RCI 2950 versions????

[Lkaskel]

Hi Gang,
I have a few 2950's coming to me for alignments (hopefully not repairs) and I was hoping to get ahead of the curve before they arrive. Once I realized that there are a number of versions I asked the owner if he knew which versions he had and he did not. Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the original 2950, 2950DX, 2950DX2, 2950DX3 and the 2950CD are?

Based on what I have read one difference may be the displays but I am also interested if the radios themselves (circuits) are different.

Thanks as always for your knowledgeable reply's!!

 

[nomadradio]

For a radio that first showed up around 1992, you can imagine changes in the production design every few years will leave you with a lot of possibilities.

Until March 1995, the computer and display were a pair of piggybacked circuit boards. This one has a lithium coin cell soldered to the CPU board for battery backup, and last-frequency used memory. The main circuit board will be marked "EPT295010Z"

From March 1995 until roughly Y2K, the improved display and CPU are on a single pc board. No battery. This one tends to burn up the two half-watt resistors in the display-brightness control circuit. Pretty sure the main circuit board for this is EPT295013Z. Not really sure what year the main board number changed.

The Y2K upgrade was marketed with the suffix "DX" behind the model number. The main board is totally new, mostly surface-mount parts. It will be marked "EPT6950" followed by a couple more suffix digits. The computer and display are totally different from the previous radios and will NOT interchange.

Later "DX2", "DX3" I'm not so clear on the fine differences. After 2006 or 2007 the radio's final and driver transistors changed from the bipolar 2SC2166 and 2SC1969 transistors to the IRF520 MOSFET.

This was done to allow the radio to be built lead free. A radio built since then is also built with lead-free solder.

Ugh.

Sounds like you won't know what you have until you lay eyes on it.

73

 

[Unit 75]

DX3 had V.3 CPU and had the black background (array LED's shine on diffuser)
(EPT6950-14B & EPT6950-15Z)

 

[Douglas T]

I just picked up 2 2950dx's both have black screens with green numbers and 16 memory channels 0 thru f. I need a service manual to align sb. Another forum I saw said RCI doesn't align them at the factory. Any truth to that?

 

[BC Coyote]

Another forum I saw said RCI doesn't align them at the factory

They would have been aligned at the factory though possibly not very well. With their age they are probably very much in need of a proper alignment now.

Ranger was infamous for sloppy work and poor quality control. I had both a 2950 and a 2970 back when they were newish radios and I had multiple problems with both, mostly down to cold solder joints.
Best of luck with them.

 

[Lkaskel]

I just picked up 2 2950dx's both have black screens with green numbers and 16 memory channels 0 thru f. I need a service manual to align sb. Another forum I saw said RCI doesn't align them at the factory. Any truth to that?

Sent you a PM.

 

[Onelasttime]

For a radio that first showed up around 1992, you can imagine changes in the production design every few years will leave you with a lot of possibilities.

Until March 1995, the computer and display were a pair of piggybacked circuit boards. This one has a lithium coin cell soldered to the CPU board for battery backup, and last-frequency used memory. The main circuit board will be marked "EPT295010Z"

From March 1995 until roughly Y2K, the improved display and CPU are on a single pc board. No battery. This one tends to burn up the two half-watt resistors in the display-brightness control circuit. Pretty sure the main circuit board for this is EPT295013Z. Not really sure what year the main board number changed.

The Y2K upgrade was marketed with the suffix "DX" behind the model number. The main board is totally new, mostly surface-mount parts. It will be marked "EPT6950" followed by a couple more suffix digits. The computer and display are totally different from the previous radios and will NOT interchange.

Later "DX2", "DX3" I'm not so clear on the fine differences. After 2006 or 2007 the radio's final and driver transistors changed from the bipolar 2SC2166 and 2SC1969 transistors to the IRF520 MOSFET.

This was done to allow the radio to be built lead free. A radio built since then is also built with lead-free solder.

Ugh.

Sounds like you won't know what you have until you lay eyes on it.

73

I got mine in 1991 as a senior in high school. I graduated in 1992 from Bradwell Institute in Hinesvile Georgia home to Ft. Stewart 3rd ID. Savanaha Ga and Richmond Hill is right next to this area as is Hilton Head. My friend and technician was Fred Ballintine of Hinesvile Electronic Repair. Back then they where $400+ from Ham Radio Outlet and if you ordered 10 you got an 11th either free or at a discount so mine cost me a bit less. Coppers did not have them yet and few did. Freds was a first Gen from early 1990's made in Taiwan and it had a reset button on the board a little red button. I do not recall if it had a battery back up or not. Mine was made in Mylasia I think by 1991 and the reset button had been removed and it had basicaly a spot you could short with a wire or metalic tool to reset and had a battery memory back up. I graduated in 1992 so I know this was pre 1992 since I was still in high school so the latest it could have been was 1992 by the time they had switched to Mylasia instead of Taiwan. I almost purchased an HR2510 from Copper at the time before I got my RCI2950.

 

[nomadradio]

I got mine in 1991

Yeah, anything that happened over 30 years ago is plus/minus 1 db.

73

 

[Onelasttime]

My memories from about age 20 down to about age 6 are as clear today in my mind as if they where yesterday. Before the age of 5 sketchy at best and post 25 or 26 not super clear. Between 6 and 20 years old though it is like watching a DVD I can rewind and see and hear probably 75%.

Thanks to Desert Storm and how order's work I had to attend 3 different High Schools for my Senior year in 2 countries and 2 US States. I was so busy talking skip that I often skipped sleep and would talk until it was time to go to school. After I graduated I would often talk through the night until it was time to start my next work shift. The friends and memories I made on radio between 1991 and 1993 are some of the best memories of my entire life.

We regulalry had 20 to 100 people including house wives, families, soldiers, teenagers getting together on the week end to T-Hunt/Fox Hunt from 6pm to 6am. We where doing phone patches over CB and having great fun. CB was facebook, craigslist, dating app, hunting app, and on and on. It was not like it is today.

The RCI2950 was my first SSB radio and my first export. The HR2510 and the RCI2950 changed the face of CB/Export radio. The RCI2950 blew up faster and bigger than anything before it! The fact that it was origanaly only available through Ham Radio Distributors and not truck stops and Copper combined with it's initial high price point gave it credability. It took a long time for it to go from legit 10M rig to truck stop special!

If mine had not been stolen from me I would still have it and be using it. I only got a Lincoln in 1998 because my RCI2950 was stolen.

 

[Skip seeker]

Can there be anything done with the display on
The older models I have a 2004 Model hard to read if not directly in front of the radio could the display be changed or updated

 

[punterhen23]

My memories from about age 20 down to about age 6 are as clear today in my mind as if they where yesterday. Before the age of 5 sketchy at best and post 25 or 26 not super clear. Between 6 and 20 years old though it is like watching a DVD I can rewind and see and hear probably 75%.

Thanks to Desert Storm and how order's work I had to attend 3 different High Schools for my Senior year in 2 countries and 2 US States. I was so busy talking skip that I often skipped sleep and would talk until it was time to go to school. After I graduated I would often talk through the night until it was time to start my next work shift. The friends and memories I made on radio between 1991 and 1993 are some of the best memories of my entire life.

We regulalry had 20 to 100 people including house wives, families, soldiers, teenagers getting together on the week end to T-Hunt/Fox Hunt from 6pm to 6am. We where doing phone patches over CB and having great fun. CB was facebook, craigslist, dating app, hunting app, and on and on. It was not like it is today.

A lot of time has passed since you mentioned dating apps, and although they are now also available, young people prefer something more efficient, and by efficient I mean the NastyHookups website, for me it is a reference, because it has many ways to find a suitable match, I recommend it

The RCI2950 was my first SSB radio and my first export. The HR2510 and the RCI2950 changed the face of CB/Export radio. The RCI2950 blew up faster and bigger than anything before it! The fact that it was origanaly only available through Ham Radio Distributors and not truck stops and Copper combined with it's initial high price point gave it credability. It took a long time for it to go from legit 10M rig to truck stop special!

If mine had not been stolen from me I would still have it and be using it. I only got a Lincoln in 1998 because my RCI2950 was stolen.

Sounds like you lived through an amazing era of CB radio — full of real connection, community, and unforgettable memories. Thanks for sharing that piece of radio history!

 

[BC Coyote]

sasaas

Huh?

 

[Eldorado828]

Bro. I uploaded my new banner and it looked like a crime scene on mobile. I tried resizing like five times but it kept getting worse. Some legend in a comment section posted a link explaining (link disabled by admin) I clicked it expecting another wall of useless info, but nope—it actually walked through the exact specs and design zones. I fixed the mess, uploaded it again, and now I don’t wanna throw my monitor through the window anymore.

WTH!

 

[AudioShockwav]

Bro. I uploaded my new banner and it looked like a crime scene on mobile. I tried resizing like five times but it kept getting worse. Some legend in a comment section posted a link explaining (link disabled by admin) I clicked it expecting another wall of useless info, but nope—it actually walked through the exact specs and design zones. I fixed the mess, uploaded it again, and now I don’t wanna throw my monitor through the window anymore.

He is no longer here, he just wants people to click on the link and go down a rabbit hole.


73
Jeff