grant xl vs new radio

[2RT307]

Or... keep the Grant (GREAT rig, btw), keep studying for your Tech/General ticket, and save the money for an HF rig when you pass!

73,
Brett

 

[Tallman]

My favorite radio currently is the RCI2970N. If you really just want a new radio this would be the way to go. It comes decked out and a power microphone is a waste of money. It has a power mike built in. I sold one recently and the new owner told me he wished he had listened to me earlier and just bought the RCI. The radios he chose were inferior and now he is one happy puppy. No linear needed, plenty of power to make DX contacts.

 

[mrgumby]

if you want to get rid of that grant i'll trade you for a cobra 29

 

[brash]

The grant is one heck of a ssb radio, they work well. A good 2 transistor amp that uses toshiba 2879's would work well with That radio, set the dead key on am to about 2-3 watts and on ssb there should be no issues with overdriving. As far as new radios go I love my optima mk3 with the icom hm-36 mic and my magnaforce 350hd. It works great and the optima mk3 works well with the amp. Get great reports barefoot and with the amp on, and with the filter you can virtually eliminate most noise. This is just my experience. If you want a new radio, there are a few that are out but all seem to have their good and bad sides. I will say for the money, the optima mk3 is one heck of a value for the price. The radio is built well and works great with the icom mic. Cost less than 300 for radio and mic. Not bad for a radio that will do 50 watts ssb and is rock solid on ssb as well. JMO. God bless.

which amps would that be

 

[brash]

would a shooting star 225 plus work?

 

[43Echo695]

Is Galaxy quality control aware of all the talk about their SSB drift?

They might sell more SSB radios if they did something about it.

I'm starting to think that SSB is a gimmick on Galaxy radios, instead
Galaxy is really aimed at the AM crowd.

In the meantime, for SSB stability I'll stick with Ranger.

73's

 

[222DBFL]

A Dave made 2 pill, or similar works well with the optima mk3, a TNT 350hd with toshiba transistors, not DEI, would work too. If you want to add a small amp to the grant xl, the kl203 by rm Italy isn't bad. Keep the pep wattage to around 12 watts and on am set the dead key carrier to 1.5 watts with an 10-12 watt pep, add a small fan to the amp and it should work well. Or go the other route like tallman stated and get an rci2970N2. I have never used the rci297n2 personally but I know tallman and he is a straight shooter! I know the 2950 and the 2970 are both a popular ssb radio and I hear a lot of guys that talk on them. It's all how the radio gets tuned and aligned IMO, sure there will be some radios that will be better than others, but a good tech will usually go over the whole radio and check for loose parts, cold solder joints and so on. And with a proper tune and align the radio should work well and not get hot. Also remember, having a 500 dollar radio isn't going to mean squat unless you have a good antenna system behind it. Radios aside, if you don't have a good antenna system, work on that first then get a new radio. If you already have a good antenna system then great, adding a good radio with some power will help when the conditions are right. JMO have a great one and god bless.

 

[2RT307]

would a shooting star 225 plus work?

IIRC, the Shooting Star is a class C amp, which doesn't sound so great on SSB. I also seem to remember there is a cheap and easy way to add biasing to them to make them A/B. Do a search here on the forum for the schematic.

The little KL203 or KL203P are great to combo up with the Grant. RM Italy says they are A/B biased amps, and I've had good reports on the same setup.

73,
Brett

 

[Tallman]

Is Galaxy quality control aware of all the talk about their SSB drift?

They know about the drift problem. Every time I have to take the covers off of a Galaxy radio I call and talk to their customer service technician.
He knows because I always ask if Galaxy has come up with a fix yet and all I hear is crickets chirping in the back round.
Galaxy is saving some money by using cheaper parts. If a manufacturer can save five cents per unit they will do it and hope it all works out.
I have spent my entire career working in the Industrial/Military fields and every one is always looking for ways to reduce cost.
I'll stick with ICOM, RANGER and just about anybody else.

 

[Mr Clean]

Keep the grant and get a cobra 29 if your on AM all the time. Switch out one for the other from time to time. Just set the 29 to run clean and mean. If wanting to run a amp have a variable dk added. 0 to 4 watts dk. 16 watts pep out the 29 is all you need.

 

[space cowboy]

pick up a Galaxy DX-939 for in the truck. move the grant into your personal vehicle or house to play with the sideband.
the galaxy will give you a nicer meter, more power, the freq counter you want, and some good AM audio.
moving the grant out of the truck will help you preserve a classic top performer. there's frequency maps that are easy to find for your extra channels.
these days though, extra freqs aren't what they were. it's not hard to find an unoccupied channel these days.