Post by oldgeezer on Apr 28, 2022 21:46:32 GMT -5
Bought a new President McKinley AM/SSB CB radio. First off, this radio has a better SSB receiver vs a President Washington CB radio and the Washington is no joke performance wise. The McKinley is quieter and ultra clear. The tiny 2" built-in speaker sounds good, but an outboard 4" speaker is better. The McKinley is stabile on SSB at start up, no drifting ever. The McKinley only swings 10 watts on AM from the factory. A pot marked AMC inside adjusts to provide 16 watts peak on AM. It may do more, but 16 watts is 100% modulation. The ALC pot will increase SSB as well to 16 watts output. The McKinley has a microphone gain pot thus a power mic is not required. The transmit audio is exceptionally clear per audio reports. It has a lot of controls in the menu vs front panel controls, but once set menu settings does not need future adjustments. A nice touch is the receive audio equalizer and I prefer the treble turned up. As far as I am concerned this radio is a good deal at $179. I have not owned a better performing CB radio and especially so concerning the receiver. In fact I doubt any vintage radio will outperform this radio on receive. Some CB radios have dual final RF amplifiers that perform at 22 watts peak on AM. This radio at 16 watts is enough IMO.
Another new SSB/AM radio is the Galaxy DX-959 for sale for about $50 more. Supplies are limited, but available. The Galaxy is an old school design with an analog meter and all controls on the front panel. I read SSB stability is poor during warm up. Frankly, I believe the President McKinley is the better radio, but some may like the DX-959 larger size.
Note- The Uniden SSB/AM Bearcat 980 competitor that is reported very stabile on SSB (no warm up required) and with the AM modulation is turned up will only output 12 watts peak on AM.
Another new SSB/AM radio is the Galaxy DX-959 for sale for about $50 more. Supplies are limited, but available. The Galaxy is an old school design with an analog meter and all controls on the front panel. I read SSB stability is poor during warm up. Frankly, I believe the President McKinley is the better radio, but some may like the DX-959 larger size.
Note- The Uniden SSB/AM Bearcat 980 competitor that is reported very stabile on SSB (no warm up required) and with the AM modulation is turned up will only output 12 watts peak on AM.
