maxlog M8900

[cbradiomagazine.com]

In more careful examination yesterday I found that the radio was exhibiting a small carrier on SSB that become more pronounced (5w) as I adjusted the band pass TX adjustment.

Then heard a station in Florida and started talking and 3 mins in all of a sudden I began getting terrible feedback/distortion through the speaker during TX. Not sure if the outgoing signal is distorted or if the problem is only through the speaker but it is so loud it basically now makes the radio unusable.

So one month into testing this one hits the shelf. Radio is cool and I had high hopes but with the high heat, noise issues in the mobile, and now this feedback issue, I don't think I got the best in the batch. It's got some neat features and nice receive but I'm not sure I can recommend it.

 

[mechanic]

My question is.... Does your example have separate pass band for receive and transmit or are they adjusted as one?
Mine has the adjustment for both on one setting.

73 mechanic

 

[222DBFL]

5 watts is no small carrier lol. Dang that does suck. Really had hoped this would have been a good radio as the size front to back made it appeal to me for mobile use, but with accounts of bad noise in the mobile I think I will just stick with the optima mk3, darn radio has turned me into a "fanboy" lol. Anyway thanks for the honest reviews from all. It makes my wallet happy not making bad choices! God bless.

 

[w9cll]

Why do you guys keep putting up this crap?

 

[AudioShockwav]

Same reason people put up with Yaekencom radios that fry PA transistors, have screwed up pumping AGC, display failures, overheating,birdies,microphone feedback problems and so forth.
Ever wonder why as soon as a new Yaekencom radio comes out a Yahoo group pops up to start dealing with the problems they have.
So, you can hope that the factory listens to the consumers and starts fixing them in later production runs, from the 300 dollar radios to the $2500.00 radios.
I can show you a never ending list of mods to fix problems with the top 3 radio builders over the years.
Sound familiar?

73
Jeff

 

[Mudfoot]

Not to mention that many problems are never addressed. Kenwood just recently admitted to the ALC spike issue affecting the 590. They now have a fix. You pay the shipping to get it there. They'll fix it and ship it back. Before, they just kept denying the issue even existed.

 

[vkrules]

Yes on mine if you adjust the bpt between 1300 and 5800 you get carrier peaking at about 4000 at 4 watts. 0 to 1300 and 5800 to 7000 all ok. Trouble is factory default is 1800 and the rx is best about 2000. Adjust it to 1200 that fixes it but makes the feature a waste of space on tx, I dont have a problem with the noise blanker , I have heard better but I have heard a lot worse to. In fact I recently purchased a mint Uniden pc-122 still in the box and was running both radios for comparison. The maxlog NB and RX in general was far superior. My mobile is a Holden Commadore (GM) and I have no problems with noise. But I haven't tried several radios in the same car for comparison like CB MAG did.No distortion on tx, I have found if running an extension speaker with the volume well up and the power turned up there is slight rf bleed through on the speaker .You can just hear it and is not a problem even with head phones on.
Funny thing I still like the radio !

 

[vkrules]

Would I buy one again? Yes but wait for the next revision.

 

[mechanic]

Holden Commodore = Chevy Impala SS!! Same car....

And yes I like my Maxlog 8900, I expect it not to perfect, it limitations can be lived with. I have no realities with Yeticomm's other rigs but looking forward to another.... next year when I have money!
To answer a question of the 8900 being the same as the 8800, yes and no, electronically it is closer to the design of the AT6666 and Lincoln II, from what I have been told.
73 mechanic

 

[radiosw]

Ok thanks no rush ...

I looked on utoob and its physically still there (but in a different spot to 8800) but to know the number would be good , I'm gunna order a nte37 soon just to try it anyway btw ..

Ok , a update but since this is all in the 8900 thread i'll leave it all here for the 8800 and last post on the subject .

The radio was really giving me the irrits over the past few weeks and today it really played up so I lifted the lid again and took another look and guess what , its not a 2sb688 but a TIP36 and up to 125w 25amp , and guess what this morning I ordered a NTE37 LOL .

The 2sb688 was on a schematic I came across (br9000) , the TIP36 is just a mje2955 but in plastic to3 .

The symptoms on this one is no tx rf out , then its back , then out again etcetera but lately its been out more than in , at first it was the 12v rail wire link with ferrite bead on the mb (a crook solder joint and wire not going all the way through) to the tip36 but it must have damaged the tip36 switching off/on all the time now its intermittent in the transistor itself .

cheers all ...

 

[CDX8412]

Why do you guys keep putting up this crap?

I am compelled to respond to your question, even though I think it is a rhetorical question, and it will go off topic a bit.

I have an amateur radio license since 2002, and listened to ham operators back in the late 1960s through the 1980s. I also listened to shortwave radio, public safety radio, DX'ed AM & FM radio, and even DX'ed TV signals back in the day. I operated CB radio (primarily SSB) and DX'ed the world on 11m. By the time I got licensed, I found ham radio was not what it was back in my youth, and the pioneering spirit was gone, in many ways, due to the advancement in technology. For me, personally, ham radio is an empty dream of the past, now filled with self-inflated operators who pass judgment on just about everything...including export radios.

I signed on to this forum the day Dean Arthur (Charger) created it, coming from the Express Electronics forum. I have owned dozens of export radios over the decades, and probably a few dozen amateur radios, as well. In the end, my happiest time on the radio was back in the late 1990s when the band was wide open and this forum was in it's infancy. I knew almost everyone on here then, and worked just about every member on the radio (27.475 back before we were all licensed). Because of that memory, I prefer to exercise my amateur radio privileges primarily on 10m, and I prefer to do it with an "export radio" versus a higher end amateur radio. It just makes me happier to do it that way, which is why I come to read "this crap" that these people are posting about these types of radios. And I only use these radios on 10m...I don't use them on 11m, even though I understand the marketing principle behind them. I simply want to use them on 10m, and I understand they are not as high end as a Yaesu or Kenwood. I just like them, and I can use them on 10m as much as I could use my FT-857, or the FT-950 I used to have, or the FT-847, or the FT-101ZD, or the FT-757GX, or a dozen other HF rigs I have owned over the years.

Although seemingly off topic, I state all this because I like to read about these types of radios. If I didn't want to read about "this crap" I would go to QRZ, which BTW, I haven't been to in years. Thanks to those here who post info about the Maxlog and the other radios. It is because of these discussions that I enjoy my President Lincoln II on 10m, and get very good audio reports with it (as long as I tell the a**hole ham ops that it is a Yaesu).
So to all you guys that keep "putting up this crap"..keep it up. It allows me to enjoy my hobby, and I will allow others to enjoy it as they see fit, without passing judgment on them. Well...ok, maybe I did just pass judgment on W9CLL...my bad.

 

[w9cll]

CDX8412 I respect your comments and take no offence and eventhough it may seem so I do not look down on 11 meter ops or even hams that use "export rigs. My comment was directed at the quality of the radios over the last few years. I fully know that Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu, Alinco and others can put out a klunker now and then but it surely seems to me that the latest line of exports all have some serious issues with them with the exception of a select few.

Keep doing what you do, use the band as you feel fit after all its all about radio.

 

[mechanic]

In the past week I have worked several stations from South America, Brazil and Chile, Quite a few in North America, all on ten meter. Good reports with the 8900! Still only listening on 12 meter as I have no antenna for that band but on my various wire and beams , sounds pretty good.
Like CDX8412, I enjoy simple mono-band rigs on 10 and 11 meters. I use my Kenwood and Yaesu on the lower bands. I think it will not be long till the Chinese build HF rigs on the cheap, they build a few for the big three now and a copy of the Yaesu FT-2R.

mechanic

 

[Mudfoot]

My main reason for using exports are for their noise blankers. I can actually work 10 thru 12 without the occasional power line noise killing me.
No HAM radio I have ever owned has a NB that will work on uncorrelated an correlated noise, as some of the CB and export rigs do.

 

[Robb]

Interesting opinions said . . .

I think that radios - like the Maxlog - are trying to reach into what is possible with so many new low cost/high functioning chips available in order to compete against different mfrs and stay competitive. Some amazing chips are out there at a very low cost. The BPT feature for one, can be found on perhaps just a handful of serious ham rigs. Innovation for the serious CBer? That train has been a long time awaited. Who would have thought? 'Bout time - IMO . . .