For mobile I just like old school Grant XL or LTs with a Wilson 1000. They have good receive and usually won't get stolen like an expensive export will. I do like to take my Magnum 257HP on road trips though.
Ranger 3900 eghp is a stable radio if u are thinking of 3900. I have heard bad drift in Ss3900 unfortunetly.
ANY export that is not CPU controlled will drift on SSB. That means any 3900 series radio old or new will drift. Sorry, thats the way it is.
Wow last year when the DX was smoken we heard some Peter Beaters...... er I mean meter beaters talking some skip. Time for a new name in DX land dude. Sorry but just giving you the local opinion. We did have a good laugh though.
Where do you plan on buying the radio?
other question the superstar 3900 and the ss3900hp is same radio? wicth is better?
i have always preferred a radio/amp combo, so if for some reason the amp dies you can still run the radio barefoot but i may sell my 2970 i run as a base for that N2
I hear this argument all the time, but TBH I've had more problems with radios than amplifiers. I've only owned 2 mobile amps, but I never had a problem with either of them. Radios on the other hand, I've had channel selectors act up, cold solder joints to cause problems, mics to cause problems etc etc.
Anyway, I pulled the last amplifier I had in my truck along with all the extra coax and power wires associated with it and replaced it and the radio with an N2 and couldn't be happier.
It's all in the tune. Meter watchers will have problems with radios like the N2, but run properly there shouldn't be any issues ......... I haven't experience any problems yet anyway.plus with the type of radios your talking about i doubt very much an internal high power pa creating lots of heat is ideal in radios that are known to be temperature sensitive to drifting. i may be wrong, rci may have installed the godfathers patented nitrogen cooling system in their latest lot of N2's.
It's all in the tune. Meter watchers will have problems with radios like the N2, but run properly there shouldn't be any issues ......... I haven't experience any problems yet anyway.
only problem i have with it and any radio that looks like it is i'm pissed off hearing "are you a taxi mate?" its the ugliest radio series ever made.
I agree 100%. I have run a "Golden Goose", i.e.: a General Grant for almost three years now, with zero problems. It's stock except for the freq. expansion, and I run it into a 1.1:1 VSWR. I don't abuse it. Also, I use it in the base. I'm going to be purchasing two more "Big Radios": the Ranger 69FFC2, and the S9-175. I don't anticipate any problems with those either. They will both be used in the base too. The thing that blows up mobiles is voltage spikes and bad voltage regulation, bad VSWR, and mostly, over-peaking and cranking the power up. I find virtually all "peak-and-tune" to be worthless, unless its a proper factory tune-up. Every radio I have run, I have run stock (freq. expansion excluded). They have never croaked on me.It's all in the tune. Meter watchers will have problems with radios like the N2, but run properly there shouldn't be any issues ......... I haven't experience any problems yet anyway.