What am I doing wrong?

[Hard]

Hey all, new to the boards and pretty new to the cb scene. Been into 4wheeling for a while and recently bought a new radio. I bought a stock galaxy dx 959, and have a wilson 5000 magnet ant. . Shouldve gone with something a little bigger and better but ive got it and thats all water under the bridge now, but one of the things that attracted me to it was that it had the low/high sidebands that my buddies say they use all the time. A buddy of mine has one of those hand held midland deals with the hi and low bands with a wilson 1000 ant. Got to testing them out a little today, on AM we talked fine, had 7-8 miles between us until I couldnt hear him anymore. I also notice that when were both on the low band, he cant hear me and I cant hear him, I can see where he keys up and if im really close to him I can hear an increase in static but thats about all. Am I wrong in thinking we are on the same band? or is his low band a different type deal than my low band? Same situation with the high band also. He says he can talk just fine with his pop on low band, not sure what kind of setup his pop is running though. Im pretty new to all of this so if anyone could school me Id appreciate it. Whats some opinions on my setup? dont need anything wild I just liked the features and the looks of this particular radio and having the sidebands it was what I was looking for. SWR (if the meter is correct) hardly moves off the one when keyed on any channel so thats a good sign I suppose. thanks

[va236]

Congratulations on the new radio. I own a Galaxy 959 myself, along with a Wilson 1000 magnet mount antenna. You can always supplement your radio with an amp if you feel the need. The 959 has a variable rf output, which you can back down to match the drive level needed for the amp. About your SWR, are you using the meter in the radio or an external SWR meter. My reason for asking is meters in radios are really not that accurate. From what you said though, it sounds like things are in good shape.

I'm not sure which Midland hand-held radio that you mentioned your friend having, so I really can't comment on that situation. The 7-8 miles distance you got when talking with your friend on AM is pretty good. I wouldn't be overly concerned about that. SSB will give you better range though. There are a lot of people on here who are much more knowledgeable than me about all of this... maybe they will jump in and offer their help.

Welcome to the board. Have a great day!

Later,
John

[T-Bone545]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new radio. 73's from the NW side of the bayou state.

[626]

Maybe the midland hand held doesnt have SSB. It may have a low range of channels or something marked low that is not SSB. you say you talk fine on AM so that tells me that your CB's are functioning properly.

After a bit of research, I am fairly certain that the handheld txcvr is just a 40 channel CB. NO SSB

Use AM when you talk to him. Until you find somebody else with an SSB radio.

[[flash]]

Gunny might be onto something. That midland might not be ssb. But as far as the galaxy 959 they are great radios. I used to have one and I really liked it. Sounds like you have a great setup.

[Hard]

Hmm I guess that is it then.. His description doesnt say SSB it just said hi/lo and am range so thats probably it. Which 11 or 10 meter mobile radios have that hi/lo am range? Are there any that have ssb and that hi/lo that he has? My pop talks alot on "low 19" on his company channel but almost everyone there is running connex 3300s and they dont have SSB as far as I know? Is there any way of adding that range that he is on to my current radio? im guessing there is. Not to keen on things so far but Im willing to learn. thanks

[[flash]]

Yes there is a way to add channels to a 959. Im sure someone will chime in with how and you will get the frequencys you want.

[alhefner]

I just looked through the current lineup of Midland CB radios. No hand held with the ssb option at all.

[626]

I just looked through the current lineup of Midland CB radios. No hand held with the ssb option at all.

yup. sounds familiar.

Not sure what the hi/lo range is. Be interesting to put the handheld on a frequency counter to see if its even a channel selector. Might just be a power setting. I have a hi/ lo switch on my General Hill. It just changes the Dead Key.

[Night Crawler]

His description doesnt say SSB it just said hi/lo and am range

The hi/lo switch is the rf power output setting for the HT to save on battery power and that radio doesn't have SSB.
Never heard of a 11 meter HT that did.

[va236]

Hmm I guess that is it then.. His description doesnt say SSB it just said hi/lo and am range so thats probably it. Which 11 or 10 meter mobile radios have that hi/lo am range? Are there any that have ssb and that hi/lo that he has? My pop talks alot on "low 19" on his company channel but almost everyone there is running connex 3300s and they dont have SSB as far as I know? Is there any way of adding that range that he is on to my current radio? im guessing there is. Not to keen on things so far but Im willing to learn. thanks

In response to your question about adding extra channels to your Galaxy DX-959, you can go to this link for info about that and other info you might find interesting about your radio:[Please login or register to view this link]. Personally, I use Sparky for my work, but there are other sponsors here who can perform this mod as well. In my personal opinion, do NOT do the Viagra board mod... the mod using the 2 switches is simpler and more stable! Hope that helps on your question.

Later,
John

[Hard]

hmm that is odd. My father says him and all of his buddies at work talk on low 19, he has a connex 3300 that a fellow at work set up for him and nearly everyone there has a connex also, wonder if thats the same low band that my friend with the hand held is talking on? Couldnt be LSB I dont suppose because the 3300 is not a SSB radio.

[626]

Thats the LOW I am talking about. The Connex radio is the same as mine. Low is low power. It has nothing to do with SSB. Thats why you cant communicate.

[Hard]

Could I turn the rf power down and get him?

[626]

SSB and RF power are two totally separate issues. The only way you will get him is on AM. HI or LO doesnt meant anything.

[Hard]

Ok, well, I played around with it a little more today. Still cannot get him on am, no matter how high or low the power is tuned. He said he could talk fine to his dad on these low channels, this guy knows less about radios than I do. I looked in his dads truck and it was a superstar 3900 something i believe, looked very similar to a connex and it was turned on FM band lo. Maybe this midland was modified for FM? Guess it has to be

[Circuit Breaker]

Ok, well, i played around with it a little more today. Still cannot get him on am, no matter how high or low the power is tuned. He said he could talk fine to his dad on these low channels, this guy knows less about radios than I do. I looked in his dads truck and it was a superstar 3900 something i believe, looked very similar to a connex and it was turned on FM band lo. Maybe this midland was modified for FM? Guess it has to be

I'm not sure why you keep saying low channels...this handheld Midland radio has no high or low channels...just the standard 40 channels, that's it. And, no, the Midland has NOT been modified for FM. That would require an entire rework of the radio.

[Remo]

The hi/lo switch is the rf power output setting for the HT to save on battery power and that radio doesn't have SSB.
Never heard of a 11 meter HT that did.

DING DING DING !!

[alhefner]

Ok, well, I played around with it a little more today. Still cannot get him on am, no matter how high or low the power is tuned. He said he could talk fine to his dad on these low channels, this guy knows less about radios than I do. I looked in his dads truck and it was a superstar 3900 something i believe, looked very similar to a connex and it was turned on FM band lo. Maybe this midland was modified for FM? Guess it has to be

If the guy is using a hand held midland CB radio he is not talking on either high or low SSB PERIOD!!!!!!! He also is NOT talking on FM PERIOD!!!!!!! Those radios don't have SSB and the don't have FM. Get the whole notion of hagh or low channels out of your head when referencing the Midland hand held CB radio....it just don't exist!

If you want to really know what you are talking about with respect to radio communication, get a copy of the ARRL technician class radio exam prep book. It costs about $25 new and covers all the basics of two way radio communications.

Right now, is seems you are getting very confused by a whole lot of folks who have no clue about how radio works and what all those fancy switches and knobs actually do on their own radios.

[pitbull3825]

Isn't the hi low switch just for power like 2 watt or 4 watt?

[alhefner]

Isn't the hi low switch just for power like 2 watt or 4 watt?

Yes that is exactly it. There seems to be some confusion on the original poster's end about that. Seems someone has installed in him the idea that changing power also changes frequency/ channels which is incorrect. That is why I suggested he do some reading on basic radio stuff...to get those incorrect ideas corrected.

[26ICT001]

There is the posibility that the Midland handheld is one that was intended for the EU or UK market as they are on sale on ebay to everybody in every country, these sets will cover the CEPT band aka MID 40 band and are available either am/fm, just am or just fm (for the UK market)
If the Midland hand held is a UK or EU version and the high/low power switch is set to low the TX power will only be 1/4 of a watt as that is/was our legal low power setting (nobody uses it over here and do you blame us?) so unless you are on his doorstep it will be hard to hear him.
Set the midland to high power on ch19 set your cb to 19 mid band and check both am and fm for reception from him, if still nothing as said before check the midland with a frequency counter and reference its TX coverage.
73s