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Stryker SR-955HP Video Overview

cbradiomagazine.com

cbradiomagazine.com

2008 - 2014 / Pau Hana
Jan 3, 2007
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203
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Alright guys - if you have 30 minutes to kill I got the video overview uploaded. If you watch all 30 minutes not only will you know everything about the radio, you're officially a radio nerd. :)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsONLsZ5ueA


Written REVIEW is coming, going to run it for another week or two before I finish off the written review.

One thing I will say is the channel selector is a little flimsy, you'll notice it moving slightly in the video, it might be something specific to my radio but it definitely could be improved upon.

I got some audio recordings going and will edit those and get them up when I can. Talked some more last night on the radio and reports continue to be excellent, stability is excellent, no drift even after a long long local QSO last night at 70 watts output where I got the heat sink pretty hot.

So again, performance wise it definitely seems up to snuff, operation wise I'm still nitpicking about a couple of things but in relation to something like the Magnum S9 it definitely is offering more options and greater stability at this point.
 

Interesting review. Thanks for posting. I did notice one thing. On the rear of the
radio it has a jack for CW. BUT, on the front, there is no CW mode that can be
selected. I read somewhere that that jack was mislabeled and was actually the
PA speaker jack. Too bad, it might be nice if the radio actually did offer CW mode
for those that might want to use this as a Amateur radio as well. Especially since
it does cover the CW portions of 10 & 12 meters after modding it.
One quick question. Did you by chance check the output on 10 & 12 meters after
the mod? Or even before for that matter. Also, do you have access to a spectrum
scope to see if the radio has splatter problems in SSB mode before and after tune
up? It would be interesting to know how it might preform as far as spectral purity
is concerned.
Thanks,
trucker
 
As always Brew, nice review. I am officially a X2 radio geek. Watched it twice! :laugh: Glad to see that the rig isn't as pimp-my-ride-bling-blingy as I thought, and the adjustable dimmer is nice. Lots of nice features, although I think a scan feature without being able to scan your favorites and mode (esp if they are on "another" band, ie 27.385 lsb, 27.555 usb, 26.855 am, etc.) is kind of useless. They might be able to fix this through the software programming, though. Maybe???

The roger beep thing isn't as dorky as I thought, as it is 5 individual/different roger beeps versus a 5 tone roger beep, which is what I assumed it would be. I really only liked the "cops" one. :laugh:

I also like that you can assign the clarifier to receive only (like a ham rig with RIT). I hate chasing people all over the channel when mine is unlocked and theirs is too, especially when you throw drifting into the mix, but that's a whole other thread.

And speaking of drifting, I look forward to your next video. I would like to see just how big this radio is compared to other radios as you have done in the past. It looks to be in the Magnum OmegaForce HP size though. Would like to know how the real world adjacent channel rejection is, too. :)

Thanks for the review man, I always enjoy watching da show! :pop:

73,
RT307
 
I did test it on 10 meters prior to any modifications and it was doing a solid 75 watts output.

After modding it for expanded frequency operation but doing nothing else I tested output on 10 and 11 meters and on two different meters I found the radio to be putting out more wattage on 10 than 11.

After making adjustments the radio is showing 85 watts peak on USB 10 meters and 75 watts peak on 11 meters. When talking on 11 meters SSB I'm seeing around 50-70 watts during normal talking with the peaks hitting around 70-75. AM is lower with the peaks during talking hitting around 65. I'm running through a low pass filter and then into the active peak reading meter. I don't have spectrum scope but prior to the tune I did check numbers with and without the low pass filter in line and they remained fairly consistent. After turning up the AM mod and AM/SSB adjustments they remained consistent on SSB but on AM without the low pass filter in line I am seeing higher peak by 15 watts (around 80 peak).

Stryker told me around 80-85 watts with a tune is what people will most likely be seeing for wattage, they didn't specify if that was AM or SSB. If you start hearing 100 watt claims I might be a little skeptical. I did try pushing it on AM and when I did crank everything up I ended up with higher numbers but some distortion so I backed it down and found a nice setting with peak around 65 on AM with clearer audio.

The radio has a TSQ switch on the front which is supposed to be used to enable the optional CTCSS module, but I'm not sure how the CW Key/PA jack thing is supposed to work or what their plan was. I'll be sure to ask Stryker about that.
 
Last edited:
The more I read about the features on this radio it is a very impressive package. Modular construction, plugs into a computer for updates, more stable on SSB then a 2950, programable clarifier controls, 100 watts pep. Wow.
 
Where has there been any stability testing that shows it is more stable than a RCI2950DX? It cost more! It does not have a second VFO. The user interface is terrible, awkward, slow like a computer with no keyboard or mouse and no touch screen. You have 7x knobs, 4 of them are dual pots, 5x 3 position switches and 3 push buttons at least one of them being to drive a menu that has to be clicked through with fixed time delays that you must weight for after making a menu change for it to take effect. What a nightmare. Why not add a punch card reader and program it in ASL400. It has mosfet finals which is not a problem for me but the numbers being given are PEP not RMS and who cares about PEP. Did you see how big of a pain it is to use the continuous tuning and change the adjustment range??? This radio is an SSB radio for someone that would really like an old Uniden made Cobra 148 with a LessComm board, echo, talk back, roger beep and an RFX 150 but does not want to buy all the parts send it out to be installed and wait for ever. This gives them all of that in one package with no technician needed and no waiting.

I do not currently own an RCI2950DX I did own a 2950 from 1991-1998 or 1999 when it was stolen and I used it driving all the time. I did T-Hunts aka Fox Hunts with it in large cities and in the wilderness all the time while driving. I can assure you I could run circle around that Stryker with one all day long using every function the radio had including split function and ctcss tones. I seldom had to take my eye's off the road to work it. I talked mostly on SSB and again could tune in a person while driving. I would love to see someone try that on the Stryker 955. I am pretty sure the way those knobs and switches are layed out and the need to use the function key and flip through the menu most of the radio is unusable while driving.

My President Lincoln while I love the old girl has what I thought was a terrible control face layout and poor readability of the tiny screen is still better than the Stryker. Once you memorize the band map I can still move through it and select freq. faster than on the Stryker even with it's continuous tuning because the interface is so clunky due to it's menu driven layout. Why? Because I can move the carrot/cursor quickly and turn the knob really quickly to dial in the freq. not as fast as with a 2950 or the Origanal Ranger 3300/3500's but still fast.

If they where going to put a USB port on this they should have given the radio a Windows based user interface that would allow you to completely control all of the radios function from your computer.

Instead they made a watered down 2950 because it lacks the dual VFO or Split function and offer's nothing in place of those features for more money and gave it a Galaxy 88/99 type face plate and painfully awkward menu driven interface. Oh I almost forgot it has a rainbow of color option...WOW! No enhanced fidelity on transmit or receive, no enhanced detection of weak signals, no speech processing, no rf processing, no choice of notch filtering, no ready made means of inputting higher quality audio. Their is so much they could have done since it is not a Part 15 type accepted CB radio. If you say you worked with the manufacture for 2 years to design it and this is what they bring to market it kind of makes me wonder what they where talking about for 2 years??
 
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Not sure where the comparison to the 2950DX came up but I have used both and found both radios to be very stable. I like the 2950X better as the user interface is much easier. Stryker functions are weird and would agree that it's better suited to someone who wants echo and flashing lights. It's a good radio, just could have been better on the interface and it didn't need all the extras. Definitely competes with the 2950DX in performance.
 
Onelasttime said:
Where has there been any stability testing that shows it is more stable than a RCI2950DX? It cost more! It does not have a second VFO. The user interface is terrible, awkward, slow like a computer with no keyboard or mouse and no touch screen. You have 7x knobs, 4 of them are dual pots, 5x 3 position switches and 3 push buttons at least one of them being to drive a menu that has to be clicked through with fixed time delays that you must weight for after making a menu change for it to take effect. What a nightmare. Why not add a punch card reader and program it in ASL400. It has mosfet finals which is not a problem for me but the numbers being given are PEP not RMS and who cares about PEP. Did you see how big of a pain it is to use the continuous tuning and change the adjustment range??? This radio is an SSB radio for someone that would really like an old Uniden made Cobra 148 with a LessComm board, echo, talk back, roger beep and an RFX 150 but does not want to buy all the parts send it out to be installed and wait for ever. This gives them all of that in one package with no technician needed and no waiting.

I do not currently own an RCI2950DX I did own a 2950 from 1991-1998 or 1999 when it was stolen and I used it driving all the time. I did T-Hunts aka Fox Hunts with it in large cities and in the wilderness all the time while driving. I can assure you I could run circle around that Stryker with one all day long using every function the radio had including split function and ctcss tones. I seldom had to take my eye's off the road to work it. I talked mostly on SSB and again could tune in a person while driving. I would love to see someone try that on the Stryker 955. I am pretty sure the way those knobs and switches are layed out and the need to use the function key and flip through the menu most of the radio is unusable while driving.

My President Lincoln while I love the old girl has what I thought was a terrible control face layout and poor readability of the tiny screen is still better than the Stryker. Once you memorize the band map I can still move through it and select freq. faster than on the Stryker even with it's continuous tuning because the interface is so clunky due to it's menu driven layout. Why? Because I can move the carrot/cursor quickly and turn the knob really quickly to dial in the freq. not as fast as with a 2950 or the Origanal Ranger 3300/3500's but still fast.

If they where going to put a USB port on this they should have given the radio a Windows based user interface that would allow you to completely control all of the radios function from your computer.

Instead they made a watered down 2950 because it lacks the dual VFO or Split function and offer's nothing in place of those features for more money and gave it a Galaxy 88/99 type face plate and painfully awkward menu driven interface. Oh I almost forgot it has a rainbow of color option...WOW! No enhanced fidelity on transmit or receive, no enhanced detection of weak signals, no speech processing, no rf processing, no choice of notch filtering, no ready made means of inputting higher quality audio. Their is so much they could have done since it is not a Part 15 type accepted CB radio. If you say you worked with the manufacture for 2 years to design it and this is what they bring to market it kind of makes me wonder what they where talking about for 2 years??
Click to expand...


This is a 4 year old thread from back when the Stryker 955 had just been out for sale. Sounded like a very good radio and even now it still is. I never ended up getting one because my Delta Force, 257HP, S45HP, and Uniden Madison get the job done for me just fine.

The "more stable then a 2950" statement came from several opinions I checked into 4 years ago. A local die hard RCI operator tried a 955, and Doug at Custom CB Radio's tested one on his bench for several weeks. Either way it's safe to say that any processor controlled radio will be better on SSB then most other Export radio's.

Now I'm kinda checking out the Magnum 1 radio's, just don't care for the look of them though. I'm sure there pretty solid on SSB as well though.
 
phantom309 said:
I just can't get beyond all the lights. I'm just not into the whole bling thing.
Click to expand...

Bling aside, the radio is incredible.. I do not like bling either but that's not why I bought it, it's great on both ssb and am.. Matched up to a Texas star dx 500 she modulates to a touch over 600 watts.. The shop where I purchased from the tech said he has never seen such a perfect match in all the years he has been doing this..
 
Hi guys, ive uploaded the first set of free roger beeps for the stryker 955hp. I created them, please feel free to use them as you wish, the download link is in the description.. many thanks..
 

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