New Magnum 257 with Talkback/echo

[cbradiomagazine.com]

Should be available soon - an all mode talkback circuit was added to the radio.

They've modified an echo mike to enable the echo/talkback - if you use a standard mike it's not enabled and functions as normal.

The new circuit also should allow the "resistor, ext jack to ground" mod if you don't want to buy the new 257 echo mike but want to manually enable the talkback.

YouTube - cbradiomagazine's Channel

 

[BammBamm]

I was saving for a 257hp but then seen this! Any idea as what a price will be? With my luck just as I buy this they will come out with a new one that is actually a freq counter. It's like computers the day after you buy yours you see one somewhere and think "I wish I would have waited."

 

[fnkycoldmedina]

can you another video but on AM this time so we can hear what it sounds like on AM. nobody uses echo on ssb.
and can you put it on a wattmeter?

 

[VA3ES]

A while ago, deciding between the 257HP, and the OmegaForce S45HP, I went with the S45HP. I already have enough "plain-Jane" ham rigs and 10M radios. I felt that I needed something with "noise-toys" so I went with the S45HP.

I compared features of both, and came to the conclusion that both radios have absolutely identical features. Since I operate on 10M, I needed full coverage (check), repeater splits (check) and subaudible tone (check). Yes, the S45HP has subaudible tone! It's an "undocumented feature"! In 10M mode, press FUNCTION and then LCR - voila, the word RPT appears on the display and it does indeed transmit the 88.5 Hz tone!!!

They are basically the same radio, with the S45HP having extra CB features.

 

[jazzsinger]

Quality, when you see guys like Dave at yeticomms trying to get these type of radios factory modified to make them more useable, what does magnum come up with? add echo and talkback, 2 instant steps to devaluing any serious export radio contender. why not just add a usb socket and touchscreen and turn it into a f@cktards dream,

oh,too late, rci beat you to it.


its time magnum and rci stopped catering to the f@cknuggets and started trying to sell reliable radios that actually work well, to people who take 11m seriously.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

you have to take into account that modern exports arnt made with hams in mind , well , maybe the 29xx radios . they are mostly just over grown cb radios with more features than performance compared to cb radios from a few decades ago .

 

[VA3ES]

Quality, when you see guys like Dave at yeticomms trying to get these type of radios factory modified to make them more useable, what does magnum come up with? add echo and talkback, 2 instant steps to devaluing any serious export radio contender. why not just add a usb socket and touchscreen and turn it into a f@cktards dream,

oh,too late, rci beat you to it.


its time magnum and rci stopped catering to the f@cknuggets and started trying to sell reliable radios that actually work well, to people who take 11m seriously.

I agree. The Yeticom OPTIMA is the first "export" radio that I consider to be a serious ham radio. No fancy noise crap, no worthless bells-and-whistles, just a good solid HF radio that works. The original Magnum 257HP was also pretty close. Still is without the talk-back crap. The S45HP I consider a "dual-use" radio. Excellent for CB/11M and excellent for serious
ham use.

 

[BammBamm]

Wow a touch screen really? I think I might be a fu**tard because the thought of echo and talkback is something I like then again I am not a ham and only want it to freeband. I know just the minute I buy one they are gonna come out with the new one with a qwerty keyboard, cell phone and GPS built in....Then this F**ktard will have to buy another new radio! Now where did I put my helmet as it's time for me to ride the little yellow bus and I promise to not lick the windows this time!

 

[Robb]

They build what they know will sell.
They know the sales figures and they target improvements to see a $.
What did you expect?
Anything else than that is just poor speculating.

 

[jazzsinger]

They build what they know will sell.
They know the sales figures and they target improvements to see a $.
What did you expect?
Anything else than that is just poor speculating.

is that quote straight from Sam Lewis or your opinion Rob?

i doubt very much they'd have any difficulties selling a stable ssb radio with a speech processor (a useful add on) built in, especially as there isn't that many stable radios around to compete with them since uniden stopped producing decent ssb radios.

poor speculating is pouring more badly put together dross out the factory doors in the hope more mugs will buy them.maybe if they listened to people telling them what they want instead of producing the same old crap with added useless features they might get more sales.

 

[Robb]

I'm not saying your ideas are bad; I'm saying that they know - like anyone else - what sells.
Any business that doesn't make the right decisions is toast!

Sure, I would like to see a radio that has a USB port that gives us some usable features; not talk back and echo. Maybe changing freqs, modes, filtering, and perhaps - dare I say it - real DSP audio,

 

[IMD262]

its time magnum and rci stopped catering to the f@cknuggets and started trying to sell reliable radios that actually work well, to people who take 11m seriously.

Kenwood,Icom and Yaesu cover this small niche market while Magnum,Galaxy,General Stupidstar.... cover the f@cknugget market.

 

[jazzsinger]

Kenwood,Icom and Yaesu cover this small niche market while Magnum,Galaxy,General Stupidstar.... cover the f@cknugget market.

lol, i'm not so sure your accurate there, kenwood,icom and yaesu have been doing their own share of pleasing f@cknuggets in recent years too.

i'd rather use a cobra 148 gtl dx,president richard,superstar 360fm,stalker st9 or president grant/jackson on 11m ssb than any low end amateur set.unless you pay out extra for the optional narrow ssb filters for hf sets they are pretty poor on 11m despite what the all the gear/no idea experts on 11m think, not to mention they are a hell of a lot less to lose in a bust than a $500+ ham set,probably a lot more reliable too as all the sets i've mentioned when set up properly within spec are very reliable, its only when f@cktards try to push them beyond their design limits they are problematic.

 

[jazzsinger]

I'm not saying your ideas are bad; I'm saying that they know - like anyone else - what sells.
Any business that doesn't make the right decisions is toast!

Sure, I would like to see a radio that has a USB port that gives us some usable features; not talk back and echo. Maybe changing freqs, modes, filtering, and perhaps - dare I say it - real DSP audio,

i can understand a usb socket for changing bandplans,filter settings etc, but i'd rather have good old analogue noise filtering than dsp, its less harsh on the ears.

 

[cbradiomagazine.com]

F@ocknuggets? I don't know if buying a radio with echo and talkback automatically puts someone into that category

Anyway - in regards to this particular radio let me tell you what I think is the + side to the whole arguement in the previous posts.

The talkback in this radio is added but not engaged UNLESS you buy the specially modified microphone OR you do the mod to enable it (always on or with a potentiometer).

I like the fact that the radio doesn't have echo or talkback enabled stock and if those who want to add it can easily drop $50 and have both to work with. In fact Magnum isn't really chopping up or ruining a great radio in this case, they are merely adding an option that can be enabled.

With the 257 I think this is important because unlike with many other exports there are two different crowds who use this radio - the more serious SSB operators and the less serious CBer crowd.

I think this current mod pleases both. Now - would I like to see Magnum make the super SSB radio for the serious freeband/CB/Ham SSB operator....sure, but like Robb said they know their market and when the time comes they'll build it if the demand is there.

In the meantime Yeticom has the Optima and it really is the first type of export radio to make that leap. So we'll see where the market goes from here but as far as I'm concerned it's nice to see companies making any types of mods/products to sell more radios when they easily could go the other way and just reduce down to 1 or 2 of their best selling radios and sit on those.

Uniden is by far the best example of a company that has given up on furthering the hobby and just going to work the old designs until they die out and they close up shop.