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Whats the verdict on the Magnum 1?

The information below directly from Top Gun Technologies is where I read the information from. Other than this, I do not know for sure how accurate it is.....



MD-1 Modulator
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Top Gun Technologies
Now the same Top Gun Modulator MD-1 and Compressor CP-1 circuits used in the new Magnum radios are available for most other 10-meter and many CB radios. Full tone, clear, high swing audio (AM) modulation is achieved with the addition of these two fully assembled micro circuit boards. While the Top Gun Modulator works only in AM, the Top Gun Compressor works in AM, FM, and SSB keeping the modulation at peak performance in all these modes
 
That's too bad - was hoping for a little more innovation. We've always had the same boards in radios from different brands but it seems like there is less and less difference between brands now on what they are doing with the radios and even less different models being offered.
 
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no topgun boards in the ones we sell and no mention of such in manual
maybe topgun sell their ones with the boards ?

yes true it has same board as the last version (to this date) m8800 and like that one it has a ecm mic(the v7 and earlier maxlog did not)..
however there are some changes to the board all but slight and to the untrained eye you will not see it but they are there and some added parts
the front panel functions are not the same at all to any version m8800

how do i find them?..yeah ok nice receive however i totally hate the sun glasses look to them ...why they didnt make it one big window i dont know (the lcd is one unit behind the plate)
 
My factory setting on top. It is nice to have some sort of reference. I assume counterclockwise is increase, correct?View attachment 20011
Just as a comment... you are setting the modulation up using an O'Scope to look at the output signal... right?

If So, you will see which way increases modulation.

As for the Optima MK III, solid radio, been running mine for a couple years now with a Japan HM-36... SSB is dead on and gets great comments, AM is solid when setup for 100% modulation on the negative peak
 
Just as a comment... you are setting the modulation up using an O'Scope to look at the output signal... right?

If So, you will see which way increases modulation.

As for the Optima MK III, solid radio, been running mine for a couple years now with a Japan HM-36... SSB is dead on and gets great comments, AM is solid when setup for 100% modulation on the negative peak
I don't have an oscilloscope, so I'm kinda stuck running it where the factory set it.
I'm hoping Yeticom will release their mods and specs for the optima when they sell out of them, whenever that might be. That will go one of 2 ways. They will release their mods, or they won't because there aren't any mods done. We will have to see.
 
I've owned just about all of the anytones, maxlogs, and CRE 8900 and none of them are going to give you a big AM sound. I had two of the new president lincolns and with a d104 AM is pretty good but my Stryker 955 beat all the other clones for AM even though I liked it the least of the bunch.

Older radios - 99V, S9, Omegaforce, etc. - loud on AM and on SSB - would peak about 30-35 watts. Large chassis, hole mount parts, easy to adjust, physical switches, drift on SSB.

Newer radios - Maxlog, Anytone, etc. - peak from 40-50w - minimal drift on SSB - lots of menu options, clean audio, more sensitive but noiser receivers, not loud on AM, pretty good and punchy on SSB.

If I could find a mint Magnum S9 (1969) in box I might pull the trigger again even though I hated the drift when I owned one - it just sounded so good and loud on AM and SSB. Of course that S9 was pleasing to my "CB" audio ear which is different than my "ham" audio ear. Ahhhh... radio audio...you strange and mysterious beast.
Those sound like preconceived notions based on limited experiences.
 
Yes, but it's hard to start with everything.
Here is a quick rule of thumb. If your using a bird meter, you should see a slight wiggle to a little upswang in the meter at 100%. Watching it swang up too much is usually just gay feel good watts. Locals will say your low, guarantee it. They love to see the needle bouncing. Don't trust them.
Most meters do not show true peak readings, however if it's all you got use it...you know the carrier X's 4 rule ratio. Maybe a bit more with this radio.
 
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Here's a pretty cool article about how audio bandwidth relates to performance.
Similar Concepts apply to AM.
http://www.w0btu.com/ssb_audio-weak_signal.html

In some cases, merely changing the audio characteristics of our transmitted signal can make as much difference as significantly increasing our power, at much less cost. Here's why.
It is good practice to eliminate the low frequencies below about 300 Hz, because intelligible speech does not require the transmission of frequencies lower than 300 Hz. To do so adds practically nothing to intelligibility. Elimination of the frequencies below 200 or 300 Hz removes a large percentage of the high energy speech components that do not contribute to intelligibility. Such elimination permits the transmitter to concentrate its efforts on only the essential portions of speech power. In practice, this means something like a 3 to 6 dB improvement in system effectiveness, equivalent to doubling or quadrupling its output power even before any speech processing.
 
Here's a pretty cool article about how audio bandwidth relates to performance.
Similar Concepts apply to AM.
http://www.w0btu.com/ssb_audio-weak_signal.html

In some cases, merely changing the audio characteristics of our transmitted signal can make as much difference as significantly increasing our power, at much less cost. Here's why.
It is good practice to eliminate the low frequencies below about 300 Hz, because intelligible speech does not require the transmission of frequencies lower than 300 Hz. To do so adds practically nothing to intelligibility. Elimination of the frequencies below 200 or 300 Hz removes a large percentage of the high energy speech components that do not contribute to intelligibility. Such elimination permits the transmitter to concentrate its efforts on only the essential portions of speech power. In practice, this means something like a 3 to 6 dB improvement in system effectiveness, equivalent to doubling or quadrupling its output power even before any speech processing.
Thats true if your looking to sound like a cell phone. Too sound like a human keep it up BELOW 100 htz.
 

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