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Galaxy DX 959

ncskipboy90

Member
Feb 1, 2009
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Decided to go with the 959 over the Grant xl. At $109 I can get a refurbished one from Copper Ele. and have a 2 year warranty for the price I can get a used grant. For me a warranty sells.
Anyone who has/has had this radio I would like to hear your input and what improvements are worth the money? First thing I am going to get it aligned by the local CB shack at a TA truck stop. How hard would it be to convert to have the blue LEDs? Thanks a head and im sure I will come up with more answers.
Cheers

EDIT: Also I am going to use this as a base CB. I plan on hooking it to and amp and my a99 antenna. However I have never used an amp and don't want to hurt the radio. Anyone got a good link to info on using one without damaging the radio? I am using a radio crap power supply. Is this sufficient or should I find something better?
 
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LESCOMM has a plug in board that will give 120 channels.

Upgrade the voltage regulator, and the audio transistor. This will give better stability on SSB.

I would not do any power mods to this chassis as a good peak and tweak will give great results.

Good rigs, the clarifier will not "slide" to much after modded.

Sensitive receive good transmit. $109 with 2 yr warranty, good buy.
 
Decided to go with the 959 over the Grant xl. At $109 I can get a refurbished one from Copper Ele. and have a 2 year warranty for the price I can get a used grant. For me a warranty sells.
Anyone who has/has had this radio I would like to hear your input and what improvements are worth the money? First thing I am going to get it aligned by the local CB shack at a TA truck stop. How hard would it be to convert to have the blue LEDs? Thanks a head and im sure I will come up with more answers.
Cheers

EDIT: Also I am going to use this as a base CB. I plan on hooking it to and amp and my a99 antenna. However I have never used an amp and don't want to hurt the radio. Anyone got a good link to info on using one without damaging the radio? I am using a radio crap power supply. Is this sufficient or should I find something better?


You decided to go with a Galaxy 959 over a Grant XL? You should have done some research first.
 
No he shouldn't have----

(Probably already did!) He made a good decision for him! Same decision I made to buy my refurbished 949 for less than $100. All new radio + warranty.
 
i've got the old 148 a grant xl and a 959..I don't even use the 959 anymore..to much drift for me on ssb..it makes a great paper wait
if you got it from copper =guarenteed to be off freq
 
The drifting is the only thing people can find bad to say about it. This can easily be corrected with a proper alignment and tune. If not there is also other mods that can fix the problem.
 
The drifting is the only thing people can find bad to say about it. This can easily be corrected with a proper alignment and tune. If not there is also other mods that can fix the problem.

Not sure that's true. I had a DX-949 aligned and tuned and it was still a "drift-o-matic". The 949 is casual CB'er radio because it has a lot of buttons and switches, roger beep and a big meter. It's also a good choice for people with "MOD fever".

Even the newer Cobra 148 GTL is a much better choice and rock solid on SSB. I have two 148's and neither drift on SSB at all and sound every bit as good as a DX-949.

Where do they get all these refurbished DX-949 and 959's anyway????
 
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don't mean to ruffle feathers but if you buy the radio from copper save the money and don't let them tune it for you..have your own tech do it ..every radi that they tune is just a crank up the power and crank up the audio thats it....... ...they don't do anything else..plenty of guys up my way bought radios from them over the years and thats all it is ..if you use it as a base just leave it on and it will warm up and slow the drifting down..after a while if you do a lot of ssb that drifting gets to be a pain..I do 99% of my talking on ssb
 
The drifting is the only thing people can find bad to say about it. This can easily be corrected with a proper alignment and tune. If not there is also other mods that can fix the problem.

There is nothing that can fix that problem that I am aware of. Not as yet anyway. Wish there was.

Even if one were to replace the reference crystal and the 1st and 2nd oscillator crystals with high quality crystals; they will still drift. The reason I discovered through research is due to the fact that the oscillator coils are too broad-banded and will change their inductance depending on temperature. If these coils cannot be stable due to temp; it is not the fault of the coil. It is due to the fact that the broad-band nature of the range they will tune that is an integral part of the engineered circuit. What they should/could have done is narrowed up that range up a bit. But they didn't. So, you and I must both use these radio knowing that temp is a factor to be reckoned with. Yes; I use a Galaxy DX-99V in my mobile in sunny, warm California and am aware of their problems only too well. But I still use it.

A proper alignment is done with this radio after the radio tech has it on the bench and left on for 30 minutes before he begins the alignment to the radio. It takes that long before it becomes stable. Usual cost for a full alignment is anywhere from $35-$45.

*At that point, he will start with adjusting the VCO voltage and 10.400mHz reference crystal.

*He will also peak the VCO frequency and check it on a o-scope to be sure that it is symmetrical and equal in height on ch 1 & 40.

*Then the adjustment of the first oscillators.

*Then the output oscillators.

*Then the tx transmit circuit coils after he adjusts the bias voltages for the driver and final output transistors.

*After that, he will adjust the AM modulation for ~100% and then the ALC (~16 watts PEP) for SSB mode.

*Then he will set the wattage for low dead key and high dead key watts (4 watts dead key and 16 watts PEP/AM).

*At this point, he will align the receive circuit for AM and SSB.

*Your meter gets adjusted last, so that it corresponds to SSB, AM, and receive for both TX and RX modes.

There are a couple more adjustments than what I mentioned (squelch, SSB balance, noise blanketer, freq counter, etc); but that is the pretty much what is involved with a true full alignment. A 'peak and tune' involves just the TX coils, the modulation, and the ALC - plus re-adjusting the meter. That's all. A 'peak and tune' is by no means a complete alignment.

It has been my personal experience that every Galaxy radio I've ever checked was in dire need of a full alignment. They will work quite well after that; so long as the radio has a chance to warm up for 30 minutes in a warm room before you use it.

Truth: I bought a new TR-696FD-1 from Sparky's CB a couple of years ago with a 'peak and tune'. When I got my own alignment tools a year later and checked the alignment of that radio, it was waaay out. Works just fine after the alignment ('4040'/Scott told me it sounded loud and very clean/clear on air). A 'full alignment' and a 'peak and tune' are two different animals. Now you know.

If this Galaxy 959 radio is operated in a cold room or car; forget about it.
Drifts like a boat . . .
 
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I think you have made TWO bad choices there. First buying the radio from Crapper electronics, and second a used Grant xl is 3x the radio a Galaxy 959 could ever even hope to be.

You said a warranty was very important yet you are going to buy the radio from a place THAT HAS THE WORST EVER REP ON WARRANTY'S. Remember, Copper stands behind nothing, they help you by giving you the 1-800 service number for Galaxy and then YOUR ON YOUR OWN. Gee.....thanks.

If you must buy a Galaxy 959 here are two places that sell the refurbs and they do quality tech work.

FACTORY REFURBISHED FULL 2 YEAR WARRANY The DX-959 is one of the most popular CB Radios on the market today!! It is backed by Galaxy's incredable 2 year warranty. The DX-959 has features normally found on high end Export Radios. 5 Digit Frequ

Site Disclaimer - Custom CB radios


Sparky includes a free peak and tune, and Doug at Custom cb can do anything you want and make a 959 scream.
 
The drifting is the only thing people can find bad to say about it. This can easily be corrected with a proper alignment and tune. If not there is also other mods that can fix the problem.


Think again, that is not true. Very good reply Robb.
 
I have and had a few 949's and 959's and I'm sure a few people reading this will remember all the issues I had with them from a carrier on SSB to drifting. I still have one of the 949's that was bought as a refurb. and I can't bring myself to sell it......Because I would feel bad about passing off the problem to someone else. I also have 2 959's that are both refurbs. 1 I took as a trade and the other was given to me by a family member who upgraded their rig in the truck. Both drift more than a sailboat with no anchor. I am planning to trade all three to my tech for something in the future. After research and the opinions of my fellow WWDX friends I got a Magnum 257HP and will never look back! If I was buying new it would be a 257hp or RCI 2950 or 2970. Used would be the Grant or HR2510.
 
As usual someone makes a bad purchase and posts here so someone can justify the buy. Good luck with the 959 on SSB. You'll get tired of people telling you you're off frequency.
 

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