Where to go from here?

[ND88]

So a lot of you have been following my quest to make DX contacts with stock radio equipment. My Galaxy DX-959 paired with a wilson 1000 mag mount on my truck. I'm not exactly satisfied with the results this setup has yielded so far. It's fine for local communications. definitely does the trick, gets out over 20 miles. But as far as DX is concerned, it's lacking. I've been heard on SSB, that's about as much as I can say in terms of my success.
Since DXing on SSB is my main goal right now, I want to improve upon my station with that in mind.


Where do I go from here? What should I save for next? I'm at a cross roads here.

I can experiment with the following:

• 
  Ditch the Wilson and install a permanently moutned 108" whip on the bed of my truck, focusing on a clean, properly grounded and bonded install.

• 
  Buy a small 250-300 watt amp.

• 
  Abandon the mobile DXing station altogether and put all of my efforts into getting a base station together with something like an antron 99 or a homebrewed dipole antenna
  
  

I will probably do all of these things at some point in the future, but which would you focus on first?

 

[camaro1]

make sure the 959 is on freq,, they are known for drifting off freq, probly your best bet for that radio is to have the clarifier unlocked so you can keep on freq with everyone else, you will make more contacts if your radio is set up right. and a little more power never hurts, 100-200 watts in a mobile on ssb will make contacts easy with a Wilson 1000(if its not full of water)

 

[tecnicoloco]

So a lot of you have been following my quest to make DX contacts with stock radio equipment. My Galaxy DX-959 paired with a wilson 1000 mag mount on my truck. I'm not exactly satisfied with the results this setup has yielded so far. It's fine for local communications. definitely does the trick, gets out over 20 miles. But as far as DX is concerned, it's lacking. I've been heard on SSB, that's about as much as I can say in terms of my success.
Since DXing on SSB is my main goal right now, I want to improve upon my station with that in mind.


Where do I go from here? What should I save for next? I'm at a cross roads here.

I can experiment with the following:

• 
  Ditch the Wilson and install a permanently moutned 108" whip on the bed of my truck, focusing on a clean, properly grounded and bonded install.

• 
  Buy a small 250-300 watt amp.

• 
  Abandon the mobile DXing station altogether and put all of my efforts into getting a base station together with something like an antron 99 or a homebrewed dipole antenna
  
  

I will probably do all of these things at some point in the future, but which would you focus on first?

Next a power amplifier

Davemade

TNT

4 transistors amplifier and try to get a high drive version of the above amps

Messenger 350

Texas Star TS-667

 

[BammBamm]

I have made many DX contacts on a 949 and a old 148gtl. Is the radio peaked? I am currently on a 257hp with a roof mounted SS 108 inch whip. The first thing I would do is peak the radio and I don't like magnet mounts, I have used them but prefer a 102+ a extender to make 108'. And I use mini 8 for coax in the mobile with true amphenol connectors that I put on. It was best told to me this way... A $1000 stereo with $10 speakers sounds like crap but $10 radio with $1000 speakers good. Same with cb your antenna is the most important part and power means nothing if your sending it to a cheap antenna. Wilson's are good but there are better.

 

[cbradiomagazine.com]

More power will most likely make the difference for you if everything else is working correctly.

First - you need a external SWR meter before adding an amplifier. See if you can find a cheap radio shack 21-534 used on ebay for $20. It's a good starting meter and offers lots of functions.

Next - Pick up a small amp such as a KL203. I'll sell you one I have here. Cheap, work well, will match up with the 959 and doesn't require large wiring changes as the amperage draw is fairly small. On SSB you'll see around 125-150 watts with that radio most likely.

That wattage will get you a DX contact on SSB. If it doesn't then something else is wrong.

If you want to make the big jump to a large amp then go for it but it will require larger wiring (good fusing at the battery) and it will also require a SWR meter anyway so you might as well pick one of those up now.

I made 20 contacts today with 50 watts and an antenna that's 15" shorter than your wilson 1000. No need to go too crazy. You can make a contact with your stock radio but it definitely will be a little harder and you'll have to call out quite a bit before someone replies. Again, listen for loud stations and try to find channels with less stations so you have a better chance.

 

[ND88]

make sure the 959 is on freq,, they are known for drifting off freq, probly your best bet for that radio is to have the clarifier unlocked so you can keep on freq with everyone else, you will make more contacts if your radio is set up right. and a little more power never hurts, 100-200 watts in a mobile on ssb will make contacts easy with a Wilson 1000(if its not full of water)

What exactly does an unlocked clarifier allow me to do that the stock setting won't? Some people say it is best to leave it stock, others say unlock it.

There is a tech in Arkansas that was recommended to me by hayseed here on the forum... I am in the process of contacting him and seeing about a tune and alignment. And there is also a local in town who has offered to work on my radio, claims to have ran a shop for 15 years, but i'm wary of letting just anyone work on it. Nonetheless, I have a few options in that area.

 

[ND88]

More power will most likely make the difference for you if everything else is working correctly.

First - you need a external SWR meter before adding an amplifier. See if you can find a cheap radio shack 21-534 used on ebay for $20. It's a good starting meter and offers lots of functions.

Next - Pick up a small amp such as a KL203. I'll sell you one I have here. Cheap, work well, will match up with the 959 and doesn't require large wiring changes as the amperage draw is fairly small. On SSB you'll see around 125-150 watts with that radio most likely.

That wattage will get you a DX contact on SSB. If it doesn't then something else is wrong.

If you want to make the big jump to a large amp then go for it but it will require larger wiring (good fusing at the battery) and it will also require a SWR meter anyway so you might as well pick one of those up now.

I made 20 contacts today with 50 watts and an antenna that's 15" shorter than your wilson 1000. No need to go too crazy. You can make a contact with your stock radio but it definitely will be a little harder and you'll have to call out quite a bit before someone replies. Again, listen for loud stations and try to find channels with less stations so you have a better chance.

Very informative post as always, thank you.
I do have an external SWR meter, I have one of those cheap workman meters, got that a few months ago with my antenna.
With the 1000 I get a 1.4 on channel 20. I monitor the SWR with the internal meter often too, and it's never been above 1.5. Pretty much was tuned out of the box.

Would you recommend the KL203 over the Midnight Special 250? I have read your review on the MS and it really made me want to buy it....

Also, I used to run a 400w stereo amp in my truck... It was pro installed and the wiring is still there. would I be able to hook my amp up to the same wiring?

 

[9C1Driver]

What exactly does an unlocked clarifier allow me to do that the stock setting won't? Some people say it is best to leave it stock, others say unlock it.

There is a tech in Arkansas that was recommended to me by hayseed here on the forum... I am in the process of contacting him and seeing about a tune and alignment. And there is also a local in town who has offered to work on my radio, claims to have ran a shop for 15 years, but i'm wary of letting just anyone work on it. Nonetheless, I have a few options in that area.

The radio should have been tuned and aligned as part of the purchase from the shop you bought it from. All you really need to have done is a proper factory alignment and have the clarifier un-locked. During this process they will make sure the radio is on frequency, receive is set correctly, and the AM carrier range is say 1-5 watts.

You might also consider having extra channels installed, it's very easy with that radio. This way you can get to the SSB free band skip channels above cb channel 40.

For now try parking on the roof of a parking garage or a decent hill in a parking lot. When the conditions are right you can talk all over barefoot. When you do consider an amplifier something biased either B or AB would be best.

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

The clarifier mod is on CB Tricks. Just to give you an idea of what it involves in case you want to do it yourself.


http://www.cbtricks.com/radios/galaxy/dx979_mosfet/index.htm

http://www.cbtricks.com/radios/galaxy/dx959/graphics/dx959_serv_manual.pdf

 

[2RT307]

Just my opinion, as I've tried both with a Grant LX... the KL203 will do better on SSB than the Midnight Special. MS is class C, KL203 is A/B (according to RM Italy via email). I've had excellent reports using the KL203 with my Grant LX on AM and SSB (MS sounded bad on SSB), which should be close in output to your DX959. Keep the KL203 cool, and don't overdrive it if you get a peak/tune.

73,
RT307

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

My 959 was setup for a 12 watt pep on SSB. On am with a 1 watt deadkey my 959 only swings up to 15 watts. It makes my 203 do a pep of only around 100 watts on am/SSB. I think that my 959 would have to have a swing mod done to it and have it peaked to perform what it can do safely in order to make the 203 perform at it's advertised ratings.

 

[Oatmeal]

This is what Id do...

Id pull the magnet mount off the truck, and go with a ss whip and spring for starters......since u have a truck, Id mount it on the rear bumper, depending on what type of bumper u have to how you need to mount it....

Once you get the whip on the bumper, run your coax along the top of the frame and use something to tie it on top the frame, so the coax don't get tore off, but don't tie wire or what ever to tight on the coax, don't need to punch a hole in the coax....and bring the coax inside the truck at the bottom of the cab, should be a garmet there somewhere u can go in at....type coax, u can use mini 8, or a 8x will do..

Once u get the ss whip and spring mounted, coax ran inside the cab, then put your swr meter inline with a 3ft jumper, and check the swr to see what it is....swr should be somewhere in the ball park with a 1.5 or so.....

Just a little note, I always liked running the ss whip and spring on the driver side of my rear bumper, to me seems like it does better on this side, maybe due to the power lines all running on the passenger side, don't no why it talked better mounted on the driver side....but only bad thing about it been on this side, is when u go to a drive thru the whip bangs against the roof, or hits the lights, ect....otherwise the whip does good on this side of the truck, it does here anyways.....

Do this, then post back up what u have........then we can go from here....

 

[M0GVZ]

From my posting history you know my opinion on amps but if you've installed a good antenna, done all the bonding you can, made the best install you can and you have no problem hearing people then a bit more power is the next thing to start doing.

Ultimately though working mobile for DX will be worse than doing it from a base station with a full size antenna. How much depends on a lot of things but no way in hell will even the best mobile antenna with the best installation ever compete with a 2 or 3 element beam 20-30ft above the ground.

Beams are amazing things that effectively give you free power. My favourite is a Moxon and it'll have around 10dBi gain. If your mobile antenna has 1-2dBi gain it is 8-9dBi more than that. A 3dBi increase doubles your ERP (effective radiated power), 6dBi quadruples it, 9dBi increases it 8 times and 10dBi ten times. So a gain of 8-9dBi gives you an outgoing signal 8 times stronger, equivalent to having to put 96W PEP into your mobile antenna given your radio does 12W PEP. You've effectively got the equivalent of putting a 100W amp on your current set up.

But it gets better and this is why I always recommend putting your efforts into the antennas rather than just upping the power. The gain is in both directions so your receive also increases by the same amount as well. So if you've 9dBi gain over your mobile install, received signals will be 8 times stronger.

 

[357magnum]

You have got a good radio an antenna , I have used both antenna's in the past however I am partial to the whip because t look better on my old Land Cruiser . Let,s face it it's a lot easier with an amp just o your home work an get one that suits your needs . It doesn't have to be a monster amp . Stay away from Galaxy 250 they keep showing up on eBay but they are made cheaply . You can always buy a A-99 , power pack , move indoors but it wouldn't be the same . I am going to be going through the same thing you are in a few days when my Cobra 2000 Gets here I'm putting my 140 gtl in the truck . So probably N O mobile dx'in for me .

Sent from my NB09 using Tapatalk

 

[M0GVZ]

This is what Id do...

Id pull the magnet mount off the truck, and go with a ss whip and spring for starters......since u have a truck, Id mount it on the rear bumper, depending on what type of bumper u have to how you need to mount it....

NOOOOOOOOO..

That is THE WORST place possible to mount it. Its shadowed by the body which makes tuning it harder and because of the lower height you can lose as much as 6dBi over it being in the centre of the roof. If you have no problems tuning it on a bumper mount that isn't a good thing as it means you have a lot of ground loss.