The stock 4 pin adapter won't work, you'd need a different adpter, but I like using the Cobra HG M75 power mic with both the McKinley and 980.
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Opinions on the President McKinley Radio??
- Thread starter bobruzzo
- Start date
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arudlang
Member
My 980SSB came with a 6-to-4 pin adapter that does work for an HG M75. That being said, I would not recommend the HG M75 anymore. Based on reading reviews, some of which go back a decade, it had been a good powered mic for people. The one I bought a month ago on Amazon is different, and is garbage.
I opened it up to try the resistor mod, only to find that they have (apparently recently) changed to a surface-mount design and the labels on the board no longer match up with old PDF docs you can find online describing the resistor and capacitor mods that are supposed to wake this mic up. Me being an un-educated electronics hack, I was unable to decipher the changes they made to the board to figure out which resistors one would mod if you even still wanted to. I took some guesses and made some attempts, but it only resulted in making the audio quieter and weaker, so I backed out my modifications and put it back together as stock.
Unable to complete the mods people have done in the past to the previous version of this mic, I am very disappointed in its sound and volume in its (updated) stock form. The audio quality is bad and at full power its still not as loud as the stock mic that came with my 980 SSB. It might be marginally louder than the stock mic on my cheaper radios like my 505XL but the quality of the audio is bad enough to make me not want to use it. Its now sitting in a drawer and could be there for a while. This summer I can see if its really any better than the stock mic of the 505XL in my old beater car but right now its -20F and I don't want it to not work because the 9v battery inside it gets too cold. It's definitely no upgrade vs the stock mic on the 980SSB so it would be a shocker if its better than the stock mic on a President Electronics product.
Now, its only $15 so not out much to give it a try. Just letting you know it didn't/hasn't worked out for me and it seems to have something to do with them having updated the internals recently and continued selling it under the same name, but the glowing reviews of people who bought it in 2020 and prior may not apply since its now a different product inside...
This was mine and my attempt at the mod:
This is a pic from the ancient PDF floating around showing the old style of the board and what to change:
No dice for me and so far don't like the mic as it came out of the box, but that is just my 2 cents, it's only $15 to try.
I have a friend who is giving me a Turner plus 3 desk mic. But it needs a connector and wiring instructions. I suppose I can order a connector online but I need a wiring diagram for the President McKinley. BTW I did order my McKinley as per your suggestion from Walcott. Radio will be here on Saturday. Would you know where I could fine info on setting this Turner mic up to work with my McKinley? Also tell me more about the "Texas Ranger" mic......
I am planning on resurrecting an old (from the 90's) Turner plus 2 desk mic. But I wil have to get a new connector and a diagram on how to wire it for the McKinley.
ForestRunner98
917 SoCal
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2020
- Messages
- 42
I didn’t know that the board was re-done.
I have the previous version and did the mod and it really came to life!! I will say it’s louder than the stock McKinley mic but not by too much. The McKinley mic does sound a lot better though. I went back to it. Just make a small hole, remove the white felt and speak across it fairly close. I used another radio with headphones so it would not squeal.
I own a President McKinley that I use mainly for road trips and I am very happy with it. I am especially happy that President provides access to the service manual. I know my way around radio innards and own the appropriate test equipment so bringing the carrier level up to 4 watts was easy and adjusting the AM modulation to 100% was also straightforward. I then made sure that SSB was both dead on frequency and at least 12 watts PEP out. My McKinley sounded fine out of the box, but I figured why not tweak its performance up to normal CB specs. The built-in antenna SWR measurement function is novel and fairly accurate, but I have the right equipment for that too and already knew my antenna was properly tuned. I really like the Automatic Squelch Control and Noise Blanker/Automatic Noise Limiter features which all work extremely well. The car we travel in has a little bit of engine noise and the NB/ANL removes it completely without impacting the received audio. It's the best I have ever used on a CB radio. Granted I use the McKinley mostly to monitor Ch.19 while on the road, I have received some unsolicited positive comments on my transmit audio for both AM and SSB. Lastly, the front facing speaker is wonderful for making it easy to hear. I would describe the McKinley as a functional, easy to use, solid performing mobile CB radio.
robertwbob
KE0WRU
i have 2 980 unidens. both are junk. im thinking mckinnly for the big trucks as both 980s let me down. from what im reading the mckinnly sounds great
slowmover
Active Member
Time changes things:
2023 Best Mobile CB
Via mobile experience as an OTR truck driver. Several thousand hours annual use. Earlier references to the Qixiang factory’s new circuit board elsewhere. Several brands. The above possibly the best known example at present. Paired with the equally new Driver Extreme DRX-9010 External Speaker...
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