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Fordtruckluvr
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 18, 2003 - 1:04 pm: | 
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dear tech, i am awaiting the delivery of a brand new 99 and want to know once its converted and gone through can it be a "loud" sounding radio. i will not be using any amps or linears. there is alocal shop close to my house everyone seems to go to. if they start talking about clipping mod. limiter should i stop them. iwant a loud clear radio but i"ve heard you don't need to clip to achieve this. i will be using a 636l mic on this radio.if done properly what type of true watts can i expect out of a 99. also should i tell them in the future i may want to use as a base and possibly a small amp. with it. will they or should they tune for this or does this radio have variable power? is this a good radio.seem to be used by alot of my coworkers as we drive trucks.thanks dan(bullwinkle)chicago,il. |
Stepchild
| | Posted on Sunday, March 23, 2003 - 11:37 pm: |
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Fordtruckluvr,Choose who you let work on your 99.I bought a 99 from copper new 4 yrs ago and was leaving out (Truck driver also)the day I got it and couldn't wait to use it.I stoped at the first CB(chop shop)shop I came to and spent the next month getting it to talk right again.After MY TECH got it put back together he just peaked and tuned it.I get about 15w dead key and 25w peak AM and 25-30w peak on SSB It does have variable pwr.After I got mine right I wouldn't trade it for nothing.It's got about 350,000 miles under it and does a fine job.I also use a RK56 mic.I think you will be very happy with this radio.Stepchild PS.I'm not a tech,just going by personal exp. |
Tech671
| | Posted on Monday, March 24, 2003 - 5:38 am: |
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Ford, yes the radio can be very loud and very clear. As Step said be careful who you choose to tune it. |
Fordtruckluvr
| | Posted on Sunday, March 30, 2003 - 3:41 pm: |
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stepchild and tech671, thank you for your replies. my 99 should be here on tues. april 1 (hope its not a fools joke). i think i will take it to where i took my pc76. these two guys that run this shop always back their work and have don e work on alot of my friends radios. i've gotten many compliments on how well this radio talks and how loud and clear the modulation is. hope they'll work same magic on my 99. if any members or drivers are passing thru chicago on I-57 they are located at exit335 at the petro truck stop and their shop is called Real World Electronics. thanks again, bullwinkle |
Dx431
| | Posted on Sunday, March 30, 2003 - 10:25 pm: |
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Fordtruckluvr, how much do they charge for a peak, tune and conversion? if you don't mind me askin.....just curious....... |
Fordtruckluvr
| | Posted on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 12:42 pm: |
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dx431, they gave me a price of $55.00. they put 2 silver stickers accross the case of radio. if this radio is ever opened and the silver stickers removed or altered they will not guarantee any work done due to the fact that if someone else goes in and messes with the radio. like i mentioned before i had them do all the work on my pc76xl which i've owned for 8 yrs.wish you could hear the compliments on i get on it. people are probably wondering well why would i want a new radio and its because of the fact that it seems all my friends are changing to radios like galaxies because of all the noise on am.just want to be able to keep talking to them. plus i'm just lucky to have this shop close to my house or i would be sending out for work. sorry getting back to you so late went to bed early last nite. bullwinkle |
Tech671
| | Posted on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 9:44 pm: |
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WOW! Maybe I need to raise my prices! |
Xlaxx
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 02, 2003 - 9:16 am: |
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I don't get it...!
Fordtruckluvr that pc76xl is a nice radio. A well maintained 148 GTL or Grant XL would have been great choices for you, they have SSB. The 99V is an expensive radio with toys you probably won't even use and the SSB drifts too. Read on this forum about it, it's unstable. The 148 and Grant XL might not have all that huge swing but I bet the audio on these two rigs beats that 99V. 307 could do a tune-up on it, add channels, and your radio would blow smoke.
You can get a used 148 GTL or Grant XL for around $125 a piece, mod it for the $55 (if the tech knows what he is doing) and you spend $180. You have a nice radio there.
The 99V is around $359 plus the shipping and now your $55 tune up,... you're well over $400!
My point is,... don't knock an older radio even though other people are buying the new stuff. Burn a hole in your pocket, knock yourself out it's your money.
2 cents, no flames.
XLAXX |
Dx431
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 02, 2003 - 12:58 pm: |
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Buy a President Lincoln,sure its not as loud or has the swing of the 99, but, its more stable, has a 6 digit freq meter and a variable output and will out talk the 99 on SSB.
JMO
431 |
Stepchild
| | Posted on Thursday, April 03, 2003 - 1:26 am: |
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Fordtruckluvr,These guy's are right.You can get a cheaper radio that will do as good or better than a 99.I've got well over $400 in my 99 and there are Cobra 29 classic's out there that will out talk it for far less money.The reason I shelled out the $$$ is I wanted the echo,freq counter,channels and all that stuff already in it.I've got an older Superstar 3900 that I started out with that talks just as good as my 99,but doesn't have the freq counter and echo.you can buy it for $119 at copper.BTW the 99 does drift but once it's warmed up it shouldn't give you any trouble,Stepchild |
Fordtruckluvr
| | Posted on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 1:15 pm: |
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stepchild,dx431,xlaxx,tech, got my 99 tuesday and took it right to my shop on wed. he had it on the bench approx. 1hr. believe it or not when he opened at12 pm no one was there but me(unusal because he has his shop in the truck stop). i sat with him while he worked on my radio and we chatted. i brought my 76 with me and asked him to make it sound as good as this radio.he told me all radios are different which i agree and he reassured me he would get the best out of this radio. i would never even begin to figure out what he unsoldered, resoldered, and the caps or resistors he put in. i brought my new astatic 636l and my old. each mic was checked along with the stock mic on this radio. numerous checks were done on his meters.he had some board in a small plastic bag while he was working said he did this so no shorts would occurr while soldering. when finished it sounded so loud and clear. he charged me $45for a peak,tune,align and 10$ to modify echo. i was happy when i left. my big test was that nite at work. my friends complimented on how good i was sounding and what had i done to my76. then i gave in telling what i had. i'm very happy with my purchase. i thank you all for your suggestions. i just liked the toys that were on this radio. and 4 friends have them and the same shop did theirs also. i had sent a rci6900f25 back a week before to a place down south in which they worked on this radio and was very unhappy with the way it talked. got negative feedback so i took advantage of their return policy and exchanged for the 99 and told them i'd get the work done on it. i'm so glad i exchanged and had my shop do it. not taking anything away from the techs out here its just i'm fortunate that i' have this shop 30 min from my house. sorry this got so long but i just had to get back and thank you for your sugg. and advice i like the toys on this radio. truthfully i didn't do bad on this . i had just sold my backup radio a29ltd with a rk 56 ( tuned by same shop) for $150 . all i had to add was $235 (thanks uncle sam for my tax return so fast). thanks again guys i love this forum |
Xlaxx
| | Posted on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 9:39 pm: |
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Fordtruckluvr-
Sounds good! I am glad that you're happy and enjoy that 99V!
****$150 for a 29LTD + rk56 mic!,... You made some money! Brand new, in the box, on the shelf, 29LTD Classic's go for less! Money in the pocket. Gotta be happy with that.
XLAXX |
Fordtruckluvr
| | Posted on Monday, April 07, 2003 - 1:08 pm: |
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xlaxx, yeah feels good when you can sell unneeded equip. and apply your profits to something new you want. it's also a better feeling when the person buying from you is happy with making the purchase.now i just gotta start working on getting my base antenna set up and coax changed.maybe a little amp along with my 99 would make talking skip on weekends fun as i have not had a base set up for over 10 yrs. |
Orion
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 1:56 pm: |
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Hehehe.. I'm reading these posts about the Galaxy, the DX99v in particular, and what keeps going through my mind is that they certainly have this reputation to drift and I've got to tell you its very disconcerting. Why? Because looks matter, at least to me they do. I'm looking to get a Galaxy also and I'm bugged about the questions regarding drift and overall performance/reliability. IMHO Galaxy radios got the look, the toys, the dual .. etc Such a crying shame something so good looking has to have issues like this. They look so good in fact I'm about ready to dive in despite it all and take a chance. Too bad CB radio didn't have the demand and therefore the funds associated with its testing(like the Auto industry) so that 100 of each and every unit available could be tested and abused for performance and reliability from bulbs bursting, freq stability and everything else. Then the data could be compiled and there would be no question as to what is what. As it is, there is some data, word of mouth and tech experience to go by but not near the volume needed to say without a doubt what's good and what isn't. A big chunk of me is thinking they'd all pan out the same since as far as I know, it seems every radio seems to be sharing boards and parts with each other. "Voyage 9000, same board as DX77HML" is but one of infintite examples.
It would take some doing, but a forum like Copper could take it on if they liked. Radio operators love radio nad when it comes to talking about their rig, good or bad, its no stretch to get the info out of them. Plug in the year of your radio, about how many hours of use it gets average and what broke or gave trouble when. Everybody plugged in a bit of this data that come to this board and you'd have some real data to look at. That's how Consumer Reports does it. For that I'd be willing to pay a few bucks to look over, especially when I'm about to invest hundreds. Start with me: Cobra 2000GTL, 1991, Phillipino made. Only problem: Frequency counter instability. Cure? Sold it. Galaxy Saturn Base, 1994, blew the power supply in the 2nd week. Nothing more to report. |
Tech671
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2003 - 6:20 am: |
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The 99, 88, 77 all have coarse clarifiers. Drifting really has never been an issue for me or my customers. |
Tech808
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2003 - 8:39 am: |
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Orion,
The COPPER Forum has done better than testing say 100 of each radio out there.
Just go to the SEARCH area next to this post and type in the name you are looking for and you will find many more than a 100 post's on just about every radio out there. And also give you Tune up, Repair, and General Information.
Example's
Galaxy 33 ~ 1081 Pages
44 ~ 1102
55 ~ 1148
66 ~ 981
73 ~ 1599
77 ~ 963
88 ~ 945
99 ~ 1474
The only catch is you would have to read all the posts, But hey, you would have to read the results of us testing different radios anyway.
The information collected on this Forum covers "FAR MORE" than any testing we could do to a radio.
Most radio problem's in Radio's are related to High SWR, High power, Mis-tuned, Toys, Over driven, Mics, and many other things that cannot be tested on the bench on a new radio.
In over 28 years of working on Radios I would guess the average is:
Problems with new radios, That remain 100% STOCK/UNTOUCHED ~ Around 2 in every 100.
Problems with Modified Radio's, 98 out of a 100
Mostly due to the GOOD OLD "GOLDEN SCREWDRIVER"
You can find out about anything about any radio, amp, antenna, meter,coax,standing wave,SWR, sunspots, repair tips,pro's & con's on about every product for the radio world by just useing the SEARCH AREA of this FORUM.
BUT, you do have to take the time to type what you are looking for in the search box & read the posts.
COPPER has went to GREAT length's to make this one of the BEST and EASIEST to use FORUMS for the Members on the Net.
Just my Thought's 
Lon
Tech808 |
Stepchild
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2003 - 11:15 pm: |
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I've got a 99 also and the drift issue hasn't been a problem for me either.I live in southwest Ar.and in the winter when it gets down in the 20's and teens it's only one KC off.Start the truck and turn it on and in about 20 min. it's dead on.I thought a drift problem was a Siltronix 1011-d that you had to bring back up on frequency between each contact???haha |
Haymaker
| | Posted on Thursday, May 01, 2003 - 7:31 pm: |
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I LOVE MY DX99V MODIFIED AND ALL NO PROBLEMS ON DRIFTING GREAT RADIO..... |
Orion
| | Posted on Monday, May 19, 2003 - 11:23 am: |
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Tech 808, This forum is loaded with info and certainly, that data is there. But, when you put in a search for a rig, yes, there's a lot of posts but the strings tend to become unrelated after the first much in the way a conversation changes subjects with each response. I was just thinking of straight numbers to weigh. At any rate, this forum is fantastic in that you go in thinking one thing and come out with a more realistic picture of the way things really are. To think of the mistakes I might have made planning on ripping out limiters and such. As far as drifting, I don't think drifting would be an issue for me- I'm looking for a base application and ambient temperature swings aren't an issue so the stability should be there , and I'll stick with a Galaxy 5 digit frequency counter as well because if it does drift I just don't wanna see it as you would on a 6 digit(happened on my 2000).
BTW, bullwinkle. I know a guy who's had a 99 for 8 years and gives it extensive use. He runs barefoot and the radio has the standard mods for channels, peak and tuning. He sounds very loud, very clear(this is important!)and throws out the best barefoot carrier in his area. That may mean little as there are so many unkown variables to weigh, eg; his neighbors may be using 8 foot whips and he's got an Imax, etc... But, I'd be comfortable choosing a 99. |
Tech808
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 8:54 am: |
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Orion,
That is what I LOVE about this FORUM.
From the Members post's it allows us to hear about almost every problem that anyone has ever had with Radio's, Antenna's, Amp's and other Radio related equipment.
There is so much different equipment out there that as a Tech I would never be able to see or even have in the shop to work on or even know about.
The Forum Members are just as much a help to us Tech's as we try to be to them.
With all of the Older equipment and all of the NEW equipment coming out, it makes it a constant learning experience for all of us, both Techs/Moderator's and Forum Members.
I enjoy trying to read every post that has been posted when I have extra time, very interesting/ informative stuff.
It is a LOT of Reading and also a LOT of Information.
Have a great day!
Lon
Tech808 |
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