Peak and tune

[marconi949]

Should I get a "peak and tune" on my new Galaxy 949.

 

[LtDoc]

A 'peak and tune' is just like getting your car tuned up. It optimizes what's already there, makes it as best as it can be. It won't change things much, just makes it as good as it's design will allow, most radio manufacturers tune it that way to start with. If you expect huge differences in performance I'm afraid you'll be disappointed unless the thing was really 'doggy' to start with.
If anything is changed with the typical radio circuits it isn't a 'peak and tune' any more, it's a modification, it's been 'modded'. That's a whole different ball-game. Like adding a 4 barrel carb and a racing cam to your little 'Yugo'. And you'd better hope your 'mechanic' knows what he's doing. (Most don't.)
- 'Doc

 

[marconi949]

A 'peak and tune' is just like getting your car tuned up. It optimizes what's already there, makes it as best as it can be. It won't change things much, just makes it as good as it's design will allow, most radio manufacturers tune it that way to start with. If you expect huge differences in performance I'm afraid you'll be disappointed unless the thing was really 'doggy' to start with.
If anything is changed with the typical radio circuits it isn't a 'peak and tune' any more, it's a modification, it's been 'modded'. That's a whole different ball-game. Like adding a 4 barrel carb and a racing cam to your little 'Yugo'. And you'd better hope your 'mechanic' knows what he's doing. (Most don't.)
- 'Doc

Optimize is what i'm looking for,its only 4 watts and its for local chit chatting only and the odd DX,My buddy knows a Ham that will do the work for us.
thanks for the reply Doc.....I will get it done,the price is right...free )

 

[jackj]

Unless someone has been cranking on things inside the radio, a "Peak and tune" is a waste of money, marconi949. You might increase the power out from 3.5 watts to 4 watts or the receiver sensitivty from 1 microvolt to 0.9 but you will NEVER notice any difference in the radio's performance. But by all means, support your local CB shop, it good easy money for them.

 

[N4JKD]

As I always say, if you want more power, get your ham license, but if you want the best out of your CB, be sure you have your antenna, a good quality antenna, matched well with your CB with as low as a SWR you can get. Good quality antenna and coax will get you a long way. Best quality antennas you can get are like K-40 and Wilson. I would recommend not going with radio shack or cheap RG-58 coax, because these coax types cause lots of gain losses.

Pretty much, you can have an expensive, high quality radio, with a junk antenna and coax , you can pretty much bet the signal sent out will sound like crap. On the other hand, you can take a low cost, generic brand CB with a good quality antenna and coax, and it match it well with SWR....you will see a night and day difference with signal. Don't expect long distance with CB, as that's not what is intended for, but it will get you local highway and smokey reports if that's what you are looking for.

You have a good quality Galaxy radio, don't deminish its quality with an inferior antenna and coax.

 

[marconi949]

As I always say, if you want more power, get your ham license, but if you want the best out of your CB, be sure you have your antenna, a good quality antenna, matched well with your CB with as low as a SWR you can get. Good quality antenna and coax will get you a long way. Best quality antennas you can get are like K-40 and Wilson. I would recommend not going with radio shack or cheap RG-58 coax, because these coax types cause lots of gain losses.

Pretty much, you can have an expensive, high quality radio, with a junk antenna and coax , you can pretty much bet the signal sent out will sound like crap. On the other hand, you can take a low cost, generic brand CB with a good quality antenna and coax, and it match it well with SWR....you will see a night and day difference with signal. Don't expect long distance with CB, as that's not what is intended for, but it will get you local highway and smokey reports if that's what you are looking for.

You have a good quality Galaxy radio, don't deminish its quality with an inferior antenna and coax.

I got it done "peak and tune" the radio was set at 2.8 watts,now its set at 4 watts, go figure ? !,I have RG 213 coax with a A99 antenna set on a 40ft tower,I got a little fan for it to reduce heat,My power supply is a DM-330 ALINCO.We tried it out this morning,the 949 is a base,I have two Cobra Hand held,We were eight miles away from the base and could communicate no problem on are hunt this morning.My SWR was at 2, its at 1.6 now,I figure the new coax brought the reading down.We bring along a 25ft telescopic mast to communicate with the base,the K-40 is what on the end of the telescopic mast. Its a lot of fun.
The Ham that "peak and tuned" my 949 gave me 100ft of coax,all i needed was two connectors,(had to cut the cable in two,65ft for the base and 35ft for the field mast.) I gave my Buddy's Ham friend Fifty Bucks for the cable,a real nice guy but a bit over weight. Thanks for all the reply's and info,Talk to you later................ I'm going Hunting.

 

[N4JKD]

Have fun! When I was in CB, there always used to be someone to talk to when I lived in Indiana, but now it is all a bunch of static and nobody talks on it hardly anymore up there. CB and ham radio repeaters are alike in the sense, its hit and miss if you can find someone to talk to. Enjoy your radio my friend, sounds like you got a good system working for you! Also, if you have between 1.6-2.0, its ok, but I could be better, but it will do what you need it. Have fun!

 

[reedeb]

I got it done "peak and tune" the radio was set at 2.8 watts,now its set at 4 watts, go figure ? .

Looks like it was set up to use an amplifier with scuh low setting

 

[marconi949]

Looks like it was set up to use an amplifier with scuh low setting

The CB radio was purchase new in the box from a reputable Ham radio store,All i knew is that the Radio was not up to snuff like my Buddy's 949 witch he purchase at that store, my Uniden BCD996T scanner was also purchase at that store,runs like a champ.
Maybe it was built on a Monday who knows ? a "peak and tune" by a Ham set everything at its optimizing peak performance :0) and the RG213 coax help a lot also.

My Buddy is in the process of checking his out also,His friend the Ham will "peak and tune" the radio if needed.My buddy has a base about 12 miles away from my house and i can hear him loud and clear,
I will let you know of the outcome of my friends CB "peak and tune" if your interested. Personally I dont think his radio needs a "peak and tune" it works great,but hey ! why not ! its free and the Guy working on it knows his stuff.......I like the fact that that radio has SSB capability.

Cheers
Marconi.

 

[Ohio_359]

The CB radio was purchase new in the box from a reputable Ham radio store,All i knew is that the Radio was not up to snuff like my Buddy's 949 witch he purchase at that store,

It never hurts to align and peak a radio out of the box. Will it work out of the box? Sure. But the assembly line also has a tolerance margin, and dialing things in a little tighter never hurts.

 

[hockeyshrink]

It never hurts to align and peak a radio out of the box. Will it work out of the box? Sure. But the assembly line also has a tolerance margin, and dialing things in a little tighter never hurts.

Yeah, I have 3 Galaxy radios (959, 979, & 2547), all brand new out of the box, and all 3 needed tuning to bring them up to legal limits.

BTW, do not rely on the internal meter - get a decent SWR/Power meter and learn how to use it.

 

[KD8DVR]

Should I get a "peak and tune" on my new Galaxy 949.

I have a 949. It is functioning within legal limits right out of the box.. You have a good, quality CB, do not mess it up. Radios are set up at the factory for optimum performance within legal limits. The meter on the 949 is right on the money in terms of accuracy. IF, it say, needs fine tuned within legal limits, alignment, and such... who can you trust.

It IS true, these radios can easily be uh.. "adjusted" to perform out of "legal" limits; but at that point, you need to concern yourself with what will happen if said "adjustments" take place.

You could find yourself with a radio that actually perfoms worse. There are lots of "radio Mechanics" that can really do a good hack job on a radio. They have a wattmeter and maybe a frequency counter. No Service monitor and all the tools needed. Worse, no proper knowlege.

In the CB world, always be careful.

73

 

[Murstech]

CB radios always work better once you clip the pink wire!

 

[Ohio_359]

It IS true, these radios can easily be uh.. "adjusted" to perform out of "legal" limits; but at that point, you need to concern yourself with what will happen if said "adjustments" take place.

Once you understand an RLC circuit, you'll see that tuning a resonant circuit makes it more efficient, and allows it to run cooler by allowing the inductive and capacitive reactance to cancel each other out. Some of these circuits are pretty narrow banded and the assembly line gets them "close enough" ...... sometimes.

If it does more than a 4 watt unmodulated carrier, or 12 watts PEP after tuning, there are tuning points to bring that back to within legal spec.

 

[marconi949]

Yeah, I have 3 Galaxy radios (959, 979, & 2547), all brand new out of the box, and all 3 needed tuning to bring them up to legal limits.

BTW, do not rely on the internal meter - get a decent SWR/Power meter and learn how to use it.

My friend got his "peak and tune" by his Ham buddy, I never saw so many Ham radio's, CB's,scanner's and test equipment in my life..lol,Welcome to my shack he said.His 949 was off by .8watts.The radio was also new out of the box.Its set at 4 watts know, same has mine.Its good to know that are radio's are working at peak optimize capability.

What do you recommend in a SWR/Power meter.
Thanks
Marconi949

 

[marconi949]

As I always say, if you want more power, get your ham license, but if you want the best out of your CB, be sure you have your antenna, a good quality antenna, matched well with your CB with as low as a SWR you can get. Good quality antenna and coax will get you a long way. Best quality antennas you can get are like K-40 and Wilson. I would recommend not going with radio shack or cheap RG-58 coax, because these coax types cause lots of gain losses.

Pretty much, you can have an expensive, high quality radio, with a junk antenna and coax , you can pretty much bet the signal sent out will sound like crap. On the other hand, you can take a low cost, generic brand CB with a good quality antenna and coax, and it match it well with SWR....you will see a night and day difference with signal. Don't expect long distance with CB, as that's not what is intended for, but it will get you local highway and smokey reports if that's what you are looking for.

You have a good quality Galaxy radio, don't deminish its quality with an inferior antenna and coax.

Question for you Jdailey1981 ....I have a Cobra 38WXST hand held,I can get a replacement antenna for it,the replacement i'm looking at is a SA2 Cherokee Super Flex Ducky Antenna BNC 25" ,I can get one for 20 bucks new from a reputable Ham radio store,Will it be better than the stock one i have now ?

Thanks
Marconi949

 

[Ohio_359]

Pretty much, you can have an expensive, high quality radio, with a junk antenna and coax , you can pretty much bet the signal sent out will sound like crap.

While I do agree that the antenna makes up the larger portion of a quality station having decent range, I don't agree that the antenna can effect audio quality. I can pick up audio from a dummy load or piece of coax and don't even need an antenna, but it won't talk to the end of the driveway like that.

 

[rfradioconsult]

"Tuning" a transmitter over a fairly broad frequency band based only on the measured power output is a bad idea, I would bet the increase in output power is actually due to spurious signals being generated in the final PA stage. Also you never hear about adjusting the receiver sensitivity, I guess because the so-called "tech" doesen't have the necessary equipment.

 

[Ohio_359]

That's because your not understanding the circuitry and the reason for using test points, some require voltage measurements and some require power measurements. And yes, a proper tune includes a receive alignment as well. I'm not sure how tuning a radio is somehow equal to being an outlaw in some peoples minds, but it's pure foolishness. I don't think some people know the difference between a "peak and tune" and swing kits, volted finals and all that garbage.

 

[w4wxp]

As I always say, if you want more power, get your ham license, but if you want the best out of your CB, be sure you have your antenna, a good quality antenna, matched well with your CB with as low as a SWR you can get. Good quality antenna and coax will get you a long way. Best quality antennas you can get are like K-40 and Wilson. I would recommend not going with radio shack or cheap RG-58 coax, because these coax types cause lots of gain losses.

Pretty much, you can have an expensive, high quality radio, with a junk antenna and coax , you can pretty much bet the signal sent out will sound like crap. On the other hand, you can take a low cost, generic brand CB with a good quality antenna and coax, and it match it well with SWR....you will see a night and day difference with signal. Don't expect long distance with CB, as that's not what is intended for, but it will get you local highway and smokey reports if that's what you are looking for.

You have a good quality Galaxy radio, don't deminish its quality with an inferior antenna and coax.

AMEN MY BROTHA! It's all about the Antenna. You can have a $10,000 Icom 7800 Rig for a radio, but if you have a crappy antenna and lossy coax, you won't be talking anywhere near as far as an old heathkit with a GREAT antenna.