You are correct, I forgot about the Galaxy radios, so that includes the 40 channel base station if they still are making that.
As far as I know cobra still makes the latest flavor of 148 unless they have stopped recently.
73
Jeff
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Better than average SSB radio
- Thread starter Elliott Hart
- Start date
As far as I know cobra still makes the latest flavor of 148 unless they have stopped recently.
73
Jeff
Here's the first post of the thread. He did say "GOOD".
Although the Galaxy flavors do the job, I wouldn't say they do it good..... They do it but have inherent weaknesses.
As for the Cobra 148, it's been gone for a few years now.
Greg T
WDX-945 (Jazz Singer) Upper Peninsula of Michigan
I've used an awful lot of radios since 1964, and back in the day my go-to was always Midland or Uniden. In recent times, I have used Galaxy, Uniden, Superstar, Yaesu, and Stryker. Now, we'll take the Yaesu out of the equation because it's not truly affordable and probably has more bells and whistles than people actually want.
So, firstly, my Galaxies all drifted so bad that people were tired of chasing me. Yes, they talked well and sounded fine. but what good is a rig that sounds great on the wrong frequency? My Superstar was a great talking and loud radio. again... off frequency on every other key. Uniden, yada yada off frequency yada yada. I guess this means the only radio I've had that was dead nuts on freq, talks to beat hell, and NEVER drifts is my Stryker. Actually, my Stryker(s), since I own two. From what I hear, the Anytones and Strykers are very close siblings. From my experience, if you want a radio that OTHER people think is great, I would choose one of them. Either Quad 5, Quad 6, or Stryker 955.
So, firstly, my Galaxies all drifted so bad that people were tired of chasing me. Yes, they talked well and sounded fine. but what good is a rig that sounds great on the wrong frequency? My Superstar was a great talking and loud radio. again... off frequency on every other key. Uniden, yada yada off frequency yada yada. I guess this means the only radio I've had that was dead nuts on freq, talks to beat hell, and NEVER drifts is my Stryker. Actually, my Stryker(s), since I own two. From what I hear, the Anytones and Strykers are very close siblings. From my experience, if you want a radio that OTHER people think is great, I would choose one of them. Either Quad 5, Quad 6, or Stryker 955.
My main radio, which you see in my picture is an old Uniden PC122. It is about 30 years old. My number 2 radio, which is also in the picture is a Cherokee AH 100 AM/SSB walkie talkie. It is about 20 years old. The other radio I use a lot for a base is a 1981 production Realistic TRC 490. I also have a 1992 production Cobra 148 GTL that is still alive and kicking. The Uniden Bearcat 980 I had most recently lasted for about 6 months.
From my experience, my advice would echo what others have said. Get your hands on a good, well-cared-for older unit.
From my experience, my advice would echo what others have said. Get your hands on a good, well-cared-for older unit.
Another thumbs Up for Stryker SR955. Stryker in highly regarded, in magazine reviews, for it's receiver side; except by those with other opinions. The 955 has SSB.
Cobra 2000GTL. I've talked Australia to UK on SSB, from C. Alabama, with this radio and a 5/8 monopole at 1/4 wave height.
I read elsewhere, DXLand SSB was open yesterday Italy to California.
Cobra 2000GTL. I've talked Australia to UK on SSB, from C. Alabama, with this radio and a 5/8 monopole at 1/4 wave height.
I read elsewhere, DXLand SSB was open yesterday Italy to California.
I believe the Galaxy DX 979 is no longer produced but there might be a DX 979F produced. I could be wrong but believe I read that some where. I have 2 DX 979 and am satisfied with them but in the cold Northern climate they will drift somewhat until they warm up but usually in Winter DX isn't rolling that much and can't wait to get in where it is warm anyway. LOL
I think it all depends what you want to do with your new set up.
Talk local or talk skip? The band today is a different beast to what it used to be. A lot more man made noise and a lot less operators. The legal 12 watts doesn't seem to go as far as it used to back in the 70's. You are going to need to put your beam back up! As regards power the authorities don't seem to be too concerned about running a few hundred watts as long as you stay in band and don't broadcast the fact too much. If you listen on 38 LSB nearly everybody freely admits to running whatever radio and power they have at their disposal. Seems to be the new normal.
The McKinley is a nice radio but the 12w will hold you back a bit and 12w is about all you can really get out of them on SSB. Run a little 100w RM KL203 after it and you will feel the joy once more for sure.
Talk local or talk skip? The band today is a different beast to what it used to be. A lot more man made noise and a lot less operators. The legal 12 watts doesn't seem to go as far as it used to back in the 70's. You are going to need to put your beam back up! As regards power the authorities don't seem to be too concerned about running a few hundred watts as long as you stay in band and don't broadcast the fact too much. If you listen on 38 LSB nearly everybody freely admits to running whatever radio and power they have at their disposal. Seems to be the new normal.
The McKinley is a nice radio but the 12w will hold you back a bit and 12w is about all you can really get out of them on SSB. Run a little 100w RM KL203 after it and you will feel the joy once more for sure.
Been running a 959B for a little over a year now with the ONLY complaint being after sitting in the truck on a hot summer day the receive is extremally muffled until the AC cools her off. But it wasn't really an out of the box rig. Bought it off of eBay from cbradiospronto and it had been " PERFORMANCE TUNED + RECEIVE ENHANCED + FREQUENCY ALIGNED". Nothing but compliments on SSB and AM, have even been called a liar when I told them what I was talking on. So IMHO the 959B is one of the better AM rigs out there in a fair price range.
No Dave, They are good. The 200's are crap on SSB.
You probably have enough opinions by now, but as someone who either owns, or has used / worked on most of the rigs mentioned in this thread, I can say that if you want "above average", then the latest Anytone AT-5555N II (V2) or CRT SS 7900V (Turbo) are the ones to get. (FYI, they are not 'approved' for CB use in all Countries. YMMV. I use mine on 12m and 10m ham bands here in Australia, and RX on 11m. It is brilliant, even compared to my Yaesu FTDX10. (My SS 7900V hears everything the FTDX10 does, and to my ears I think the RX actually sounds nicer!)
These rigs perform extremely well and are a huge step forward compared to everything from the previous generation.
73
These rigs perform extremely well and are a huge step forward compared to everything from the previous generation.
73
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Again thanks gentlemen. I really appriciate all of the input. The President Mckinley seems right up my alley. Again this is just to get my feet wet. And I do not want to piss off my neightbors. I just want a good sounding radio that does not drift and needs no modifications to use on 11m and is 100% legal. Seeing the FCC rep and the US marshals show up on your door step at 5:30 am is no fun at all. Trust me.
Greg T
WDX-945 (Jazz Singer) Upper Peninsula of Michigan
This has been a myth for decades. The FCC has thrown in the towel over 27mhz because they know it's fighting a losing battle. The ONLY time you MAY hear from the FCC is IF you are interfering and hindering emergency or military communications. Any and all other "neighbor complaints" are handled by local law enforcement as nuisance calls. IF someone were to complain, the sheriff MAY talk to you. Every few years this ghostly FCC fear goes around the CB community. Trust me, you'll never see a black suv, or the infamous "white van" sporting an antenna farm cruising your neighborhood.