Originally Posted by
222DBFL
For a good SSB/AM radio the Stryker 955hp is a nice radio. So is the Lincoln 2 ver.3. SSB radios, the Yeticom optima mk3 is about the best I've used as of late. It's the only export radio with a 2nd filter for SSB. Takes a lot of noise out. You can get these off eBay or drom Yeticom out of New Zealand where the radios are sold by an authorized dealer of the Yeticom optima mk3. Cost about 300 for one shipped. Not the best am radio, but for SSB you won't find much better without jumping into an HF radio like a kenwood ts480hx or similar. But those are a totally different Animal all together. And yes for a simple SSB/CB starter radio the uniden 980 is best bang for the buck. You won't find another SSB radio at this price that is worth a shit. Galaxy radios drift on SSB. JMO. The uniden 980 doesn't suffer from drifting as its CPU controlled. The Galaxy radios have some components that make them prone to drifting or moving around freq. while talking on SSB, which is not good. There are several radios that I could recommend, but honestly for ease of use and price, the 980 is a great starter radio. JMHO. Or if you really want a radio with a bunch of bells and whistles, the strkyer 955hp will do a great job with almost 100 watts of power. 70-80 watts. And believe me, skip the lil wil antenna. Total waste of money. Might as well use a clothes hanger! No where near long enough to be worth anything at 3ft. Remember a 1/4 wave antenna for 11m is about 108" total. Which is about 9ft. Any antenna close to this will work well, like the sirio performer 5000, being about 7ft tall, they aren't too far behind a 108" whip in performance. Well built antennas. Don't skimp on the antenna. I would rather have a $10 radio and a good antenna setup then a $1k radio with a cheap 3ft antenna. It's a waste of time and you won't be able to transmit and receive very far. At least with the lil wil. If anything get a Wilson 1000 or 5000. Something with a longer whip. The taller the better. The sirio antennas are almost a foot taller than the Wilson 5000 antennas. And the new Wilson antennas seem to suffer from bad bad QC issues. Do some research and you'll see the new ones have had some issues especially as of late. The pre Barjan ones are good, but these newer ones I've heard reports of new ones with water in the coil, antennas that just won't tune. Like
I said, have 2 new ones sitting in a closet as neither would tune below 1.6-1.7:1 vswr. Put up an old Wilson 5000 that was an old one and it worked fine. Both the new ones had issues. Not sure what, but they just didn't work. Haven't ran across a sirio antenna that doesn't work or tune like they're supposed to. JMHO and experiences. Good luck with whatever you choose, but like I said, stay away from the lil wil it's a total waste of money and you'll Be disappointed you bought it. Save your money and spend it on a good antenna setup and then get a good radio. That is what I would do anyway. Again, good luck and have a good one.
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