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Your Favorite Radio Tech
- Thread starter Brett Dean
- Start date
Unfortunately there's probably more like myself that cannot work on their own equipment as oposesed to people like you but it is what it is. 73+1 vote for DIY. Some "techs" don't even have test equipment....they just tune until it sounds good through their talkback speakers
Let me be very serious for a minute though - I've had radios from Bells, GI Joes, Doc, Rogerbird, and more so I can tell you my experience.
If your radio has a problem - sure, send it to tech to fix it. If your radio is brand new out of the box (or was previously tuned or aligned if you bought used) then don't send it to anyone unless it isn't performing the way you would like.
An alignment is a pretty simple process and you're paying to ship a radio there and back (which has gotten pretty pricey lately as I can tell from shipping stuff for ebay) - then you're paying a tech for their time which can cost you $50 or more + tax. Again - unless your radio is out of alignment there is no need to assume you need to send it to anyone. In many cases most CB operators wouldn't even know if their radio was slightly out of alignment unless they have a locked clarifier and they aren't transmitting on frequency.
You can pretty much align most radio with a multimeter and a basic frequency counter and the instructions are simple - place probe on test point A and then do this and measure for voltage or measure for frequency etc. etc.
As far as a peak and tune - you have no idea what you are going to get when you send your radio to a tech. If you say I want it to be at 100% modulation than hopefully they can do that - but power settings and everything beyond that is a total crapshoot. Each one of those techs will set it up differently unless you tell them the exact output numbers or deadkey you want. And if you already know all that you can probably set it up yourself.
The risk of the "whackpack" is possible with many techs - and the other risk is paying $90 for a peak and tune and the tech just adjusts your power output slightly and turns the mod pot. There isn't a standard for any of it.
As far as taking advice - every single operator has a difference preference which you can tell from reading the threads - some like their radio to be loud and proud, others want it to be just right a 100% mod so you have to be careful who you listen to.
When I was first getting into radios - I sent one of mine to a guy who was known as "the specialist" for that type of radio. This guy had more people saying how good their radios sounded from him and how great he was, etc. etc.
When I got my radio back from him the deadkey was set too high - not just a watt too high but wayyy to high as in I would never run that radio with that high of a deadkey and even a newbie like me knew enough that it shouldn't be that high. I didn't have much experience back then so I can't speak to the "alignment" but I can bet it wasn't much better than the tune.
I can say that I've sent a warranty radios to Ranger/RCI and they fixed the problem, and I've sent a Magnum warranty radio to the radio shop in Ontario California with a complicated issue and they fixed that but beyond a factory warranty repair i would just save your money and figure out how to DIY, the people on the forum can walk you through it and then you can do it for every radio you own.
teach a man to fish...
Lmmfao!!!!!!!!!I've had good luck with Rolling Radios, he keeps it simple and doesn't try to BS you into buying a bunch of stuff you don't need. He doesn't get fancy but he'll set you up with a good working radio.
Of course for the utmost premium in performance you have to see this guy.
http://www.angelfire.com/wv2/whiskeyvictorydx/watt/wildwilly.html
I wouldn't discount your abilities man, I'm sure you could do it, unless you have a disability or loss of eyesight or something.
CB Tricks has a ton of great info for alignment, I think the original guy was asking about the 95T - http://cbtricks.com/radios/galaxy/dx95t/index.htm
Mostly just need a frequency counter and multi-meter. Most of the radios are really easy and have the adjustment points clearly labeled on the board.
I always enjoyed the site below for reading about techs
It's outdated now as many aren't around but still pretty good to see what they can screw up Rolling Radios is on that list as well http://www.cbretards.com/scumbags/scumbags.htm
Bingo. I still think there people whiteout disabilities that couldn't do it. There's so many people who have some knowledge and go as far as to call themselves techs and still can't get it right. If everyone who claimed to be a tec did what they were getting paid for people like myself wouldn't have to go through tons of posts asking for someone who's reliable, trustworthy and knows what their doing. It's difficult to find someone who's truly compitant. It really sucks. I've copied some of the links and phone numbers. DBT seems promising. I'll give him a call next week. Thanks. 73I wouldn't discount your abilities man, I'm sure you could do it, unless you have a disability or loss of eyesight or something.
CB Tricks has a ton of great info for alignment, I think the original guy was asking about the 95T - http://cbtricks.com/radios/galaxy/dx95t/index.htm
Mostly just need a frequency counter and multi-meter. Most of the radios are really easy and have the adjustment points clearly labeled on the board.
I always enjoyed the site below for reading about techs
http://www.cbretards.com/scumbags/scumbags.htm
I always assume a thread is new. I always fail to read the date stamp on the bottom of each post. damn that really sucks! Even though this post is old I'm hoping that someone out there can give me contact information for A person who works on radios and amplifiers. Especially tube equipment both transceivers and amplifiers. Mike has forsaken me! LOL. In all honesty Mike's a great guy and I have a feeling that he will eventually get in touch with me. Weather it's this year I'm not exactly sure but I'm fairly confident he will eventually call. That doesn't mean that I'm not on the look for someone who can do what he claims to be able to and is trustworthy enough to send him equipment and know that I and whoever else is going to get that equipment back repaired property. Thanks a bunch 73 ps a member of our most excellent site has given me an email address of someone in my area but he as far as I understood doesn't work on tube equipment. My fingers are crossed for Mike to come around from the bump on his head I'm assisting he has. I know for fact a couple of members are working with Mike on some projects. I hope those will give him a message for me, CALL ME YOU MOFO!!! LOL. IT'S SO SAD ONE NEEDS TO BEG SOMEONE TO TAKE THEIR MONEY. I WISH NOMAD WOULD TAKE IN MY PHANTOM BUT HE DOESN'T DO MAIL INS. IT'S SO NICE LOOKING BUT AT HALF THE OUTPUT I JUST STOPPED USEING IT AND REPLACED IT WITH A 4X 1446. IT'S ONE OF THOSE PALOMAR/BOOMER/SUPERSTAR WITH THE BUILT IN 35 AMP POWER SUPPLY. IT ACTUALLY WORKS WELL AND I GET VERY GOOD REPORTS WITH 11 WATTS ON SSB. NO CRUNCHY SOUNDING AUDIO. IM SURE ITS AS DIRTY AS EVERY AMP I OWN BUT NO COMPLAINTS FROM THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR OR SPLATTER ISSUES. IM ONLY GETTING ABOUT TWO HOUR'S A WEEK ON AIR IF THAT. IM LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT CYCLE. IT SEEMS AS IF 9/10 OF LOCALS ARE EITHER WAITING FOR THE NEXT CYCLE LIKE MYSELF OR JUST GET ON AIR A FEW HOURS A WEEK LIKE MYSELF. AND I'M JUST TURNING ON MY RIG AT A DIFFERENT TIME THEN THEY ARE. ANYWAY THAT'S MY STORY AND IM STICKING TO IT. 73
Here is a link to a list of people that work on radios and amps. Tube amps as well as vintage gear.
http://www.af4k.com/mega/repairs.htm
Post this link into your browser. It's a bunch of shops across the US. Hope this helps some. Good luck and hope you get it fixed.
http://www.af4k.com/mega/repairs.htm
Post this link into your browser. It's a bunch of shops across the US. Hope this helps some. Good luck and hope you get it fixed.
It took me almost a year to get around to sending my radio into Mikes but he replaced bad parts and recapped it. Works great!
He has a youtube channel Mikesradiorepair. Thank you Sonar.
hank
He has a youtube channel Mikesradiorepair. Thank you Sonar.
hank
I've been a customer of his for over two years. As a matter of fact if you check his YouTube channel the second or third video he ever posted was of a uniden Madison. It's mine. I can't even get in touch with him. I've reverted to sending a single email to the two separate addresses he owns once a month. I'm hoping that one day he'll return those messages. In the mean time I'm hoping one of our knowledge wwdx members who don't nessesserily work on others equipment but have the tools and knowledgeto to do so will say "what the hay. I'll help sonar out and do some repairs for him,". There's nothing wrong with helping out a fellow homosapien and make some money while doing so. My stations have issues but still work as the problems don't affect my audio. Audio to me is one of the most important thing IMO. That doesn't mean I like operating equipment at less than it's full potential which is what I'm doing. I'm glad the issues showed up on the cycles down time. I probably get a few hours a month in. Anyway good luck with Mike or whoever you eventually get to work on your equipment. If you happen to get Miketk do work for you send him my regards. And if you find someone else who's compitant please pm me his contact info. 73
Many people keep passing on Mike's contact info but it's pointless. He doesn't return emails or phone messages. To bad but it's fact. 73