Purchasing new SSB rig

[jam37620]

Years ago I was involved in 11 meter SSB, what is commonly referred to as "freeband" now. At that time I owned a Yaesu FT-101E. I am thinking about getting back into the hobby and am interested in purchasing a mobile unit this time. My thinking being, I could use this in my mobile and bring it in the house (with a power supply) as well. I , of course, would like the clarifier to be unlocked, and the frequency range to include those frequencies above the US CB band, say up to 28MHz. I don't necessarily need things like AM, FM, roger beep, talkback, echo, etc. Any suggestions on which radio I should consider purchasing and from who? Also, I am considering a Wilson 1000 antenna for mobile, any thoughts? Thanks for your comments, suggestions.

John

[PONY EXPRESS]

rci 2950 dx is a great ssb 10 meter easy to mod to 11 meters

check sparky's ------ radioactive or a few of the other sponsors down below.


I like my RCI 2950DX its a nice radio and I have a bunch of radios

There are higher power versions as well good for what you need. Only thing the RCI 2950DX needs is a real swr meter

[385]

Jam, Welcome to the forum. I'm with Pony Express, a RCI 2950 is a great ssb performer and does very well on am. No echo or talkback but does have a switchable rogerbeep. Clarifier isn't unlocked but can be. You can adjust your transmit with the shift button so you really don't need an unlocked clarifier. I have an older version of the 2950 and I would have to think long and hard before I'd part with it. Also there is the 2970 and the NEW 2970N2 that are the same as the 2950 but lots more power. Absolute great rigs in my opinion.
Good luck and look forward to hearing you in DX land.......385....27.385lsb

[dermacuda]

I'm with u fellas. I hv the old version mirage 2950. Its easy for me 2 operate while I'm truckin down the highway. The receive is awesome and the ssb is the best feature. I also hv an rci 6900f25 that I really like too. It has echo and beep on buttons, a +10 button and the freq display is bright red. Both are easy 2 use in a mobile app and cover 10,11,and 12 meter bands. The 6900 series has been discontinued but are readily avail. I saw both radios at CB city and dodge city CB this week for under 300 bucks. Both shops are top notch, clean, hv all the fancy equip to service ur radio right, are well stocked and the techs are great. That's my opinion. Diesel wagon 993, ch38 lsb.

[SlingShot]

Another vote for the 2950 or 2970. Awesome SSB rigs, and they work great on AM too, if you ever decided to go there. There is no other radio that I regret selling more than my 2950.

[madsage]

I really like the Magnum S45, computer controlled like the 2950. Includes all the features missing on the RCI. Just as good on SSB and better on AM.
Comes with blue background LCD's and topgun modulator, turbo echo, all mode talk back, adjustable RF dead key on AM 1-10 watt swings to full power 50watts, 2 scanning speeds, stepping of 1kc, 10kc and 100kc, costs less than 2950..

Maybe offtopic here, but i never understood why people unlock thier clarifier. Mine is unlocked too. but i find it annoying sometimes,
if somebody is off freq the clarifier adjusts your rx. If the tx follows then you wonder off freq too. causing the recieve side to adjust thier clarifier,
and if his clarifier is unlocked, now you are both chasing eachother, everybody else is now annoyed at the two guys way off freq.
Wouldnt it be better if your radio was just tuned to exact freq on tx and leave it there?
my cobra2000 is locked, i tuned it myself with an 8digit freq counter and double checked it against a kenwood TS450.
nobody EVER says i'm off freq or a mickey mouse radio, very simple to adjust somebody in that maybe off a few hundred cycles even upto 3kc about.

maybe this should be moved to another post,


the 933 RiffRaff
in the sticker patch

[Black Lightning]

madsage, the only time you're ever going to run into a situation like you describe above, with two radios that have unlocked clarifiers, is when one of them has been improperly done. When it's properly done, TX and RX match up exactly and there should never be a problem. No 'chasing' at all, in fact when you throw in intangibles such as thermal instability (drift), you can see the unlocked clarifier is the way to go.

In that case, if the clarifiers are all locked, you might start transmitting on say 27.3850MHz but wind up on 27.3848 and if your clarifier is locked, you will not be able to change that on the TX. All radios drift at a different pace too, so another buddy you talk to might wind up on 27.3847 and someone else still might wind up on 27.3849. Then there is someone with a rock solid radio such as a 2000, who stays on 27.3850. Supposing all radios are locked, then you're going to tell the difference between every one of them and you will only be able to clarify in one or two at the most. If the radios are all unlocked, then you will all be TXing and RXing on the same frequency so everyone sounds the same.

If your 2000 is like mine, it doesn't drift at all, but all of my 148s do to a small extent. In my 20 years of CBing in the Cactus Patch, I've never run into a problem with talking on a radio with an unlocked clarifier. Remember also that prior to 1977, they were all unlocked from the factory.

[madsage]

Good points, i wasnt even thinking about drift.
And yeah my 2000 doesnt seem to at all. The S45 does slighly.
Okay, Sorry for hijacking the thread.

Back to SSB radio for John, another one I really want to own someday is the SS-158dx
That sure is one purdy radio, sposed to be great SSB as well, from what i've heard from others.

More food for thought i guess

933 RiffRaff
in the stickers

[jam37620]

Thanks for all of the replies. I really appreciate them. I think I've settled on the Ranger RCI SS-158EDX and if everything goes alright, I'll be ordering it come July 3rd. I realize it doesn't have quite the power of the other units, but if need be, I could work around that at a later date. Of course, I may end up finding out I need a little more power...

Later,
John

[shakuna]

cool. the rci radios are great talking radio's love them and the new rci-2950dx series as well. good luck and hope you have many a happy chating on the radio.

[Unit 243]

Well if you ran a FT 101 before the I would spend the extra coin and get the RCI2970N2 has the extra power and they sound great! From who, well thats up to you but I have heard the less they are opened up the better they sound.

Rgds: Mike

[De_Wildfire]

Yaesu FT 857 with a $20 coupon at HRO Website will set you back $729.95. . Then later on if you ever decide to get a ham ticket, you won't have to buy any radio's because it covers HF all the way up to 440 mhz. Nice compact radio too and they sound really good on the air. I heard one the other day and this guy was using one with a mobile Ameritron ALS -500M mobile amplifier and he was a few states away. I think there is a built in EQ for TX too. It sounded good and clean. He said the mod was easy. I would imagine if you got board and the band was dead on 11 meters, you could listen to short wave broadcasts, ect. ect. with one of those Bug Catcher antennas with the coils.

[alhefner]

Yaesu FT 857 with a $20 coupon at HRO Website will set you back $729.95. . Then later on if you ever decide to get a ham ticket, you won't have to buy any radio's because it covers HF all the way up to 440 mhz. Nice compact radio too and they sound really good on the air. I heard one the other day and this guy was using one with a mobile Ameritron ALS -500M mobile amplifier and he was a few states away. I think there is a built in EQ for TX too. It sounded good and clean. He said the mod was easy. I would imagine if you got board and the band was dead on 11 meters, you could listen to short wave broadcasts, ect. ect. with one of those Bug Catcher antennas with the coils.

The FT-857 is a good rig but getting one without the ham ticket could come back to bite a feller. The problem stems from the "automatic assumptions" that the FCC makes. One is that if you have an amplifier and a CB radio without a ham license, they automatically assume you to be guilty of using power on the CB frequencies. The other is that if you have a radio capable of transmitting outside of the CB frequencies, they assume you are doing so! The FT-857 is capable of putting out a good solid 100 watts and of course, like you said, covers the ENTIRE range of amateur frequencies. Just takes a few solid complaints from either the CB or HAM community to get a nice visit from the FCC.

I too am looking for a SSB CB only rig that puts out all the legal power allowed but no more than that and will pretty well stay on frequency.

Al

[alhefner]

OOPS!!!!! By entire range of amateur frequencies I should have said up to the 440 band! The FT-857 does not go above that band.

[De_Wildfire]

The FT-857 is a good rig but getting one without the ham ticket could come back to bite a feller. The problem stems from the "automatic assumptions" that the FCC makes. One is that if you have an amplifier and a CB radio without a ham license, they automatically assume you to be guilty of using power on the CB frequencies. The other is that if you have a radio capable of transmitting outside of the CB frequencies, they assume you are doing so! The FT-857 is capable of putting out a good solid 100 watts and of course, like you said, covers the ENTIRE range of amateur frequencies. Just takes a few solid complaints from either the CB or HAM community to get a nice visit from the FCC.

I too am looking for a SSB CB only rig that puts out all the legal power allowed but no more than that and will pretty well stay on frequency.

Al

[/quote]


I have a TRAM D64 mobile on a power supply next to my ham equipment on different antenna. That radio stays on frequency well and sounds really clean. If I were to buy new right now, I would buy the Cobra 29LTD.