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Thread: Another NOOB

  1. #21
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    222DBFL

    What other radio beside the Uniden 980 would you recommend. I have looked at Galaxy 959, 979, 33HP2. The guy who worked on the radio recommended a Connex 4400 I think it was that he had tuned? I understand that this particular radio and the 33HP2 would need to be tuned to CB frequencies but am unsure about the SSB stuff at this point. I have also seen where a Texas Ranger radio was recommended but again tuning and mod's I don't know who I can trust around here to do it RIGHT, and at reasonable cost. I have seen some web sites with mod's alone totaling 200 to 300 dollars. Again I don't know what they are doing so I can't comment on cost other than I see where some say "recommended" mod's should not be to expensive.

    I suppose I'm asking for a good "Starter" radio and if the Uniden is it then so be it. Just asking questions like a stupid new guy.

    I'll throw 30 / 40 dollars at a Lil Wil and see and I can always upgrade from there.


    I do not mind spending a little money on the right radio with the right mod's etc... and the internet has really been little help

  2. #22
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    If I were buying today, I'd buy an export radio. I would get the President Lincoln II v3.

  3. #23
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    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.

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by 222DBFL View Post
    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.
    Do you like the Yeticom Optima MK3 better than the President Lincoln II v3?

    Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk

  5. #25
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    Yes I do. It's a better SSB radio hands down. If you order one directly from Yeticom you'll get the upgraded mic, only place you'll get it from like that. If you order one of eBay, you'll most kiley get the small mic that is tiny. About as big as shoulder mic. For curing this issue, but an Icom hm36 mic, the real ones made in Japan are the best. The new ones are made in China, and the clones of the HM36 are junk!!! Do not buy the clone mics unless you have some modding skills. JMO. The optima mk3 is the only export radio that has a 2nd IF filter for SSB. It kills a lot of unwanted noise without killing the entire receive. They aren't big AM radio's per say but will drive an amp just fine. They just don't show good numbers on a bird meter on AM. Pep they do about 50-60 watts on both AM and SSB. They don't drift at all, and they have great audio with the addition of the Icom mic. You can get other Icom mics that work well with this radio, it's 8 pin jack is Icom compatible. If it were me and I'd order one from survival-systems.com, this is the home of the optima mk3 and Mike does an awsome job with them. I've not used the Stryker 955hp personally, or the Lincoln 2, but I have a local with a Lincoln 2 ver.3 and its a good sounding radio. I've also heard the 955hp on air and it has some nice audio as well. Any of the 3 radios listed are going to be pretty good. The optima mk3 is just one well built radio that is simple to use and works very well. For about $300 you can get one direct from the site I listed above, or for about $265 off eBay when they are available. I believe the name of the people that sell on eBay is Cold Front Sales. Want to say they are out of Michigan. JMO, but like I said, I would order one from Yeticom. It will come with warranty and all. Also, I've used the 2018 extreme mic with this radio and it sounds good too. Use an 8 to 4 pin adapter. But for someone looking for a top notch and IMO one of the best SSB radios as far as exports go, the optima is the ticket. It's already opened up from the factory if you do get one off eBay and coverage is 24.500-29.999. Goes in 1,.5,10k steps or mhz as well. Only 2ns number of mhz anyway. Check out the web site that I listed. They have all the specs and such. And also look at some pics of the inside of one. Built very well. I've had 3 magnum 257hp's and all but one now works. They break. I wish that magnum would have built the radio like the optima mk3. It would have rocked then! But anyway. Hope I have enough info and that it might help someone. Now if you really want to get serious and have a bad ass radio that will blow the doors off any CB or export radio, have a look at the kenwood ts480hx. A real radio! My top choices for starter radios would be.
    1. Uniden 980, simply because of the price point.
    2. Optima mk3.
    3. Stryker 955hp
    4. Lincoln 2 ver. 3
    5. Uniden grant 2
    These would be the radios I would look at. If you have the money and as serious about the hobby, the kenwood is worth it. You can get a nice used one for about $700-$900 or less if you look around. This is a 200 watt radio. And it's an HF or ham radio, and yes it can transmit on 11m. But for a person just wanting to get their feet wet, the uniden 980 is a great starter radio. JMHO. Good day.

  6. #26
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    The President Grant II is nice looking and similar to the 980 SSB.

    I like the Lincoln II a bit more than the Yeticom because it shows both channel and frequency.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk

  7. #27
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    Had to work today..... Damit, its Friday, ain't supposed to have to work on Friday.

    Wow, lots to look at and think about. Some of those radios have a lot of bells and whistles that I would be totally lost on. None listed are out of the question price wise but I suppose I should get my feet wet with the Uniden. Once I understand a little more about what I'm doing then I can step up. One local truck stop has a 980 but I can save a ton from Amazon.

    I have been told by several people that the Lil Wil antennas were great plug and play units. I did purchase one and you are correct 222DBFL. Can't get the SWR's down at all. Best I can get is 1.7 on ch1, 1.7 on ch40 but its 1.1 on ch20. It started at 1.1 on ch1 and 3.0 on ch40. I will play with the K30 over the weekend, if it will stop raining.

    There is a Ham Fest going on in a town about an hour away this weekend. I thought I might ride out and see whats going on and maybe find someone that wants to talk CB's or at least get an idea of any shops around.
    I did find a CB shop about 45 mins away maybe I will call them and feel them out on stuff to see if its worth the ride.

    I don't really know what else to ask and I thank you for your advise and input but I really need to find someone close to get all this stuff figured out. I will let you guys know when I have the Uniden and Sirio antenna installed and give you a report.

    Thanks again.

  8. #28
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    The lil wil antennas are very narrow banded. Your readings are about right for that antenna. Order a sirio performer 5000 and the pl145 mag mount or a hard mount. Sirio sells them as well that match up with the performer 5000. You need a tall antenna. And the sirio performer is about as tall as you can get as far as base loaded antennas are concerned. And they work well. I could talk 50-100 miles depending on the conditions with my optima mk3. Normally about 40-50 miles. This is in FL where most of the land is flat as well. With the 980 and a good antenna, you can make contacts on SSB around the world much easier than on AM. Just what I have found. Read up on single sideband and how it works and you will understand a bit better. And I agree the 980 is a good radio to start with. You can get them from about $100 or so shipped if you look around. Anyway. Get a better antenna setup and you'll be much happier. I would stay away from Wilson antennas as it seems as of late they have had some bad QC issues. Google and see for yourself. I've 2 new 5000's that won't tune below 1.7:1, this is with an antenna analyzer. And the antennas were both brand new. Tried several diff. Whips as well. But the lil will at 3ft is about as good as a clothes hanger IMO. Way too narrow banded and too short physically. Can only make up for so much height loss then you have other compromises to have to make. JMHO.

  9. #29
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    Take your time with the sirio antenna and it will tune flat or darn close. Cut 1/8" pieces off the whip if needed which usually is. If your swr is higher on 40 then on 1, the antenna is too long and needs to be shortened. Opposite for an antenna that is higher on 1 then 40, it's too short. Normally the antennas are a bit long but you may find by just sticking the whip all the way down it tunes fine. Good luck and keep us posted.

  10. #30
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    I did think of another question!

    Coax length- Can I custom cut and install what I need or do I have to have 10 / 12 feet of cable laying all around?

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