RCI-29 purchase update: Beware!!!

[Hawkeye351]

Just posting on my review of the new RCI-29 base radio.

Two of my local friends joined together and bought 2 of the RCI-29 bases from Anderson Radio Supply located in SC. They had to place a pre-order about 3 weeks ago for the radios.

Well, the radios finally arrived at their homes. One guy immediately hooked his up, checked his SWR (I've taught all these operators around here to always check that SWR before starting a rag chew conversation) which was great, let the radio warm up for 15 minutes then keyed up and started rag chewing.

To be honest, the 29s have superb audio in that it's crystal clear at any power level and still plenty loud.

Now with the issue:
My friend talked on his brand new RCI-29 yesterday for about 5 hours, then the output went out. He turned it off, waited for 15 minutes, turned it back on, only outputs 2w at most now. Everything else still works great, just the output is shot.

My other friend hooked his up today, didn't even get to talk on his. He keyed up and got nothing on output.

My guess on the first one is the factory has the bias above 4.10v on the driver/finals, causing them to run hot and shut down, or the regulator is shot or the driver or a final is shot.

My guess on the second one is manufacturer defect. They sent them both back for repairs.

I told them to stick with old school if they want my alignment or work, cause I don't do surface mount radios, and older radios do just as good if not better after a complete recap and proper alignment.

My advice on the RCI-29 base:
Give it time to flow through the radio community before purchasing one, give others time to find out all the issues/bugs first.

 

[BC Coyote]

Well there you have it. Guess Ranger has to maintain their reputation......

 

[Blackcat630]

Like an old local CB'r used to say..."Shame on the Mess"

 

[nomadradio]

Infant mortality. Using the buyers to field test their product.

And it flunked.

Next one of these I see, the final/driver bias settings will get checked first off.

73

 

[Enterprise312ok]

Just had a local buy a 69+ from an online source instead of me. It lasted him about 20 min.
If he had bought from me It would have been aligned properly and I would have fixed It for free if something like that happened, Now he is going to have shipping expense regardless if they cover the repair or not.
DONT BUY BASES ON LINE. BUY LOCAL. shipping will kill you.

 

[BC Coyote]

It's completely inexcusable for any company to sell a radio that has to immediately be "tuned and aligned" by a shop after purchase, because if you don't it will stop working almost right away !!!! Especially one that costs twice as much as the competition !

Imagine if you went and bought a brand new Ford that cost twice as much as the equivalent Chevy, but couldn't use it until you went to the garage and spent more money getting it tuned first. And if you didn't do that, the motor would seize within 10 miles or the wheels might fall off !!
You would an idiot to spend twice as much in the first place, and you would be mighty unhappy when the motor quit !

Friends don't let friends buy Ranger products. Because they are complete crap.
Full Stop.

 

[SuperLid]

Well there you have it. Guess Ranger has to maintain their reputation......

You know my mantra. Friends, don't let friends...

 

[w9cll]

It's completely inexcusable for any company to sell a radio that has to immediately be "tuned and aligned" by a shop after purchase, because if you don't it will stop working almost right away !!!! Especially one that costs twice as much as the competition !

100% agree

 

[BC Coyote]

IMO Galaxy is a better radio.

Actually it's not; Galaxy is made by Ranger......
Same pig different lipstick.........

 

[AudioShockwav]

IMO Galaxy is a better radio.

Galaxy is built by Ranger, same as Connex they used the same mainboards for many radios.

73
Jeff

 

[Hawkeye351]

UPDATE #2!!!!

Both my local friends got their radios back from Ranger this past Wednesday.

One is working great, alone with no amp sounds good. When he turns his amp on he sounds choppy. He's running an external amp behind it. I told him that's too much swing (drive) input for that amp (Italy kl-703).

The other guy, not so lucky. Immediately out of the box for the second time, AGAIN nothing on output. He sent it back again.

However, ranger did notify them that the warranty was void due to their sticker being replaced with another and the modulation adjustment was cranked all the way up, but they decided to honor the warranty that time.

As I've said before, and I'll say it again...
Old school is always better!!!

 

[BC Coyote]

Remember folks...... This is why "Friends don't let friends buy Rangers".

 

[SuperLid]

Just had a local buy a 69+ from an online source instead of me. It lasted him about 20 min.
If he had bought from me It would have been aligned properly and I would have fixed It for free if something like that happened, Now he is going to have shipping expense regardless if they cover the repair or not.
DONT BUY BASES ON LINE. BUY LOCAL. shipping will kill you.

Every radio I have had come through here from an online retailer, that has either had the "peak and tune" option, or "truckerized" has been done wrong, or basically screwdriver'd. In fairness, I have not a radio from Bell's in here.

 

[Hawkeye351]

The "Truck Stop Tunes" actually takes gain away from the radio, in exchange for watt's. The watts are useless without the gain.

Think of gain of watts the same as you would think of amps of AC volts.
What good is 120v AC with 0 (zero) amps?
What good is the voltage if no amps are present?

Stick two fingers in an 120v AC outlet that has 0 amps, you'll get a shock, but it won't kill you.
Now stick two fingers in that same 120v AC outlet and apply 3 amps to that 120v, it'll knock you across the room and could kill you.

Now, with that being stated, what good is 50w without the gain to back it up?

The gain is the goal when tuning a radio, we've learned a lot throughout the years. The gain comes from the sensitivity, the sensitivity comes from the alignment.

Yes, hacking, jacking, molesting these radios, and removing the limiters will result in higher watt meter readings, but at the cost of the gain.

The synthesizer oscillators, carrier oscillators, VCO voltage and buffer(s) all play a major role in the gain of a radio. No special "secret" tricks to it.

Just my 2 cents on the situation with truck stop tunes.

 

[Eldorado828]

UPDATE #2!!!!

Both my local friends got their radios back from Ranger this past Wednesday.

One is working great, alone with no amp sounds good. When he turns his amp on he sounds choppy. He's running an external amp behind it. I told him that's too much swing (drive) input for that amp (Italy kl-703).

The other guy, not so lucky. Immediately out of the box for the second time, AGAIN nothing on output. He sent it back again.

However, ranger did notify them that the warranty was void due to their sticker being replaced with another and the modulation adjustment was cranked all the way up, but they decided to honor the warranty that time.

As I've said before, and I'll say it again...
Old school is always better!!!

I'll agree but disagree at the same time.
It really depends on where you bought it and who set it up. That's just the way it's always been with anything made by Ranger. It isn't only the stuff of today.
Go back some years and we saw the 98vhp's, 4300-300"s all would fail when done up by any golden screwdriver.

Buy a Ranger from a real tech, not a hack shop, a real alignment and they will work. That's just the way it is with ranger, it's nothing new. Only thing that's different here are the radios.