Need a radio suggestion (First "big" radio purchase)

I love my Stryker 955 but if you do not want ssb you could go with the Stryker 655. It is the same radio without side band. The receive is the best out of the radios I have had in the past and they are very clear and have quite a few features. Power output is good I'm in a company truck also and run the power cord that came with the radio into the connection for the cb hook up with a 15a fuse. For an antenna I use a Predator 10K Bad to The Bone.

 

The Galaxy 959B comes from the factory with the receive upgrade many cb shops sell Schottsky? a little higher price than the original 959. The 959 also has SSB which you said doesn't interest you so you would have to decide whether it is worth while. The 959 likely wouldn't do any more than 6 to 8 watts am with a tune just tweaking factory components. I have not used a 959B just considering my trading my 959 for the newer model.

 

Styker has great receive.

 

Maybe you should look at the general lee or connex 3300HP these 2 radios look plain just like cobra 29, i mean they aren't too flashy a doesn't attract attention.

Both radio are proven technologies, both are around for long time and they both yield some power just enough for you to run them with regular power cord you only might have to use a bigger fuse.

As for TX/RX it all depend on who are you going to use as CB SHOP my first choice would be DTB in Carlisle but this is personal taste.

One last thing make sure SWR is right and you will enjoy your radio.

Good luck

 

RCI Ranger 2970N2. It has a real VFO and works great on 10m and 12m bands. Just don't let anyone do a bs peak n tune or any "super-mod" crap.

 

Stryker 955. The 655's receiver isn't quite as good, and it's not as good at adjacent channel rejection either.

And get a 7' Firestik for the mirror arm. Run it as a dipole. That's the setup I run, and I can do 20 miles easy, more in the flat lands. I talk skip all the time as well, including many rolling sideband contacts. SWR is 1.

I see so many Cascadias running around with shorty antennas on the mirror arm. (Anything less than 5' is a "shorty" for the mirror arm.) Shake my head every time I see it.

 

In my experiments, the 5ft is just barely adequate. Anything less is totally inadequate! A dipole or are you using a counter-poise?

 

Thanks for your suggestions. I can look into a longer firestik and mounting it on the mirror. Tried that with my 4' and it wasn't so good, bad swr. Probably just not tall enough. I'll look into the stryker radio then. I really appreciate the help.

Oh. Is there any online shops that are trustworthy? One that I can buy the radio and have them peak and tune it before its shipped to me?

 

http://www.finetunecbshop.com

Get in touch with Mark. He is on Facebook. The "Hardrive" link on that ^^ page will link you to his FB page. Have him peak and tune it and you won't get a better radio anywhere, from anyone. He's the only one I've seen that has the proper test equipment, knows how to use it, and uses it 100% correctly. His results speak for themselves (literally.)

edit:// here is a recording of a guy who has a Hardrive-tuned radio:



edit2:// you can get a 7' Firestik at Bob's CB Shop in PA, I-80 exit 70.