148 vs Export Radio - Why?

[Ace_King_21]

9C1

Nice radio collection! I see you enjoy the large bandwidth and microprocessor control.

Do you use your radios for AM mostly or SSB? How do you find the export performance vs your Madison?

 

[DXman]

Well..I use to have two of the 148's (philippines made) with the "expo kits" for 23 yrs and then once I got into the exports, the 148's went down the road and I never looked back.

So now for the last 16 yrs it's been the RCI's for me and I have stayed with the 2950's & 2970dx models only. Right now I am using a 6 yr old 2970dx doing 100 watts and it cost me only $250. I have been talking to many many stations around the world with it and it has served me well.

Also, with this radio and my beam I don't need to run an amp..........

Just my 3 cents.

 

[Turbo T]

Ace, my "guess" on why so many like the exports are because of a few reasons...

1. Extra channels
2. Echo
3. Roger beep
4. Power

Most of these are not available on FCC certified CB's. I believe some Galaxy certified CB's have roger beep built in.

Sure you can "add" any of the above to any CB. In some cases, some prefer the radio already had them in.

In the situation of having to add said options, if you do not know how to install or can't do it due to being OTR, then you have to hire a tech to do the work.

And that opens a new issue...finding a tech that knows what he's doing. Not the one with a golden screwdriver, a pair of diagonal cutters, some electrical tape and CB tricks open on his browser, as his only tools.

Now...yes many of the newer exports are not well built. The Ranger line of radios (Connex, Galaxy, RCI) come to mind. The older ones I believe were ok. The newer ones have solder joint issues.

 

[Tallman]

Ace, my "guess" on why so many like the exports are because of a few reasons...

1. Extra channels
2. Echo
3. Roger beep
4. Power
Now...yes many of the newer exports are not well built. The Ranger line of radios (Connex, Galaxy, RCI) come to mind. The older ones I believe were ok. The newer ones have solder joint issues.

The items two and three are almost never used by serious radio enthusiast. Even truckers get po'd if the hear a roger beep. It's an annoyance. Some what like being around some one who keeps asking, " You know what I mean?"
Before I ever transmitted on ham radio I contacted one local ham and asked him about all of the radio settings. He told me First turn off the roger beep and if it has echo turn that off before you even key the mike. After listening for several hours I did not hear even one roger beep or echo on the air.
I guess it is a way to tell everybody you spent some bucks on your radio when you use those features.

Quality over solder issues are easy to fix with training and a little education.

 

[Onelasttime]

First you have to find a 148 or Uniden Grant XL that is in good shape. Lets assume you find a gem that has not been butchered and is not tired adn beat up guess what it will cost you? It could end up costing just a little less than a new Export radio. If it is worth owning than it is from mid 1990's so it is 20 or more years old. A lot of caps are going to be getting weak and dry so noise and a lot of depending on use and where it lived the audio ic, voltage regulator and final might be getting weak. A lot of the switches and control pots are going to be getting lose and worn out. The meter might be yellow and stuck. Not to mention scratches to the bezel and case.

Then you have things like free-banders they would have to buy a Lesscom kit and have it installed.

So you have $140-$240 for a really cosmetically clean 1990's SSB CB radio that is used. Let us say $75-$150 to have it re-caped inspected and properly aligned. Then you decide you want a $182 channel Lesscom board that is prob. about what $175 for the kit and $100 to install it? If they decide they want an amplifier like the RFX150, RM-Stinger etc....that is another $38-$68+installation etc......

So as you can see a lot of people would rather just buy a dual final expert or one with a amplifier already installed and not have to pay to rebuild the radio and then modify it to make it into what they want.

If it where me I would tell them to get RCI-2950DX and then latter on get an external linear amplifer for it. Great receive, SSB stability, more bandwidth than they will ever need good audio on AM and SSB. If the amp is separate should it fail you do not lose the entire radio. If the radio fails you still have the amp. On top of that packaging wise radio's with built in 4 transistor amplifiers are huge the width, length and depth combo poses a real mounting challenge. If you want to use the radio alone you can use it with a fairly small power supply which = cheap! If you have to power a unit with an amp built it that will limit how small and cheap the power supply can be. This is especially true on mosfet high power models. For some reason the 2970N2 even with the RF power turned down as low as it will go they still swing to insane levels with modulation.

I currently own a Uniden Grant XL, Palomar SSB500 and President Lincoln a pair of Realistic SSB radio's and a Hygain remote mount AM radio. I understand the pro's and cons of old radio's. I owned a RCI2950 for about 10 year. I would like to get another one only the modern 2950DX.

The current crop of SSB CB radio's are garbage. They are not very good designs, poorly constructed with almost no quality control. The Uniden Bearcat 980 has to be the worst SSB radio I have seen in my 42 years on this Earth. Uniden should be ashamed to have their name on the box let alone what is inside the box! The Galaxy SSB radio's drift like snow in the Winter wind or a leaf in a stream if you are from the south! SSB is only fun if the radio's involved are fairly stable.

You would never catch me paying someone what they want to install a stinger board or Lescomm kit into a CB radio. Better to just get what you want from the word go in terms of bandwidth. Like wise you would never catch me with a GIANT radio with a 4 transistor amp built in. To limited on mounting and power options and I hate to lose an amp and a radio when just one is broken. It also locks me into using an amplifier that might not suite my needs.

What if all I want or need is a 1 transistor amplifier? If I get an all in one unit I stuck with a 4 transistor amp and I am forced to feed it.

If I was going to spend $500 or more on an HF rig I would get actually amateur gear and get my ticket punched! I almost did that this Winter. You would never catch me spending $799 on a RCI2970N4 with 4 crappy DEI bipolar on board or the $500+ for the 2970N2 with mosfets that where not even designed for RF. Last I checked they where not even true AB biased but I could be wrong on that. I know I have seen more 3rd and 5th order harmonics on them in the past than I like to see but a lot of that was how they had been tuned.

My CB's are completely stock no free-band mod's no swing kits no NPC. As long as they can be repaired I will keep them around and use them. I do think they are better for what I use them for.I am a nostalgic sentimental guy at times and I just like old things! My CB radio's do have great receive and transmit but they are anything but cost effective anytime I need a repair I can not do myself. It is usually a poor way to spend money making them into an export rig piece meal(sp).I am huge on SSB so for me they make a lot of sense since nothing legal currently produced is worth owning right now in the CB SSB market place.

 

[rabbiporkchop]

I am wondering why people like export 10 meter radios so much? I mean the specs for a 148 are as good or better than many of the so called high end export.

any truck stop can add freq's to the 148 and a two pill amp makes it an export.

some how robot voice and echo/echo depth knobs don't really seem like real adjustments.

So my question is why spend 400+ on a radio when a slightly modded 148 will be the same as a
very expensive export?

Maybe because there's only about one or two guys in the country that know how to make amplifiers work properly. It doesn't take any brains to clip a diode in an export radio and have a lot more power.
You're right though the 148th is a good radio on the 11-meter band and you would be hard-pressed to get the same performance out of a 10-meter radio unless you took it to one or two different technicians scattered around the country

 

[BBB]

I vote Uniden Philippines (Philly) made Cobra 148 GTL for collect-ability and a converted Stryker SR 955HPC for functionality. Save up your pennies for the best of both worlds

 

[Onelasttime]

I am kind of a snob when it comes to gear. I love the old double conversion SSB CB radios I do I just think given the cost of things today it is tossing good money at bad money to make them into quasi-10m radio's with built in amp's. The single conversion units where great if they where in a super small package because it let you have a lot of radio in a tight space.

In the Export radio segment I really only like RCI2950DX the old RCI2950 the old HR2510/2600/President Lincoln radio's. For me user interface, durability and features are important. SSB has to be rock solid and sound good. One of these winter's I will likely decide to get licensed since I have been putting it off for about 30 years now. I like to be able to use any radio I buy either as a legitimate 11m radio or as a legitimate Amateur radio.

Price is important as well. Some radio's like the Stryker-995 I think it is for the money it does not offer as much as the 2950DX but it is much more expensive. I have not used one so my take is based only on what I have seen and heard about them. Some radio just have too many double and triple function switches and knobs all over the place to really use while driving down the road.Some have archaic menu driven system to do the most mundane thing again hard to do while driving.

If a company is going to put a USB interface on a radio it should be able to perform all the functions of the radio and more through a Window Graphical User Interface.

Now if Stryker would fold that board up a bit to get size down to DIN or Double Din to fit in cars dashes and give it a face more inline with a Lincoln or RCI2950 and dual VFO's for the price they charge that would be fantastic!

If RCI could do something similar and get the RCI2950DX down to din or double din that would be great. Put in a USB port that will allow it to be hooked into a laptop or desck top and controlled like a really nice high end rig. 10,11,12+6m would be killer.Maybe a much more quite receiver. Remote mountable face plate to allow mounting easily in modern cars and SUV's.

I would love to see smaller built in amplifiers and see them use real brand name bipolars. At the price they are asking for these radios their is no excuse to accept DEI bipolars. If you buy one of these you had better by a matched quad of Toshiba's at the same time since you will need them at some point and they will not be around forever.

In the CB market it would be nice if each OEM would make one rock solid AM and one rock solid SSB radio even if the price was higher instead of so many really poorly designed and made units. Given the mounting limitations in car's and SUV's today a remote face plate as the standard and norm is long over due on every so called mobile radio. having an app for smart phones to allow control of the radio would also be cool even if it needed to have a cable.

It should be easier than ever to make a cheap radio with great AM sound and solid SSB stability with great low noise high sensitivity receive and great audio. IC's and memory have never been cheaper or had a higher build density. I just do not understand given the high prices for a lot of export units and the insane profit margin why they have not progressed much in any in the last 20-30 years. A computer that cost you $500 today would have cost you $5000 or more 10 years ago yet in radio $150-$300 does not buy much more today than it 1990 in many cases you get less when talking about CB radio's. Where is the progress?

 

[w9cll]

A computer that cost you $500 today would have cost you $5000 or more 10 years ago yet in radio $150-$300 does not buy much more today than it 1990 in many cases you get less when talking about CB radio's. Where is the progress?

CB is a dying hobby this is why. Millions of computers are sold every year (more tablets) which promotes advancement. Even in the ham world there are more serious ops on the band then serious CB ops, also hams tend spend more which pushes advancement. The 11 meter world needs to step up, push the mfg's that you demand better equipment. I can't help but think that Uniden, Cobra and who ever is left are very happy to sell the low end models at Walmart and could really care less about the 2 to 3% of the higher end models they sell. It's all a percentage game and the 11 meter ops are paying the price.