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**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

Originally Posted by JesseJamesDallas

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

Originally Posted by 222DBFL

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

Originally Posted by 222DBFL

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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