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MAGNUM 257 HP Review

I'd agree - I didn't have a stock RCI unfortuneately and the one in the recording is a bit hot on the audio.

As always it's basically impossible to have a perfect test between two radios so you have to take the video with a grain of salt. The one with more power is usually going to sound a bit clearer on a recording the farther away you get just because the recording device can pick it up easier because it's louder. Any of these comparison tests are just to give people a very general idea of how a radio sounds not to say that one radio is better than another since every radio can be tuned differently to sound better or worse.

The Magnum 257 HP is basically the same radio as the previous blue version but with the RFX 75 added. It has a great receiver on it but like the original it definitely picks up more noise in a mobile install than many other radios. If you live or drive in a noisy electrical enviornment I would say look for something with better ANL/NB abilities. The extra wattage definitely makes this a nice stand alone SSB radio if you don't want to run an amp and like the small size.

I've posted a review of this radio on my website.
 
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to cbradiomagazine.com, i PUBLICLY apologize if my posts gave the impression that i was directing my sarcasm or dismay or even disbelief (of the review of the magnum 257HP) with any posted statements at you. nothing could be farther from the truth. actually, i didn't even read YOUR post (which i will have to go back and do), so if there was anything that you posted to make you feel i was directing things towards you, again, accept my apologies. what i have read on your site in the past always appeared fair and honest.
as for the praise heaped upon magnum products by a moderator given the product, THAT is ABSOLUTELY a CONFLICT OF INTEREST. i have disposed of far more magnum radios (and rf limited ar3500's for that matter....and siltronix, and swan and palomar and.....) THAT I PAID FOR then the implied person has ever been given. or quite possibly ever even used. i could certainly heap praise upon each one of them. but NONE is perfect. and i am not afraid to say it, whether i was given the radios or paid for them. there is plenty of room for improvement. as for comparing a 257 to a galaxy....apples to peanuts, if it was an S- series magnum to a galaxy, it's the same radio for all intents and purposes......hmmm, i'd love to hear that one.
you want a REAL USERS review???? no techno mumbo jumbo. just FLAT OUT what the radio did, sounded like, improvements that could be done to it with a soldering iron, improvements that SHOULD be done before going back to the factory, BY A RADIO ENTHUSIAST, SOMEBODY WHO USES IT ALL THE TIME. 3300, 3500, 257 gen 1,2,3, 357, delta gen 1, gen2, omega, omega hp, S9, S9-80, S9-175? new and pre-owned, if i say i've PURCHASED/TRADED for anything LESS THEN 100 total radios, THAT WOULD BE A LIE. i think i am far better a judge to do a review then a one time user.
 
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I appreciate your discussion davegrantsr and I think you're definitely hitting the target that reviews are always going to be biased in some respect by the person doing the review.

Much like you I've spent multiple thousands of dollars on radio equipment over the years (much to my wife's dismay) not because I have money to spare but because part of the enjoyment of the hobby is trying out different equipment. Before I buy my next radio it usually means selling the previous version, many times at a loss. For example I recently bought the Maco V Quad for over $150. I sold it for $95 a month later as I wanted to try some other antennas. Maybe not the smartest investments but I'm addicted to trying new stuff :)

The Magnum 257 HP I reviewed was supplied by Magnum the same way as Robb's was for his review. Every once in a while I do get new radios directly from the manufacturers and part of that agreement is that I reserve the right to write whatever type of review I want based on my expeience with the radio. Now as you mentioned that can create a bias if the goal of the reviewer is only to get a bunch of free stuff.

I think Robbs general review of the radio corresponds for the most part to what I found with the radio. Overall the Magnum 257 has been very popular over the years and I've found the different ones I owned to be very consistent in performance. Of all the Magnum 257's I've owned, they are one of the few radios I never had any type of issue with whatsoever (as far as defects or knobs falling off, displays failing, blown parts, etc).

The radio definitely does have faults which have been brought up here, especially the electrical noise in a mobile install (I believe this has mostly to do with the design of the chassis of the radio (floating vs grounded). I also personally liked the older version with the locked clarifier better for mobile use, but the unlocked clarifier seems to be the current trend. The speech compressor being added to these radios was probably the biggest improvement from one generation to the next. The new addition of the RFX75 basically is giving you on average 25-35 watts more output than the previous versions. It definitely does make a great stand alone SSB rig and I've always loved the frequency stability of these radios as I'm a big SSB'er.

I think the most important thing to note when reading reviews about Magnum radios is that Sam Lewis is exactly the type of person you'd want making radios for our hobby. The first time he suggested I try one of his new radios I told him I reserved the right to say what I wanted and he said "I wouldn't have it any other way". His mindset for getting these radios out there is that he wants people to try his product first hand and he specifically wants unbiased reviews as he believes in his products and I highly respect that.

In my own self critique of my website I often find my reviews of products generally tend to be positive - but I attribute that to the fact that because I'm buying most of the radios myself to review I tend to choose radios I believe to be quality products. If I spend my hard earned money on a radio and I think it's a complete POS believe me - you will definitely hear about it in my review!!
 
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I'll even admit I once bought one of those space saving Saturn B-100 Antennas just to try it out.......I'm not proud of that purchase at all. In fact I think maeybe I should write a review on that POS so no one else loses money on it :)
 
you want a REAL USERS review???? no techno mumbo jumbo. just FLAT OUT what the radio did, sounded like, improvements that could be done to it with a soldering iron, improvements that SHOULD be done before going back to the factory, BY A RADIO ENTHUSIAST, SOMEBODY WHO USES IT ALL THE TIME. 3300, 3500, 257 gen 1,2,3, 357, delta gen 1, gen2, omega, omega hp, S9, S9-80, S9-175? new and pre-owned, if i say i've PURCHASED/TRADED for anything LESS THEN 100 total radios, THAT WOULD BE A LIE. i think i am far better a judge to do a review then a one time user.
Click to expand...

Noone is stopping you from writing a review here. Why don't you take the time to write a review of some of those radios instead of taking the time to complain about someone else's review. Which amount of effort do you think would benefit the radio community more?
 
moleculo said:
Noone is stopping you from writing a review here. Why don't you take the time to write a review of some of those radios instead of taking the time to complain about someone else's review. Which amount of effort do you think would benefit the radio community more?
Click to expand...

pick a radio. or not.
the point about the reviews given is about implied honesty, while the 'not good' portion of the review is downplayed to an extent that implies....sucking up to the donor. or manufacturer.
 
Magnum 257 dislikes?

Actually I think what would help users and manufacturers more would be to hear about what we don't like about the various radios being reviewed.
While I really like the M-257 for the small size, the memories and way they sound on SSB I don't like the way the channels are set up in 40ch blocks. Why can't the whole radio be set up from 25mhz to 29.7 mhz like it is in the 10m band.
Why don't we have a 5khz step?
Why do the digits in step function rotate around instead of tuning on up or down. example..in the 1khz step mode the digit will go from 27.405 to 406/7/8/9 but then go to 27400. Doesn't carry on to 27410 and on up.
As for the RX75. I didn't see anybody mention the heat those things generate.
Mosfets back off as they heat up and these things do heat up. Where is the fan Sam? I don't notice a lot of road noise on mine...Some cars are just plain noisy and need work to eliminate the causes.
Dollar for Dollar I think this is one of the best SSB export radios out there. I have sold a lot of them (None of the RX-75) and I don't think I have had any returned. Just my 2 cents worth!
Dave
 
Robb said:
Reviewers have the right to tell things as they see it. Can't wait to see which radio you pick and review it...
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with regards to the above comment....

mack, i agree with you on the S3. and S6. and alpha force. and M1. and millenium. and....back to the quoted comment....

dd18 absolutely HAS touched upon the tip of the iceberg. TRUST ME, i have had the opportunity to talk with sam lewis. the reasons behind NOT doing some USEFUL changes to the radios was as cryptic as the map to captain kidd's treasure. but, when i have more time, i will expand upon MY thoughts.

as for the quote above.....
 
how about this??

Guess what?
We have a 257 clone that:
steps in 5khz steps
goes from 24.5 to 29.999 in one continuous band
all mode
50w from IRF mosfets
Independent RIT/XIT clarifiers (+/- 600hz)
Incorporates an switcheable additional filter in the IF (Similar to channel guard)
steps on up or down in 1, 10 or 100khz or 1mhz
Has the programmable split
Has a fan

its out there!
 
dd18 said:
Guess what?
We have a 257 clone that:
steps in 5khz steps
goes from 24.5 to 29.999 in one continuous band
all mode
50w from IRF mosfets
Independent RIT/XIT clarifiers (+/- 600hz)
Incorporates an switcheable additional filter in the IF (Similar to channel guard)
steps on up or down in 1, 10 or 100khz or 1mhz
Has the programmable split
Has a fan

its out there!
Click to expand...

Pics? Links?
 
Try this link for the development process. Will have to scroll down. Lots of other stuff as well.

91DD018's Blog - Windows Live

Forgot to mention...this radio does not revert back to 29300 Fm or ch 9 and lose all the memory information when the radio is switched off for more than a couple of days. How many times have I turned on my 257 and been faced with a 09 on the screen and had to remember what to do to get a frequency up there!! No more. All stored in Non volatile eprom till it is changed. I still don't know why the Korean company which makes those radios in the Philipines was not prepared to make some changes over the years to the way they worked.
OK they added a CP1 (nice!) and bluescreen (Hard to read if not right in front) but nothing of any real significance.
 
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