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jmschumski
09-08-2016, 06:09 PM
Looking to buy a base station radio setup need some advice on which radios are good what antennas so on and so forth

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JesseJamesDallas
09-08-2016, 07:49 PM
You looking for a regular type base radio or a mobile you could hook up to a power supply? AM/SSB? Beam or ground plane? Lot's of variables...

What kind of $$$ you looking to spend?

jmschumski
09-08-2016, 08:01 PM
You looking for a regular type base radio or a mobile you could hook up to a power supply? AM/SSB? Beam or ground plane? Lot's of variables...

What kind of $$$ you looking to spend?
Thought about going either way was look for some opinions. For starting out I will probably go with a mobile that I can hook to a power supply starting out. I have a 600 watt messenger amp(haven't decided what I'm putting it on yet) AM/SSB wanting to mount the antenna on the roof of the house

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jmschumski
09-08-2016, 08:01 PM
Probably around 600$ to start if it's possible being I'm just getting into the base station side.

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222DBFL
09-09-2016, 05:19 AM
For a good starter radio and having that amp, the RCI 2950, magnum 1, or strkyer 955hp would work well. As far as antennas. For a vertical depending on where you live, a good 3 element beam would work well for DX and the Sirio line of antennas like the Sirio 827, 2016, or even the Sirio vector 4000, if you don't have bad weather would be ideal. Anything else and you are looking at way more money.
For other beam the antennas, there are many, but you would either have to build one or spend some more money.
Same with the vertical antennas. Shockwave (USA ones), the I10K, and the Mr. Coily, antennas are very nice, but they cost!!
This goes for most beam antennas other than a 3 Element Yagi, which Sirio makes. As well as a bunch of others I believe. JJD, is way more versed than I am when it comes to antennas. I run a Sirio vector 4000, and it has served me well for what it is. Yes they could use some beefing up, but if you don't live in a bad weather area. They will hold up fine with some minor mods. As far as radios, the ones I listed or even an older cobra 148gtl, or uniden grant would work well for AM/SSB. If AM only get a cobra 29 or similar.
I use an HF radio myself, but most of my time is spent on SSB.
Power suppy wise. You'll need a decently large on X and for those I recommend the MegaWatt power supplies. If you plan on running that amp anyway. The MegaWatt S700-12, which are 50A switching supplies. Get 2 of them and parallel them. They have this ability out of the box. Just have to adjust voltages properly so they aren't fighting each other. That or a couple of the MegaWatt S400-12's which are rated at 36A. Google MegaWatt power supplies for more info on those.
Now as for linear power supplies, you would need at least something like an Astron 70A supply if not larger. And those will cost you a bunch!! The MegaWatt supplies, while being a switching one, are pretty darn clean. I use one of the S400-12'a with my Icom 746 and have never had any noise or hash issues. Many will say the same. Read up on them and you'll see why I say these particular ones.
Any more info needed, I'm sure others will respond. I think I've given enough to get you started with some research. Have a good day.

jmschumski
09-09-2016, 04:27 PM
For a good starter radio and having that amp, the RCI 2950, magnum 1, or strkyer 955hp would work well. As far as antennas. For a vertical depending on where you live, a good 3 element beam would work well for DX and the Sirio line of antennas like the Sirio 827, 2016, or even the Sirio vector 4000, if you don't have bad weather would be ideal. Anything else and you are looking at way more money.
For other beam the antennas, there are many, but you would either have to build one or spend some more money.
Same with the vertical antennas. Shockwave (USA ones), the I10K, and the Mr. Coily, antennas are very nice, but they cost!!
This goes for most beam antennas other than a 3 Element Yagi, which Sirio makes. As well as a bunch of others I believe. JJD, is way more versed than I am when it comes to antennas. I run a Sirio vector 4000, and it has served me well for what it is. Yes they could use some beefing up, but if you don't live in a bad weather area. They will hold up fine with some minor mods. As far as radios, the ones I listed or even an older cobra 148gtl, or uniden grant would work well for AM/SSB. If AM only get a cobra 29 or similar.
I use an HF radio myself, but most of my time is spent on SSB.
Power suppy wise. You'll need a decently large on X and for those I recommend the MegaWatt power supplies. If you plan on running that amp anyway. The MegaWatt S700-12, which are 50A switching supplies. Get 2 of them and parallel them. They have this ability out of the box. Just have to adjust voltages properly so they aren't fighting each other. That or a couple of the MegaWatt S400-12's which are rated at 36A. Google MegaWatt power supplies for more info on those.
Now as for linear power supplies, you would need at least something like an Astron 70A supply if not larger. And those will cost you a bunch!! The MegaWatt supplies, while being a switching one, are pretty darn clean. I use one of the S400-12'a with my Icom 746 and have never had any noise or hash issues. Many will say the same. Read up on them and you'll see why I say these particular ones.
Any more info needed, I'm sure others will respond. I think I've given enough to get you started with some research. Have a good day.
Have you heard anything good about the galaxy 2517 kinda curious as I'm a galaxy fan

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222DBFL
09-09-2016, 05:46 PM
I don't know much about the Galaxy radios other then them being good for AM use mostly. For SSB use, I prefer an HF radio. I have had many Galaxy radios. But I used them all on AM only. So that is about as far as my knowledge goes as far as knowing them. They do well on AM. SSB they can drift some. Just from what I have heard on the air. Some do better than others. I suppose the weather has a lot to do with it as well. They don't like cold temps. I am sure others have more knowledge than I when it comes to the 2517. Like I said before. If you are looking for both AM and SSB use, get an RCI 2950 or something similar like the Stryker 955, or magnum 1. Or even a used HF radio. But if you are going to use the radio for mostly AM, the Galaxy radios are pretty good. That is JMHO. I'm no radio expert that is for sure!! I have a few left, but have gotten rid of a few. I now use an Icom 746 for my base station, and use it 99.9% of the time on SSB. If I want to talk on AM, I break out my cobra 29 LX LE, or one of my other AM radios. But I don't do AM much. Most of the guys around here use SSB. So that is where I am mostly. I do listen to a few locals on AM and speak with them from time to time, but not too often. Again. There are many others here that are much more knowledgable about radios than I am!!
Sorry I can't be of more help with the 2517, but I think it's a pretty basic radio. Like a 949 but built around a base station. I could be wrong though.

jmschumski
09-09-2016, 06:45 PM
I don't know much about the Galaxy radios other then them being good for AM use mostly. For SSB use, I prefer an HF radio. I have had many Galaxy radios. But I used them all on AM only. So that is about as far as my knowledge goes as far as knowing them. They do well on AM. SSB they can drift some. Just from what I have heard on the air. Some do better than others. I suppose the weather has a lot to do with it as well. They don't like cold temps. I am sure others have more knowledge than I when it comes to the 2517. Like I said before. If you are looking for both AM and SSB use, get an RCI 2950 or something similar like the Stryker 955, or magnum 1. Or even a used HF radio. But if you are going to use the radio for mostly AM, the Galaxy radios are pretty good. That is JMHO. I'm no radio expert that is for sure!! I have a few left, but have gotten rid of a few. I now use an Icom 746 for my base station, and use it 99.9% of the time on SSB. If I want to talk on AM, I break out my cobra 29 LX LE, or one of my other AM radios. But I don't do AM much. Most of the guys around here use SSB. So that is where I am mostly. I do listen to a few locals on AM and speak with them from time to time, but not too often. Again. There are many others here that are much more knowledgable about radios than I am!!
Sorry I can't be of more help with the 2517, but I think it's a pretty basic radio. Like a 949 but built around a base station. I could be wrong though.
I live in South Carolina so weather isn't too much of a problem, I have a 959 in my pickup. I was just curious if any one had any personal experience with one I've not decided yet by no means but was just curious on how they perform. I picked someone up from FL the other day on 38 LSB but I don't have enough power or the right antenna on my mobile to get out and talk at the moment

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222DBFL
09-10-2016, 12:08 AM
Some pretty good old radio for SSB use include the cobra 148's, uniden pc122's, uniden grants, and for base stations the cobra 2000's and uniden Washington's. All good radios for both AM and SSB. But most newer radios don't have drift issues though. Some don't like exports, but the rci 2950 or Stryker 955hp are pretty good SSB radios as well as AM radios too. But these are JMHO's. Also getting the best antenna you can is key to making contacts no matter what radio you are using. My Sirio vector 4000 has done an excellent job for me for a vertical antenna. But they are a long antenna and can get damaged from bad weather. I modded mine very slightly, adding some HD heat shrink to every one of the joints of the vertical part of the antenna. This coupled with using guyed ropes near the top of my mast has helped tremendously. It's seen its share of foul weather here in central FL where I live and is as good as the day I placed it up. Here is a of pic of my antenna.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160910/b174ebaefe22477a050175e4d31a6390.jpg
There are many other antennas out there that are more heavy duty, but this one is pretty good for what it is and is a darn good vertical antenna IMO. It makes me many contacts when the conditions allow. If I can hear stations, 99.9% of the time I can get back to them with 100w max. I use less and it gets the job done. But sometimes when there's a pileup, a good antenna and 100 watts on SSB will get you out of the mud believe it or not. Anyhow. If you really like the Galaxy radios, have a look at the 94hp. They seem to get pretty good reviews. Just from what I have read. Hope all this helps, and have a good one.

222DBFL
09-10-2016, 03:30 AM
Spend as much as you can on the antenna setup then worry about the radio. A uniden 980 with a good mic will do the job quite well paired with that amp. And don't forget you'll need a good power supply as well. JMHO's. Others might disagree. But your antenna system is what is going to make or break your ability to get out and make contacts.
Like I said, if it were me, that is the way I would go about things. I'll let some others more knowledgable than I tell you wha the scoop is. But I am pretty sure they won't disagree with what I have said. Hope thus helps and have a good one!!
73 and God Bless from
222 Daytona Bch., FL.

JesseJamesDallas
09-11-2016, 09:30 PM
Don't know much about the Galaxy 2517, other than they don't make'em anymore...I have a RCI 2980WX base, and a Cobra 2000 GTL, and between those two IMO the Cobra 2000 GTL kicks the RCI's butt!

Right now the RCI is back in it's box, and I'm using the Cobra because I get way more complements on it, than I do on the RCI...AM and SSB. Hard to beat a good Cobra 2000, hard part tho is finding one that hasn't had a thousand golden screwdrivers stuck in the back of it, or a bunch of extra switch's stuck on the face. (and at a decent price)

Regardless of which radio you go with, don't go cheap on your antenna set-up if you really are interested in getting out. A beam antenna is the way to go if your wanting to shoot some skip, since you can point the thing in the general direction of where the skip is coming from... Ground planes will work too, but your not going to have the same effect on transmitting your signal as you would with a beam...

I prefer the dual polarity type beams over the single polarity type like the MaCo 3 element, mainly because it gives me the option to go vertical or horizontal...Horizontal works best (IMO) for DX, where vertical works best for local. So having a antenna that has dual polarity gives you the best of both worlds all in one antenna.

Another thing is going to be the height..."Higher the better!" 30' will work great in most locations, but like I said, Higher the better...

I did have my antenna up on a 30' tower to start, then later added one more section to get up to 40', and I could tell the difference with just adding 10 more feet...Another point to "height" I have a friend that lives maybe 30-40 miles away that runs basically the same set-up as I have, only his antenna is up around 60'...A-hole cuts my lips off every time we get on the air at the same time...

I did have a Lightning L4 quad up, but kept having problems with the wires breaking on it, and having to bring it down for repairs after strong storms, which got old after a while, then one good storm finally turned it into a pretzel which gave me a good reason to get a new antenna...

What I have now is similar to the L4, it's a MaCo shooting star 4 element dual polarity antenna... and so far it's been threw several strong storms and nothing has bothered it...Can't beat the L4 quad tho for making contacts, but they will need some attention occasionally after storms blow threw.

jmschumski
09-11-2016, 10:28 PM
Don't know much about the Galaxy 2517, other than they don't make'em anymore...I have a RCI 2980WX base, and a Cobra 2000 GTL, and between those two IMO the Cobra 2000 GTL kicks the RCI's butt!

Right now the RCI is back in it's box, and I'm using the Cobra because I get way more complements on it, than I do on the RCI...AM and SSB. Hard to beat a good Cobra 2000, hard part tho is finding one that hasn't had a thousand golden screwdrivers stuck in the back of it, or a bunch of extra switch's stuck on the face. (and at a decent price)

Regardless of which radio you go with, don't go cheap on your antenna set-up if you really are interested in getting out. A beam antenna is the way to go if your wanting to shoot some skip, since you can point the thing in the general direction of where the skip is coming from... Ground planes will work too, but your not going to have the same effect on transmitting your signal as you would with a beam...

I prefer the dual polarity type beams over the single polarity type like the MaCo 3 element, mainly because it gives me the option to go vertical or horizontal...Horizontal works best (IMO) for DX, where vertical works best for local. So having a antenna that has dual polarity gives you the best of both worlds all in one antenna.

Another thing is going to be the height..."Higher the better!" 30' will work great in most locations, but like I said, Higher the better...

I did have my antenna up on a 30' tower to start, then later added one more section to get up to 40', and I could tell the difference with just adding 10 more feet...Another point to "height" I have a friend that lives maybe 30-40 miles away that runs basically the same set-up as I have, only his antenna is up around 60'...A-hole cuts my lips off every time we get on the air at the same time...

I did have a Lightning L4 quad up, but kept having problems with the wires breaking on it, and having to bring it down for repairs after strong storms, which got old after a while, then one good storm finally turned it into a pretzel which gave me a good reason to get a new antenna...

What I have now is similar to the L4, it's a MaCo shooting star 4 element dual polarity antenna... and so far it's been threw several strong storms and nothing has bothered it...Can't beat the L4 quad tho for making contacts, but they will need some attention occasionally after storms blow threw.
JJD would it be more cost friendly with a mobile radio hooked to a power supply to start out? I know the upper end of radios are almost as much as it costs to just buy a base. But didn't know if I could get more success out of a mobile or a base?

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222DBFL
09-12-2016, 04:53 AM
jmschumski, it all depends on what you are looking to accomplish and what radio you get. The cobra 2000 is one heck of a radio and if you can find one like JJD stated that hasn't been butchered, and the price is right, that would be about your best best. Yes there are many other options. You could get 2 separate radios, one for AM, one for SSB. Use a decent sized power supply. In which case I like the MegaWatt ones. For $60 you can have a 30+ amp supply that won't cause noise or hash, and will give you the freedom to run pretty much most any radio you want. If you need larger, get the 50A model. Still not real expensive. Like I said before, 2 of them running parallel and you can run your messenger amp as well as a radio too. If you prefer or want a mobile radio, the older pre China cobra 148's or uniden grants are excellent radios for both AM and SSB use. Just make sure a good tech goes through it and recaps it as well as giving it a good alignment and tune. There are still a few good shops around. Doug's Custom CB shop, Key CB, Bells CB, and I'm sure a few others as well. The ones I me tiles above I am pretty darn sure do good work. At any rate, if cost is a factor, like said, spend as much as you can on an antenna setup, including tower/mast, coax, surge arrestor, grounding, and such, and use what radios you have. Just get a power supply. If you want a radio as well, maybe sell the ones you have now and get a better one, or one that suits your needs better. JMHO's.

JesseJamesDallas
09-12-2016, 05:27 AM
If your panning on buying New, as far as I know there is only one CB Base radio still being made, and that's the Galaxy 2547, which doesn't get that good of reviews... You can still find a few 10 Meter base radios for sale tho like the RCI 2980wx, and the Galaxy Saturn, but since these radios are actually 10 Meter radios they will need to be converted to pick-up the 11 Meter (cb) band....(not a biggie, most all CB Shops will do the mod when you buy the radio)

When it comes to what radio, it's up to you...most of the base radios actually use the same boards as what is put in the mobile radios...Like the Cobra 2000 GTL...It uses the same insides as the Cobra 148 mobile radios. Only difference between the two radios was the cabinet, and power supply...

222DBFL
09-12-2016, 06:03 AM
JJD. Hope all is well. Saw where you posted about your L4 quad taking a hard hit and getting pretzeled!! Not good! Hope you are happy with the new antenna!! And thx for giving more info than I have! I know you know WAY more than I do about these things. At any rate, again, hope all is well and have a good one.
73 and God Bless from
222 Daytona Bch., FL.

JesseJamesDallas
09-12-2016, 06:50 AM
JJD. Hope all is well. Saw where you posted about your L4 quad taking a hard hit and getting pretzeled!! Not good! Hope you are happy with the new antenna!! And thx for giving more info than I have! I know you know WAY more than I do about these things. At any rate, again, hope all is well and have a good one.
73 and God Bless from
222 Daytona Bch., FL.

Thx 222...don't know about all that knowing stuff tho...lots of my knolage has came from "trial and error" (most of which was error) lol

But all is well, your not half as sorry as I was to see that $$$ quad turned into a pretzel tho...sure wasn't the way I wanted to start that day... but I'm happy with the MaCo. It's a little heavier antenna but better built, and seams to perform just as well as the quad did.

73's JJD

222DBFL
09-12-2016, 07:20 AM
I can totally understand the not being happy part. Although my first antenna wasn't as near as expensive, I had to watch it fall out of my hands and get totally destroyed!! Man was I pissed at myself!! Anyways, same here, I mostly have found things through the same way, trial and error!! And liken you said, the error rate is about 2-3 times more than the success rate! With all that said, glad to hear you like the Maco, and hopefully it will survive those bad storms you guys get. I have been very lucky with my Sirio vector 4000, I'll just say that so as to not jinks myself. But it has been through some rough stuff here around Central FL. Nothing like you guys have seen I'm sure, but still bad for an antenna of its size. Hope you have a good one and man I hope something picks up here as the band has been pretty dead around these parts!! SSB anyhow!!
73 and God Bless.

jmschumski
09-13-2016, 05:08 PM
I don't know much about the Galaxy radios other then them being good for AM use mostly. For SSB use, I prefer an HF radio. I have had many Galaxy radios. But I used them all on AM only. So that is about as far as my knowledge goes as far as knowing them. They do well on AM. SSB they can drift some. Just from what I have heard on the air. Some do better than others. I suppose the weather has a lot to do with it as well. They don't like cold temps. I am sure others have more knowledge than I when it comes to the 2517. Like I said before. If you are looking for both AM and SSB use, get an RCI 2950 or something similar like the Stryker 955, or magnum 1. Or even a used HF radio. But if you are going to use the radio for mostly AM, the Galaxy radios are pretty good. That is JMHO. I'm no radio expert that is for sure!! I have a few left, but have gotten rid of a few. I now use an Icom 746 for my base station, and use it 99.9% of the time on SSB. If I want to talk on AM, I break out my cobra 29 LX LE, or one of my other AM radios. But I don't do AM much. Most of the guys around here use SSB. So that is where I am mostly. I do listen to a few locals on AM and speak with them from time to time, but not too often. Again. There are many others here that are much more knowledgable about radios than I am!!
Sorry I can't be of more help with the 2517, but I think it's a pretty basic radio. Like a 949 but built around a base station. I could be wrong though.
Do you have a link from where your finding the mega watts for that price?


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222DBFL
09-13-2016, 08:50 PM
http://www.12voltpowersupplies.us/
Here you go. This doesn't include shipping, but the prices are the there.

222DBFL
09-13-2016, 08:51 PM
And this is the actual home page for MegaWatt power supplies. Hope that helped. Have a good one.

222DBFL
09-13-2016, 08:54 PM
Shipping is $8 for the 2 smaller ones, the S350-12 and the S400-12 and $15 for the larger S700-12 50A ones. Again hope this helps.

222DBFL
09-14-2016, 04:00 AM
Before you go out and spend a bunch of money right now, know that the CB or 11 meter band is pretty dead. You might get occasional DX, but don't expect it everyday that is for sure!! You will find that more local stuff will be your best bet. And a good 5/8 wave vertical antenna will do that just fine. A good radio that won't break the bank and can safely be used with your messenger amp is the uniden 980. They work great out of the box on SSB and are 99.9% of the time dead on frequency right out of the box. Mine was as well as what I have read about many others. Only issue with this radio is the weak final they used. It's not rated for very much power.
Best things to do if you get one, a uniden 980 that is, is to turn the AM power back to 2 watts dead key and about 8 watts of pep. On SSB turn the power back to about 8 watts pep as well. This can be done by a tech rather easily or by yourself if you have some knowledge about radios. Just don't use a metal screwdriver!!! And always make your adjustments into a 50 ohm dummy load. A 25 watt dummy load will work fine for that radio. And also reason for keeping the dead key at 2 watts is that the internal diagnostics will be skewed if you take the power down below 2 watts. I don't trust internal meters anyways. But it is some food for thought. And also 2 watts dead key should be plenty for that amp you have. Don't worry so much about the output power of the amp as long as it's making a decent amount of power. I am not too familiar with that particular amp, so excuse me if I don't know how many transistors it has. I do know that the uniden 980 won't overdrive it. And like I said, don't worry about getting 600 watts out of it. If you get 400 watts using the 980 as a radio, no one on the other end will notice a difference. And it will keep the amp cool and happy. And they are a clean radio as long as you don't try to squeeze every last watt out of them. Also if you plan on using an external speaker, remove the internal one. This will help a little with keeping the radio cool. Adding a small fan or heat sink to the back of the radio isn't a bad idea either. Just turning the power back like I mentioned above will help a bunch believe it or not.
Now with that amp, again, not sure what the amp draw is, but make sure you have some headroom, meaning get more than you need. If it says it draws 50 amps, get a 60-75 amp power supply. Won't hurt a thing. Better to have more amperage then not have enough.
Now like I said, either a good antenna like JJD has which can operate both vertically and horizontally will work well or just a good vertical antenna will work fine. This is where my money would go to first!! JMHO about that as I said in previous posts. The Sirio 2016, 827, or if you don't get bad weather the Sirio vector 4000, are good antennas for the money. You want to spend more. Look into the US made Shockwave antenna, or an I10K or even a Mr. Coily antenna. But these are very heavy antennas, or at least the Shockwave is. The sirio 2016 is no slouch, neither is the 827 or the vector 4000. Get them up to 30ft or more off the ground and they will work well. And don't skimp on the coax and such either. I know there is more info, but for now, research the antennas and get a power supply if you plan on using a mobile radio. Again I hope all this helps and have a good day!!

222DBFL
09-16-2016, 03:03 AM
Have you made up your mind as to what you are going to do?? Just curious. For the money you want to spend, an IMAX 2000, with a 1:1 isolation balun and a good single final radio, something like a uniden grant, uniden pc122, or even the uniden 980 will work well with that amp you have. Then get the proper power supplies you will need to run them.
A push up pole will work for now, or a tripod mounted on your roof properly and a 10ft 2" mast pipe, and some guyed wire or rope. Then ground everything correctly. Use at least 3 or more ground rods and tie them all together to form a single point ground system. Reading up on how they ground commercial towers is a good way to learn how to do this. Also a good surge arrestor, one made by polyphaser, Huber shuner, or similar, is a good idea as well as good coax and connectors. I always like to use at the very least LMR240 or LMR400. But that is just me. It lasts a lot longer. And is good coax. As long as you stay away from the cheap stuff. Buy from a good company. Same with the surge arrestor and connectors. You can order your coax with connectors already installed. Not a bad idea either. Just some food for thought. Yes there are other antennas as I've listed before, but the IMAX 2000 is a decent antenna that is easily put up. That or an A99 with the GPK kit to help with cmc issues. Again, JMHO's. Have a good one and let us know what you end up doing. And be safe!!!