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Galaxy 99V mated to an Amp is as good as ...

70cst

70cst

Well-Known Member
Dec 4, 2009
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My 99V is still one of my all time favorite radios. The question I ask is: If I mate my 99 to an external amp (350-450 watt) and all things being equal...would the newer radios be that much better than my 99 with an amp? Would there really be that much difference in receive? Thanks
 

Gallaxy 88 was a good AM radio and there receive was always good so that radio with an amplifier is fine. Although if your a SSB user I suggest getting a better SSB radio 99V had serious oscillator problems on SSB ;)
 
TonyV225 said:
Gallaxy 88 was a good AM radio and there receive was always good so that radio with an amplifier is fine. Although if your a SSB user I suggest getting a better SSB radio 99V had serious oscillator problems on SSB ;)
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Thanks...

My interest would be AM only.
 
Receive quality in a different radio 'X' is a crap shoot. Which radio did you have in mind? Be specific.

Matching the amp to the radio isn't just as simple as plugging in a piece of coax. There are other considerations. For example, is the amp a high-drive amp or a low-drive amp? That is; does the input requirements of the amp able to handle up to ~25 watts peak 'swing' power? A low drive amp would be the wrong choice for the Galaxy 99V. A low-drive amp usually cannot take more than 8 watts peak 'swing' power.

The other consideration is a possible impedance mismatch between the amp and the radio. Example: it the antenna is seeing a SWR of 1.2 with the amp off and a 2.8 SWR with it on; then either the antenna is in a poor location or the amps input impedance is wrong.
 
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Robb said:
Receive quality in a different radio 'X' is a crap shoot. Which radio did you have in mind? Be specific.

Matching the amp to the radio isn't just as simple as plugging in a piece of coax. There are other considerations. For example, is the amp a high-drive amp or a low-drive amp? That is; does the input requirements of the amp able to handle up to ~25 watts peak 'swing' power? A low drive amp would be the wrong choice for the Galaxy 99V. A low-drive amp usually cannot take more than 8 watts peak 'swing' power.

The other consideration is a possible impedance mismatch between the amp and the radio. Example: it the antenna is seeing a SWR of 1.2 with the amp off and a 2.8 SWR with it on; then either the antenna is in a poor location or the amps input impedance is wrong.
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Good question and info...
If I went this route I would send the 99V to a dealer for a full tune up and also purchase an amp so he could match the amp to the radio. I would rather be safe than sorry.
 
Be careful which dealer you choose to match the amp up to the radio. I out of the 160 techs I have been to, only 8 or 9 had a clue what they were doing. Out of those 8 only one understands how phase angle has an effect on class c amps. Class A and class C are 2 different things, and the radio needs to be tuned 2 different ways depending on which type of amp you choose. (Assuming both amps have the same amount of the same transistors.)
 
send it to DTB and get him to align it and get a texas star 500 from him so he can set them up together .
 
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70cst said:
My 99V is still one of my all time favorite radios. The question I ask is: If I mate my 99 to an external amp (350-450 watt) and all things being equal...would the newer radios be that much better than my 99 with an amp? Would there really be that much difference in receive? Thanks
Click to expand...


As an example I would say there is nothing wrong with running a Galaxy 99 but the last version of the Magnum Delta Force radio surpassed it in many ways.

Magnum was the first to come out with the best all mode talkback, combine that with the outstanding echo they have and wow. A Delta Force would do alittle more peak power and I think had just a touch louder AUDIO. Then you add the scan and split features of a processor radio as well as hands down better stability on SSB and it's game over for me.

After the Delta was discontinued the Omegaforce replaced it adding even more features and quieter receive. The Omega as well had several upgrades like Top Guns, blue display, mosfets, and the RFX-75.

To me the Galaxy 88 & 99 were ok but stagnent radio's, I owned several of each. They all drifted bad on SSB and the talkback was only as good as the tech was that adjusted it. Today I would take a Magnum S9 over an 88 or 99 any day if I was in the used market.

In the end run what you like, if you have a sweet old school Galaxy 99 you love and trust then roll with it. I recently just picked up two Deltaforce radio's because they are my all time favorite radio's. Match one up to a quality 2 pill AB amplifier and you have a nice simple great talking setup.
 
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