What would be the reaction if Hams used 11m legally using their calls.

[BC Coyote]

no quality radios are being produced for the band anymore.

That's because there is no demand for a legal CB band only radio !
Why settle for 40 channels and 12 watts output when you can have hundreds of channels and 60 watts output from an "export" radio such as the Anytones ?
Especially when the Anytone is cheaper than any FCC approved CB.....

 

[Woody-202]

I am a ham that no longer users 11 meters, I don't hate it I just don't like what it has become especially here in Chivcago. What I do find sad is no quality radios are being produced for the band anymore. I know the Anytime 6666 is a great radio but its not a cb.

The President FCC is a great radio with lotsa features and no modification. The McKinley is pretty good as well, but IMHO the screen on the President FCC is where it really shines when used in the vehicle.

So many models like the Uniden 980SSB and 880 Am version have wonderful colors that look good in the shack, or if possible, mounted in the car where the sun won't hit it, but once it does, the screen goes dark enough where you can barely read it.

About 3 weeks ago a buddy of mine received the non-FCC version (they use the same screens) and it was hard to believe what he said about them, so I took a 20 minute drive...


Here is the screen, more-or-less shaded in the car looking like it should look. We decided to do a harsh test to see how it would be driving during daylight hours. The harsh test? We walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, picked up the radio, and pointed it right at the Sun. This is how it looked.....


Perfectly readable, and something every screen should do. The President FCC isn't cheap (around $265) but worth every penny.

 

[doffo]

The President FCC is a great radio with lotsa features and no modification. The McKinley is pretty good as well, but IMHO the screen on the President FCC is where it really shines when used in the vehicle.

So many models like the Uniden 980SSB and 880 Am version have wonderful colors that look good in the shack, or if possible, mounted in the car where the sun won't hit it, but once it does, the screen goes dark enough where you can barely read it.

About 3 weeks ago a buddy of mine received the non-FCC version (they use the same screens) and it was hard to believe what he said about them, so I took a 20 minute drive...

View attachment 68323
Here is the screen, more-or-less shaded in the car looking like it should look. We decided to do a harsh test to see how it would be driving during daylight hours. The harsh test? We walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, picked up the radio, and pointed it right at the Sun. This is how it looked.....

View attachment 68324
Perfectly readable, and something every screen should do. The President FCC isn't cheap (around $265) but worth every penny.

Do those radios suffer the ALC overload like the old President Jackson radios? I think it was mentioned the Lincoln II+ had the ALC issue when stronger stations come in, it sounds raspy/crackled.

 

[BC Coyote]

The Lincoln 2 has several issues... My friend has a new one and it suffers the ALC issue and also has an issue where when you key the mic it sometimes shifts up a channel instead of keying the radio......

 

[w9cll]

The George not a legal CB

 

[AudioShockwav]

The New George FCC model is legit in the US.

73
Jeff

 

[w9cll]

That's because there is no demand for a legal CB band only radio !
Why settle for 40 channels and 12 watts output when you can have hundreds of channels and 60 watts output from an "export" radio such as the Anytones ?
Especially when the Anytone is cheaper.

Honesty I would never buy any of the "exports", most are of poor quality (even the aforementioned Anytone). Get a ham rig, it will run circles around most if not all exports unless its the big over driven am sound someone wants and for them just get a 29.

 

[BC Coyote]

W9Cll, I have both an Anytone 5555N2 and a Kenwood TS-140S. There is VERY little difference between them on both receive and transmit. On the transmit side people tell me they sound almost identical on FM and SSB and the Anytone is far better on AM. On receive the Kenwood has slightly better filters, but the Anytone has much quieter receive, especially with the DSP on. The thing I miss most on the Anytone is the lack of a proper tuning knob. Having to go click click click 5KHz at a time gets old quick.

The bigger difference is in build quality. It's not that the Anytone is built particularly poorly...in fact it's quite rugged for a modern radio, but the Kenwood is built like a tank ! You could drop on the floor and I'm certain it would still work just fine. Not sure I'd want to drop the Anytone.....

I wouldn't be able to pick a favorite; they are both excellent radios in my opinion.

 

[doffo]

W9Cll, I have both an Anytone 5555N2 and a Kenwood TS-140S. There is VERY little difference between them on both receive and transmit. On the transmit side people tell me they sound almost identical on FM and SSB and the Anytone is far better on AM. On receive the Kenwood has slightly better filters, but the Anytone has much quieter receive, especially with the DSP on. The thing I miss most on the Anytone is the lack of a proper tuning knob. Having to go click click click 5KHz at a time gets old quick.

The bigger difference is in build quality. It's not that the Anytone is built particularly poorly...in fact it's quite rugged for a modern radio, but the Kenwood is built like a tank ! You could drop on the floor and I'm certain it would still work just fine. Not sure I'd want to drop the Anytone.....

I wouldn't be able to pick a favorite; they are both excellent radios in my opinion.

Most ham radios struggle to have any decent quality on AM. The one radio for sure that was good on AM is the Yaesu FT-101EE.

Otherwise, you need to at least change stuff or mod the ham radio so AM can sound ok. I think there was some changes you can do to an Icom 718 to sound ok on AM. But for the most part, most will use SSB to make those long distance contacts.

 

[w9cll]

The Anytone and KW 140 would be close, the 140 is entry-level gear. I will agree on the build quality though. The 140 is 30+ years old I am guessing and I don't believe the Anytone will work for 30 years.

 

[w9cll]

Most ham radios struggle to have any decent quality on AM. The one radio for sure that was good on AM is the Yaesu FT-101EE.

Otherwise, you need to at least change stuff or mod the ham radio so AM can sound ok. I think there was some changes you can do to an Icom 718 to sound ok on AM. But for the most part, most will use SSB to make those long distance contacts.

Am has become an afterthought on the ham bands, at least below 160 anyway. I have an old Gates broadcast transmitter that someday I will get set up on 160. Outside of that, I have no use for AM

 

[BC Coyote]

The 140 is 30+ years old I am guessing and I don't believe the Anytone will work for 30 years.

Yes, my 140S was built in 1995 so almost 30 years old now... And it is still in top notch condition. It's just as good as the day it left the Kenwood factory. I did an alignment on it two years ago and just replaced the relay switching board recently...
I would be dumbfounded if my Anytones are still working in ten years. The rotary channel switch does NOT feel very rugged and both of mine are already doing that thing where it periodically skips a frequency.
They are however, very much equals based on performance.

 

[AudioShockwav]

I think a better encoder should be used I don't like the feel of mine.
They need to fix the firmware that overwrites the channel memory when used in frequency mode.
CW mode that worked properly would be a bonus.
A micro fan on the heat sink, ah, that's asking to much......
They are mobiles, they don't drift around like some of the other offerings, are relatively inexpensive, do 10-12 in a small package, built in overvoltage protection, SWR, programmable.
They have lots of useful features for a mobile.
It's apples to oranges to compare them to multi band base stations.

73
Jeff

 

[doffo]

Am has become an afterthought on the ham bands, at least below 160 anyway. I have an old Gates broadcast transmitter that someday I will get set up on 160. Outside of that, I have no use for AM

100%. I am for sure one who will use SSB on the Ham Radio bands. Never cared for AM.

K7OTA waiving at ya!

 

[Florida Starduster]

I don't like what happened to CB when the craze hit. It went down hill fast.
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