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To unlock or not unlock?

Grogan

Grogan

W9WDX Amateur Radio Club Member
Oct 1, 2011
1,139
361
93
Southern New Jersey
The clarifier that is! In buying a Galaxy DX-979 should I unlock the Clarifier? I want to buy a new radio not sure what radio,but with SSB. I hear good and bad.
 

I wanted a 979 for a long time but got a 949 instead (good deal at that time) and then my 980 for a mobile. I haven't done the clarifier mod on the 949 yet but I need to get it done. The 949 drifts a fair bit. A freq counter was a good addition to it as well.
 
unlock it,, then no matter how much the radio drifts you can still tune to people and know that you are transmitting the same freq that you are hearing
 
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The FCC change in 1977 to lock all clarifiers was another stupid move. They assumed that the new PLL radios would not drift and that everyone's TX would remain on the same frequency. If that logic panned out, you wouldn't need a clarifier for receive either. The reality is there are differences in TX frequencies between radios and a locked clarifier only gives you the ability to tune into one other station.

If you are in a QSO with two other people and your transmitters are not perfectly aligned, you will only be able to tune into one of the two correctly. If all the radios in the QSO are unlocked, all stations will be able to match their frequency.
 
Shockwave said:
The FCC change in 1977 to lock all clarifiers was another stupid move. They assumed that the new PLL radios would not drift and that everyone's TX would remain on the same frequency. If that logic panned out, you wouldn't need a clarifier for receive either. The reality is there are differences in TX frequencies between radios and a locked clarifier only gives you the ability to tune into one other station.

If you are in a QSO with two other people and your transmitters are not perfectly aligned, you will only be able to tune into one of the two correctly. If all the radios in the QSO are unlocked, all stations will be able to match their frequency.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

Just want to add, that many have thought that merely unlocking the clarifier is enough. Clipping a diode or two and then re-routing the power source is merely the first step. Once the clarifier is unlocked, it will need to have the PLL, Loop Oscillator, and Offset Oscillator re-aligned. This is not an option, as once the clarifier has been unlocked, these tuning parameters will have been altered after unlock and will most definitely be off. Don't care if it is a Cobra, Uniden, RCI, Galaxy, Connex, Ranger, Magnum, or others; it is just a consequence of the unlock process.

Usually, just adjusting the Loop Oscillator is enough; but I highly recommend doing the entire chain mentioned above - for optimal results. This way should insure continuity.

One needs a bench grade frequency counter; not one of those add-on freq counters made by Galaxy either. They just aren't accurate enough. A bench/lab grade freq counter should read xx,xxx.xx/seven digits/numeric places. The Hp models have eight places - BTW. Be sure to let both the radio AND the freq counter have 20 minutes of warmup time before the alignment is done.
 
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what upsets me the most is when one guy is off freq and then another guy tunes in on him to talk to him then we have 2 people off freq and its a big mess then for everyone else
and then it keeps getting worse an worse as the day goes on

so leave the transmit freq alone
 
North Texas Mudduck said:
what upsets me the most is when one guy is off freq and then another guy tunes in on him to talk to him then we have 2 people off freq and its a big mess then for everyone else
and then it keeps getting worse an worse as the day goes on

so leave the transmit freq alone
Click to expand...

That's more of a drift problem than an unlocked clarifier issue. They are separate and the radio would most likely still drift if it were locked. The only difference is with them unlocked, both stations can track the drift and both ends of the conversation take place on the same frequency. In my opinion, this is better than the "duplex" alternative.

If the operator with the drifting radio had a frequency counter he could use his unlocked clarifier to manually compensate for the drift on both RX and TX. With the locked clarifier his TX would always drift with no way to compensate. All of this depends heavily on how well the clarifier was aligned after the unlock. Many fail to align the RX and TX side so they match perfectly. Any error here is not acceptable.
 
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