Stryker sr955

[BBB]

Heads up. Just lost the twin finals on one of my 955's the other day. No warnings. Transmitting in AM mode at a 7 watt DK. Not over driven. Not over temp. Checked SWR, was fine. Cables fine. Lots of stinky smoke that's for sure. Had to break the factory warranty seal just to make sure it wasn't on fire inside

My second 955 appears to work fine. In fact, got both of 'em back from the factory a few months ago for repairs to the LEDs, talkback levels and SSB shielding mods.

So could the cause of the PA section failure be that I was running it at 14.5 volts all this time? The radio with the blown finals worked okay for a couple of years in the base station with no over-voltage alarms. Or, maybe just the 68 cent MOSFETS giving up the ghost finally?

Both FQP13N10 MOSFETS showed heat damage on the TO-220 casings just above the "Source" pins.

I'll replace all (4) back there and adjust the bias when done. Anyone know what the proper bias setting should be on the 955 and where to check it? Curious... has Stryker revised it lower? Thanks.

Might as well order 10 of 'em :

http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/149/FQP13N10-1009495.pdf

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Fairchild-Semiconductor/FQP13N10/?qs=mdiO5HdF0KhLCIXwsYy9VA==

 

[skip searcher]

Heads up. Just lost the twin finals on one of my 955's the other day. No warnings. Transmitting in AM mode at a 7 watt DK. Not over driven. Not over temp. Checked SWR, was fine. Cables fine. Lots of stinky smoke that's for sure. Had to break the factory warranty seal just to make sure it wasn't on fire inside

My second 955 appears to work fine. In fact, got both of 'em back from the factory a few months ago for repairs to the LEDs, talkback levels and SSB shielding mods.

So could the cause of the PA section failure be that I was running it at 14.5 volts all this time? The radio with the blown finals worked okay for a couple of years in the base station with no over-voltage alarms. Or, maybe just the 68 cent MOSFETS giving up the ghost finally?

Both FQP13N10 MOSFETS showed heat damage on the TO-220 casings just above the "Source" pins.

I'll replace all (4) back there and adjust the bias when done. Anyone know what the proper bias setting should be on the 955 and where to check it? Curious... has Stryker revised it lower? Thanks.

Might as well order 10 of 'em :

http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/149/FQP13N10-1009495.pdf

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Fairchild-Semiconductor/FQP13N10/?qs=mdiO5HdF0KhLCIXwsYy9VA==

That's to bad i
Hope you
Get the radio back up
And running again .

 

[skip searcher]

Would it be possible to run
The radio of cigarette lighter it draws 15 amps I'm
Guessing if I
Had a heavy cable and good quality plug with a 20
Amp fuse .

 

[9C1Driver]

I have a Stryker SR655, which is the 955 minus SSB.

Careful who you get one from. Some CB shops will get in the radio to make "improvements" before they put it on the shelf. Mine is currently sitting on the top bunk of my truck, until I have the time and inclination to undo the "improvements".

So you had yours "super whack packed" did you? That's too bad, hope you get it straight.

 

[9C1Driver]

Would it be possible to run
The radio of cigarette lighter it draws 15 amps I'm
Guessing if I
Had a heavy cable and good quality plug with a 20
Amp fuse .

Best answer is no, that radio should go direct to the battery. That said if you really had to slide by on a cig plug the ONLY way you could do it is turn the variable power down. So maybe run the radio at 25-30 watts peak and you could in a pinch get by on a cig plug. Kinda defeats the whole purpose of having a higher powered radio though. Also these higher powered radio's that are processor controlled get flakey when voltage drops. They don't like that and on a cig plug you will have voltage drop.

 

[Sarasota Slim]

So you had yours "super whack packed" did you? That's too bad, hope you get it straight.

No. The guy that I bought it from did, lol. I bought it from another driver in a truck stop for $100.

I'll get it straight, eventually. In the meantime, I picked up Bearcat 980SSB from a Flying J (so I know it's never been opened and tinkered with). That radio works great.

 

[ExitThirteen]

Best to just get a good SSB CB radio, and if it's of an older vintage, like a Grant or 148, get it recapped/realigned and call it a day. Don't mess around with export junk.


~Cheers~

 

[radioreddz]

Mine has been back to the factory repair shop for the same chassis ground issues 3 times I'm done. To bad it's really a nice radio with a lot of fun features but screw being able to use it every two or three months. Mine was a first run I guess to unreliable with a factory inherent problem. It's back to a Grant XL for me with a 2 transistor amp

 

[BBB]

Mine has been back to the factory repair shop for the same chassis ground issues 3 times I'm done. To bad it's really a nice radio with a lot of fun features but screw being able to use it every two or three months. Mine was a first run I guess to unreliable with a factory inherent problem. It's back to a Grant XL for me with a 2 transistor amp

Did they mention where the ground problem(s) was on the board ?

Both of mine were early production units. I usually don't break the factory warranty seals, but mine was smoking so bad I wanted to make sure it was fully extinguished inside. I haven't contacted Stryker yet figuring they may shoot it down since the warranty sticker was compromised. May be worth trying. My other Stryker 955 is performing well

 

[jon666]

its only a 3 year warranty. striker told me i would have to pay for it. mine is the 1st run. over 3 years old.the issue i had the dc voltage on the radio. was showing a big voltage drop when modulated on it.
they told me that was normal. i had it on 3 power supply's. dont seem normal to me. ill fix it just have not had time yet..

 

[Limeybastard]

What warranty sticker on the 955hpc? Dont newer ones have warranty stickers on case?

Then only issue I've noticed so far is the frequency selector dial knob, when turning it clockwise or anti clockwise, it sometimes misses the register channel change.

 

[BDM]

Old thread, but mine popped a final also. Running it at home, 1.2 to 1 match, no toys, unmodded, bone stock. I was yacking away on 36 LSB and suddenly the radio went dead. Then the magic smoke came out. Sure as shit, blew Q45. My radio is an early 2014 build. The schematic I found at CB Tricks shows a FQPF13N10 final, not a FQP13N10. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Handy Andy]

The "F" refers to the TO-220 package - make sure Mouser understands that you want TO-220 METAL TAB - not flatpack - check the pics when your order your part. The TO-220 flatpak is an epoxy design - not much heat sink for the tab. Power wattage dissipation is different and much less than the Metal Tab Counterpart.

Do NOT get any 13's that have "L" Suffix. They are made for LOGIC - TTL stuff. Not enough analog in those for RF use - voltage gating response in them is different.

13's are VERY LOW voltage driven versus the IRF520 - so even though they provide a voltage adjustment - the Power supply to final cushion for reserve capacity is the problem - poor traces and even worse filtering.

SSB mode can kill these things - Gate voltages approaching 20 volts will puncture a 13' quicker than a IRF520.

The 13's give a better curve - but if you can switch to the 520 - it's a little more durable.

Else you can't keep enough current power reserve in there (to the rear panel) due to the thinner copper cladding they use and much less filtering - you'll have voltage SAGS that can hurt the 13's. You can't throw a 30 A power supply or even a 100A - because the board and the copper used - is the choke point - your voltage and power losses are internal. Even though there may be enough to supply 30 amps continuous - you will be hard pressed to find enough farads back there to cushion the spikes that kill the 13's.

I Love the receiver in these - but the output - best to be conservative and run the limiter.

Partly the reason for the 13's to blow, is the problems with their bias regions.


There is really nothing wrong, just understand that the more you add to the plumbing, the more likely the pipes will get stopped up...or break ...

It's a beautiful design, but not enough Bipolar - ok? Look above and thru it, There is 3 stages of MOSFET designs. Each one is biased less voltage more current dependent - which is normal - from >100K onto about 1K at the final - but 3 stages? Man! I'd be looking for the 1973SSB Predriver than a 2314 - it's like using a 2166 versus a 2029 - drive and more driven. It's not a Ford, or a Mazda - it's MOSFET hybrid from Bipolar output - so you can see that SSB modes and the sheer power it can deliver, It's a lot of gain, and hence the Smell when Scent Of Gain fails - hey come-on people - 4 stage amplification with not one negative feedback circuit? It's - all gain. NOT ONE ZENER IN THE BUNCH - Where's your VARISTOR? Shock Absorber? Or any sort of rectified regulation to keep voltage from MULTIPLYING ONTO THE NEXT STAGE?

No wonder those that use the above Haven't burned their house down - the Gates only dissipate so much power as heat and they're done!

Galaxy isn't immune - perhaps a better means to couple the power combiner but still use Zeners' at least to keep Gate Drive in check - VERY HIGH impedance bias though...buffered - but high...not much room for noise spikes to stay out of the drive line but ... keeps the gates working towards the pinch off side than hard over- Hard Over - full stop.


Ok, Yell at me later for only schematics, but the CONCEPTS are shown. High gain in both, but at least Zener and Some NFB is provided, not always used - but provided.

So, when it smokes, it's due to drive levels - not necessarily the fault on the operator - but heavy drive and SSB, back the mod down guys, the 13's will pop, potentially as a dead short and you have a small fire on your hands.

See Above...

:+> Andy <+:

 

[Onelasttime]

I think it is safe to say it is common knowledge that they have really good audio and output power.

Where they suck is attempting to use any of the functions while driving. The terrible retarded menu system. The slow response between the encoder and the micro controller. The insanely crowded face. The huge size.

Basically the main board inside the radio is far better than decent but the face plate electronics and design sucks!

That is what you get though when you do not design your own radio you just put your name on it. Since it is a Chinese radio it shares it's guts with some other radio's in other markets! In fact one model of Stryker was available through Yeti.com for a while as another model! Cut and paste radio design. That is why the code for the face plate sucks so badly!

Can you tell I take a dim view on badge engineering or in that case Face Plate Engineering! LOL

Sadly though since their is not a CB radio worth owning I would have to say the 955 is about as good as it get's currently so long as you ignore the insanely high price. If you absolutely need a chrome bezel. Likewise if you need a radio that comes with White Trash Blue LED's that are not at all safe for nighttime use she's the one! If you want the same terrible menu system and similar usable power in a radio far smaller and far cheaper say $229-$249 you might consider the Anytone AT-6666. It does not have any chrome though! I am not sure if it has the tanning bed blue or aliens abducting me in the cab of my truck blue or I am secretly arc welding in the cab of my truck while driving blue!

Because I have more than 2 brain cells knocking around inside my head I have a problem with blue leds that we know destroy night vision, give a lot of people eye strain and headaches in a mobile platform. Generally it is best to run electronics in car, truck, boat or plane that do not destroy your night vision and do not cause headaches and eye strain! It does not have that many controls the problem is that HUGE space sucking meter on the left that does not tell you much important info compared to the amount of space it takes up!

You have to love how the meter on the left says SR-955 at the bottom they must think the customer is too stupid to know what they are talking on and felt it best to remind them!

You can get a RCI2950 for $229-$249 that will out perform it in almost every way that matters or a AT-6666 or a President Lincoln II etc......Sadly I have to admit the out of the box audio is fantastic on the Stryker 955! What I like about the RCI2950 is that there is no need to go through a deep menu system to use the radio. I think the split function is the only thing you might want to use that is not a simple single button or knob.

If the Stryker 955 was not in the $330-$499 ball park and if it came in red leds and had a front face and user interface that was not designed by an idiot it would not be so hard on it!


Having an insanely high price tag is one of the marketing tricks to making people think you have a premium product. It creates exclusivity. The more a person has to sacrifice for a given object the more they cherish it and talk it up to friends and family. It is right up there with putting lack luster electronics in a big shiny metal box so you can sell a $149 mobile for $600 dollars or more like a Cobra 2000 or a Dak V etc...

I am sure my post will be the only negative one not blowing sunshine up your rear!

A lot of people bought the Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Corvair but we know they where not very good car's! Just becasue a lot of people bought them does not mean much! The last thing you want to do is get product knowledge from fanboys that own one of them!

Other than loud audio and more power than a single final radio what does it really have going for it?

 

[Yeti Communications Ltd]

1970's and 1980's had cookie cutter radios..uniden/cobra/stalker/Robyn to name just a few that used the 8719 and similar chassis
anytone is just he 2000's version
if it pains you this much just dont buy it

complaining on a interweb forum will get you no where
unless you have a spare $50K+ in your pocket to develop a new radio to YOUR liking you will never see one built in this day and age

the comment about the styker being "insanely crowed face" and then you commenting on how you like the ranger made me giggle ..
ranger has its issues like poor dynamic range and terrible selectivity

ps..didnt know yeti.com made radios..i thought they sold beer coolers

ok back to putting up antennas to reach my minions