Loud Radio Wanted, What do I need?

[2at124]

loud radio

the 25 is a loud radio no doubt lie i said i love my midland the oly gripe i have with it is the meter is too generous is thier a vr to turn the meter back???

 

[Roger Dodger]

that midland is among the worst radios ever produced. its good if you live in the country, i tried one about 8 months ago to see if they were any better and there still garbage.

waist your money carefully

That radio has been yapped about over and over here. The Rx is fine for the most part and prolly better than the Magnum's. That report is somewhat over-critical. Yes the S meter could be improved, but there are plenty of analog meters that are too tight or inherently innacurate via poor electro-mechanical design. Mine does 2w dk swinging to 28w on AM alone. With a Wilson 500, I have no problems getting reliable 10mi coverage when mobile. Toss aside the stock mic. for a good noise cancelling one. The chassis is reasonably broadbanded to handle the extra freqs. and the digital display follows as well. Construction is quite nice and the entire rear panel is a cast heat sink. No PA function, no talkback, and the NB/ANL are not user switchable ... those are the only downsides I see in this good performer. You might want to call www.alfenterprises.com/ for a price. I got mine for $140, but that was a couple of years ago.

 

[Moleculo]

Fry's electronics still has the 79-290's for about $99 as of a month ago...

 

[sk8man]

Fry's electronics still has the 79-290's for about $99 as of a month ago...

Wow, that seems like a really good price for that radio. On outpost.com, Fry's website, they list it at $219. I'll have to contact the local Fry's and see what's up.

 

[NorthStar]

Wow I wish there was a Fry's here that is a great price for that radio.

 

[2at124]

loud radio

I paid 150 fo rmy 79-290 includin p&t by dustin at r&r communication in delaware i hit my wife 's Davemade m-80 (blackbox version) great with a wilsion 1000 and a d-104m6b it screams I have lookin around the net i havent found anything about a vr to turn the meter back everyone in my area give me 30db ??? oh well the search contiues

 

[sk8man]

Well, I have sent RR Communications two emails so far asking the price of the Midland and haven't heard back from them yet. :?

 

[2at124]

79-290

It 150 includin chanellconversion and p&t and probaly $15 shipin
thier # 1-302-475-1351 open sat 9am-3pm m,w,th,fr 10am-5:30pm

 

[Switch Kit]

those Midland 79-290 are cool little spy radios (-: Ham bands with a push of a button , they got a pretty darn good look to them as well , 99.99 .....for a AM/SSB ......even if they ain't the best in the world ....they still work. Sounds like RD's is swing'in up a storm !!
cbworldinformer.com/cb_world_961201.htm

 

[Roger Dodger]

Re: loud radio

I have lookin around the net i havent found anything about a vr to turn the meter back everyone in my area give me 30db ??? oh well the search contiues

There is a VR in there for the S meter as well as for Tx side of it, but I can't remember which one it is exactly. Justin might better know which pot is which. Besides, turning it down just for the sake of local 30db signals will de-accurize it for the weaker ones. There's also a IF xformer to better tune for the WX band on your antenna setup, that way the coarse/fine tune controls will center nicely and allow for max. reception. I have the exact VRs documented in my file of papers, but since my recent move, things are sort of not in order yet and they are packed away somewhere! If I find those documents, I'll be sure to post any corrections here... otherwise I could be talkin' out of my arse! Please don't hold me to this (and you might want to index mark a VR before twiddling it), but off the top of my head I "think" the following VRs may be:

red circle: tx & rx trimpots
yellow circle: WX I.F. xformer
magenta circle: modulation trimpot
orange circle: rf bias trimpots

 

[cbshack]

I would stay away from FG Best. I have had a radio done there and I was not impressed. Frank, Justin, and a morning tech did the receiver enhancements and my adjacent channel rejection went down. If you don't believe me call Ray at Galaxy. I was also promised the changed out parts which were never sent and a roadmap which I never received. Maybe Justin and Frank can get more power out of a radio but I would pass on their receive enhancements. Sorry guys I call it as I see it.

The Midland 290 is ok but the receive is not so good. If you live or drive in a very busy area you will not be happy. I would invest in a 257 or a preowned Uniden pc-122 or cobra 146.

Good luck and try not to shop the lowest price, you will be sorry later when you need customer service.

 

[King Mudduck]

Just because the price is low does not mean that the service or the work will be also!There are a few shops out there that are more honest than others.Some of the golden hammers i have been to like charging $300.00 and up for an 3300hp that they paid less than $190.00 for and the p/t for the same radio for $50.00 to $75.00 when its so easy a monkey could do it..Or $70.00 for a connex board that cost them less than $20.00 and the 1969 final swap that most charge $50.00 and up for when the final cost less than $10.00.I could go on and on but i think most of you know what i mean!As far as best com goes,they have done more than a few radios for me and unless things have changed their work has always been top shelf.Just remember thats its not all about how much power someone can get from any given radio,if that radio sounds like total shat then whats the point!

 

[Moleculo]

The Midland 290 is ok but the receive is not so good. If you live or drive in a very busy area you will not be happy. I would invest in a 257

OK, now...I have used both radios extensively in my jeep, and I live in the L.A. area. I had the 257 for almost 2 years in there, and then I swapped it out try a 79-290, which I've had for about 6 months in there. The 257 is probably the worst receiving radio in a mobile I've EVER owned. The IF gain is jacked up so much you can discern audio from noise 1/2 the time. Oh yeah, and the noise floor on the 257 is just plain stupid. Just because you crank up all the stages of the RX in a radio doesn't make it better; it has to be able to discern actual TX audio from noise and adjacent channels. In my own personal experience, the 79-290 is more useful for RX selectivity. Granted, it doesn't hold up to 2510's or Grant LT's, but noone ever said it did.

I don't know what you paid to have done to the Galaxy at F.G., but "asking Ray" at Galaxy doesn't prove anything. The folks at Ranger (RCI, Galaxy, etc....all the same company) have been shown repeatedly the simple flaws in their radios' design and don't care because they sell. If you just paid to just have the "RX turned up" then it could make adjacent image rejection worse. If you paid to have a MOSFet or GaASFet front end mod (if your radio could support it), you would have noticed some real difference.

Moleculo

 

[Switch Kit]

I guess nows about the time I should be hearing ..send it back and will make it right famous last lines ? Which is all good (-: Yeap ...for the most part you get what you pay for(some times but unfortunately ,not all the time) and that ole saying of ....you can please some of the people some of the time but you just can't please all the people all the time. Inhance this and inhance that ....so be it !! Whatever happened to leaving well enough alone in the first place ?(a basic tune up or tune down?) You would think radio designers were retards ? There not !!(some are just better then others,oh yeah ,that would mean both radio designers and radios alike) and I would bet to say that they make a whole hell of a lot more then your local radio tech's down at your nearest T.A.s or truck stops. But then again ,nobodies perfect either ,it's that damned bashing part of the deal that tends to leave a sour taste in ones mouth or brain.(mine anyway) As I said earlier in this thread ,PC-122/Cobra 146 .....but again I say ,opinions are like a$$holes ........for the most part,we all have one,and like radios,some are just better then others.I'd be lying if I said didn't have a few lagitement bashes for some around the corner radio tech over the years but all it did was cause trouble ,hate and discontent ,I suppose at the time ,my sick little mind feed on it . Inhance that !!......wow !! I can honestly feel my older ways creep'in in ....I better pull the plug on this one while the getting is good. Peace

 

[bcrewcaptain]

I would stay away from FG Best. I have had a radio done there and I was not impressed. Frank, Justin, and a morning tech did the receiver enhancements and my adjacent channel rejection went down. If you don't believe me call Ray at Galaxy. I was also promised the changed out parts which were never sent and a roadmap which I never received. Maybe Justin and Frank can get more power out of a radio but I would pass on their receive enhancements. Sorry guys I call it as I see it.

The Midland 290 is ok but the receive is not so good. If you live or drive in a very busy area you will not be happy. I would invest in a 257 or a preowned Uniden pc-122 or cobra 146.

Good luck and try not to shop the lowest price, you will be sorry later when you need customer service.

cbshack-sounds like fg is not on your fav list, since this is not the 1st post that you have stated unhappiness with them. I have had several radios done my fg/justin that have been great, VERY LOUD, and rock solid on freq.
The work they do on making a 25/29 scream is nothing short of amazing for such a basic radio.
I have also had exports done by Justin as well and have another coming.
If you are aware of a shop/tech that has better cust service skills, component replacement, alignment skills let me know....
If somebody calls me on a sunday afternoon to ask exactly what I need done and spends 20 minutes discussing it...thats the kinda tech I want.
Granted not EVERY radio is going to end up perfect....

You start out with a turd, it doesnt matter how many coats of wax you put on it to shine it and make it pretty ...its still a turd.


lighten up, be postive, and like Rodney King said as he was cashing his check"Can't we all just get along?"