CONNEX SATURN CX33 SSB BASE

[ENERGIZER]

Sick and tired of trying to find some one dependable to peak n tune and do my conversions.Drive 80 miles round trip mabe he's a good tech.Ship it off for 10days 2weeks B/S.Then if i breaks down ship unit back out<can not stand it>.You get the picture conversion no brainer. I'm ready to tune my new CONNEX BASE RADIO. Can some one point me in correct direction. Thanks in advance

ENERGIZER

ROYSE CITY,TX

 

[banedt]

hmmm...guess nobody wants to give out the secret??

 

[w9cll]

Why not think about getting your ham ticket then you don't have to worry about getting radios fixed to work right.

 

[9C1Driver]

Sick and tired of trying to find some one dependable to peak n tune and do my conversions.Drive 80 miles round trip mabe he's a good tech.Ship it off for 10days 2weeks B/S.Then if i breaks down ship unit back out<can not stand it>.You get the picture conversion no brainer. I'm ready to tune my new CONNEX BASE RADIO. Can some one point me in correct direction. Thanks in advance

ENERGIZER

ROYSE CITY,TX

It's not as simple as turn this and twist that and bingo, your done. There is a reason shops that do good tech work are behind. That said Doug at Custom cb does a fine job and has a good turn around time.

My first suggestion would be to buy a radio from a shop that does good tech work. This way the radio gets converted, tuned, and shipped ONCE. For a base radio this is extra important due to the shipping costs.

DTB radio is another good choice and a foum member.

 

[Robb]

There is no secret to peaking the transmit coils.
It can also be done wrong, and then where will you be?

Setting the bias current for the final and driver are done first. Or if the radio uses MOSFETs, then the gate voltages are set on the final and driver.

It then requires a reliable/quality watt meter, a 50 ohm dummy load, knowing which coils to tweak, and a 1khz audio source to feed the microphone for peaking.

After that, turning the AM dead key, modulation, and the ALC controls to the right spots. That part is best done with a scope.

Of course, having the service manual is important to have for the info.

But that only covers ~1/3 of a complete alignment.

It also requires nylon tuning tools for the adjustments; no metal.

 

[9C1Driver]

There you go Banedt, you now have 1/3 of the secret as you put it.

 

[banedt]

I would like to add...i got my Connex Saturn CX-33 today, March 20th, from H&Y. I not only peaked and tuned it, but also converted and added a TopGun MD-1 Modulator an CP-1 voice compressor. This thing is awesome, even before the Top Gun stuff. My wife looks at me like I'm Charlie Brown's Mom when I'm trying to tell her bout it, so thanks for listening. I think this one will stay around for a long time, the radio anyway.....73's.

 

[banedt]

OK....after I installed the MD-1 & CP-1 TopGun suff, I made a few contacts...well...my radio friends here, told me that it sounded choppy at the top, or end of my transmissions. They were not impressed with the TopGun stuff at all. I think the Connex just doesn't need any of it or I just cant install my own...lol. But after removing it all, nothing but Great sounding audio reports. I was about to take my radio out and run over it because it wasn't working the way I thought it should have with the TopGun stuff. I'm sure that the TopGun products work great in other radios, just not for this Connex Saturn CX-33. Just a great talker all by itself.

 

[TonyV225]

The Topgun modulator Ive herd wasntr so hot and people were yanking them out of there Magnum radios because of sound issues. The CP-1 ide like to mess with and try out on a good SSB rig. Where can I find one of these??

 

[sonoma]

you can find them on ebay a lot. I picked up 2 for 12.00 each delivered. same price for a cp1.

the md1 seems to work best on a single final radio such as a galaxy 959 as a addon.they are low on modulation from the factory compared to a dual final export radio. FCC has their fingers in how the radio can sound so they detune them some to meet specs. just my opinion on it so far. at least the 959 and a ranger 696 is what I have tried one in. just boost the modulation a little.

 

[ExitThirteen]

TonyV,

You don't want to mess with a CP-1 in any radio, it's not worth it. Some radios give very little results (like the 959's), and some radios (like the Magnums they are installed in at factory) it makes the audio very muddy/bassy/flat sounding. I bet I've pulled probably 25-30 CP-1's out of radios because people were complaining about the muddy/bassy audio. If you could adjust the compression in the CP-1, it would be more of a worthwhile venture.


~Cheers~

 

[hotrod]

if ya want a audio compressor buy a mic with it built in
h&y and cppers both carry a jcd desk mic with built in audio compressor
bells cb has a mfj with eq and audio compressor
imho threse are much better choices then trying to install something that has
no adjustment

 

[Cpt shakes]

hmmm...guess nobody wants to give out the secret??

Just bought a new connex cx-33 ssb. I need to know how to convert to 11 meter without changing the cristal. I don't need it to go way into the amateur band. I have rigs for that. I want this for cb.

 

[ButtFuzz]

I thought the CX-33 "Saturn" was pretty much 11 meter from the factory. With the highest frequency being 28.305... top band, channel 40.

I also thought the crystal-swap was so that the radio, when in "A1" band would start at the FCC 40 CB band, and then the top band, channel 40 would be "way up" in the 10 meter band.

Have they changed the design of these radios recently?

Take a pic of the innards and post.

Or... are you looking to get it out of 28 MHz 'only' mode?...

see here:

http://www.cbtricks.com/radios/galaxy/dx2517/dx2517_freq_conv.htm

 

[9C1Driver]

I thought the CX-33 "Saturn" was pretty much 11 meter from the factory. With the highest frequency being 28.305... top band, channel 40.

I also thought the crystal-swap was so that the radio, when in "A1" band would start at the FCC 40 CB band, and then the top band, channel 40 would be "way up" in the 10 meter band.

Have they changed the design of these radios recently?

Take a pic of the innards and post.

Or... are you looking to get it out of 28 MHz 'only' mode?...

see here:

http://www.cbtricks.com/radios/galaxy/dx2517/dx2517_freq_conv.htm

This is what he bought I believe. http://www.bellscb.com/products/tenmeter/connex/Connex_CX-33_Saturn.htm

Out of the box and un-touched it's a 10m Export radio. After a conversion it will have 6 bands of 40 channels. The bands are just A through F, there is no number with it. This is a nice review of one from Doug at Custom CB.