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.