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2SF2696
| | Posted on Monday, October 29, 2001 - 7:44 pm: | 
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I was going through a local CB shop and noticed this radio that looked similar to the 10 meter Radio Shack model. It had already had the mods done to it, so I got it.
I really dig the features for the price, channel memory, Variable power, NB, Step Selector 1/10/100, just to mention a few. The panel is easy to see, and the numbers are a nice size. Mine didnt come with the stock mike with the channel selector, so I am using a spare cobra stock mike with an adapter. You could definitely tell this thing was ready for export though. LSB even in the 10 meter mode.
The first thing that caught my attention was the the swing. 50watt!!! I dont know what kind of mod this guy did, but it puts out nice. I ran a test over the air and found the mike gain to be supurb. Get an external speaker though, you will need it with this radio for sure. If you get the mod, dont forget to make sure the tech tells you how to get to 11 meter mode. This had me going for a while. Clarifier/Shift then the Call button and holding it down for a Second until the display changes. Doing the same stroke will also change from the Freq Counter, to the Channel display.
11 meter mode is cool. One of the disappointments I had with this mode is step only works with the 1k range. I sometmes for got that I had to make sure the 10k digit was right before I tune into a "0" Freq.
Example
Tune to 575 to get to 570...etc...
There is no roll over 
Dont really need any power with this radio, it really has enough built in for SSB. For AM, I have been told that it is a strong sounding radio. I was able to do some mudduck damage on Channel 6..lol It even worked better with the Modulator. By the way, Modulation on this radio is pretty darn good also!!
This Radio does not like to be cold. It just doesnt stand up to cold conditions. Make sure you memorize what the knobs are, the lettering is very small. If you operate it off of a floor mount setup, you will never see the small lettering on the front!!! Although, you will appreciate the LCD display at night. The block meter at the bottom of the screen is hard to read from a distance, and only displays 3 DB blocks. You will have to kind of guess when you tell someone their signal strength.
IMHO, this radio is very good for the price. I got mine for $200 USD with the mod. Defitely a must if you dig SSB. This Radio works best with the Wilson5000 and the WorkmanSP3000. It doesnt seem to work as very well with the FG antennas I have.
73ssss
Phineas
2SF2696 |
Tech181
| | Posted on Saturday, November 03, 2001 - 1:28 pm: |
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I have many good things about this radio from different people and places around the net. You said it doesn't take the cold real well. Does this effect the operation of the radio, or does the display just get funky?
Steve
Tech181
Tech181@copperelectronics.com |
2SF2696
| | Posted on Sunday, November 04, 2001 - 10:40 am: |
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Tech181
When this radio is cold, the volume POT doesnt work. When I talked to Magnum, they told me that the Volume POT was defective. If I sent the radio in, they would replace the POT and check out the rest of the radio, even if he radio was modified for 11 meter. If I didnt want to send it in, they would send me out that part no charge. For now though, I can live with the minute it takes to wark up. Everything else works fine.
Phineas
2SF2696 |
Tech181
| | Posted on Monday, November 05, 2001 - 12:02 am: |
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Cool. Thanks for the info Phineas.
Steve
Tech181
Tech181@copperelectronics.com |
Hammunition
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2001 - 4:02 pm: |
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I happen to own one and I am pretty happy with its performance. I run mine with a Texas Star amp and she gets out pretty well. The modulation is not as gutsy as the Galaxy or Connex but its fine enough.
Ive never had any problems with radio during cold operations. The radio ran just fine with the initial internal cab temp of 20 degrees last year. I ran from Alabama to Miami and the radio fired up every morning and ran great right out of the shoot. Two persons on my convoy were quite impressed with its long distance capabilities even when barefoot. Love this little black box. |
badintermod
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2001 - 5:09 pm: |
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Hey 2sf2696,
Thanks for the info, Mine has that exact problem!!! Sometimes when I would go out to the car early in the morning when it was cold I would have that problem. I would turn the radio on and the volume would come out full blast!!!! The volume control would return to normal after a 30sec to a minute. I thought it was just my radio but I guess it is a common problem.. |
Starlighter
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 15, 2002 - 1:35 pm: |
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I own a RoadPro Titan II which is the single final version of the Magnum 257 minus the variable wattage.I get great signal and audio quality reports in both my local area as well as DX contacts. It dead keys 8 watts and swings to 17 AM and on SSB will do about 20 watts.I modified a friends Titan II in about 15 minutes. All you have to do is remove solder from the bridged pads just below the non- surface mount Diode behind the control panel and short two pads with a screwdriver to reset the CPU. You can press the function button and then hold down the call button for three seconds and get bands A-J for VERY wide coverage.A short cut is to save your favorite frequencies in the 5 memory locations along with the mode settings (AM/FM/USB/LSB) and when you turn the radio on each time you just press the load button and select the memory button you desire and you are ready to talk.The cool thing is that you can then change any settings and move anywhere you want within the 10 bands. It also has a NB and a filter switch which cuts out a lot of high freq.backround noise without affecting the audio clarity.I bought mine for $85.00 on eBay as a back up but find myself sticking it in the car with my Wilson 1000 and having a ball or hooking it up to my 4 element beams at home for local rag chewing or dxing!No problems yet with the volume control( So far so good!) By the way,the HTX10,Magnum 257,and Titan II are all made by Maycom Electronics Ltd. which is a huge Asian manufacturer with plants throughout the East.They private label a lot of stuff for Radio Shack,RF Limited,RoadPro,Cherokee,Superstar,Eagle,and many others.Their Maycom brand amateur and cb radios are sold throughout Europe and Asia but are seldom found in this country.They also make a lot of other Audio and Video stuff for a lot of companies.I have a relative that owns a business dealing with sound systems and he is very familiar with Maycom. Hope this has been some help to somebody.73
Starlighter |
Phoneman
| | Posted on Friday, March 08, 2002 - 1:10 pm: |
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I noticed Copper is now selling the Magnum 257
http://www.copperelectronics.com/cgi-bin/checkitout/checkitout.cgi?catalogSTORE:CKIE:prodP03-01000+ |
Taz
| | Posted on Friday, March 08, 2002 - 3:01 pm: |
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Magnum makes nice radios! |
Barefoot
| | Posted on Friday, March 22, 2002 - 1:44 pm: |
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Got my 257 from Copper yesterday (awesome) I wish I had bought it five radios ago |
bruce
| | Posted on Friday, March 22, 2002 - 7:00 pm: |
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barefoot i use a rpsy-485 on 10 meters it has no image problems no transmitter problems it is the little brother to your radio and by the way check to see if your claifer doesnt move your transmitt too. |
Barefoot
| | Posted on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 10:44 am: |
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BRUCE The clarifier does move my transmit.I will have to find a home for my new 2950DX and a couple of 2510's ,can't say enough about the 257 |
Highlander
| | Posted on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 4:49 pm: |
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Wow...you really like the 257 better than the 2510? That is impressive...Ive been thinking about trying one of the single final clones for 120 bucks that are all over the internet right now, but I didn't think they were THAT good! |
bruce
| | Posted on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 6:04 pm: |
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barefoot i found that out when aligning it for fm i could not figure out why the fm alignment keept drifting till i got the hint YOUR MOVING THE CARIFIER DUMMY ON SSB ...DOH !! ... then when i went back to fm it dawned that it works on all modes because it changes the master osc.... well no need to unlock this one !!!
by the way channel guards work well for am-fm on this radio do not cause blanker problems.... but dosnt effect ssb.... ive got 4 tpsy-485's one is moble 1 is at work as a reciver and 2 to play with
at 101.99 to my door why not. |
Barefoot
| | Posted on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 8:04 am: |
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HIGHLANDER Spoke too soon on 257 it is a great little radio but I went back to 2510 I think the 257 needs a stronger mic |
Pubiliktus
| | Posted on Thursday, April 11, 2002 - 6:32 pm: |
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Well, today I received a new Magnum 257 from RF Parts after hearing all the "rave reviews" of this radio. Tomorrow it is going right back into the mail back to RF Parts unless I can sell it to a trucker on the way to work. I'm not at all impressed. I bought it hoping that I could replace the HR-2510 that I currently run in the mobile. Main reason for the memories and repeater offsets. Well, too many other dislikes to even bother with it.
1. I don't like the frequency tuning, specifically how the 100k digit will not roll the MHz up or down as you tune it. Another digit on the counter would be nice too.
2. It was poor thinking to make the clarifier double as the function button, especially when the clarifier is unlocked from the factory...which is another dislike.
3. The memories don't store your shift settings for repeaters, HUGE dislike. It takes a minimum of 6 keystrokes to bring up a freq stored in memory and give it a minus offset. They call that a short cut!!!?????
4. My brand new Magnum does not have that RF Power adjustment on it. Why!?
The over all feel of the radio operation was very uncomfortable. It just seems to me that with todays technology they could have done a much better job. Maybe I've just been spoiled with my old faithful 2510, FT-100, and other toys. Needless to say the 2510 is staying in the truck.
Good points, the power on the magnum was good, audio was clear, and the display has a nice look to it. |
bruce
| | Posted on Thursday, April 11, 2002 - 9:26 pm: |
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Not that i disagree with any of your comments particulary the clearfirer which should never should have been done this way but i find it intresting that you would be so unhappy with this radio intresting i thought the 257 HAD a power adjustment as for a FT-100 thats a 600 dollar radio and if your so deep into repeters and EVERYONE knows my mode is 10 meter fm how come you dont have a true fm moble such as the alinco after all that radio which is SMALLER than the mag has 100 memories with offset tone and scan and cost less money and is simply a better FM radio i have 2 of them but find that this radio less the repeater modes holds its own quite well. i find myself that the mag series radios are one of the BEST sounding radios on the air on all modes you cannot compair any ranger or galaxy to this radio on SSB ok the tunning is hoky i brought that out but if your a fm a holic your going in 20 khz steps anyway the radio does very well what it was designed to do be a low priced multmode wide coverage and stable a great buy for 160 bucks... and the 458 for 99 dollars. |
Pubiliktus
| | Posted on Friday, April 12, 2002 - 3:06 am: |
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I can appreciate your support for the radio. It is not that I'm a FM aholic, but it was for those specific additional features that I bought the radio. I still use the rest of the band, SSB, etc. in addition to FM. After being dissapointed with the operation of the repeater functions, etc. I didn't see the radio as a viable replacement for the 2510 in any other comparison.
I agree, as a cheap multimode 10 meter solution it serves its purpose.
I too thought this radio had a power adjustment, and all the pics in advertisements I have seen have the adjustment on it. This particular Magnum 257 does not have it, its not even pictured on the box it came in. Ideas???? |
Barefoot
| | Posted on Friday, April 12, 2002 - 9:53 am: |
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PUBILIKTUS If your 257 does not have RF power adjustment it is a older model I also went back to my HR2510 after getting my new 257. I liked all the features including the open clarifier. My only complaint is I don't think it has as much on transmit as the 2510. I really like the scan feature.i am going to try a different mic on the Magnum before I give up on it. Yes it is nowhere as good as the Hr2510 , but as Bruce said it"s not bad for $169.00 BAREFOOT |
bruce
| | Posted on Friday, April 12, 2002 - 11:59 am: |
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i realy think it is THE best buy in radios today its 100 cheeper that a 2950 and i have run both my alinco 03 fm and my dx-70 in the car as well as a 2950 it sound as good as the alincos MUCH better than the 2950 and has TONS of audio. i did buy a good mike not because the radio needed it but i have big hands and wound up pushing the ch up-down buttons too much Here in tampa it gets +180 in your car in summer and i have distroyed radios in one year because of the heat we'll see in it does better than the 2950 did. No question they could have done some things better the tunning being one of them and repeter memorys too although even in my 03 alinco 10 meter sets i never had a need to use them but its a 100-150 set. THE reason i DONT run my dx-70 in the car is winding up with a trashed out set fried in the florida sun while i could buy 4 257's for the price so for kick around town ( and working the world ) is is as good as anything around NOW if i want to compair it to my 600 dollar alinco dx-70 well .... see my point is there are better radios out there but bang for the buck this is #1
bruce |
Taz
| | Posted on Friday, April 12, 2002 - 6:14 pm: |
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Ahhh, the heat problem
I live in the cactus patch, PHOENIX
arrrr
Gets really hot here. |
Jim Long
| | Posted on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 11:47 pm: |
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Does anyone know where you can still get a 2510 in the box new |
Barefoot
| | Posted on Friday, July 05, 2002 - 11:52 am: |
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JIM LONG Looking for HR2510 in box ? email me FOOTIE@HOTMAIL.COM |
Tech181
| | Posted on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 12:13 am: |
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Be careful when using a Magnum 257 in your mobile in the summer. I drive a Saturn so the only place to mount the radio is on the dash. BE SURE to use one of those foil reflective windshield thingys to keep the heat off the radio.
I didn't and the plastic face plate with the Magnum name on it melted and warped and now doesn't fit onto the display correctly.
Bruce is absolutely correct. Dashboard temps can reach 180 degrees plus on a 90 degree day.
Steve
Tech181
Tech181@copperelectronics.com |
Johnbrowning
Junior Member
Username: Johnbrowning
Post Number: 40
Registered: 9-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, October 21, 2006 - 4:19 pm: |
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I had no idea that those little Magnum 257's were that good. The only models I had seen were the ones made for Radio Shack and they felt so cheap that I just stayed away from them. You really think they have better audio on SSB then a 2950DX?? Does anyone know how much smaller the new M257 chasis is going to be? I am in desperate need of a radio with a foot print smaller then my Lincoln. I am trying to fit a AM/SSB radio in my 2003 Camry. Power does not matter that much just great audio and stable SSB.How much longer till Copper gets it's supply of new smaller chasis????? |
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