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Magnum Alpha - Omega - Delta Force ??

Wire Weasel

Wire Weasel

Senior Moment
Dec 13, 2008
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Hey guys,

Yeah I know I'm dull and slow and all but help me out here,

I just don't much see the difference in these things. What's the differences between them?

Thanks!!
 

The Alpha was AM FM CW only, the Delta Force added SSB. The Omega was the replacement to the Delta, there were several versions or up-dates made to the Omega Force like quieter receive. The last version even had the Top Gun, mosfets, and a blue display. The Alpha and Delta never had the Top Gun but are exellent talkers.

I think the 2002 model Delta and first run Omega Force radio's will stay popular. They ran the dual 1969 finals and I think sound better then some of these new mosfet radio's on SSB.
 
I have the blue-face OmegaForce with three ERF2030 MOSFETS. I use it all of the time as my base radio of choice. I feel it was the best choice for a radio - and I have not been disappointed by it.

I did have to adjust the meter, but that is about it for inside the radio. The stock condenser/power mic is xlnt when I turned up all of the way - inside the mic itself. The RF Limited echo inside is really one of the best - if not the best - that I have ever heard. The talk back works ok - too sensitive and feeds back if not watched with a D104 - but with the stock power mic it is CLEAN and can be turned up quite a ways.

I had my brother talk on the radio today when I was out in my mobile - so I could hear how it sounds from various points in the valley. The D104/TUP9 has a distinctive 'clink' and the modulation with the 'Top Gun' modulator was sounding huge. With a little echo behind it, it was clean, strong, and has very loud audio. Far more than I expected when I bought it. Can't say anything about the Alpha or DeltaForce radios; no one around my pond has one. No one has an OmegaForce either.

The SSB is pretty stable and clear. Not as great sounding as my Ranger AR-3500 - but decent/stable. The FM works very well; but how often do you use it? They advertize this radio as having a 1-watt dead key and will swing up to 45 watts. Mine won't. But it will dead key at four watts and swing well past 50 watts. It gets out, and talking skip -barefoot- with this radio has gotten great reports from Ottawa, Hawaii, NM, Miss, Wash, Ore, and AZ within the last two weeks.
Conditions have been good to us over the last few weeks in the S Bay Area of CA.

I've been wondering if I could change out the ERF2030's with IRF520N's if they should fail. Hmmm...
 
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Thanks for all the great info guys. With everything the current Omega S45 (mosfets & blue display) will do, it seems to be one of the better rigs around in its class at the moment {moments subject to change by the moment} So I've decide to swing that way. Must have a second rig with these capabilities. I'm sick of watching similar used radios build up to $20 less than a new one on ebay (we all know that story), have a new one being shipped out today. Will post a review after check out. Will probably use it on the base and put the Galaxy 94HP back out in the truck. Will just have to deal with the side mic being in the way :cursing: Life could be worse :thumbup:

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i have both a delta force and omega force.i love both of them
my delta has been updated and only difference is my omega has mosfets
and slightly higher output.another good magnum is the 257 for about 200
bucks dollar for dollar its the best deal going
 
Magnum 257..

... I just love that radio. I've owned one pretty much since they were made. I recently purchased one in "Big Pimpin' Blue" with the mosfets. It works fine, and is the perfect size for my mobile setup.

Personally, I find it hard to pay Big Money for any type of glorified CB radio. At about $180 delivered, though, the 257 is dang hard to beat. Tune-up and expansion to allow transmit on 11 meters takes about 5 minutes, lid-on to lid off, and the only other thing I've had to do is bump the AMC up a tad.

Good Stuff.
 
King Mudduck said:
Would not have any of them because of the noisy receive!

Power is not everything.
Click to expand...

I must have missed the power discussion. There's no radio I know that is a true "powerhouse", in the full legal limit sense of the word.

As far at the "noisy receive"? That to me is like saying I'd never own a Ford because my friend says they suck or because you had ONE lemon in a bushel full of Cherries. I never say never.

Indeed, the receive is/was perhaps not quite up to par when compared to one of my uniden built 148s, but It's not so far off that I refuse to use the radio. I had a relatively expensive Yaesu, too... and the receive on it wasn't "that great", either.

Again, I repeat

"The Magnum 257 is hard to beat at about $180 delivered".

I stand by that.
 
I will say this, the first generation Alpha, Delta, and 257 (yellow display) were on the noisy side. With each new version R F Limited made improvements. The Maverick was alittle better then the Alpha, and the new S-3 is much better yet. Same goes for the improvement to the Omega, the first yellow display versions were noisy but the last run with mosfets and blue display was bad to the bone. As is the S-6 and S-9. The last S-9 I had was much quieter then any of my Delta's.
 
Omegaforce is the bomb, I love mine. I own a delta but it is NIB so I have never talked on it. I have the mosfets in my Omegaforce but would love one with 2sc1969 finals someday. excellent choice by magnum
 
a local has a deltaforce i might go look at . so the way to check for white noise is just connect power and turn it on without an antenna and turn the volume up ? im interested since it seems if the white noise isnt a issue that they seem to get great comments about their recieve .
i found some info on it on the www .
Magnum DeltaForce CB-
what should i look for to tell if its a later/better version ? .
if the lable on the back is intact is there a year made or later that i should focus on or avoid ?
any different color or such in the display to give an idea of the version ?
seems there is a yellow , green and blue version .
magnum deltaforce pic - Google Image Search

what would be a fair price for one in typical fair to good physical condition that works well electrically ?
is the echo on these as good as the echo in my 2018 xtreme mic ?
 
Hey BM,

Loving my OF S45 since I first learned to set the variable talkback & mic properly for my station parameters.

The digital turbo echo is amazing and awesome on the Magnums. Easy to vary the pitch & repeat effects while keyed down. Not so easy to do on a hand mic while taking.

Gotta remember to read that manual on those new radios!!! At first I also didn't think it would do repeater offsets for the 10M repeaters....but it does.

Impressive value & features for the money

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