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Magnum OmegaForce S-45 HP Review
- Thread starter Robb
- Start date
Set up repeater offset to -100khz and kicked the 29.640mhz FM repeater on. Of course - there was no one using it - but it worked well enough to check. SWR didn't permit me to try it - as it was 2.5!
Con 1 and con 2 positions on the small board that allows for band usage worked the repeater offset just fine. I was initially under the impression that it only worked on con 1...
After reading all of this, here's my take without seeing the radio in person: It's a visually nice looking 10m/11m radio. I'm skeptical about the RX capabilities, although I did read their specs on the manual sheet. To be convinced, I would want to run it side by side with my Uniden Grant LT that has a GaASFET front end put in. If it could compare to that, I would be very impressed as it relates to CB gear.
Big watt numbers don't impress me much, and I'm even less enamored by the ability to reach full power at 2 watt carrier, because this isn't that difficult to accomplish with mosfets. I also hate the way it sounds when people do this. I realize some like it because it's damn loud, but it sounds too trashy to me.
I don't quite get what Magnum is trying to accomplish with these radios, unless it is just sell more radios to truckers. I mean, they package it as a "10 Meter Mobile Amateur Transceiver" and then put "40 watts of Swing from any Carrier" right below that. "Swing" is a dead give-away that you're marketing this to the CB band, not 10 meters. They give you the whole 10 meter band to work with, but make a lot of it useless. Sure 10m SSB is a lot of fun, but so is working repeaters half way across the country. It's too bad you can't work most of them because there's no CTCSS tone capability. Why don't they lose some of the unnecessary features like "TURBO Digital Echo" and put in a CTCSS board instead? If someone wants echo, they can just as easily use an echo mic. If they thought about this a little differently, they would probably sell a lot more radios to people that are willing to buy a real 10 meter radio that also happens to be able to work well on the 11m. I'm not saying that this will make the FCC any happier, but people that can actually use 10 meters won't buy this radio.
Big watt numbers don't impress me much, and I'm even less enamored by the ability to reach full power at 2 watt carrier, because this isn't that difficult to accomplish with mosfets. I also hate the way it sounds when people do this. I realize some like it because it's damn loud, but it sounds too trashy to me.
I don't quite get what Magnum is trying to accomplish with these radios, unless it is just sell more radios to truckers. I mean, they package it as a "10 Meter Mobile Amateur Transceiver" and then put "40 watts of Swing from any Carrier" right below that. "Swing" is a dead give-away that you're marketing this to the CB band, not 10 meters. They give you the whole 10 meter band to work with, but make a lot of it useless. Sure 10m SSB is a lot of fun, but so is working repeaters half way across the country. It's too bad you can't work most of them because there's no CTCSS tone capability. Why don't they lose some of the unnecessary features like "TURBO Digital Echo" and put in a CTCSS board instead? If someone wants echo, they can just as easily use an echo mic. If they thought about this a little differently, they would probably sell a lot more radios to people that are willing to buy a real 10 meter radio that also happens to be able to work well on the 11m. I'm not saying that this will make the FCC any happier, but people that can actually use 10 meters won't buy this radio.
If they did away with these features they would also be losing sales to another importer.Personally I'd like to see Magnum/RF Limited update the AR series.
A gallium arsenide field effect transistor ("GaAsFET") for a radio that is only 10 and 11 meters?
Specs say that it is used for UHF and above.
How does that work?
I'm no tech; can someone explain please?
Specs say that it is used for UHF and above.
How does that work?
I'm no tech; can someone explain please?
They can be used for a very large amount of frequency ranges-
special frequency GaAsFET preamplifiers
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci214515,00.html
special frequency GaAsFET preamplifiers
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci214515,00.html
YouTube - magnum s45 omegaforce szczecin
YouTube shows two different European users on these videos with the OF. This is the first vidio I looked at before I bought my first OF. Apparently popular as a base station in Europe as well. One can also see at the bottom of the LCD screen the meter movement when receiving and transmitting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zQ_ENdCbec
YouTube shows two different European users on these videos with the OF. This is the first vidio I looked at before I bought my first OF. Apparently popular as a base station in Europe as well. One can also see at the bottom of the LCD screen the meter movement when receiving and transmitting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zQ_ENdCbec
Not all repeaters require a pl tone.
I did kerchunk the 29.640mhz FM repeater in my area with a -100khz offset.
Contrary to popular belief, the requirement of a PL tone to access a repeater does NOT mean it is closed. A PL is frequently used to preclude interference in high RF environments and lessen what is called kerchunking (unnecessary keying of the repeater). Some repeaters may also generate a PL tone on the repeater output so that repeater users who are equipped with a radio capable of decoding PL will not hear other interference sources on the channel that would otherwise open the squelch on the user's radio.
If a pl tone board is required to access certain repeaters; then one will need to be added. It is relatively cheap item to buy and put in. I have no need at this point to add it to this radio. Maybe in a future thread, I will make it a project and do a write-up over the procedure/installation...
I did kerchunk the 29.640mhz FM repeater in my area with a -100khz offset.
Contrary to popular belief, the requirement of a PL tone to access a repeater does NOT mean it is closed. A PL is frequently used to preclude interference in high RF environments and lessen what is called kerchunking (unnecessary keying of the repeater). Some repeaters may also generate a PL tone on the repeater output so that repeater users who are equipped with a radio capable of decoding PL will not hear other interference sources on the channel that would otherwise open the squelch on the user's radio.
If a pl tone board is required to access certain repeaters; then one will need to be added. It is relatively cheap item to buy and put in. I have no need at this point to add it to this radio. Maybe in a future thread, I will make it a project and do a write-up over the procedure/installation...
That's one thing I like about the HR2600. Comes from the factory with a tone board installed. We have 10m repeaters back here that require a tone. I did add the external tone box to my RCI-5054dx. The same can be added to the 2950/70 with the same installment. They use the same board.
No ctcss, 3 decimal digits in freq display (not even a counter), no separate clarifier for rx/tx tune makes this radio perfect 10m TRX :laugh:
Fancy echo is most important during DX QSO on 10m.
MIke
Sounds like it would surprise you if I didn't use talkback, echo, and roger beep on 10 meters.
Be surprised then...
I like to laugh too!
:laugh::laugh::laugh: