Ranger TRE797

[Riverman]

Saw one of these on Walcott’s website a while back and liked the look. Have always wanted a CB I could easily turn the power down on. Finally bought one. And love it! So much so, my Bearcat 980 now resides in the home of a friend.
Hears great, talks great, and the bright white meter is easy to read. I also love the tone control (never had one before).
This radio comes with Ranger SRA-198 noise cancelling mic, but I am using my inexpensive ProComm power mic instead with great results.
Walcott also carries a TRE292. Same radio but no SSB. It is $199 and the 797 is $219.

 

[Eldorado828]

They're a neat little radio, cousin to the dx -979

I got one a couple years back and stuffed it away for later use. I believe @Shadetree Mechanic got a couple also. I went ahead and bought the fc-393 plug in counter and a set of white led's but haven't modded the counter yet. They're a simple and easy to use radio and they have a soft mellow receiver. Might pair well with the KL503HD?!

 

[groundwire]

one of the very few radios ranger got right. all the controls are something that can be useful minus the talkback rubbish. the only minus i find on the radio is the dimmer does not dim the tx/rx led. and im sure you have noticed, that thing is eye piercing bright. the rxcvr is typical ranger

 

[Retro CB Guy]

Yeah I love mine and the extra channels added similar to how the Galaxy 979 is done yielded a bit more frequencys, so a plus there too.

I'm fortunate to have bought it from Amazon when they still had them for $159 so it's a keeper to me!

73's Retro

 

[Riverman]

Yep

one of the very few radios ranger got right. all the controls are something that can be useful minus the talkback rubbish. the only minus i find on the radio is the dimmer does not dim the tx/rx led. and im sure you have noticed, that thing is eye piercing bright. the rxcvr is typical ranger

That little light is BRIGHT!

 

[Eldorado828]

Yep

That little light is BRIGHT!

Being it's only the tx/rx led, it's nothing a little resistor can't fix. I used the ec2018 mic with it and does pretty good imo.

Yeah I love mine and the extra channels added similar to how the Galaxy 979 is done yielded a bit more frequencys, so a plus there too.

I'm fortunate to have bought it from Amazon when they still had them for $159 so it's a keeper to me!

73's Retro

I got mine from amazon for that price too, a steal nowadays.

 

[Terry778]

I love mine, but everyone I talk to says it's really low on AM modulation, even with my new power mic they still say it's low and I can't turn it up much because it starts squealing. Also the SSB seems to be off a bit and the clarifier has to be run between the 10-11 o'clock position, it's new!

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

Does it squeal because the TalkBack is on?

 

[Eldorado828]

I love mine, but everyone I talk to says it's really low on AM modulation, even with my new power mic they still say it's low and I can't turn it up much because it starts squealing. Also the SSB seems to be off a bit and the clarifier has to be run between the 10-11 o'clock position, it's new!

Looks like you've gotten acquainted with your stock Ranger radio. Pretty typical for a stock Ranger to be undermodulated to stay on the fcc good side and the clarifier off centered is just the half effort of an alignment from the factory. Get that thing aligned and tuned by a GOOD technician and you'll be good to go.

 

[Terry778]

Does it squeal because the TalkBack is on?

I don't use the talkback feature so I don't know!

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

I don't use the talkback feature so I don't know!

Must be getting RF in the mic.

 

[Terry778]

Looks like you've gotten acquainted with your stock Ranger radio. Pretty typical for a stock Ranger to be undermodulated to stay on the fcc good side and the clarifier off centered is just the half effort of an alignment from the factory. Get that thing aligned and tuned by a GOOD technician and you'll be good to go.

Not many technicians around my area, I did go inside and turn the modulation all the way up and am getting good results now when I use it. At 1 watt dead key now it will swing 10, not sure how to make it swing the 28 watts the other guy is talking about his radio is doing! Nothing else has been done to the radio since I'm by no means a radio technician! BTW, does anyone know the wiring diagram for an old D104 to this radio?

 

[Terry778]

Yeah I love mine and the extra channels added similar to how the Galaxy 979 is done yielded a bit more frequencys, so a plus there too.

I'm fortunate to have bought it from Amazon when they still had them for $159 so it's a keeper to me!

73's Retro

Who did the work on your radio?

 

[BC Coyote]

it starts squealing

If this is still a problem then you have a problem with RF from your antenna coming back into your shack or vehicle. This can be caused by high SWR due to antenna problems, or excessive common mode currents due to antenna issues or the lack of a balun (if you're on a base antenna). I would recommend dealing with whatever issue is causing the squeal before you start messing with the radio.

 

[nomadradio]

If turning off the talkback makes the squeal go away, what you're really hearing is what audio pros call "howl", or acoustic feedback.

Moving the mike farther from the speaker sometimes fixes this. Consider that if the mike can hear the talkback audio, you'll get acoustic feedback.

Or turn off the talkback.

And if you still have this squeal with the talkback turned off, it's a different problem.

73