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yeticom Optima3
- Thread starter longhaireddwb
- Start date
Got mine yesterday. Going to put it in the big truck this morning and see how it does. The specs were close out of the box. I turned up the AM modulation and wired up a SRA198 mic and the audio sounds great on SSB and AM but as everyone says the audio is a little soft on AM. Not too bad but its not an audio monster thats for damn sure.
Hope propagation does something today as its not been very good arouns here. Id like to get some dx to give it a try.
Hope propagation does something today as its not been very good arouns here. Id like to get some dx to give it a try.
Is ssb clean and clear? That's all I really am concerned with, don't use am much anymore other than to get a traffic or radio check every so often from the truckers. Hope it works well for ya longhaireddwb!! Gotta get a mic myself. Not sure which one I am going to get yet, the shure 527b or 527c look to be a good mic and have some Decent specs. The sra-198's are back ordered on eBay as far as I can tell. But I am really leaning toward one of the shure mic's! Will see. Anyway good luck and hope all works out well. Keep us posted as to how it's working for ya. God bless.
The audio is plenty loud with the stock mic but drops with nonamplified mica. To compensate I run my dead key my dead key at 1watt. The audio really comes up with the modulation cranked. Since the stock mic is a powered mic, you won't be able to run it like that. But with my sra198 it's fine. In fact, the audio is nice and loud. I run a 2x2878 amp with it.
I also run a slight amount if echo on am. Installed an LT2N echo board and just ran and in off switch on the side. Controls are set inside.
A 2018 mic really brings up the audio as well without having to drop the dead key.
CbRadiosPRONTO
I also run a slight amount if echo on am. Installed an LT2N echo board and just ran and in off switch on the side. Controls are set inside.
A 2018 mic really brings up the audio as well without having to drop the dead key.
CbRadiosPRONTO
It takes a little work and getting used to with these radios but when you have it set up the way you want it, you'll be impressed. The same thing goes for the cre8900, president Lincoln II.
CbRadiosPRONTO
CbRadiosPRONTO
not my first choice for a mic for that radio,,
just keep an eye on things as the optima radio uses 8v on the audio line to power the factory mic and icom HM-36 style mics,,, there is also another 8v power wire in the connector but its not used
check it out you will have 7-8v on pin 1 and on pin 2
Pin 1 Mic Input
Pin 2 +8VDC
Pin 3 Freq up/dn
Pin 4 NC
Pin 5 PTT
Pin 6 Ground (PTT)
Pin 7 Ground (MIC)
Pin 8 NC
it is wired the same as the icom 8 pin radio's and if you buy an icom 8pin to 4 pin mic adapter they come with a DC current blocking capacitor inline inside the adapter to keep the dc voltage out of the non electret 4 pin mics
I have a clone hm-36 electret mic and the am mod turned up on mine and just last week I went to another town to pick up some stuff a guy had for sale and we met on AM ch15 as I was driving to meet up,,, when I got there he asked and checked out what I was running (optima mk3 and sirio 5000) because he said all the locals in his town run AM radios that are peaked and tuned and mine sounded better that all the guys that he talks to on the radio. he said it was loud and very clear,, he is looking to buy one now
also one more note on the hm-36 original and clone mics,, you need to take them apart and see where the small electret element is mounted,, the mic has 2 locations (front center((where you would normally think the element is)) and center top section) for mounting the element,, if the element is mounted in the top section of the mic and you talk into the front of the mic like where you think the element would be you will not sound great,, but if you talk where the element is mounted you will sound great.
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Conditions yesterday were bad again. No dx to speak of so wasnt able to test the optima on ssb. The day i got it i had it on the bench connected to a dummy load and did some tx and rx tests to check alignment and audio using me ft2000mp and the alignment was very good. The audio on rx was clearer than what im ysed to hearing from a 10m radio and on tx the audio comming out of the ft1000mp was very clean and clear. This was done with the sra198 mic. I did the same audio checks with the factory mic and it didnt sound near as clean on tx.
Im using the sra198 mic because im running mobile in a peyerbult. Lots of cab noise. I was thinking of giving a red devil mic a try nect as it being a power/noise canceling mic. Who knows. I like a full size mic. Those little ones just dont fit my hand very well.
I wonder if a person with the ability to do smt work could change the value of the resisters in the AM limiter circuit?
Im using the sra198 mic because im running mobile in a peyerbult. Lots of cab noise. I was thinking of giving a red devil mic a try nect as it being a power/noise canceling mic. Who knows. I like a full size mic. Those little ones just dont fit my hand very well.
I wonder if a person with the ability to do smt work could change the value of the resisters in the AM limiter circuit?
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I wish you could hear mine with the sra198. Granted, I had to crank the modulation inside and drop my dead key on am to get nice and loud but, it really does sound sweet. I need to record it and throw a videogate on YouTube.
Ps. Starting to like my president Lincoln II but those idiots made the echo so ridiculously loud and obnoxious on the lowest setting that it's worthless. Yeah yeah. I dont want to hear it. I like a slight amount of reverb on AM. An yes, I installed on my optima Also. Haha
CbRadiosPRONTO
Ps. Starting to like my president Lincoln II but those idiots made the echo so ridiculously loud and obnoxious on the lowest setting that it's worthless. Yeah yeah. I dont want to hear it. I like a slight amount of reverb on AM. An yes, I installed on my optima Also. Haha
CbRadiosPRONTO
I also like a slight touch of reverb sound in my audio. I think its the truck driver in me. But just a little reverb. NO ECHO! I hate the guys that dont know how to set up the audio sound and just echo 3 to 4 times every word. Plus with an echo you need a talkback so you can monitor it. Did you have that put in the optima too?
ponykilr, I know they are smaller than a radio like the cobra 29, metric. Here are a couple of photos of one, maybe this can help.
Here is one from a cobra radio
And here is a side by side
Cobra left, optima right. Same screws as the magnum 257hp. Hope this helps some. God bless
Here is one from a cobra radio
And here is a side by side
Cobra left, optima right. Same screws as the magnum 257hp. Hope this helps some. God bless
Thinking about getting this radio, looking at their website it says the radio now has a more robust mike. How does the new mike sound in a noisy environment such as a semi? Plus does it have louder audio then before? I am looking at this vs. a rci 2950dx. I will be using the radio's power alone trying to make some skip contacts in my semi and maybe trying it out in my pickup. I know conditions make the real difference, BUT which would be the better choice for making more contacts on ssb and still sounding good on AM, the yeticom or 2950? Is it possible to get a Extreme 2018 wired to work with the yeticom? Thanks.
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