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Post by No Streak on May 24, 2015 16:29:56 GMT -5
Well ready for this weeks Classic Radio Roundup, installed my Classic M400 Starduster waiting to see how well it performs this Wednesday. It's not the original StarDuster but the SkyLabs version of it but this is a 1/2 wave instead of the 1/4 wave one. Never had one before but wanted to try one on a Browning to be period correct. Find a Astroplane and I'll have two classic antenna's on the roof. I know that it mite not out perform the IMAX 2000 but I was looking more for DX operations. And at $65.00 it wasn't a wallet killer either.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on May 24, 2015 17:55:18 GMT -5
Well ready for this weeks Classic Radio Roundup, installed my Classic M400 Starduster waiting to see how well it performs this Wednesday. It's not the original StarDuster but the SkyLabs version of it but this is a 1/2 wave instead of the 1/4 wave one. Never had one before but wanted to try one on a Browning to be period correct. Find a Astroplane and I'll have two classic antenna's on the roof. I know that it mite not out perform the IMAX 2000 but I was looking more for DX operations. And at $65.00 it wasn't a wallet killer either. Well hopefully you'll hear more of the CRR crew.......... conditions permitting
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Post by No Streak on May 24, 2015 18:21:16 GMT -5
You can't always have a full class every time but just make the best out of what ya got. Warmer weather always pulls people away, but when it gets really hot they will be coming back! Its funny people come back after a long absence and say I thought nobody would still be here hmm. I always say once a CB'er always a CB'er! 10-4 Good Buddy. I've been in the hobby since I was 13 and never lost the love for it. My kids always ask me why you love your radios so much I have say when I was a kid that's what we had before Xbox, Cell phones, and Computers. It was the original social media long before Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and texting.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on May 25, 2015 15:18:50 GMT -5
You can't always have a full class every time but just make the best out of what ya got. Warmer weather always pulls people away, but when it gets really hot they will be coming back! Its funny people come back after a long absence and say I thought nobody would still be here hmm. I always say once a CB'er always a CB'er! 10-4 Good Buddy. I've been in the hobby since I was 13 and never lost the love for it. My kids always ask me why you love your radios so much I have say when I was a kid that's what we had before Xbox, Cell phones, and Computers. It was the original social media long before Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and texting. Very true. It was social media before anyone knew what such a term meant. 45 years later and I'm still enjoying the magical aspects of wireless radio.
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Post by No Streak on May 25, 2015 16:42:23 GMT -5
I was listening in on some Ham's on 2 meter today and they were talking about digital radio. There must be three kinds of digital formats. I was thinking it didn't sound like a lot of fun because everything is linked and you know that you will make contact. I think if I was ever to be a ham analog transmissions will be the only was to fly.
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Post by No Streak on May 25, 2015 16:45:32 GMT -5
Maybe I better stick to citizens band radio. A lot more fun and you can be yourself. Plus if they knew I was from the chicken band the hate would come out sad.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on May 25, 2015 19:04:08 GMT -5
I was listening in on some Ham's on 2 meter today and they were talking about digital radio. There must be three kinds of digital formats. I was thinking it didn't sound like a lot of fun because everything is linked and you know that you will make contact. I think if I was ever to be a ham analog transmissions will be the only was to fly. D-Star seems to be the predominate digital format out there, or at least it was a couple of years ago. D-Star was developed, at least in part, by Icom, which I suspect was mostly to sell more equipment. Digital repeaters and radios have been in a chicken and egg pattern for a while. People are reluctant to invest in the equipment, because there are few digital repeaters around. And repeater groups are reluctant to put up digital repeaters until more people invest in equipment. And the cycle continues. But I have heard what sounds like a somewhat local digital repeater. So I guess they're slowly making in roads. There was a time when ham radio was on the forefront of technology. But since modern digital technology requires the equivalent of a masters degree in engineering to understand, and specialized equipment to produce, it's really tough for the typical homebrewing ham to take the lead. So consequently, we follow someone else's lead, when some company makes the modules cheap enough, and we tell ourselves that we're still innovating because we connect the building blocks together, throw in a little interface software, and call it a day. Personally, I absolutely HATE the sound of low sampling rate voice digital. It has that "broken glass" sound that is so artificial. At times it's even hard to understand, much like my cell phone. I probably will be a die hard analog guy until the day I'm dead.
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Post by No Streak on May 25, 2015 19:12:07 GMT -5
Yeah they were talking about what format they going to go with in the future standardized the digital format. Being linked so you can talk all over the world. Which kinda defeats the purpose of trying to make world contacts.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on May 26, 2015 6:26:16 GMT -5
Yeah they were talking about what format they going to go with in the future standardized the digital format. Being linked so you can talk all over the world. Which kinda defeats the purpose of trying to make world contacts. Yea, dealing with propagation and the inherent limitations (and surprises) of over the air contacts is what makes radio fun. Having the ability to link together in a reliable, world-wide network essentially makes ham radio into "ham-internet", and offers little more than what you can already do with a cell phone. Practical, yes. Fun, no.......
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Post by BBB on May 27, 2015 8:55:01 GMT -5
I've been acquiring some equipment to allow me to do some digital modes but have yet to implement them. Like a lot of things, time is my main constraint. I figured that if I have the right equipment at hand, I can do "digital" when I get the time or I get board with OTA.
Some things to consider are a HF transceiver capable of digital modes, a radio/ computer interface such as a West Mountain Radio Rig Blaster Pro (or similar) with the required interconnect cabling, a decent fast PC with a good non-mother board based sound card and a flat bed scanner (to scan photos you may want to send.) The rest of it is PC software (such as Ham Radio Deluxe) of which most can be had for free.
Since I have a laptop in the shack with crappy internal sound, I've been keeping my eye out for a good external sound card.
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Post by No Streak on May 28, 2015 5:17:54 GMT -5
Well the skip killed me of having any chance of hearing anybody up that way. I was listening to Spew and heard Sparky with good sounding Browning ping also I think Ron's Browning as well, and Sandbagger's Cobra 2000 all top shelf audio. Turn out was light but the show must go on. Also Sparky your 2990 sounded good and very clean sounding. Good to hear all that could attend the Classic Radio Roundup!
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Post by BBB on May 28, 2015 15:28:15 GMT -5
Yeah, dam Mexican skip only allowed for locals to be heard, but I shouted for you anyway.
The Mark III was pinging for most of the show, then I switched to a 2995DX that was Grumpy's. I had it opened up sideways on the bench getting new rubber push buttons and a good cleaning. I also removed the (3) 3x3 12 volt fans he had Ty-rapped to the rear heat sink. The fan blades were cracked and coated in fuzzy dirt so it was time for them to go. I may just add the Ranger fan kit or add my own low noise fans.
He had the power supply maxed out and it looks like there is some type of swing kit installed as there is a variable resistor in series with a diode under the main board. No big deal, but with the power supply maxed and the additional (3) 12 volt fans added, I'd bet there were issues like Sandbagger mentioned. It seemed to work fine for me with a low dead key of 7-10 watts swinging 35-40 watts PEP AM. I have a 15 volt 40 amp Meanwell switcher I may pop in there.
Forgot to add:
Where's Spitfire?
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Post by No Streak on May 28, 2015 15:37:59 GMT -5
Yeah, dam Mexican skip only allowed for locals to be heard, but I shouted for you anyway. The Mark III was pinging for most of the show, then I switched to a 2995DX that was Grumpy's. I had it opened up sideways on the bench getting new rubber push buttons and a good cleaning. I also removed the (3) 3x3 12 volt fans he had Ty-rapped to the rear heat sink. The fan blades were cracked and coated in fuzzy dirt so it was time for them to go. I may just add the Ranger fan kit or add my own low noise fans. He had the power supply maxed out and it looks like there is some type of swing kit installed as there is a variable resistor in series with a diode under the main board. No big deal, but with the power supply maxed and the additional (3) 12 volt fans added, I'd bet there were issues like Sandbagger mentioned. It seemed to work fine for me with a low dead key of 7-10 watts swinging 35-40 watts PEP AM. I have a 15 volt 40 amp Meanwell switcher I may pop in there. Forgot to add: Where's Spitfire? The Browning Mk III was pinging it's heart out sounded great, What kind of microphone do you use? And as for the 2995dx I always hate the fans on the back of them radios drive me nuts hearing them while I sit in front of it. I like the old Galaxy Turbo or 2990 because of the but in echo.
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Post by BBB on May 28, 2015 16:11:23 GMT -5
I was running the Mark III into the (4) 2879 box and noticed that the ping was just topping out at 100% modulation on the scope. That set up nets me about a 50 watt DK and a 200 watt PEP AM swing. Normally I run the radio into a variable (2) pill, then into the straight (4) pill and have noticed it overdrives a bit on the ping, but the voice audio is still okay.
Since you asked, as usual, I run the Syncron MP-7000RB desk mic with built in compressor and reverb on radios without reverb. Otherwise I'll run a Turner +2 SSB desk mic if the radio already has reverb. Notice I said reverb, not of echo. Just a pinch will do ya!
I would have to agree that the 2990DX is better transceiver than the 2995DX simply because it has reverb. The main boards are exactly the same. It's like RCI said "okay the bean counters upstairs said to cut production costs so nix the echo board and stick a 2995DX silk screen on the face plate where the old reverb controls were" "It'll be great because we can still sell it for the same price or even more because it's a new model" Haha. The holes for the reverb controls are still in the 2995DX chassis, just not the faceplate.
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Post by No Streak on May 28, 2015 16:23:28 GMT -5
I was running the Mark III into the (4) 2879 box and noticed that the ping was just topping out at 100% modulation on the scope. That set up nets me about a 50 watt DK and a 200 watt PEP AM swing. Normally I run the radio into a variable (2) pill, then into the straight (4) pill and have noticed it overdrives a bit on the ping, but the voice audio is still okay. Since you asked, as usual, I run the Syncron MP-7000RB desk mic with built in compressor and reverb on radios without reverb. Otherwise I'll run a Turner +2 SSB desk mic if the radio already has reverb. Notice I said reverb, not of echo. Just a pinch will do ya! I would have to agree that the 2990DX is better transceiver than the 2995DX simply because it has reverb. The main boards are exactly the same. It's like RCI said "okay the bean counters upstairs said to cut production costs so nix the echo board and stick a 2995DX silk screen on the face plate where the old reverb controls were" "It'll be great because we can still sell it for the same price or even more because it's a new model" Haha. The holes for the reverb controls are still in the 2995DX chassis, just not the faceplate. Yeah I have never run a Turner +2 on a Browning ever. I usually a banana mic or Astatic desk mic, sometimes a +3. Have run hand echo mic into a Browning MKIV, but people complain that it takes away from the sound of a true Browning radio.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on May 28, 2015 20:37:06 GMT -5
I was running the Mark III into the (4) 2879 box and noticed that the ping was just topping out at 100% modulation on the scope. That set up nets me about a 50 watt DK and a 200 watt PEP AM swing. Normally I run the radio into a variable (2) pill, then into the straight (4) pill and have noticed it overdrives a bit on the ping, but the voice audio is still okay. Since you asked, as usual, I run the Syncron MP-7000RB desk mic with built in compressor and reverb on radios without reverb. Otherwise I'll run a Turner +2 SSB desk mic if the radio already has reverb. Notice I said reverb, not of echo. Just a pinch will do ya! I would have to agree that the 2990DX is better transceiver than the 2995DX simply because it has reverb. The main boards are exactly the same. It's like RCI said "okay the bean counters upstairs said to cut production costs so nix the echo board and stick a 2995DX silk screen on the face plate where the old reverb controls were" "It'll be great because we can still sell it for the same price or even more because it's a new model" Haha. The holes for the reverb controls are still in the 2995DX chassis, just not the faceplate. I would think that running any type of echo at all on a Browning, would distort the ping such that it doesn't sound "pure" like the typical classic Browning sound.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on May 28, 2015 20:49:28 GMT -5
Yeah, dam Mexican skip only allowed for locals to be heard, but I shouted for you anyway. The Mark III was pinging for most of the show, then I switched to a 2995DX that was Grumpy's. I had it opened up sideways on the bench getting new rubber push buttons and a good cleaning. I also removed the (3) 3x3 12 volt fans he had Ty-rapped to the rear heat sink. The fan blades were cracked and coated in fuzzy dirt so it was time for them to go. I may just add the Ranger fan kit or add my own low noise fans. He had the power supply maxed out and it looks like there is some type of swing kit installed as there is a variable resistor in series with a diode under the main board. No big deal, but with the power supply maxed and the additional (3) 12 volt fans added, I'd bet there were issues like Sandbagger mentioned. It seemed to work fine for me with a low dead key of 7-10 watts swinging 35-40 watts PEP AM. I have a 15 volt 40 amp Meanwell switcher I may pop in there. Forgot to add: Where's Spitfire? Pete was curiously absent yet again. Which is really strange since he swore up and down that he would make sure not to nap his way through CRR like he did last week. He was also looking forward to getting his B&W back on the air. So I'm thinking one of two things happened. He either got shanghaied by his wife, or he had trouble getting the B&W to work and got pissed off and said "F--- it"......
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Post by No Streak on May 28, 2015 21:36:19 GMT -5
Or maybe he is loosing the love for CRR? Could this be true or need a break. Without his video gates to recap events from CRR I have to make sure I listening nothing to fall back on if I miss it. Sure hope not that wouldn't be cool. But he might have a honey do list a mile long like I do. And that could kill radio time for sure.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on May 29, 2015 7:19:23 GMT -5
Or maybe he is loosing the love for CRR? Could this be true or need a break. Without his video gates to recap events from CRR I have to make sure I listening nothing to fall back on if I miss it. Sure hope not that wouldn't be cool. But he might have a honey do list a mile long like I do. And that could kill radio time for sure. I don't think he's losing the "love" for CRR, but there are sometimes competing activities in the warmer months.
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Post by Night Ranger on May 29, 2015 7:52:10 GMT -5
Yeah, dam Mexican skip only allowed for locals to be heard, but I shouted for you anyway. The Mark III was pinging for most of the show, then I switched to a 2995DX that was Grumpy's. I had it opened up sideways on the bench getting new rubber push buttons and a good cleaning. I also removed the (3) 3x3 12 volt fans he had Ty-rapped to the rear heat sink. The fan blades were cracked and coated in fuzzy dirt so it was time for them to go. I may just add the Ranger fan kit or add my own low noise fans. He had the power supply maxed out and it looks like there is some type of swing kit installed as there is a variable resistor in series with a diode under the main board. No big deal, but with the power supply maxed and the additional (3) 12 volt fans added, I'd bet there were issues like Sandbagger mentioned. It seemed to work fine for me with a low dead key of 7-10 watts swinging 35-40 watts PEP AM. I have a 15 volt 40 amp Meanwell switcher I may pop in there. Forgot to add: Where's Spitfire? Pete was curiously absent yet again. Which is really strange since he swore up and down that he would make sure not to nap his way through CRR like he did last week. He was also looking forward to getting his B&W back on the air. So I'm thinking one of two things happened. He either got shanghaied by his wife, or he had trouble getting the B&W to work and got pissed off and said "F--- it"...... The south of the border skip was really bad on my end as well, but no english speaking skip at first. Oddly enough around 10:30 p.m. some skip from Maine and New Hampshire started coming in, but it was not very strong. I had my Kraco Frakenstein CB ready to go. Night Ranger
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Post by BBB on May 29, 2015 18:36:16 GMT -5
"I would think that running any type of echo at all on a Browning, would distort the ping such that it doesn't sound "pure" like the typical classic Browning sound." Sorry I couldn't get the "reply quote" to work.
One might think so, but I get good audio reports. Kinda cool to see the ping modulated on the O-Scope shown as a pure generated audio tone.
Reverb doesn't necessarily distort the audio, it just gives it a fuller richer sound in my opinion. It depends on the quality of audio processor and how much reverb is injected. The Syncron has a reasonably wide audio bandwidth, whereas some of the Galaxy echo boards sound limited in bandwidth to me, like a choke or pinch point in the audio chain so to speak.
One of these years I'll get my mixing board set up back together and try out some studio audio processing gear like the ART FXR digital processor and DBX 266XL Compressor I picked up a few months ago just for this reason.
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Post by No Streak on May 30, 2015 7:05:25 GMT -5
No believe it or not the ping sounds normal. It's just people that know Browning's don't like the echo, I kinda mix echo and reverb together for a more tasteful sound. Just I think it's neat to try new things because you never know how it's going to sound till you try.
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Post by BBB on May 30, 2015 8:26:25 GMT -5
Experimentation within the hobby makes it fun for me. Last night I had Grumpy's old 2995DX still up on the bench. I was looking into optional fan cooling set ups. Since the radio was on its side with the top facing me I set a bright focused LED flash light just behind the main board. Turned out the lights in the shack and the light coming thru the transparent green colored multilayer board was awesome looking. Very robotic visual effect. Then again, I'm the kinda guy that runs a Tram D201 with the hood up. A few of us were up on CH 32 which is another local channel here. Since some folks were running rodger beeps, I turned on the roger beep on the 2995 and the desk mic. It created and interesting and unique double roger beep. Kind of a high-low sound. Who knew? I don't normally run a roger beep on the base station, but it was fun and memorable for a few minutes. The key word here is "fun" and I'm easily amused
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Post by Sandbagger on May 30, 2015 20:50:19 GMT -5
No believe it or not the ping sounds normal. It's just people that know Browning's don't like the echo, I kinda mix echo and reverb together for a more tasteful sound. Just I think it's neat to try new things because you never know how it's going to sound till you try. To me, echo is a toy. Something you hit for a (temporary!) special effect like when doing a public service announcement for a quick laugh It's not something you run constantly. Very few echos ever sound good. Most overdo it, and it comes off sounding like you're talking at the bottom of a trash can. I know that a "pinch" of reverberation can raise your average modulation, and can add a little depth. But it's a very fine line between a barely perceptible "fuller" sound, and the aforementioned trash can. Therefore, to be on the safe side, I'd rather not have any. Of course, some of us have fairly hollow natural room acoustics which can achieve a similar depth effect. Running echo on top of room acoustics is overkill. I've never been a fan of echo, and I especially don't like hearing it on vintage radios for the simple reason that echo mics really didn't exist, at least not in the form we know today, back when these rigs were king of the airwaves. It's sort of like putting a CD player in a '65 Mustang. It's just not authentic.
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Post by BBB on May 31, 2015 9:48:20 GMT -5
I heard a gentleman on the air one day and I asked what he was using to achieve his good sounding reverb and he said he just placed the talkback speaker in the other room down the hallway. Poor mans Connex board, haha.
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Post by No Streak on May 31, 2015 11:19:30 GMT -5
I heard a gentleman on the air one day and I asked what he was using to achieve his good sounding reverb and he said he just placed the talkback speaker in the other room down the hallway. Poor mans Connex board, haha. Hey it worked right! Whatever it takes to echive the perfect sound and we all want it. I guess the God sound would be what you call it. So much so your looking around to if they are over your shoulder. Channel 28 has some good examples of that Motor Maul for one. I always thought a little echo and reverb gave a fuller sound more of a presence. Most HiFi setups use some sort of reverb and echo. More like your building your sound and that takes awhile to get it right.
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Post by Night Ranger on May 31, 2015 12:12:25 GMT -5
I heard a gentleman on the air one day and I asked what he was using to achieve his good sounding reverb and he said he just placed the talkback speaker in the other room down the hallway. Poor mans Connex board, haha. Back in 1977 my friend "Red Horse" came on the air with a ton of echo. I asked what he was doing and he told me to come over and see. He lived just down the street. When I got there he was sitting in a chair with a tin metal trashcan turned upside down, and his head was completely inside the trashcan. The edges of the trashcan were resting on his shoulders. He had the desk power microphone stuck up side the trashcan with his head, and he was still talking on the CB. It was pretty funny to see, but it worked. Night Ranger
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on May 31, 2015 16:32:44 GMT -5
I heard a gentleman on the air one day and I asked what he was using to achieve his good sounding reverb and he said he just placed the talkback speaker in the other room down the hallway. Poor mans Connex board, haha. Back in 1977 my friend "Red Horse" came on the air with a ton of echo. I asked what he was doing and he told me to come over and see. He lived just down the street. When I got there he was sitting in a chair with a tin metal trashcan turned upside down, and his head was completely inside the trashcan. The edges of the trashcan were resting on his shoulders. He had the desk power microphone stuck up side the trashcan with his head, and he was still talking on the CB. It was pretty funny to see, but it worked. Night Ranger Now THAT would have been worth a picture..... I did something similar (although not quite THAT large) back in the 70's, by soldering a spring to the bottom of a 2 Lb coffee can, and then putting the D104 inside it. It actually worked to some degree.
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Post by No Streak on Jun 1, 2015 5:05:52 GMT -5
I heard a gentleman on the air one day and I asked what he was using to achieve his good sounding reverb and he said he just placed the talkback speaker in the other room down the hallway. Poor mans Connex board, haha. Back in 1977 my friend "Red Horse" came on the air with a ton of echo. I asked what he was doing and he told me to come over and see. He lived just down the street. When I got there he was sitting in a chair with a tin metal trashcan turned upside down, and his head was completely inside the trashcan. The edges of the trashcan were resting on his shoulders. He had the desk power microphone stuck up side the trashcan with his head, and he was still talking on the CB. It was pretty funny to see, but it worked. Night Ranger I sure hope that was a clean trash can at least. Pee U!
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Post by cbrown on Jun 1, 2015 9:33:13 GMT -5
For my echo I used a Teac 3340-S and a Teac 6 channel mixer. Worked really well.
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