Opinions on the President McKinley Radio??

[bobruzzo]

I am looking at a NEW CB radio. It was a toss up between the President McKinley, the Bearcat 980 and the Galaxy DX-959B. I only want a regular 40 channel SSB radio, so that narrowed it down to the McKinley and BC 980. The McKinley got better reviews and has better features so thats what I picked. I would be using SSB most of the time, when I do use it. After watching many videos and reading reviews the only issue I have is how the radios come stock from factory. Most not set to run at least 4 watts. They are all set at factory to be below FCC specs, and many are about 3.5 to 3 watts. And modulation is low. I dont have test equipment and I dont know if I could trust those shady cb techs that are around. Years ago there were a few very good techs that would let you come into their shops and you could watch them work on radios. It was a booming business back in the 80's and 90's around here. My first decent CB was a base station Galaxy Saturn. I wish I never sold it. I also had a very nice President Washington which I also sold. But nowadays I dont need extra power/channels. Also I saw in a video how the adjustment points in the McKinley are not like the old adjustments where you could peak 'em easily. The modern ones the adjustment just goes around in a circle so you simply cannot "turn it up" without test equipment. So what do you guys think about this radio?

 

[wjm1129]

I have one and love it. Sideband frequency is spot on. Receive is very good also. Seems to be as good as my Cobra 148 with a sharper sound to the receive. I have it paired up with an RM kl203 and gets out great.

 

[bearcatrp]

Take a look at the peak performance this place offers.

https://www.walcottradio.com/president-mckinley-cb-radio-ssb-mode-and-front-mount-spkr-p-3099.html?osCsid=q2qd9objpp3j909fj8kpiuef3c

 

[bobruzzo]

Take a look at the peak performance this place offers.

https://www.walcottradio.com/president-mckinley-cb-radio-ssb-mode-and-front-mount-spkr-p-3099.html?osCsid=q2qd9objpp3j909fj8kpiuef3c

Yes, I just read this and I guess for better performance its worth the extra $40. I just finished the review on Youtube from "Mikes radio repair"......seems to be a very solidly built radio. The only negative thing was the low sounding roger beep but I dont use that anyway. He said this radio comes from factory a bit closer to spec than the Unidens. So I will read a little more....If I do order one it will be from Walcott.......thanks for the link!

 

[tibadoex]

I have the Mckinley and like it so far. Been using on USB and AM and the signal reports are good. SWR is low.

 

[W9WSS]

I've had a McKinley which a private tech "peaked and tuned" for me. I'm not going to say exactly what he does, but the reception and signal reports were OK before the peak and tune, but excellent afterward. The thing I like about it is that it has excellent noise suppression. I have an older CVPI and the Yaesu that I've had in it is miserable on 10-11-12 meters. The McKinley also has an inferior microphone, so I had the tech install a Texas Ranger mic and the audio reports are excellent. The stock mic works fine, but to me it's cheesy and kind of lightweight. The Texas Ranger mic is NOT a power mic but it's solidly made, and wired up with the six-pin connecter by the tech. I'm not running any "external power" other than what McKinley has been peaked to. I am not familiar with the Bearcat 980, or the Galaxy 959B. I do hear very good reviews of them by several people online, and on the company website. Walcott is an excellent vendor, with good prices and a very capable service department. You won't go wrong if you have the extra stuff done to it at the time of purchase, or later on if you decide to get it. I like the McKinley because it fits perfectly in a 1-U dashboard mount. It's well-built and does what I want it to do. I listen more than transmit, but it can work where I want it to operate.

 

[bobruzzo]

I have the Mckinley and like it so far. Been using on USB and AM and the signal reports are good. SWR is low.

I watched some videos and read a few reviews and its all good. It has adjustable power too......sounds like a good radio for what I will use it for. I have been out of the CB scene since 1989 hahaha but some of my friends have gotten back into it and I live on a small hill and have good reception here. I have an Antron 99 on side of garage up about 20'.

 

[bobruzzo]

I've had a McKinley which a private tech "peaked and tuned" for me. I'm not going to say exactly what he does, but the reception and signal reports were OK before the peak and tune, but excellent afterward. The thing I like about it is that it has excellent noise suppression. I have an older CVPI and the Yaesu that I've had in it is miserable on 10-11-12 meters. The McKinley also has an inferior microphone, so I had the tech install a Texas Ranger mic and the audio reports are excellent. The stock mic works fine, but to me it's cheesy and kind of lightweight. The Texas Ranger mic is NOT a power mic but it's solidly made, and wired up with the six-pin connecter by the tech. I'm not running any "external power" other than what McKinley has been peaked to. I am not familiar with the Bearcat 980, or the Galaxy 959B. I do hear very good reviews of them by several people online, and on the company website. Walcott is an excellent vendor, with good prices and a very capable service department. You won't go wrong if you have the extra stuff done to it at the time of purchase, or later on if you decide to get it. I like the McKinley because it fits perfectly in a 1-U dashboard mount. It's well-built and does what I want it to do. I listen more than transmit, but it can work where I want it to operate.

I may order it from Walcott with the $40 Peak option. I dont know about the stock mic though but stock mics usually pretty bland sounding. How does the Texas Ranger mic compare to a power mic though?

 

[arudlang]

As an owner of a 980SSB, if you have the money for the P. McKinley then by all means I'm sure its an objectively "better" radio than the Uniden. For me budget was a tight factor and from what I researched the McKinley is "better", but not better enough to outweigh the big price jump (only paid $120 for my 980SSB).

The 980SSB has been great right out of the box for me, setup as a base station hooked to 50 feet of cheap RG58 plugged into an old Hy-Gain CLR-2 on my roof. I've made 15ish mile local contacts with SSB and on skip got a callback from Oregon at Christmas (I'm in Minnesota). The unit works well and I'm not really sure what could be better other than maybe better noise suppression. Auto squelch that all the President radios seem to have is a big benefit in mobile installations but no use to me for a base station.

My 15 mile contact told me my modulation was "good" so whatever I got set stock out of the box is working fine there. As long as the modulation is not way off I don't see any point in "peaking/tuning" a CB radio. I'm getting a little over 3 watts of carrier according to my cheap meter and the difference between 3 watts and 4 is not something I can benefit from. The 980SSB can only be tuned to like 16 DK watts on AM from what I researched and its not worth it to me when an amp is so easy to add if I really want more oomph. If your chosen model of radio can be safely pushed to 40 watts thats one thing but I'd rather just put an RM 203P inline and not stress out my radio. From what I read the McKinley can only be tuned to about 15 watts AM as well so that is fairly pointless but maybe the tune job will get the modulation set just a fuzz better.

I don't know, people who have spent the money for a tune are inclined to believe it made a huge difference, they don't want to believe their money was poorly spent and I'm not saying it was or wasn't, I'm just saying I looked at the evidence and decided it wasn't worth it to me. All is running fine stock out of the box for $120, can't complain. I'm sure a McKinley will sound a titch better with or without a tune but all depending on price, if its $200+tune not so bad, if its $300 like Amazon was trying to sell that model at for a while forget it (my two cents).

One neat proprietary add-on for the 980SSB that I hope to get someday is their wireless mic:

Amazon.com

For my base station setup that could be really nice because I have my setup in the basement out of the way, but with that wireless mic I could tune someone in and then wander around my house and garage/property and still be chatting with them. I could also set the scan going and wander away from the radio and take the wireless mic from me, and if something shows up while scanning I'd hear it and know to head back to the radio to tune or chat. Probably not useful to everyone but I'd like to have it, and its a proprietary device only a couple Uniden models can run so I guess what I'm saying is I'd rather have that feature vs a hypothetically slightly better sounding radio like the McKinley for my base station, and that's just me and my wants/needs.

I am installing a President "Bill" model in our Jeep because the needs/wants a different in that scenario. It all depends on the situation but ultimately the two choices you narrowed down to can't go totally wrong either way.

 

[KC3ECJ]

Apparently there's a new McKinley out or soon to be out from what I'm told where they gave the weather band function up for the new FM transceive standard.

I have the non-FM model. I overall like it but my SWR meter function isn't properly calibrated.

I found this by comparing it to the Uniden 980's SWR meter and an external SWR meter.

 

[slowmover]

I own all of them, and others.

The DX-959b is what I use in the Kenworth as it mates up with other installed gear in a superior way. Easiest to use while mobile; genuinely adaptive tone controls.

The McKinley I bought was installed with yet other gear in my sons SUV as a gift. (Wanted him to have best that was DIN size plus easy enough to use; mated with Sirio 5000).

The 980 is pretty much my favorite back-up radio, carried in the event the main radio coughs up. The best AM/SSB starter

Any of them are a decent choice.

— On AM, the others are NOT in the same ballpark as the Galaxy.

— On SSB, the McKinley is a better choice (one should really move up to the Lincoln despite it’s more difficult set of controls; it’s “better” than the rest of these; mines in my pickup where the antenna system is better than the KW).


If Sideband has precedence: McKinley

AM: Galaxy

The Uniden as backup to any other radio. Or as a gift.

The PRESIDENT Lincoln is worth the extra scratch. It’s superior in an overall sense. No regrets. Importantly, there’s nowhere “next” to go up in overall performance. (Got mine from Walcott. Been to the store many times).

(Stryker 955 & Anytone 6666 have their qualities. But I doubt they’d best the Lincoln). “Next step” is amateur gear.

Uniden & President radios can be fitted with cordless mics. You may not care today, but, on another day it seem important.

A Lincoln for a base, McKinley for mobile, and a Randy for shirt-pocket portable is a great trio. The same audio & noise abatement solutions would complement each, etc. (And for my money, Old Abe would be first purchase).


The cbradiomagazine website is worth your while to thoroughly go thru

.

 

[slowmover]

Apparently there's a new McKinley out or soon to be out from what I'm told where they gave the weather band function up for the new FM transceive standard.

I have the non-FM model. I overall like it but my SWR meter function isn't properly calibrated.

I found this by comparing it to the Uniden 980's SWR meter and an external SWR meter.

Mine was ideal out of box: 1.4:1

.

 

[bearcatrp]

Used to run a galaxy saturn base station back in the 80's. Sweet radio but drifted a bit. Knew a guy who tweaked radios and made adjustments that made it scream. I miss that radio. Would only buy a base station if I got back into cb. My hand held president Randy does just fine in my truck.

 

[slowmover]

Used to run a galaxy saturn base station back in the 80's. Sweet radio but drifted a bit. Knew a guy who tweaked radios and made adjustments that made it scream. I miss that radio. Would only buy a base station if I got back into cb. My hand held president Randy does just fine in my truck.

The all-in-one “base stations” have pretty well disappeared (or are exorbitantly price). After all, its just a portable radio plus a power supply.

Choose the radio and a power supply and use a rack or a metal case to mount them. Is my approach to keeping the footprint small.

 

[n7lrg]

I run a McKinley as a base station and liked it so well I have one in my truck too. I read they hold up better in 4x4's then the Unidens. I really like the auto-squelch too.

 

[Wynterspop]

Another appeal to the McKinley is the front firing speaker. Perfect for dash mounting.

 

[bobruzzo]

I ordered the McKinley with the peak/tune upgrade cause I just wanted a better general use CB for talking to local friends. Dont intend on any DX contacts, and from what I read and learned most radios are sub-par performing from factory. I read nothing but good things about this radio. Cb will be delivered on Saturday.

 

[Omega-TI]

... will be delivered on Saturday.

I gotta admit, it is a cute little radio...

 

[arudlang]

from what I read and learned most radios are sub-par performing from factory

I understand the thought process and I'm sure you will be thrilled with your professionally tuned radio. All I'm saying is you can't roll the dice much harder than I did when I bought a Uniden 980SSB (probably the cheapest new SSB radio in existence) from the cheapest-priced big-box store I could find (BestBuy) and it worked out fine for me. I only see 3 watts on my cheap meter instead of 4 and the modulation % is unknown but still out of the box I can chat 15+ miles locally on SSB and successfully got a callback from 1300ish miles away when skip was rolling good on Christmas day. How much "better" it could be I may never know, but short of hitting a perfect 100% modulation I doubt the difference between 3 watts and being peaked (15-16 watts on that radio) would ever be much of a game changer.

And if I change my mind, I'm only one shiny metal box from "RM Italy" away from burying anyone's nice "peaked and tuned" radio under a beautiful shower of splattery RF (just kidding, I wouldn't do that!)

In all honestly I'd love to upgrade to a McKinley or Lincoln II someday for the base station. I've heard that Uniden owns the President brand and noticed that the 6 pin mics are swappable between my 980SSB and my new President Electronics Bill FCC radio... Even the channel change buttons on the "Bill FCC" radio's stock mic work to change channels on the 980SSB so... pretty sure if you want that fancy Uniden Wireless mic for your McKinley you'd be in luck.

I don't have any reports yet from contacts but the talkback is noticeably quieter on the 980SSB when I'm using the P. Bill FCC mic so not sure what the deal is there, more testing is required.

 

[bobruzzo]

I understand the thought process and I'm sure you will be thrilled with your professionally tuned radio. All I'm saying is you can't roll the dice much harder than I did when I bought a Uniden 980SSB (probably the cheapest new SSB radio in existence) from the cheapest-priced big-box store I could find (BestBuy) and it worked out fine for me. I only see 3 watts on my cheap meter instead of 4 and the modulation % is unknown but still out of the box I can chat 15+ miles locally on SSB and successfully got a callback from 1300ish miles away when skip was rolling good on Christmas day. How much "better" it could be I may never know, but short of hitting a perfect 100% modulation I doubt the difference between 3 watts and being peaked (15-16 watts on that radio) would ever be much of a game changer.

And if I change my mind, I'm only one shiny metal box from "RM Italy" away from burying anyone's nice "peaked and tuned" radio under a beautiful shower of splattery RF (just kidding, I wouldn't do that!)

In all honestly I'd love to upgrade to a McKinley or Lincoln II someday for the base station. I've heard that Uniden owns the President brand and noticed that the 6 pin mics are swappable between my 980SSB and my new President Electronics Bill FCC radio... Even the channel change buttons on the "Bill FCC" radio's stock mic work to change channels on the 980SSB so... pretty sure if you want that fancy Uniden Wireless mic for your McKinley you'd be in luck.

I don't have any reports yet from contacts but the talkback is noticeably quieter on the 980SSB when I'm using the P. Bill FCC mic so not sure what the deal is there, more testing is required.

I hear ya....I got the upgrade cause I figure with the actual signal loss factored in, due to the coax, antenna height, my location and other things, then at that point my radio will be a regular stock 4 watt cb! The only thing I would like to consider is a good powered mic because stock mics on CB's usually really suck. I have a couple of options. My friend gave me a Turner Super Sidekick but it needs to be wired for the McKinley. Or I could buy a hand mic but not sure what to get. I dont want echo or roger beeps just a good amplified mic. But not sure of the quality of them. Probably cheaper to wire up the Turner. But I'd need the connector and diagram on how to wire it.