I dont know what my area uses most. I dont want to get an AM radio but then say damn, should've gotten one with SSB...

And thats the other thing too. I dont know if spending the money on an amp is worth it as well. Maybe a 100w factory radio would suffice... You could also cut a hole in the top and add a small fan.
 
mroneeyedboh said:
Thanks Red,
Im honestly having a hard time on figuring out where I wanna be power wise. I read the page over at cbradiomagazine and pretty much 100w and 450w are the two levels worth being at. Anything else pretty much is a small gain to money spent ratio.

100w being the best and then 450w being second best.


Radio wise is where Im having the issue. I find something that looks from the reviews I watch and then bam, someone says the SSB sucks. Or the SSB is good but AM sucks. I know there are trade-offs... but can someone brand new into CBs tell the difference? I have never been on the bands before, so I dont know what my area uses most. I dont want to get an AM radio but then say damn, should've gotten one with SSB...

And thats the other thing too. I dont know if spending the money on an amp is worth it as well. Maybe a 100w factory radio would suffice... You could also cut a hole in the top and add a small fan.
Click to expand...

have you made your decision?
 
Stryker SR 955 HP. I love mine. I have got nothing but good reports. Receive is loud, but it hears well, and all you have to do is turn down the RF gain a bit, and then turn the volume up and your G TO G.

I talked to WR-577 IN northern Tasmania, Australia from my QTH yesterday (that's 8,000 miles) on my barefoot 955 in the mobile. Not to bad. Mines putting out right at 100 watts. Stock mic works well.
 
Just my 2 cents, the first 75 to 100 watts really makes the biggest difference, after that it takes a who lot of watts and money to make a big difference and with that comes heat, large amp draws, just all around issues. Keep that in mind when your deciding.
 
Between the stryker and the optima I can't say personally because I've never owned either. I've always been partial to the RCI stuff. Going buy sound alone (ssb) the stryker sounded great and no one could argue that but the optima sounded ham quality. I have worked a couple guys running them and I would have sworn they were on a Kenwood or Icom. A while back I bought a 2950dx (dtb) that I love BUT I almost wish I would have tried the optima for something new....jmo
 
I have or had owned both, the Optima seems easier to use, just a nicer radio, the 955 Stryker is a bit clunker to me, but also works very well. So apples to apples in my opinion, and yes I know we all have one, I would take the Optima over the Stryker only because it works as good, sounds great on the air with the HM-36 mic, is smaller and easier to operate.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
I read recently about a few display issues and receive issues. How is it on am? Don't take this the wrong way but I see the same people touting about the Optima and it isn't many. Now that could be because the radio isn't as popular/ low key in terms of people knowing about it...
 
I've had no display issues, but Duster did and I bought that radio from him and had no issues with it in my mobile, at that time I had Dusters radio in my mobile and mine in the house for a base, no problems at all.
 
Yeah I guess that was him... Decisions decisions. I like the 2950/70n2 for its track record. And they can be nodded to have the power and reduce the Rx noise I read about..
 

dxChat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.


      Top Bottom
      Back