just bought one off of e bay. havent even recieved it yet and im already dissapointed. i read some reviews that were not so good. ssb drift, fm muffeled modulation, and the made in china thing, cheap componets, poor quality control, etc. hope its not as bad as the reviews.
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superstar ss 158 edx
- Thread starter jer19541
- Start date
Personally, all you concerns I think relate to the tune (well except the drift). A lot of people will try and tune it for every last watt and then complain about it. I have never heard a complaint about 1 first hand and a few locals have them.
i had one years ago and for some reason when i ran an amp with it the radio modulation got bassy .:blink:
You won't know anything until you get it and then test it. Most ssb export radios will drift and muffled audio depends on who put their golden screwdriver in it. I don't know if it was made in China though.
I never heard anyone disappointed about a radio they didn't even get yet.......relax! From what I heard, they are a good radio for the money.
Twister24/7
I bought my ss 158 edx when they first came out . Bought it cause of a good review on cb radio magazine site. Turns out, It's one heck of a radio for the money! Good clean loud audio! Got nothing but great comments on SSB mode. A lot of them would even ask, what radio is that your talking on! Way Cool! The blues are real bright at night though. It did drift until it warmed up on SSB , then it held. Best Radio For The Money! Hope you like yours I like mine. Oh, put a astatic 636 Mic or RK 56 on it for that super clean audio!
I bought my ss 158 edx when they first came out . Bought it cause of a good review on cb radio magazine site. Turns out, It's one heck of a radio for the money! Good clean loud audio! Got nothing but great comments on SSB mode. A lot of them would even ask, what radio is that your talking on! Way Cool! The blues are real bright at night though. It did drift until it warmed up on SSB , then it held. Best Radio For The Money! Hope you like yours I like mine. Oh, put a astatic 636 Mic or RK 56 on it for that super clean audio!
I used to own one. It was a loud talking radio. People would think I was on a Connex 3300 or a General Lee. It wasn't stable as I recall on SSB until warm. I also recall when cold the roger beep didn't work in it. The blue lights are bright as hell at night.
Not much diff between any of those radios,the 158 just uses the newer board. i like my 158 used it for awhile in my pickup truck
I had one a few years ago, and IMO I think they are under-rated...I thought the radio was just fine...SSB did have a little drift to it, but not any worse than other radios I've had that cost twice the amount...
As for the "Made in China" part...Good luck trying to find any New radio thats Not built in China...:headbang
As for the "Made in China" part...Good luck trying to find any New radio thats Not built in China...:headbang
had one,
Good radio,but if you run ssb in vech in winter it will drift unless you have the heater going.I had the same problem with the ss360 and ss3900...Its just a souped up 148,and the 148 is a fantastic radio.I run one of the new rci2950dx in car and house,still just 10 and 12 mtrs.73s de n0zna
Good radio,but if you run ssb in vech in winter it will drift unless you have the heater going.I had the same problem with the ss360 and ss3900...Its just a souped up 148,and the 148 is a fantastic radio.I run one of the new rci2950dx in car and house,still just 10 and 12 mtrs.73s de n0zna
I bought one a couple years ago and found the lense covering the frequency counter was out of place. No biggie, fixed it myself. Tested it out; and seemed to work great, no drift and boxed it back up preparing to move. Now I find the channel selector has an LED that won't stay lit. I'm a little annoyed especially after hearing the guy on cbradiomagazine sent his back for the same issue. I've noticed Ranger has a poor Quality rating ever since the Cobra 2010 GTL was produced by them, and had less quality parts than the Cobra 2000. I still have the 2010 GTL, but brought it a long way since I got it. Wake up Ranger! You could be the BIG DOG around town if you cleaned up your Q.C. department a little... I'll fix the LED myself, since I waited it out of warranty.
you could always buy a radio made by MAXON in Korea or Thailand, I'm certain that would instantly restore your faith in Chinese radios. even better, buy a cobra 200 gtl dx, that will restore your faith in even Maxon built radios nevermind Chinese ones.
you'll most likely find that problem in any cb or export radios as none that i know have a temperature compensated crystal oscillator., even a tuning fork drifts with temperature change, so expecting a cheaply constructed cb not to is a bit naive, although at least your more honest than 99% of uk cb'ers that swear their ss360 fm/cobra 148 gtl dx don't drift, the fact they are only using 5 digit counters is neither here nor there when experts start stating facts.
incidentally even a radio with a txco is allowed drift, and it will always be more noticable on ssb, a mode which is far more dependant on stability for good audio.
too prove a point:
specs lifted from Kenwood uk's website for their ts2000x:
Current Drain (approx.)Transmit/Receive = 20.5 A/2.6 A (Approx) DC Power Requirements13.8 V ± 15% Frequency Stability± 0.5 ppm HF Output Power100 W SSB/FM/CW/FSK, 25 W AM
the key one is Frequency Stability, 0.5 ppm, which means at 27 mhz its stable to 13.5 hz either way, not much i agree, but still DRIFT, and impossible to measure on any substandard frequency counter.
to expect a cb at one tenth the cost not to drift, is just downright STUPIDITY.
ive considered this radio for my mobile. i like the classic style and these cold winters ive seen
2 2950 displays fail. 1 being mine. also seen a 2510 display go out .just not not bulbs
but entire display. so thinking about the 158 ,does it come with the famous 158 stock mike?
2 2950 displays fail. 1 being mine. also seen a 2510 display go out .just not not bulbs
but entire display. so thinking about the 158 ,does it come with the famous 158 stock mike?
i've seen a 2950dx display go iffy too, seemed ok on psu, and when alternator was running, but didn't like running straight from the battery, suggesting it ain't too keen on voltage drop. more often than not when the alternator wasn't running turning the set off then back on again brought the display back.
from what i've heard of the ss158, it has fantastic ears on ssb when tuned properly. if i recall quality control wasn't brilliant, but tell me a set that hasn't got that problem nowadays and i'd be very surprised.
if i recall correctly it uses the ranger sra 158 dynamic microphone.