galaxy cb

The looks were nice but performance was lacking.This radio is the same as the RCI-2900 which was the forerunner to the 2950 series of radios.

 

INTERESTING .......

They took the time to make it look good but forgot to put a radio behind it .....

 

It got to a point that after the 2950 was released that Ranger USA would send the owner a new 2950 instead of repairing the 2900's.

 

NOW THATS BAD

 

The 2900 was exactly identical in all respects to the 2950 except for the CPU section. By exactly I mean just that. Compare the schematics and you will see that except for the computer/synthesizer section it is identical. Meaning performance would be no different. What was maddening was operating the thing. Much less hair pulling to just punch in a number. Running the 2900 was identical to programming the memory slots in the 2950. Pain in the a55. If there were more than 10 memory slots in the 2950 I would have never had the patience to program the thing. Imaging the total operation being this annoying. It was cheaper to replace the model than it was to contract for more CPU assemblies to be made. Good thing I like my rangers and there is no way I could stand running a 2900 all the time. SHF, dial numbers, SHF, dial numbers, on and on until you just wanted to bang your head into a wall it's less painful that way.

However you cannot say there was the slightest performance difference as far as the transmitter or receiver sections, or even the audio, as it is the identical chassis. Likewise between the RCI and the Galaxy 77, 88, or 99 you are not going to see any difference in performance since there is little difference between them in the areas that make them transceivers. All of them are based upon many aspects of the old 146 Cobra if you study the circuitry carefully. I suppose you could claim better DX receive if you factor in less things clocking and oscillating but not really. The noise floor on all modern models along these lines is very high, and the spectral purity of the LO's combined with no section shielding makes one wish the CPI designers had built what we have today. Assuming you had Bill Gates money as I am sure they would not be cheap today if built to those standards.

 

A face lift to make the current models *look like* that 2900 wouldn't hurt

 

What kind of noise floor did you get -XXX DBM ?????

Here is my last ranger ....

 

Will any of these Galaxies cover down to 12M? I've gotten the "bug" to try some CW mobile on 12, after having good luck with my Emperor on 10M with a strap-on key on my leg. Lotsa times the MUF seems to shear off right about 11M, so 10 is dead but I can hear stuff on 24 MHz on my base (IC-730, not durable enough for mobile ops). I used to use a bug strapped to my leg, like W6AM in the old days (mobile KW in his Cadillac from his house in Palos Verdes, CA, to SAROC in Las Vegas). I found a bug with the weight set to my slower speeds has too much "road wobble" for sending accurately, so I've got a WW2-vintage flameproof straight key with straps.
Hoping this didn't hijack the thread too much, cuz I'm still on the topic of Galaxy products.....
-- Handlebar --
diddly dahdidah

 

2950dx does 12 meters

 

Thanks, Bruce, I'll take a look at it.