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Bullseye
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 05, 2003 - 5:08 pm: | 
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OK Now that I have finished spending $1000 to get my truck fixed I can start looking for my new mobile. I had been running AM only in my mobiles but since I got my Saturn and the CEF net is on SSB can anyone or probably eveyone give opinions on a GOOD SSB mobile. I have been looking at Delta Force,Lincoln,99V,2950's and just about everything else.Having limited SSB experience I'm don't know beans about what radios do what better than the others or what so throw me a bone here. Any and all opinions will be appreciated and considered before a purchase is made. This is the last time I'm redoing the mobile so just for the sake of knowing I'm running Belden 9258 RG8X coax and either a Texas Star or a Magna Force a Syncron meter and an Astatic 3K antenna. I will be running no more than 500 watts and probably less. Everything will be run directly off the battery for power. All that being said feel free to tell me what to buy. I will take someones advice. It may not be yours but don't be offended if I don't listen to you now I either have in the past or will in the future or possibly never at all but I will still appreciate the help!!! |
Znut
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 05, 2003 - 6:13 pm: |
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Depending on your budget...
My favorite is the Lincoln/2510. I would like a Magnum 257 if it had a fine(RX only) AND a coarse (TX & RX) tune. From what I understand the 257 fine tunes both TX and RX. Not too good with the fact that the smallest increment you can tune with the dial is 1 khz.
The Lincoln and 2950/2970 can tune in 100 hz steps which really helps tune some stations in who may be transmitting tens of hertz off of their recieve.
It would be cool if someone could put up some pics of different radio displays illustrating what I'm trying to say about the differences in how different radios tune. I'll see what I can do. |
Karatebutcher
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 05, 2003 - 6:49 pm: |
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I would have to say that for me it is the Galaxy 93 T, but you cannot run an amp unless it is something like the sweet 16 or the 1200, they are a wonderful radio and if you didn't have an amp already you don't need one if you are mobil and pick your spots to talk, and with a good antenna and a large lake, and 340, 799, 431, Buck, and 350, and of coarse Bruce waiting for your call you will do well, |
Kc0gxz
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 05, 2003 - 9:35 pm: |
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Bullseye
I thought we went through all of this last week just before your truck broke!!
Jeff, kc0gxz. |
Allagator
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 05, 2003 - 10:19 pm: |
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Bulllseye !! I like my 2510 & Lincoln !!! |
Bullseye
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 12:36 am: |
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Jeff, We kinda did but I was still not sure if SSB was what I wanted. Now that the truck did'nt cost as much as I had feared and with the advent of the CEF net,#110 posting here by the way,I think that will be the way to go. I spend about 1/3 or better of my Sundays running to races and softball and whatnot,so now I have decided that an SSB rig is what I want so I'd like everybody to chime in on something I know little about before I buy. By the way Jeff after I set the voltage on that Pyramid can I superglue the knob or do they have alot of drift in the voltage and need adjusted often? |
Diggerodell
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 10:20 am: |
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ranger 2950 dx it will never drift mine never has it is rignt on freqency!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Pig040
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 11:38 am: |
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Bullseye,
I run a Connex 4800, and hit a Daves made with it, it has a good recieve, and sounds great, hit a lot of skip with it.
Pig |
Rob5mike
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 12:14 pm: |
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Bullseye if you get the Lincoln(2510) or the DeltaForce you will be happy(I have both)I really like the Delta for am but for SSB I like the 2510 better.I run my 2510 as a base with a D104 and it does great and the Delta I use in my truck because it seems to be easier to use the controls on it and I can see the display better.
Mike.....CEF149 |
Twa77
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 1:28 pm: |
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lincolns pretty much take the cake when it comes to sideband and fm. they work exellent with a turner plus 2. that my thoughts
tony
cef 153 |
RCI 2990
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 2:45 pm: |
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Get a 2970 or a 2950 DX and you will -NOT- be dissapointed!!!! Another option would be to look on E Bay from time to time and get a real radio, the Ranger AR 3500!!!!!!!! Now THATS a good SSB rig!!!!! |
Bullseye
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 4:10 pm: |
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OK It seems that the President Lincoln,the Delta Force and the 2950-70 are getting the most press here. I either have used the RCI's and the Pres. or know people who have with acceptable to excellent results,depending on who what and conditions, but have heard that the Delta Force which I was looking at before I got my 55 has some problems with adjacent channel noise. Has this problem been corrected and what in the world is a "Chipswitch"? The Lincoln and the Delta are the two I'm studying the most and from what I can see they are the most popular so if I can get these two questions answered and which is better on AM as that is still my most used method of radio? |
Barefoot
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 5:37 pm: |
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Delta Force has better AM. Check out chipswitch with your internet search. You really don't need the chipswitch unless you are a ham. I have had several of each radio and they are both very good. Also would recommend the RCI2950DX and most of all the Magnum 257! |
Rippedradio
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 10:50 pm: |
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i'll make it easy and simple 2970!! 73's chris KC0QMB |
Alsworld
| | Posted on Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 12:41 am: |
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Bullseye,
check out http://www.chipswitch.com
It expands the Lincoln to cover 10-12 meters. Normal Frequency conversions for the Lincoln give it below 11 meters through 10 meters, but not as low as 12 meters. It also covers repeater splits and such.
The Delta Force does rock on AM stock, there is no denying that.
I've never tried the RCI line of radios, but those who have are extremely loyal to them. That says wonders.
All of these seem very stable on SSB (I know the Delta Force and Lincoln are, because I own both).
Good hunting.
Alsworld
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Kc0gxz
| | Posted on Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 12:41 am: |
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Bullseye
The Lincoln has a far quieter receive than any of them. If you decide on the Lincoln, just remember, you're buying a 15+ year old radio. That radio hasn't been updated in that long. It REALLY needs a larger, more modern frequency display. The numbers can't be read unless you are looking directly straight-on at them. And they're too small for moblie use. I'm not saying that it isn't a good radio, it's a VERY, VERY good radio. To me, it's an elegant radio, but it makes a FAR better base radio than it does a mobile.
The Chinese made RCI 2950DX is one of the cheapest built radios on the market. Selectivity is not up to par to the degree that there is a kit availible for it that will tighten the receive up dramatically. There shouldn't have to be a "kit" to make a radio do what the others do already. The AM is just as good as ANY dual final radio on todays market. SSB stability is better than it used to be and FAR better than any Galaxy SSB ever hoped to be.
Another thing you might want to take into consideration is the fact that the only repairing you are going to do on the 2950DX is change the finals or voltage regulators if ever needed. This radio is not for the person that likes to "play/experiment" inside his/her radio and make circuit changes. It's all tiny Surface Mount Technology. Aka SMT. And it's really a shame that RCI went that route. But, it cost RCI less to make it and more for you to buy it.
The Magmun 257 was also mentioned. Znut doesn't like it because it doesn't move in 100Hz steps. There are two things he failed to mention. Number one, it will step in 1Kz and the clairifier will move 1.5Khz lock to lock. In other words, the clarifier covers everything and you lose nothing. Number two, a 100hz step isn't needed once the clarifier has been opened. Why would anyone need a 100Hz step like the RCI has if you already have an opened clarifier like the Mag 257 has right out of the box. Good grief!
The Mag 257 also has variable power in ANY mode. When set up correctly it will EASILY peak 36-40 watts on SSB and deadkey 35 watts on FM. Since you're planing on using a linear, Am power can be turned down to 1.5 watts.
Now for the drawbacks. The 257 is also a radio built using surface mount technology. SMT has its uses but in my opinion, it doesn't belong in a Ham or CB radio other than a handheld. Like the RCI, it is also a overpriced SMT radio. VERRRY cheap to build and expensive to buy, but, it's around $100 cheaper than the RCI.
For around the same price of a Lincoln, you can get the Magnum DeltaForce. It uses the conventional type radio componets, has the same ALL mode variable power as the 257, has far more usable frequencies than the Lincoln, has ALL mode talkback with its own volume control, has digital echo with a on-board echo volume control, has a large frequency display and 5 memories. That's just a few of its features.
In my line of work, I am able to test, compare and play with many of these radios. They ALL have their drawbacks and they ALL have their positive sides to them. In my opinion, Galaxys has some of the most bad-a$$ AM radios but on the other hand, Galaxy and their clones are a POOR choice for the serious sidebander. The Lincoln is one of the BEST sideband radios out there but there are MANY dual final radios that will out-talk it on AM. The SMT-Magnun 257 REALLY shines on SSB powerwise but it too is a SSB drifter and the RCI-SMT can eat it alive on AM. And both of them are dual final radios. The RCI has a MUCH better transmitter than it does a receiver. If you're the type that enjoys talking on your radio and don't know or really care what is on the insides, then either of those SMT radios will work fine for you.
What I'm trying to say here is that NO radio has or can do everything we would like it to do. That imaginary radio hasn't been designed and manufactured yet. But out of all the radios I have had experience with, in my opinion, you are getting more radio for your hard earned cash with the Magnum DeltaForce. And whether this means anything to you or not, the DeltaForce is the ONLY radio that has it's roots from the FIRST 10 Meter radio. The Ranger 3300 and 3500. Those two were the baddest of the bad until production stopped. But if you want a more modern version of that radio with loud, CLEAR audio, your getting more bang for your buck with the DeltaForce.
These are only comparisons I have made with radios that were mentiond in this thread of the forum.
There you go Bullseye. Everyone on the forum will tell you to get this or get that. Weigh all of the pros and cons very carefully. You do the choosing. Don't let me or the others choose for you.
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PS: No, DO NOT super glue the voltage controls on the Pyramids. Try this, pull the large knobs off and put much smaller ones on them. It won't be so easy to bump them with the smaller ones. BTW, that thought just came to me. I think I'll be doing that myself with my two.
PSS: I can think of FAR better antennas than that Astatic 3K that you are planning on getting. It will not broadband very far. Works OK in the CB band though.
73s for now my friend.
Jeff, kc0gxz. |
Bullet
| | Posted on Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 2:47 am: |
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2950dx2950dx2950dx2950dx2950dx2950dx2950dx2950dx29
70dx2970dx2970dx2970dx2970dx2950dx2950dx2970dx2950
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bruce
| | Posted on Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 10:34 am: |
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bullet i had a 2950 and a 2950dx its a nice BEGINERS radio nothing else now if you want a good radio.... other that a lincoln ......dx-70 alinco of ft-840....it will do it all. O as far as the the chipswitch, buying a lincoln and not puting in a chip switch is like buying a caddy with stick shift a 6 cyl and no air!
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Mr_Rf
| | Posted on Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 11:09 am: |
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Caution...I have an older 2950 and the receiver is VERY noisy (constant hissing) and the filter bandwidth appears to be 7 or 8 khz wide which means someone up or down one channel usually clobbers the channel your on! I understand from asking around that this is a common problem.If heard Cobra's and Midlands that performed better than my 2950. |
Bullseye
| | Posted on Thursday, August 07, 2003 - 6:21 pm: |
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Thanks for all the posts so far guys. Jeff I already have the Astatic 3K so I'm going to try it. It's Astatic so it can't be junk. I don't know about the Delta but over the last few days I have looked at the RCI's and the 2600 (Lincoln) and with my eyesight the display is kinda hard to read if I just glance at it so that may make them kinda iffy as a mobile for me. Two other radios that I have noticed the last couple of days are the Galaxy 88 and the Connex 4800 DXL. Any comments on these. They have the LED readout so they may not be the best choices but they may be a little "safer" to use while driving. I kinda like the 4800 cause of the 6 digit freq. counter. |
RCI 2990
| | Posted on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 2:17 am: |
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Hey Kcogxz what do you mean the 3300 and the 3500 were the baddest of the bad? Is that bad as in terrible radios or bad as in really awesome radios? Mine works like a champ on SSB Am is kinda nosiy but tolerable to a degree.. Overall id have a hard time selling my 3500 100 watter. Id sell my 2970DX and my 2995 DX before id sell the 3500! |
Bigbob
| | Posted on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 6:13 am: |
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I think I got an imaginary radio it's rock solid on ssb,I kinda miss having to touch up the clarifier from time to time,as compared to my eagle 2000 that drifted ALL the time and the audio was distorted ALL the time,like you were talking on a mobile while driving down a washboardy dirt road,have never used my imaginary radio on am,nobody out here now on that mode,all the kids play cell-phone tag now,what's up wit dat,radios free. |
Pig040
| | Posted on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 12:28 pm: |
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Bullseye,
I have had a 2950, and a 2970 and found the recieve noisy, and nasty on both. Using the same setup that I used on those radios, a Daves made into a wilson antenna my Connex 4800DXL works rings around those radios. It has a nice recieve, and an awsome sound on transmit. Cant go wrong with the Connex 4800!
Pig |
Kc0gxz
| | Posted on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 5:32 pm: |
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RCI 2990
What I meant by that my friend was that for quite awhile, there were no other radios out there that even came close to them in comparison.
It was the first 10 meter radio to have....
1- A digital frequency display.
2- All band HF (2.9-30Mhz) coverage. And still is.
3- First to use 2312 finals.
4- First to use dual finals.
5- First to have a built-in linear.
6- First and still is completely programable.
7- First to have a scanner.
8- First to have a memory.
9- First push-button.
10- First to do away with the channel selector.
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That's just to name a few. The Ranger 3300 and 3500 are not to be confused with the Ranger 2950-70 radios. They are completely different companys.
I don't understand how you missed the direction I was going when I said that the 3300 and 3500 were the "baddest of the bad"! And then the follow up I did with the... "Loud, CLEAR audio, your getting more bang for your buck with the DeltaForce".
I still stand by everything I said about the 3300-3500 and the DeltaForce. Not many people know that the DeltaForce came off the same drawing board as the original Rangers. A lot of thought went into that design.
The DeltaForce is the ONLY radio on the CB market today that gives you FAR more features for your money than any other radio. And they don't rip you off by using the cheap "Surface Mount Technology" method of manufacturing it.
As I said in my earlier post, "in my line of work, I am able to test, compare and play with many of these radios". The DeltaForce is the one that impresses me the most.
I hope this has cleared up any misunderstanding about the great Clear Channel Corporation and their "Big BAD Radios".
73s for now 2990.
Jeff, kc0gxz. |
Scrapiron63
| | Posted on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 6:09 pm: |
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Jeff your right on about the 3300 and 3500, I own one of each, have for years, and all the other radios i've tried in the later years don't measure up. The old 3300 has never missed a lick, no problems whatsoever, its the 30 watt version. The 3500 is the 100 watt model, and it does have a little problem now, I get a crazy readout on the freq counter, but since I run it on base, I just use another counter. I've never understood how they got such a good sound out of that little speaker. I haven't owned a Delta Force yet, but from what you and 671 has posted about'em, i'm gonna have to try one. scrapiron |
Kc0gxz
| | Posted on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 6:59 pm: |
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RCI 2990
Something I forgot to mention.
The receivers in the 3300 and 3500 were a bit on the noisy side because of the frequency range that their receivers had to cover. The farther the range, the less selectivity the radio will have.
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Pig040
The 2950-70s always had noisey receivers. Great transmitters but noisey receivers. The 2950-70DX models of today are even worse than the older ones were. The problem is that the DX models have such a wide (24-32Mhz) frequency coverage that it's selectivity suffers. A kit is available for the new DX models that tighten up the receiver. There was one also available for the old 50s called a Channel Guard. Once installed, it worked quite well. What I could never figure out was why wasn't that built into the radio in the first place the way others are?
Some years back I used the 1st generation RCI 2950s as my business radios before I went with VHF. I always loved them for their transmitters. Especially on sideband. Very impressive. Even today, RCI has one of the best transmitters but the problem is STILL the same with their receivers. RCI in my opinion, has NEVER been able to put a good transmitter AND receiver on the same circuit board. I always believed that a RCI transmitter coupled with a HR-2510 receiver would have made an EXCELLENT combination.
And to make matters worse, they have now gone with Surface Mount Technology. But that's the name of the game with SOME companys. The cheaper they can build a radio, the higher their profits. It won't be long before you see the rest of the RCI built radios go the same route. And that's a real shame.
All of the big name companys like Kenwood, Icom and Yaesu have done the same thing. The use of SMT has saved them millions. And many of these radios cost well over two thousand dollars. It cost them less than $100.00 from start to finish to build one.
But, as long as the radio turns on and it can be heard when the mic is keyed, that's all todays CBers really care about. It's pretty much like todays new generation of Ham operators. (90% of them haven't got a clue what radio is really about. It's NOT just communications. It's also experimentation.
The use of Surface Mount Technology in todays radios has REMOVED experimentation for the guys that love to play inside their radios. As far as I'm concerned, the Chinese can keep their SMT.
Jeff, kc0gxz. |
Pointman
| | Posted on Friday, August 08, 2003 - 8:32 pm: |
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Time for folks to start hearing this more often.
The Galaxy 93T spanks on AM with a good tune, and is a Hoover tracker receiver on SSB.
I have no drift on SSB even cold at start up.
I have never owned a Lincoln but right now I cruise the highways to school and work and walk the dog on AM, in the evening I talk skip.
Sweet unit.
Just my .02 |
RCI 2990
| | Posted on Saturday, August 09, 2003 - 10:54 am: |
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Kcogxz do you know of a good mod for the receiver end of the 3500 to quiet down by not affect the receiver end on AM? |
707
| | Posted on Saturday, August 09, 2003 - 2:38 pm: |
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I agree with Jeff to some extent on the SMT technology being extremely unfriendly to hobbyists. None of the radios mentioned here have incorporated any quantum leaps in performance due to SMT. As for my favorite all-time mobile, it has to be the 2510, even though is is not really well suited for mobile use on the go.
The "new" 2950 is really no better than the "old" one I had back in 94. The receive on that radio was no better than it's predecessor, the 2900. The 2900 didn't have as good a receiver as my old 140gtl. None of those could hold a candle to the old 2510 on receive. All of this new technology incorporated with no net gain in performance. Sure, there are more memory channels, but nothing of real importance.
The new Voyage closely resembles a Galaxy, I think it was the "88" I had back in the early 90's. I liked that radio. It had good transmit and decent receive, on par with the good old Cobra chassis, better than the Superstar, Connex and a couple of other clones I owned at one time or another.
I'd go with that radio for mobile use because it has the bands, it has the rugged knobs instead of multifunction buttons. I seldom use the memory and split channel functions on a 2950, so it all seems excessive for a single band radio.
Now.... If you want a real improvement in functionality and performance, drop $500-$900 on a new Yaesu all-band portable.
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Kc0gxz
| | Posted on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 3:22 pm: |
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RCI 2990
I always thought that the receivers sounded too high pitched for my taste. What you can do to change it is to experiement with different values of some small electolitic capaciters. Putting them across the speaker leads or the external speaker jack WILL lower the tone. You can even get fancy with it by putting a switch in circuit to change the tone from its stock sound to a bassier tone. However, I would rather make the changes to an external speaker than to the radio itself. Very simple to do.
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707
You are absolutely right. The HR-2510 and Lincoln are not good choices for mobile use. (Just too much "playing" with it to get around the bands to find a frequency). As I stated in a earlier post, they make a far better base radio than they do a mobile radio. And in my opinion, their receiver is still the best in the business.
And true FM. If you don't screw around with the audio section by removing limiters to get the crappy sounding AM audio that you will end up with, FM and SSB audio quality WILL be better than any other radio out there. If you'ld like another opinion as to their quality FM and SSB audio, just ask Bruce. Maybe he'll add a post here also.
What most owners of the Lincolns and HR-2510s are not aware of is that the 2510 was originally designed and built as a REAL entry-level mobile 10 meter Ham radio. Its designers DID NOT have AM CB in mind when it was on the drawing board. Or, put another way,it was NOT built to be a AM CB radio. That's why SSB and FM is far better sounding than it's built-in low-level AM audio. And people wonder why you can't get massive swing from them? One of the reasons was because a FM final was used in them and their RF power chain is laid out a bit different than the phony 10 meter radios of today. Any Galaxy or its copy can talk circles around the Lincoln and 2510 on AM. But for the serious SSB and FM user, in my opinion, they are STILL THEE BEST quality built radio in the business.
The BEST improvement that could be done to the HR-2830 (aka Lincoln), is for a much needed larger frequency display to be designed into them.
And you're right 707, the next step up would be a Yaesu all bander or my favorite, the Kenwood TS-50.
73s.
Jeff, kc0gxz. |
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