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Chierda S890 SSB

Shadetree Mechanic said:
That's interesting, did Ford tell you what the revisions will be?
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The only one I can confirm according to him but I believe there are a few tweaks to a few other things, is the NRC which I prefer these days and welcome it. As it is already in the menu, but probably some small changes to the users manual as well through this process.

Wondering how many test models went out? I see you have one!

Hope you're well sir, Retro
 
Retro CB Guy said:
The only one I can confirm according to him but I believe there are a few tweaks to a few other things, is the NRC which I prefer these days and welcome it. As it is already in the menu, but probably some small changes to the users manual as well through this process.

Wondering how many test models went out? I see you have one!

Hope you're well sir, Retro
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Yes, the NRC is in the menu. And in all the advertising too. I didn't realize that mine didn't have it until Ford told me it didn't, and I already paid for it. But I got a good deal on it, so I'm not too worried about it. I am not sure how many revisions they have gone through so far, two maybe three? I have found some people talking about it on Facebook too.

We are doing quite well over here, how is everything on your end?

Chris
73 and 51
 
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The AM tx audio needs to be addressed, I have been trying to get the factory to acknowledge that there is a problem. Hopefully it will get fixed in the next revision, the US market will not support a radio with sub par AM. The AM tx needs to sound as good as the FM tx at the very least.

Or maybe I got a dud, I don't know.

The Zetagi desk mic makes the AM tx sound like it is supposed to. I bought an amplifier board a while ago for a D104. It has bass and treble adjustments, as well as a noise gate, so I thought I would give it a try.

www.ab9tedesigns.com

AB9TE Designs

www.ab9tedesigns.com www.ab9tedesigns.com

IMG_20230923_185122544_HDR.jpg

It almost works on AM. With the treble up and the bass down, it starts to make a difference. Unfortunately it doesn't have enough drive to do what the Zetagi does. And with the output of the board all the way up, it was sounding maxed out.

On FM, this board is sounds great. I will take it out and save it for a Cobra or Galaxy radio.

This is such a shame, it really is a neat radio.
 
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@Shadetree Mechanic

Finally got the antenna base setup to test the audio

When I used TALKBACK mode the audio sounded perfect on all AM-SSB-FM

I did lower mic gain on am to a 10 and ssb to a 12

Could you go into menu settings and turn talk back on and test the audio there. If yours is still bad then you must have a bad radio.

Talk back mode would sound exactly as if I was transmitting yes ?

I might have to get someone to help me test radios away from each other.
 
kingpin007 said:
@Shadetree Mechanic

Finally got the antenna base setup to test the audio

When I used TALKBACK mode the audio sounded perfect on all AM-SSB-FM

I did lower mic gain on am to a 10 and ssb to a 12

Could you go into menu settings and turn talk back on and test the audio there. If yours is still bad then you must have a bad radio.

Talk back mode would sound exactly as if I was transmitting yes ?

I might have to get someone to help me test radios away from each other.
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I will try Talk back to see if it sounds different from the transmit signal. Usually the Talk back comes from the mic amp and bypasses the transmitter all together. The best way to listen to your transmit signal is to use a second radio with headphones and no antenna. You could try that with your second radio, the speaker output on the S890 has a stereo jack and works great with headphones. Most radios have a mono output, and when using headphones, you will have only one ear unless you use a mono to stereo adapter.

I will try Talk back this evening when I get home and report back.
 
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I tried the Talk back with headphones and it does sound way better than the TX audio. The different modes sound almost the same to each other, while the PA mode sounds the best. I wish the PA audio was what the AM TX audio sounded like.
 
Shadetree Mechanic said:
I tried the Talk back with headphones and it does sound way better than the TX audio. The different modes sound almost the same to each other, while the PA mode sounds the best. I wish the PA audio was what the AM TX audio sounded like.
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Ok .. I got two radios side by side using head phones.

I was using headphones to test and audio and one the audio was good the other awful until my ear started to get REALLY hot from one of the headphones heating up so stopped. The volume control on these radios is very high as well that if you turn dial on full even with the inbuilt internal speaker you will blow an ear drum. LOTS of power running to the output audio

What I did do is get two radios somewhat apart from each other with volume control turned down so much that no feedback would occur but enough to hear myself.

AM was so OVERDRIVEN at level 15 mic gain no wonder it's distorted. Also the back ground noise being detected.

Am I turned down to a 10

SSB I turned down to a 12

FM I also turned down to 12

If you try talk back mode you can hardly hear yourself from the inbuilt speaker but once you go to transmit mode .. the second receiving radios speaker BOOM loud as hell even when it's volume level very low

These radios are really over driven.. FM they can get away with it and sounds good. SSB they can get away with it .. but AM it is over driven but reducing mic gain improved that. AM audio can't tolerate the bass levels compared to FM can so this is what we are experiencing

BUT perhaps we have different opinions on audio quality as many people do but I actually think the audio is loud and clear with a lot of oomph behind it. High mic gain and talking too close to the stock mic definitely causes problems, causing bass and muffled audio but that is to be expected. I found talking sideways into the mic or on an angle helps and not talking directly into it.

One more thing is your powered desk mic has more control over the audio sound. The one your using is top of the line so processing the audio alot better than the stock mic. I am not surprised it's helping AM audio greatly, if it didn't improve audio at all then no one would buy them.

I am going to do some more testing anyhow... but so far I think these radios are actually decent.
 
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AudioShockwav said:
Shadetree, have you played with this radio anymore or did it go on the shelf?
I have a opportunity to pick one up for $100 nib +ship and wonder if it's worth it.

73
Jeff
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Mine ended up being the monitor radio on the back bench. The speaker jack is stereo, so headphones work great. The AM tx is acceptable with a Zetagi desk power mic. But the stock mic and every other mic I have sound muddy. The TX on ssb is good and FM is great with the stock mic and others. The rx on all 3 modes is good, although the noise reduction feature (DSP) is a flat out lie.

Maybe mine is a dud, but I bought a radio one time made by PNI that had the same audio, so I think that's the way it is. But then other people have not reported this problem, so I really don't know for sure. And I am not going to buy another one just to find out, although I would like to try another one for a side by side comparison.

So for $100 nib + shipping, it would be worth it if AM is not your main mode, in my opinion.

73 + 51
Chris
 
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