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New radio thoughts

BammBamm

BammBamm

Instigators ...173 on the southside.
May 24, 2010
625
302
93
50
Steger,Illinois
Uniden 980...but can it be modded for extras.

Galaxy dx959....Drift but I liked mine.

Magnum257hp....Like the power here and the price

Ranger rci2950dx....For the $ I keep going back to the 257hp

I am only interested in 40 over and under from the legal 40. And SSB

Open to your thoughts.
 

I have had the 959, installed the les comm channel board, upgraded the voltage regulator and audio transistor and it works great.

fantastic reports on am and ssb.

I have not owned any of the other rigs.
 
Are you planning on using the radio as a base or a mobile?

The 980 can be modified for channels, I have successfully done so via a crystal swap. However, it requires some work to get it modified.

The 257 HP is a nice radio actually. 60-70W on SSB, nice and stable. Good bang for the buck.


2950DX is a good radio, but for less money you can get the 257HP as you stated.

I'm not a big fan of Galaxy ANYTHING on SSB, unless you manage to get a the DX11B, the DX22B, or the DX2527 on the cheap. Those are nice drift-free performers.

My suggestion is to get a Cobra 146GTL, or a President P300/AR144/AX144 and buy a channel kit for 20 bucks. Those are wonderful radios, great RX, NB/ANL, solid TX power, and stable, drift-free SSB performance.


~Cheers~
 
The 959 isn't all that bad on SSB once it warms up.
Do the P5/P6 switch mod, jump R114 for xtra slide, and unlock the clarifier. Aligning the radio is a must - of course - and will perform much better than stock. Sometimes the AGC circuit needs to be fined tuned so that SSB receives well too; that info is available on the Defpom pages.

A working 257HP is also a very fine choice too.

At least either radio will have a freq display and should be able to work the freeband with.
 
You should explain the 980 channel mod in detail. I imagine owners will get excited, only to become discouraged by the actual procedure and lackluster performance afterwards.

Last I remember, you had ordered a crystal, but I haven't seen any further reports.
 
I haven't been able to do much with the 980 lately. My grandfather had full knee replacement, the had a bad heart attack 1 week later. Been running him all his therapy and such has left me with very little time to work on radios. When he gets better I'm going to try to get back to it.


~Cheers~
 
BammBamm said:
Uniden 980...but can it be modded for extras.

Galaxy dx959....Drift but I liked mine.

Magnum257hp....Like the power here and the price

Ranger rci2950dx....For the $ I keep going back to the 257hp

I am only interested in 40 over and under from the legal 40. And SSB

Open to your thoughts.
Click to expand...

from the ones you listed id choose the magnum 257hp . it has all the channels ,extra power ,
drift free ssb. the galaxy 959 can be made to perform close to the magnum but by time you do
all the NESSARY mods might as well just got the magnum.key with magnums i find is they need a tech that actually KNOWS how to tune them up properly. bobscb is best ive found on magnums
 
I have the optima mk3 and from what I have read about the magnum 257hp , it seems the optima mk3 is a higher quality radio and more attention to detail for the ssb user. it has several small features that really come in handy like the 5khz default vs magnum 1khz?,, and the optima has a ssb filter built in,, optima clarifier is open also , not sure on the magnum. and it seems some have issues with the magnum add on rfx type amplifier.. the optima mk3 may not have as much power but has a built in fan that works great, mounted nice and isn't too loud and variable power control so you can run it into a ld or hd amp with out issues
 
I got my magnum 257hp brand new direct from the distributor. The power is nice and wide frequency selection was nice. Built in power mic was nice. Didn't like the feel of the cheap controls. Didn't like having to adjust the variable power every time I went from AM to SSB. I think for the price though it is the better option that you have mentioned. If echo is important they can be bought with a pre wired echo mic too. I passed as echo wasn't that important to me. I'm also not a big AM guy
 
Yeticom Optima

I totally agree with camaro1, in my opinion the Optima is THE best 10/11/12 meter on the market today hands down!

My "credentials"? :

I've owned & operated a Grant LT, 2 Uniden Jacksons (original models), 257HP, 2950DX, S45HP & now an Optima MK1.

I have liked each of them but the Optima is my favorite & mine is not even the latest model.

Geoff S. KB9KQU
 
I've narrowed down to the 257hp or the optima. I am having a hard time with the optima due to the 10/11/12 meter that I don't need but then I keep thinking if I get licensed it would be nice to have. O.K new ? Should either of these radios see a tech when new to be tuned or aligned? I have heard some bad reviews of my local shop lately, Seems they are money hungry and doing stupid mistakes.
 
Well, numerous operators say the 257 needs an alignment to really work well. My Optima still has the factory seals on it and I've made contacts around the world with a stainless steel whip.
 

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