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2970 N2

why push ham radio some people just don't want to go that route. just answer the guys question. he did not ask about ham radio.

That is a REVIEW of the 2970N2 by ( HOLY SHIT) CBradio magazine,

How in the hell you come to the conclusion anyone is pushing ham, it is a frickin cbreview site that was linked in the post.???
(n)(n):whistle::whistle::sneaky::sneaky:
 
It's usless sometimes wavrider. Some have their minds set a certain way I suppose. Like talking to a brick wall.
 
Junk radio.

They had a lot of problems with the PA board on those radios. Between the poor design and the heatsink being too small, to the mosfets being over-biased, it's just not worth it. The heat that radiates from the PA will rise directly into the main PCB and potentially cause other problems. I'm a CB'er and I'd never own one.

Get a good CB radio and run a small amp. And even tho I'm not a fan of HF rigs on CB band (because they don't belong there), an HF rig is honestly the best option for the money, and will TX/RX far better than an N2.


~Cheers~
You give some good advice here. Lots of people want strong AM performance along with SSB. You won't get strong AM (or at least what people want to hear on 11 meter AM) with an HF rig. I have often said to get an HF rig if you are truly serious about SSB, and keep a Cobra/Uniden/Galaxy (whatever your favorite) for the AM stuff. If you're running a mobile setup, that's pretty tough to do in today's vehicles (unless you're in a pickup truck). One of my favorite combos in my mobile for 11 meter AM/SSB was a Uniden Grant XL with a DigiScan VFO, going into a DX500 amp (or sometimes an RM Italy 203P). Very solid performance with a Predator 10K antenna or 102" whip.

I know a lot of guys skip the 2970 and go for the DX2950 with a small amp as well. However, some truck drivers aren't allowed to put an amp in their rigs, so they want the high powered radio to avoid issues with the boss. We don't really know what Undertaker's application is here, so it's hard to give specific advice to him other than a yea or a nay for the 2970.

73,
Brett
 
There are a few HF radios that do well on AM, but you are correct, most don't have the sound people want on 11m. The one that comes to mind is the kenwood 480sat or HX. They do sound pretty good on both AM and SSB from what I have heard. But you have to set them up correctly. And I agree, better to just have an older cobra 29 or even a new one for AM use or go with the 2950 and add an amp. But like you said, we truly don't know what the situation is with undertaker. In the end the user of the rsdio has to make the choice of what he/she wants. All we can do is to give some sage advice. Have a good one.
Sean.
 
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I make my statement based on a tech's perspective. I've had many of these N2's come across my bench, all with the same basic issue... problems with the PA. Either they were biased too high, tuned too hot (300W PEP on SSB is WAAAAY too much for these radios with that small of a heatsink) or just plain mosfet failure.

I have never been a big fan of the "all-in-one" radios that have a PA built into them on the bottom. I understand it's a convenience thing, to have the radio and amp in one unit, but the problems associated with that convenience isn't worth the potential problems down the road.

If you want great AM and SSB performance, run a Cobra 148GTL (philly) or a Grant XL, with a nice class AB amp like a Messenger or something from the Palomar Magnum series. But, of course, that is just my lowly .02 worth. :LOL:


~Cheers~
 
I make my statement based on a tech's perspective. I've had many of these N2's come across my bench, all with the same basic issue... problems with the PA. Either they were biased too high, tuned too hot (300W PEP on SSB is WAAAAY too much for these radios with that small of a heatsink) or just plain mosfet failure.

I have never been a big fan of the "all-in-one" radios that have a PA built into them on the bottom. I understand it's a convenience thing, to have the radio and amp in one unit, but the problems associated with that convenience isn't worth the potential problems down the road.

If you want great AM and SSB performance, run a Cobra 148GTL (philly) or a Grant XL, with a nice class AB amp like a Messenger or something from the Palomar Magnum series. But, of course, that is just my lowly .02 worth. :LOL:


~Cheers~
 
got a 2950 and a 2970 n2 .. love em both and I am going for a 2970 n4 ... gotta get a bigger power supply ... the 2970 n2 makes my 50 amp astron grunt I think a n4 will turn it inside out .. the trick to longevity with any of the 29xx boxes is don't run them wide open and they will last a lot longer .. xxx
 
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Seems like your 2970 is drawing a bit much current. At 150w, you shouldn't be drawing more than about 25-30 amps. A 50 amp supply should keep up just fine IMO. What kind of power out are you getting?? Just curious as I see the rated power from Ranger is 100w pep on AM/FM/CW and 200w on SSB. Even with a sub par power supply you shouldn't see more than a 35-40 amp draw max.
I truly think at times that the Astron power supplies are over rated on their Amp ratings. Wonder what your actual 100% duty cycle is? You might be right about it being weak, but I just find it hard to believe for a 200 watt radio. From what I have read that radio should draw about 18-25 amps stock. Having it tuned up for more power and it will draw more than 35 amps. A 36 amp power supply should work just fine for a stock radio. Now unless you have the power cranked up, I truly think your 50 amp power supply should be quite sufficient. But it may be over rated as well. Might be time to pony up and get a 50 amp MegaWatt power supply. Or even 2. But like I said. If the radio is stock and hasn't been messed with power wise, it should work just fine with a real 36-40 amp power supply.
I know my MegaWatt S400-12 has no issue what so ever running a 2 pill magnaforce 350hd with pre red dot toshiba 2879's. Something must doesn't seems right. That or you have a bit of a antenna system mismatch. And yes. I would not run the 2970N4 without at least 2 50a power supplies. More amperage is always better then less. JMHO. Anyways. Have a good one and Good evening.
 
Seems like your 2970 is drawing a bit much current. At 150w, you shouldn't be drawing more than about 25-30 amps. A 50 amp supply should keep up just fine IMO. What kind of power out are you getting?? Just curious as I see the rated power from Ranger is 100w pep on AM/FM/CW and 200w on SSB. Even with a sub par power supply you shouldn't see more than a 35-40 amp draw max.
I truly think at times that the Astron power supplies are over rated on their Amp ratings. Wonder what your actual 100% duty cycle is? You might be right about it being weak, but I just find it hard to believe for a 200 watt radio. From what I have read that radio should draw about 18-25 amps stock. Having it tuned up for more power and it will draw more than 35 amps. A 36 amp power supply should work just fine for a stock radio. Now unless you have the power cranked up, I truly think your 50 amp power supply should be quite sufficient. But it may be over rated as well. Might be time to pony up and get a 50 amp MegaWatt power supply. Or even 2. But like I said. If the radio is stock and hasn't been messed with power wise, it should work just fine with a real 36-40 amp power supply.
I know my MegaWatt S400-12 has no issue what so ever running a 2 pill magnaforce 350hd with pre red dot toshiba 2879's. Something must doesn't seems right. That or you have a bit of a antenna system mismatch. And yes. I would not run the 2970N4 without at least 2 50a power supplies. More amperage is always better then less. JMHO. Anyways. Have a good one and Good evening.
 
your preaching to the choir my good friend !! xxx

he asked a question about a rci radio. and all of a sudden. people are saying for that money get a ham radio. the guy does not want a ham rig.whatever im not here to fight..
 
I have a 2970N2 that I bought new. Don't let anyone bs you. I have a blast with it stock out of the box, no mods. I sit in florida on 28.425 MHz and talk to hams in California and they say it sounds great. The radio has a real VFO, and can also do splits for 10m FM repeaters. Yes, they are getting a bit pricey now, I think. I would also like to try the new Stryker 955 on 10m one of these days too.
 
I have a 2970N2 that I bought new. Don't let anyone bs you. I have a blast with it stock out of the box, no mods. I sit in florida on 28.425 MHz and talk to hams in California and they say it sounds great. The radio has a real VFO, and can also do splits for 10m FM repeaters. Yes, they are getting a bit pricey now, I think. I would also like to try the new Stryker 955 on 10m one of these days too.
XXX HERE .. YUP I HAVE A BALL WITH MY N2 ALSO.. I AM IN ARIZONA AND TALKED TO ATLANTIC CITY AND MONTREAL LAST WEEK.. I AM USING A A99 AND TALKED TO THESE GUYS LIKE THEY WERE SETTING BESIDE ME AT A STOP LIGHT .. NOW I AM GONNA GET A N4 AND HAVE IT TUNED A BIT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS ..MAYBE A CO-PHASE A99 SETUP.. THE PROOF WILL BE IN THE PUDDING ..XXX
 
I have a 2970N2 transceiver and it works well. I also have a few larger base variants of the 2950DX chassis. Although the mobile version 2950DX-2970DX doesn't have the classic CB radio look per say, it still has very nice AM modulation that you would expect from RCI/ Ranger products. The SSB is very usable.

The only down side I have encountered with the newer version 2970DX was that the irf520 mosfets in the amp section are sensitive to high VSWR. Two of the (8) popped when I had a coax connector fail open. That happened while running a 10 watt carrier on AM. After I replaced the bad coax jumper and all (8) mosfets it was back to working fine. They are under $2 and from the same production run if you get them from RF Parts. They were selling the entire amp board for like $70 but I see they are not listing now. I did think about swapping in the old style 2 x 2sc2290 amp board from an old 2970 in but the new mosfets I put seem to run just fine.

If you like to run AM mode you will not be disappointed. Stable SSB is just a benefit of the 2950DX chassis for me.

https://www.rfparts.com/irf520.html

2970N2.jpg
 

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