Looking at the face of the Washington, seems they could have added a double pot where the clarifier is and made that clarifier / rf gain
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AT6666 vs QT80 vs ?
- Thread starter K6GBW
- Start date
That's why I've never liked President radios
since the first HR2510. More work, less fun. Good radio, just always needed fiddling.
Yes. Yes, it is. 😉
I liked my 2510 - the front panel had single pots for RF gain, RIT, volume, etc. Decent layout and good performance. Mine no longer turns on, though. Had it in storage and just nothing when hooked to power. Have to open it up one day.
Still like my 2510. It's had a bit of love thru the years, but truthfully I've checked it against several other "newer style radios" and I just sell them and go back to that. Maybe it's familiarity or something, who knows.
Could be familiarity, but the 2510 is a solid performer and was an in-demand radio for more reasons than simply the number of channels. Just because it is old does not mean its performance can't equal or surpass that of the new radios.
I've done AM, SSB and actually CW on mine when I first passed the code in late 95 to become what was then "tech plus". While we locally did play some on FM later in life on it, obviously higher power full blown "ham rigs" did a little better on FM due to the power difference. I always thought the transmit was a little better on the RCI stuff, filling the SSB envelope a little more but, that receive on the 2510 was hard to beat so I just always opted for the 2510 in most cases. When the mood to CB hits me, I still run it, works well enough for me.
niceguy71
Active Member
well I guess you have something to play with, I love the president radios, they always seem to work great.. but the bill and Bill II are not overly great.. they don't seem to receive very good. the randy hooked up to the Antron 99 could be fun... they put out about 3.30 watts.... great little handheld.
amazing to see how many people in here have the 5555 N II.. but it's such a fantastic radio anyone in the hobby wants one.
I wrote this before you got the President Bill.. but keep it in mind.
I know I can’t change your mind, but I really have to mention this one more time…. As I keep seeing people buying radio’s that are terrible, when they truly could have had the best radio on the market for just another $100 bucks…. The people that have no room for a radio in their vehicle I totally understand…. But for someone putting it in their shack… it just baffles me as I know it’s a no brainer to own a 5555 N II.
so keep that radio in mind.. it will give you a lot of fun for many years.
I really think your overlooking the opportunity you have, to buy one of the best radio’s in the last 15 years.
Back in the 80’s some people bought a 148GTL and everyone knew that it was a great radio everyone they talked to would say what a great sounding radio…. Other people made lots of excuses and bought something cheaper… a Radio Shack or a Midland or a cheap Cobra maybe a Uniden or a Sears and Roebucks or a Montgomery ward CB….. 10 years later everyone still talked to that 148GTL and were still impressed with its receive and sweet clear sounding transmit… the other radios had all been put out at the yard sale.
In the late 90s some people bought a Galaxy as it was suppose to be the best.. other people bought something cheaper… a Radio Shack or a Midland or a cheap Cobra maybe a Uniden or a Sears and Roebucks or a Montgomery ward CB… 10 years later the people with the Galaxy’s still had them and they were still working great…. The others were put out at the yard sale.
You have the opportunity to by a Corvette… but your thinking of getting a Pinto???? I never could understand people buying a Ford Pinto?.... I know you said you don’t “NEED” it, but for another $100 bucks you could have a top-of-the-line radio…
I have used my 5555 N II with it’s awesome NRC and it is also one of the best receivers on the market… I’m able to hear guys with foolish pieces of junk Radio’s and terrible installations…… the 5555 N II can help hear those crap radios…
think of a Cobra 19 Ultra that dead keys 2.5 watts and modulates up to 3.5 watts max, hooked up to a Firestik screwed to the back bumper with two little screws and a # 14 AWG wire to the frame for a ground plane… with my 5555 N II and 50 foot tall Antron 99 I was able to hear him 4 or 5 miles away…. I tried to talk to him but he couldn’t hear me?? I normally have my power at 15 watts for local chat… I turned it up to 30 and he still didn’t hear me??? So I turned it up to 50 watts before he could hear me…. The kid was thrilled to make such a long distance contact???? Long distance?? He was about 4 or 5 miles away… but I think this was the best he had ever done with that crap set up…. I let him think he had a kick ass radio and that’s why he was able to get 4 plus miles….
But it was all possible because of that fantastic 5555 N II.
Anyone I talk to with The 5555 N II say’s my voice is booming! And when I hear someone and they sound like their in the same room with me, I always ask what they have and it’s always a 5555 N II or QT 60.. they have awesome transmit and receive.
In a SHTF scenario … your wife, your daughter, your son they may be trying to get home but because of the dirty bomb went off, most of the roads are blocked… or it could be an earthquake and buildings are down blocking roads …bridges down.. or it could be a wild fire…. Whatever it is….. they had to leave their car and are walking trying to get home…. The cell phones are down…. The roads are blocked with downed electric wires and downed buildings…. They see a 2003 Tacoma pick-up with a CB antenna on the back bumper …they ask if they can try to contact their dad…. The truck owner hands them the mic of a Cobra 19 Ultra…. They call out to you as you have been glued to your radio all day and know what area’s they can safely pass……. If you have the 5555 N II you will probably be able to talk to them… most of the other little radio’s are as useless as the Ford pinto.
Get the Corvette…. Men will give you thumbs up, women will want to be with you, small children will look up to you and admire you, service men will salute you, dogs will lick your face, cats will rub your ankles…. And you will puff out your chest and know you got the Corvette.. and not the Ford Pinto….. get the Corvette.
niceguy71
Active Member
wow I'm shocked you took the QT-60 out, and that Washington is a pretty expensive radio...
I know slowmover really likes the looks of it.... I looked at it and just thought it had way more things than I would ever use.... too many buttons and features and too much money.
.... I hardly know how to use all the great features on my QT-60...
but everyone has said the QT-60 is the most perfect CB ( terrible Ham radio, fantastic CB radio )
you seemed so happy with your QT-60??? but I know you were setting up a base so the wife could reach you and I guess the relay would certainly do that.... I didn't know it was only on FM either.
how is the base station going???? I've said it before... but I think base station SSB to your mobile SSB would probably work pretty good??? 30 miles I would think... I can't believe you haven't played with SSB.. I was just driving to the store yesterday ... got a radio check on 19 but no one talking about anything interesting.... so I flipped my old President Grant to SSB and hit several states across the country... it's always blast to see how far I can go on SSB.
someday when you're on a break sitting in your truck.. turn on 37 or 38 LSB adjust the clarifier until people sound somewhat normal and say 123 Tennesse? saying hello ( I forgot where you live) bet with that nice install of yours you'll get people from all over the country trying to say hello.
so it looks like you have two great radio's what's the plan? one of them going in the wife's vehicle or is one going to be the base station? and how is the base station going?
I sold a lot of Cobra 148GTLs in the 70s into about 1981, they were a very good radio in their day but an Anytone AT-5555N II is light years ahead of it in every way. I held off buying a 148GTL in the 70s and when the CPI CP-300 radio came out in the mid to late 70s I bought one and it had probably the best receiver of any CB made until recent times. I wish I still had a CPI to compare with the Anytone AT-5555N II and its possible some specs on the CPI might beat the Anytone but the features built into the Anytone and its frequency range and power and DSP would be impossible for any older radio to compete with.
slowmover
Active Member
RFG on a top PRESIDENT model is to back to 3/4 or less for mobile and to use SQ to modify. What it can do for a base station is more than a mobile is capable due to antenna system potential.
I don’t disagree about RFG control. I think it was not done correctly. But using RFG (antenna pre-amp) is fairly pointless past the above. On my Lincoln II+ the RFG isn’t a help in the traditional manner. I set it to conditions prior to departure for a 3-4/hr trip.
PRESIDENT circuitry causes all capture to pretty much come in at same “level” in terms of audio. With RFG backed down the SQ tailors what I want for AM. Not as pretty, but it can deliver signals from farther away on AM than most radios used mobile.
If I never left a major metro I’d want something else. But when I got over Tehachapi Pass it all changes.
Skip is the real problem, not the radio (per se).
Mobile, this is a radio for those not wanting to give up in the search for maximum signal capture whether AM or Sideband.
It would be less desirable for those accustomed to the way the UNIDEN/Cybernet boards allocated circuitry functionality. Not yer daddies cobra 29.
.
slowmover
Active Member
Yeah, I find it pretty funny the basement boys try to tell me the older radios are the equivalent and maybe better.
Hit the road, boys, and run that Blue Light Special 12-14/hours per day at 300-days per year and get back to us on, “what’s best” at 10-13,000-miles per month. Every condition imaginable.
Maybe I’ll waltz into your workplace as a ninety-day wonder (wartime officer training) and proceed to tell you — the war veteran — how the cow eats the cabbage per your job requirements. Y’all are that funny.
Reason I propound AM/SSB w/NRC as a minimum is that I’ve run the rest. In places with problems you’ll never see.
1). Best Receiver
2). Best Audio
3). Amazing $$ Value
They’re all cheap (even the top ones) for what’s received in performance.
I don’t as principle want anyone to have less. We depend on each other. That means, Hear, and Get Heard.
It’s hard enough to have to build a radio rig which must overcome the deficiencies of the other mans system such that comms are even possible.
Ears Precede Voice. But, in the end, one must have both.
What’s proposed in thread linked wasn’t possible just a couple of years back: small, powerful in what matters, and with an antenna system probably 90% of mobile potential:
Best Mobile 2025
A general: what should I recommend to friends who want high performance in Citizen Band? Let’s ballpark it at $500 entry. Will last longer than the time they own the automobile. Seatbelts, Concealed Carry, and CITIZEN BAND. This thread aimed at YOU, not the guy who knows even less. However...
Low key, tucked away, and always ready.
Believe me that those last three words are what count the most.
It’s a deep-seated mistake to look at Citizen Band as naught but a source for passive monitoring. You’re not here at RR by mistake, and the day will come you’ll want to shoot yourself for having got less than what is needed, now.
Right now.
I guarantee that when you feel the flame come on, that damned Skip disappears. If you’ve done the right thing by what your radio rig consists, you’ve lit the pyre.
I know as I’ve heard what I’ve started go across valleys, and to roads far distant.
In turn, I understood that I was in the past preceded by those who helped me when I had received a distant report via relay (what @jcrmadden was talking about).
.
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IIRC, the 148GTL was the same board as the 2000GTL. The receive in both radios was excellent - it was dual-conversion vs the 142GTL's single conversion. Again, going from memory. The 142GTL, which I still own, has a noisy receiver
It would be interesting to see a 148GTL vs the AT-5555N on receive. Sure, it can't compete on frequency range, but it was not intended to be anything but a 1-40 AM/SSB rig. It might surprise and hold its own.
I'd like to personally see that result both in actual usage and on a service monitor. You know, Inquiring minds want to know.
K6GBW
Member
Nice guy, I'm not settled on anything yet. Just playing around with it at the moment. One thing I've figure out pretty quickly is the 7300's receiver is worlds better. With the 7300 on an OCFD and the Bill on an A99 I can still hear way better on the 7300.
niceguy71
Active Member
I had my 1989 148GTL brand new never used, just waiting 34 years for me to get a base antenna put up...... as I was installing my base station in 2023 the guys in Radio Reference talked me into the greatest radio of our time.. the 5555 N IIIIRC, the 148GTL was the same board as the 2000GTL. The receive in both radios was excellent - it was dual-conversion vs the 142GTL's single conversion. Again, going from memory. The 142GTL, which I still own, has a noisy receiver
It would be interesting to see a 148GTL vs the AT-5555N on receive. Sure, it can't compete on frequency range, but it was not intended to be anything but a 1-40 AM/SSB rig. It might surprise and hold its own.
I bought one to see if, maybe I would like it better than the 148 GTL.......I hooked up the 148GTL for about a week.... it couldn't hold a candle to the 5555 N II, the NRC and it's incredible receive was unbelievable!!!! it had FM.... it had hundreds of channels and 60 watts of power! so many great features and such a beautiful display... everyone said it's audio was as clear as a telephone and it's receive could hear a mouse fart in Argentina.
using the Cobra 148GTL I would turn on 37 LSB and say anyone have a copy on 155 in Massachusetts????? after 20 tried I might get one contact????? .... many days I got no one.......I hooked up the 5555 N II and put the power to about 20 watts ( the Cobra was max set at 12 watts ssb) and asked the same question.... anyone have a copy on 155 in Massachusetts????? I got 20 to 30 people from all across the country coming back and all said I sounded fantastic loud and clear ..... I thought it can't be that much of a difference? so I did the 148GTL again and found I could hear a few people all across the country with it... I hooked up the 5555 N II again, and found I could hear hundreds of people talking all across the country.......
....I put the 148GTL on e-bay and sold it $635 bucks!!!! it seemed it was a coveted model and seeing it was brand new ( other than the week I tried it, it sold quickly.
the Anytone 5555 N II and 6666 PRO and Radioddity QT-60, QT-80 are the new coveted radios and setting the hobby ablaze.... in years from now they will still be desirable and valuable and talked about as one of the greats!
why someone would buy anything else is totally beyond me.
Sounds good. Even just an A/B comparison on the same antenna. I've used a fair number of receivers during my time in the hobby, from cheap portables to high-end tabletop HF receivers (DSP and non DSP, - JRC, Drake, Icom) and 40's /50's tube "boatanchor" HF receivers. Quality older/ancient receivers can and do hold their own vs new radios. I never found the difference to be night/day dramatic.
That being said, the 5555N is an impressive-looking radio. Would be fun to play around with one.
Thanks for sharing that @niceguy71! Interesting real world A/B comparison.
Never seen one go quite that high, the ones made in the Philippines however are pretty highly thought of which that vintage should have been. That's great you got that out of it.
The answer to this is easy, different strokes for different folks.
I like playing with radios too. One of my best oldies was the FT102 Yaesu but at that it wasn't necessarily night and day between the FT902 or my Drake TR4 but, in the 90s as funds permitted it was somewhat better. Currently run a 991a Yaesu but only cause it has 6 meters and my 1000D doesn't. Frankly the 1000D vastly outdoes the 991a.
As far as CB stuff like j said above. If a cb type radio is in my mood I just hook up the 2510 and play on it. I have a friend that has the 5555, maybe I'll grab it and see what it's about. I know he's not using it much.
73- Greg
Yeah, and I still need a QT80 and a Randy III and a QT40... because... you know... GAS.
I want the QT80 for the wife's Yukon (features + modes + form factor).
I want the Randy III to complete FM Relay project (handheld afoot to high watt truck relay to base station).
The QT60 will be the base (excellent receive, clean audio, all modes).
I want the QT40 because I don't have one and I think they're beautiful.
I have the tower and grounding rods (four 10' sections of triangle ladder style) but no power supply, antenna, coax, lightning arrestor, etc.
Wife wants a new patio and I want it poured with three big bolts in it and a network of grounding components under it (the REAL holdup).
Agreed, and seems harder to distinguish local traffic from skip without some fiddling.
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