Magnum 257hp Garbage

[TheMooche]

Hang in there!

GUY'S GUY'S GUY'S!!!!

HANG IN THERE!

I had the same troubles as well with the new batch of 257HP's but there are fixes that you can do to take care of all of these issues and they turn into little power houses after you do the fixes. The factory seemed to make some errors but Sam Lewis has every intention of ensuring that everyone is happy. Chris Holland, their engineer gave me some excellent tips on how to stop the poor grounding issues for the RFX-75 and stray RF which is causing these issues. I'll post them up later on tonight Australian time as I have to head back into work.

In the mean time, make sure your antenna is well tuned, have a good ground and better off to have nothing in be-tween the radio and the antenna.

Run one of these in my car with incredible results.

I'll be back later

 

[Tucker442]

Talked to Chris Holland today he started to tell me about adding or changing resistors for the bios for the finals. Then to add insult to injury the seller is now fighting me on Ebay for a refund because I took it to my radio guy last night to look it over. My radio guy who is a licensed tech and ham operator, said the same thing that Chris Holland said, my guy said he has seen this happen in a lot of them .

 

[Mudfoot]

Sounds like they (Magnum) should be the ones to fix it.

 

[Se7en]

Just a little off topic IMHO, Chris Holland worked on my old s45hp which was mint, when it came back from repair free (warranty) the knobs were all messed up the pots were bent, case all scratched. It wasn't worth the hassle because I just ended up selling it.
Not trying to be a dick but, any of my ham rigs repaired by hams has never came back like it was in a tornado.
The magnum s45hp is a really nice radio.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

 

[Tucker442]

Vanilla SKY I had somewhat the same thing happen to me with a Delta Force. It was packed well just that some postal ass must have thrown or dropped it en route. From what I understand Chris in Ontairo Calif is Sam Lewis go to guy now a days. He does have other warranty repair shops around the US but the 257 needs to be re engineered and Chris knows how. I have other shops do wonderful warranty Magnum work, Mountain View Electronics in Tennessee, is great but this 257 issue was a problem in production which Chris figured out how to fix in a short turn around time. He told me yesterday 2 to 3 weeks and it would be back to me.

M42 Duster your correct it is an issue that should have been addressed right from the start. Sams warranty policy is to send in the paperwork within 15 days after you recieve the radio. No paperwork no warranty, cut and dry policy. This radio has the original paperwork in the box so the warranty was never sent it. It has been to a shop for repair so the serial number is registered and the warranty also is no transferable. So I'm beat if Ebay does not side with me.
I've got almost 1100 positive feedbacks so I won't sell a beat radio on Ebay unless I list it as parts not working and then I won't get anywhere near my money back.

 

[TheMooche]

Solutions

Hey everyone, i'm back.

Now before I start, please don't criticise my soldering work. I don't get to do it as often as I like, but often enough to do a little work here and there and it works fine in this case.

Chris Holland informed me that he detected some RF leakage from the RFX 75, the following mod fixes this and it involves using 2 ceramic capacitors rated at .01uf

You solder them at the following points shown in the photo below around where the driver and finals would have been in the old version:

Another angle:

Yet another:

Set yourself a challenge and try to do a neater job that me lol

Second thing I like to do is change over the screws that bolt the RFX-75 to the radio. I do not know why the factory would have used coated screws, but they all seem to be coated in black paint in this version. Change them to zinc or nickel plated screws and do not use stainless steel:

A bit closer:

The final thing you want to do is change over a grounding screw in the RFX-75. They all seem to be a stainless steel screw which is not good for conductivity. The was a service note released on this not so long ago.

Here is the link to the article: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...XJEO6J&sig=AHIEtbTD-Y7C5RGrnbD7D7iodikqY9tPaw

I've done the above mods to 10x 257HP's from the latest batch, after I did this, all audio problems were solved. The raspyness was gone all together. I use one in my car tuned to 85 watts pep (no I don't talk for too long) and get amazing reports from all over the country. I am going to install some cooling fans on the back of mine to keep her nice and cool.

If you guys try the above, im 99 per cent certain this will take care of everything.

From what I can understand, this does not appear to be Sam Lewis's fault. He appears to be a very genuine guy who cares about our hobby, and I think those factories are trying to cut corners and fall back on quality control. As CB radio magazine said in another thread on here, I think Magnum might have something in the works to win us all back, we'll wait and see.

But I am happy with my 257HP and looking forward to making many more contacts from the car on it.

This radio sounded like s%$^ before I did all of this. After, loud and proud with big audio.

USE 3MM SCREWS

73 to all and hope I have been of some use.

 

[TheMooche]

Hmm even close up photos can not turn out right. Looking at photo one, it looks like that the capacitor on the right hand side has the pin closest to the back of the radio, over one pin to the right, they should be directly opposite one another.

Looks like that to my naked eye, but the photo didn't quite turn out like that. Grr! Just to clarify, you want to solder onto the 2 pins that are closest to one another on the back of the radio. So the leg of each capacitor should be right next to one another right at the very back of the radio. You can see where the pin next to it has fresh solder on it. That's the one you want and not where it looks like that pin is going slightly in-between with one pin to the right.

 

[melaza]

Hi, for what I can see Quality Control at those factories isn't the best. Look at the solder side (secondary side), no one at the factory can set the right way the WAVE SOLDER settings and (primary side) those cables look very bad.

Why RF Limited can produce this radios in the states, I'm gonna pay more, but the quality is far superior. If they keep producing in the far east, at least be sure your customers get the best quality for their money. Look at Uniden their new models are Chinesse made and the only complaint I could hear is the BEEP sound of the radio, no quality issues and those other things. Simply, defective batch, send it back and ask for fresh production.

 

[Whiplash-265]

Whip-Lash mine talks too but the locals said the audio sounds like crap. I talked all over on it also but when someone you talk to all the time tells you the audio is horrible it just ticks me off

I guess i'm one of the lucky ones 442...local and long, am or ssb i always get good reports. Not resounding roses like on my ham rigs but i've never heard a negative...and the locals would definitely tell me, they're like that

hope all you guys get things worked out, but the first one reaches for my horseshoe or four-leaf clover is gonna get it

 

[Tucker442]

WhipLash if I bought this radio cheap I can be ok with it not being right, I paid over 160 then the seller kicked my ass for 25 dollars Shipping USPS medium box so he got over on that too. So I spent close to 200 and get a shit radio I am just pissed. Now the guy is fighting me on Ebay for a partial refund. Go figure

 

[Mudfoot]

Not pouring salt in a wound.... But,

I would possibly question the claim also. I wouldn't want a buyer to have a tech look at a radio I sold unless I agreed in writing first. If I knew the tech personally, then I wouldn't mind him rooting around. If he found the problem, I would offer to pay him to fix it for the buyer. If not, I'd rather the buyer leave it be and return for refund.

Kinda sounds like the seller was hoping you were a dedicated AM'er.

 

[Tucker442]

M42 Duster with over 1000 positive feedbacks on Ebay I feel I can look at a radio to see why it does not work correct. I have a associates degree in electronics but this new SMT shit is not for me I just can't see it. My local radio guy is a licensed tech and a ham guy so he is not an asshole. he told me that that radio is a problem and has been since the first batch hit the US. Why should I have to pay to fix it when I bought it as a working perfect radio for well over 160 dollars then the seller beat me up for 25 dollars shipping and he sent it in a USPS Flat Rate 12 dollar box

 

[Mudfoot]

Did you know the shipping cost up front before you bid or bought it? I agree, shipping was a tad high. With your eBay experience, I'm sure your aware that flat rate costs don't include insurance and stuff.

Like I said, if I PERSONALLY knew the tech or your background in electronics I would likely tell you to diagnosis/repair the radio. I would reimburse you or your tech if you decided to fix and keep. Just to many people out there that finger stuff up then want refund or return. I didn't say anything about you having to pay for it.

I don't have 1000 feedback's, but I do have 535. I can also predict you losing the case if you mentioned that another tech or yourself opened the case without the sellers blessing, especially if this was discussed thru eBay messaging.

I'm not arguing with you, just letting you know how I'd handle it. I sold a perfectly working DSP speaker on eBay, I got a phone call from the dude saying it wouldn't work. I told him to ship it back for a refund, plus I would pay to ship it back. This seemed to please him and he then said that he would have a HAM friend look at it. I politely told him that I would prefer he didn't.

Later that evening he emailed me that his friend couldn't find the fault and still wanted the refund. I told him no, it was now his. Call me a prick, but the guy didn't listen. In his response he stated that he has never lost an PayPal claim. That lame attempt at extortion cost him his claim.

If the radio had a tamper seal would you remove it and still ask for a refund. I realize the HAM world encourages tinkering, unfortunately, most eBay sellers don't.

 

[Tucker442]

Well I took it to my regular go to radio guy. He backed up right away when he saw the gate voltage adjustment all the way up,thats the bios rf gain, he was like yea look at this no wonder why it sounds shitty, then he went on the internet and looked at what could be wrong, told me that the Radio Shop in Ontairo Calif is the place to send this radio and just quit messing with it

 

[dirtyjob]

no issues

This is an old thread, I just bought a 257hp blue readout model that has the rfx75 from the factory, this radio is great, I have zero issues with it and would gladly buy 20 more.

btw i sold my omegaforce and replaced it with the 257hp, the 257hp sounds and puts out every bit as good as the s45hp but is'nt made cheaply like the omega force's are. I had nothing but problems with the omegaforce from the day i took it out of the box. stay away from them and do yourself a favor.