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Radio repair

D

dbc2065

Member
May 31, 2022
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Hi,
I'm new my name is David Cruz been in trucking for 25 years stop driving right around ELD came in effect might have to get back in a truck again hopefully not. So recently purchased a used rci 6900 F150 this radio is like new condition for it's age which bring me to my question after watching YouTube seems like a lot of bashing cb repair shops against each other who do you guys use? back in my day there was steel rod in Remington, Indiana don't believe he's around anymore. So I like Mikes video's the best he explains his work seems to have integrity also he doesn't bash and my hometown is Westchester, Pa now living in Fargo, ND but used to run his area for Frames out of Westchester before my dad passed. So reach out with Mike he did respond back and willing to check my radio pretty sure I'm making a good choice with him?
 

Yeah Mike has did many of mine through the years! I've talked with him on the phone numerious times. He's got my radios on his Youtube channel, as in several.

I can easily recommend him, Retro
 
dbc2065 said:
Hi,
I'm new my name is David Cruz been in trucking for 25 years stop driving right around ELD came in effect might have to get back in a truck again hopefully not. So recently purchased a used rci 6900 F150 this radio is like new condition for it's age which bring me to my question after watching YouTube seems like a lot of bashing cb repair shops against each other who do you guys use? back in my day there was steel rod in Remington, Indiana don't believe he's around anymore. So I like Mikes video's the best he explains his work seems to have integrity also he doesn't bash and my hometown is Westchester, Pa now living in Fargo, ND but used to run his area for Frames out of Westchester before my dad passed. So reach out with Mike he did respond back and willing to check my radio pretty sure I'm making a good choice with him?
Click to expand...
Are you talking about Mike's radio repair?
If so, I thought he'd gone awol.
 
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undertaker said:
DMans on this forum…
Click to expand...
Retro CB Guy said:
Yeah Mike has did many of mine through the years! I've talked with him on the phone numerious times. He's got my radios on his Youtube channel, as in several.

I can easily recommend him, Retro
Click to expand...
thankyou I'm going to ship in morning to him he has email me a work order sheet to fill out. Simply want him to check radio and amp section then we can go from there what needed or not. Have a good feeling about him I'm not a huge cb talker just want to know what going on head of me if I'm force to drive again. ranger being my radio of choice I'm old school 57 year old man
 
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Good old Steel Rod's, that was a great place. If you don't have any luck with Mikes you might try Custom CB Radio's in southern Indiana. You might also call Bob's CB in PA and see if they do walk in repairs.
 
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wjm1129 said:
Custom CB Radios is in Brazil In. He also has s website
Click to expand...
Just a word to the wise! President Radio had me send my President McKinley radio to this shop for warranty repairs. ( Shipping My Cost ) The tech made it better than it was but it still is not right and it sets in my radio room waiting for me to take it to another shop to have it straightened out proper. I'm not dealing with President Radio or Custom CB Radios anymore so I don't stress myself out with some verbal tongue lashing which I am fully capable of delivering. This country is full of Blow Hards tooting their horns
 
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What particular problems are you having with the radio? I wouldn’t ship any radio out without first operating it on your base or personal vehicle. If you’re thinking about shipping, the "general checkup" option is too risky IMO. You should be able to do an on-air check yourself. As you know, most performance problems result with an improper antenna, not the radio. Lastly, before you leave home, think about packing a backup radio and antenna. I always invest in plan B.
 
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sunbulls said:
What particular problems are you having with the radio?
Click to expand...
You might say it had a haphazard quickie alignment done to it. When I recieved it brand new 12 Oclock should be center of the clarifier but you had to turn the coarse adjustment to 4-5 Oclock to understand Everybody. After the tech got done with it you have to turn the coarse adjustment to 11 Oclock to understand Everyone. I've tried it over and over again in the vehicle and as a base and can't get a answer on Sideband. When you key the mike it reads 27.3853 on my freq. counter while all my other radios read 27.3850 If I mess with it anymore it will be with a BFH. Center of the clarifier might be faint but it is there if you pay attention and don't just try to crank it out the door. The service manual Say Place the Clarifier ON Center for the alignment procedure. In my eyes you shouldn't have to slide off center for everybody. I can understand some being off freq. but not everybody. I'm not going to ship it to anybody, I'm going to hand carry it in so I can check it before they ship it out. If I was a younger man with longer to go I would learn alignment but the investment in equipment isn't worth the money at my age. I should have done that years ago.
 
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A proper alignment typically involves turning the radio on and letting it sit for an hour before making the adjustment (and that often goes for the frequency counter used for the alignment too). Most CB radios are drifty, especially when used in a vehicle with significant daily temperature changes... Either they forgot to let it warm up before aligning it, or you forgot to let it warm up before talking on it.

My first question to you would be: Is your truck cab 120°F? or 30°F when you are trying to talk to people? The galaxy 979 in my truck has this issue, but if I pick a quiet channel and key down for a minute on AM, then go back to sideband, it is typically very close to where it should be and stays there. These radios don't have temperature compensated oscillators so letting the components thermally stabilize is important.

And if you are planning to use it in the summer where dashboards can scramble an egg, aligning it in an air-conditioned shack is probably going to lead to problems. I unlocked my clarifier for this very reason, so my transmit was where my receive sounds good if I needed to adjust it on a hot or cold day. If the other guys tx and rx are apart from one another, ill let them clarify me in!
 
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brandon7861 said:
A proper alignment typically involves turning the radio on and letting it sit for an hour before making the adjustment (and that often goes for the frequency counter used for the alignment too). Most CB radios are drifty, especially when used in a vehicle with significant daily temperature changes... Either they forgot to let it warm up before aligning it, or you forgot to let it warm up before talking on it.

My first question to you would be: Is your truck cab 120°F? or 30°F when you are trying to talk to people? The galaxy 979 in my truck has this issue, but if I pick a quiet channel and key down for a minute on AM, then go back to sideband, it is typically very close to where it should be and stays there. These radios don't have temperature compensated oscillators so letting the components thermally stabilize is important.

And if you are planning to use it in the summer where dashboards can scramble an egg, aligning it in an air-conditioned shack is probably going to lead to problems. I unlocked my clarifier for this very reason, so my transmit was where my receive sounds good if I needed to adjust it on a hot or cold day. If the other guys tx and rx are apart from one another, ill let them clarify me in!
Click to expand...
Yes, I wholly agree! Having a locked clarifier will exacerbate the problem. It was a shame the FCC started to lock them. Old school 23ch SSB radios were unlocked and it should have stayed that way IMO.
 
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