has anyone had a radio built by lesters customs?

[222DBFL]

I think there is one for sale here on the forum and he has 2 icom mics, a real hm36 Japan made and a clone icom mic of some type which he said worked well with it. It was tuned by DTB, who is a reputable tech for sure. Just some food for thought.

 

[wheelman918]

I have 2 of them,, the first one I got right from yeticom (who designed the radio) for around $360 shipped from NZ,, something happened and now they come into the states every few months and show up on ebay ,, 1 left on there now for $259 shipped,, the 2nd one of mine was from ebay

yeticom also has a new style mic if you buy from them,, most who use the optiuma mk3 use an icom hm-36(japan) for great sound

if you compare what you paid for a radio ,, then you had channels added, probly had the clarifier unlocked, the optima comes with all the channels/vfo(10m,11m cb, 12m),, clarifier unlocked, am/fm/ssb, built in cooling fan, and very stable

sounds like a great deal too

 

[wheelman918]

I have 2 of them,, the first one I got right from yeticom (who designed the radio) for around $360 shipped from NZ,, something happened and now they come into the states every few months and show up on ebay ,, 1 left on there now for $259 shipped,, the 2nd one of mine was from ebay

yeticom also has a new style mic if you buy from them,, most who use the optiuma mk3 use an icom hm-36(japan) for great sound

if you compare what you paid for a radio ,, then you had channels added, probly had the clarifier unlocked, the optima comes with all the channels/vfo(10m,11m cb, 12m),, clarifier unlocked, am/fm/ssb, built in cooling fan, and very stable

i think ill buy one they look very nice, its going in an offroad truck i hope it has a strong shaking baby syndrome resistance lol

 

[w9cll]

hell im going to get out my entire radio collection im going to make a video for ole "w9" troll there let him watch my hacked 148f convincingly beat a yeasu 101 see what he has to say about that.

wow issues...

I was going to recommend the Optima as one of the few "Newer" 10 meter rigs that are worth anything.

Oh and I really don't care what your 148f can do or how it beat a 101 doing something. People keep buying these crap rigs and send them off for someone to "mod" them to make them work right then complain when they don't. All I said was buy a good radio to start with and go from there. If your an AM guy then buy a CB, if you're a SSB guy then usually a ham rig with "Smoke" just about any CB (or export), as with anything there are exceptions.

 

[222DBFL]

918 I have shaken the crap out of mine in the work van going down gravel and florida washboard sand roads as well. It has held up to countless bumps and hard ones at that and it's still going strong over a year later. I have not regretted the purchase. Now if you plan on much AM use this may not be the radio for you. The optima is not an AM monster. It shines on SSB and doesn't drift. It works on am and I have never been told it sounds bad on am, but it doesn't have the punch on am like say a magnum 257hp would have. But it's a better built radio IMO. I own 3 magnum 257hp's, all 3 are on the shelf currently. I love them, but the optima is a better built radio IMO for mobile type use.

 

[wheelman918]

my lesters video if it lets me

 

[wheelman918]

ok here is the power hookup in my shop truck

 

[camaro1]

wow,, he has a very happy meter! , no way those power wires at the radio connection inside the radio would support 500 watts

 

[wheelman918]

ok huge fail test for the lescomm i videoed it waiting for it to upload on lte i dont know wether to keep it unused in its box for my collection? its already cost me more than the radio just messing with it and bitching about it lol wait till you see the vid, now see my little ratshack power meter? like ron white says " its a kit"(seriously the ratshack meter is spot on had it done wanted its size. Thats a 200$ pelican waterproof gear case that has time capsuled this monster inside of it built in 1993 is gona be unleashed to destroy a radio built by the suposed best after the poopcomm vid loads not the lesomm is 1 driving 2driving 4 mosfets it will die in battle vs a 1 driving 1 driving 2 2879 toshiba rolling oldschool. Who do you think will win?

 

[wheelman918]

ok huge fail test for the lescomm i videoed it waiting for it to upload on lte i dont know wether to keep it unused in its box for my collection? its already cost me more than the radio just messing with it and bitching about it lol wait till you see the vid, now see my little ratshack power meter? like ron white says " its a kit"(seriously the ratshack meter is spot on had it done wanted its size. Thats a 200$ pelican waterproof gear case that has time capsuled this monster inside of it built in 1993 is gona be unleashed to destroy a radio built by the suposed best after the poopcomm vid loads not the lesomm is 1 driving 2driving 4 mosfets it will die in battle vs a 1 driving 1 driving 2 2879 toshiba rolling oldschool. Who do you think will win? View attachment 14770 View attachment 14771

im about to end the mosfet vs transistor argument and leave no question

 

[222DBFL]

Before I did anything 918 I would upgrade the power wire to at least #4awg or #2awg for that long of a run. That #8awg isn't gonna hack it. might be why you arent seeing the correct power, I run #4awg from my batt to my 2 pill, that radio draws more amps than that. I bet your voltage is dropping under load and that is why you aren't seeing the power. Maybe 4ft of #8awg might work, but no way a run from the front of the truck. JMO, upgrade to some heavy gauge power cable and Ditch those connectors for something that will handle the amperage better like Anderson connectors.

 

[wheelman918]

Before I did anything 918 I would upgrade the power wire to at least #4awg or #2awg for that long of a run. That #8awg isn't gonna hack it. might be why you arent seeing the correct power, I run #4awg from my batt to my 2 pill, that radio draws more amps than that. I bet your voltage is dropping under load and that is why you aren't seeing the power. Maybe 4ft of #8awg might work, but no way a run from the front of the truck. JMO, upgrade to some heavy gauge power cable and Ditch those connectors for something that will handle the amperage better like Anderson connectors.[/ ill try that but wait till you see the vid the power output is the least of my concerns the radio is just a turd rolled in sprinkles i mean really im shipping it back he can give me a 667 or my money or let pay pal decide, however i will do the wires like you say and maybe a capacitor, a 6 1/2 feet run of awg 8 is plenty for 50 amps the radios receive is just horrible however his channel board seemed ok i like the way it operates but ive seen better it does have more channels than my cobra if i want to get rosetta stone too lol

 

[wheelman918]

LOL here it is

 

[wheelman918]

it cut it off that sucks it got interesting im ready for a different subject the lescomm dx 959 is a horrible POS the receive is horrible now i gotta pay more shipping to get the turd polished more, or even rolled in glitter sprinkles (could take months)? naw done with all that big linear he has in stock money back or let paypal sort it, i like what you guys enlightened me to that optima i havent even messed with a radio in 15 years so in a weird way im a new guy again lol. I could just keep this radio and just shutup put it back in the box with all the paper work leave the tape on the bezel and ill have one mint in box just for my collection lol

 

[ExitThirteen]

A Galaxy 959 is not a good radio to do these kind of mods to. Poor quality control, drifty SSB and poor receive (white noise).... this kind of stuff makes me glad I run the old CB equipment. But then again, I'm real old school with my thinking, just do a good alignment, put in a few channels (no channel boards, etc), unlock the clarifier, and call it a day. If I need extra power, I just get an external amp. I couldn't ever justify spending $500 for something like this 959 when I can get a good 1980's AM/SSB mobile PLUS an amp for half the money.

W9CLL is right on the money with his suggestion for an Optima MkIII. 40-50W of SSB power, drift free on SSB, good noise blanker circuit, compact size.

Sorry that ya feel you got ripped off, but hopefully you'll see that the new stuff isn't always better!


~Cheers~