President CB Radio Decision

[DavidL142]

Need a little help on deciding what president CB radio to get for a base station. I had an 980SSB that died, it was hooked up to A99.

I ordered and received a President McKinley and it's still in the unopened box. debating whether I should return it.

I started looking at the President Lincoln II + for a base station and was also looking into getting my HAM license for the 10 & 12 meters.

If I were to go with the Lincoln II + and had the 11 meter mod done for the CB channels, would I still be in complacence with the 11 meters? Would it be transmitting over the 4 watts or don't I have to worry about that if I get my HAM license?

I just want to keep things legal.

I'm leaning towards the Lincoln II + with the 11 meter mod. Is it worth the $40 to have the mod done or should I do it myself, it's only one resistor? Don't want to void the warranty.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[DavidL142]

Decided to keep the President McKinley.

 

[KANE4109]

I see that no one responded....
As far as the Lincoln goes.... I don't think that Part 95 Type Acceptance would apply to anything other than a straight up CB radio model. As I have always understood there can't be any kind of "cross pollenation" of radios like "combined bands" , "mixes of power levels" or anything like that. Type Acceptance means that it is a CB, it works from 26.965 - 27.405 Mhz in AM/FM/SSB, it puts out 4 watts or under... and has an FCC ID that says it is Type Accepted.

If legal is your thing... you did the right thing. I hear good things about the McKinley.

I hope you enjoy it!

 

[mmckenna]

If I were to go with the Lincoln II + and had the 11 meter mod done for the CB channels, would I still be in complacence with the 11 meters? Would it be transmitting over the 4 watts or don't I have to worry about that if I get my HAM license?

No.

The President Lincoln II+ is not a CB and while it can be modified to work on CB frequencies, it does not have FCC Part 95 certification. There is no way to make it legal for anything other than amateur radio.

Even if you got your ham license, the ham license ONLY permits transmitting on frequencies assigned to the amateur radio service. A ham license, of any class, does not grant transmitting privileges outside of the amateur radio bands. A ham license will not give you permission to use that radio on citizens band.

I just want to keep things legal.

If you want to stay legal, then the only way to do that is to buy a CB radio that actually has FCC part 95 certification and not modify it.

 

[DavidL142]

Thanks for the replies. I may still buy the unmodified Lincoln for my first ham radio or start with an HT model like the Yaris VX-6R.

 

[mmckenna]

Thanks for the replies. I may still buy the unmodified Lincoln for my first ham radio or start with an HT model like the Yaris VX-6R.

Big difference between those two.

A Yaesu VX-6R is a decent dual band (VHF/UHF) radio that will let you talk to locals, on local repeaters, and in some cases, linked repeaters.

The Lincoln will limit you to very small segments of the HF spectrum that will be impacted by atmospheric conditions, which means that at some times, you may not be able to talk to or hear anyone.
If you want to get into HF, that's not the radio you want. Far too limited and doesn't have the features you'll really want. Save your money and get a decent HF rig that covers all the HF bands.

 

[n7lrg]

Glad you went with the McKinley. Very good radio. Save your money and when you get your license buy a HF band radio. The President has some audio issues due to using a cheap audio processor. Hamstudy.org is a free online study guide that helped me get my extra class. Good luck!

 

[smittie]

After some thought, I think I am going to get the President Thomas rather than the Harrison. Harrison is half again the price for a lot of features that am not likely to use. I also looked at the Bill II because I like the size but the buttons and the user interface in general is not conducive to easy manipulation while driving.

Thoughts and comments?

Respectfully,
Smittie

 

[slowmover]

IMO, there’s no good reason to get a radio without NRC. It’s that important.

“Features I don’t use”, only describes today versus an unknown tomorrow (SSB extends one’s TX/RX range).

The Anytone or RadiOddity clones if $ matters most.

The power & coax/antenna systems are the real key. A radio is simply a component which is installed into those. Radios can be changed.

NRC is leverage for taking advantage of systems quality for best performance: I can hear farther, I can better, and the reduction in hash is such that all-day monitoring is far less fatiguing. (Online audio/video review doesn’t do full justice to NRC). Priority is to these systems, not any one component.

Radios need best operating environment.

Given the right external speaker it’s not unfair of me to characterize an NRC radio in mobile as sounding like business two-way when operating conditions are mild. I wasn’t quite prepared for this.


— It’d be safe to leave aside the, “which radio”, question until the power & antenna systems are specified, sourced, and installed. (There are possibly tool & supply purchases to make inside that meantime).

Circle back to the radio question once the separate systems have their own lists is cost control peace of mind; is a suggestion. (In this big truck the systems & accessories are above 2X the radio cost; cars are less difficult reducing expense, but you get the idea correctly if it’s understood that a full plan is best start).

.

 

[DavidL142]

After some thought, I think I am going to get the President Thomas rather than the Harrison. Harrison is half again the price for a lot of features that am not likely to use. I also looked at the Bill II because I like the size but the buttons and the user interface in general is not conducive to easy manipulation while driving.

Thoughts and comments?

Respectfully,
Smittie

I have the Harrison in my truck and the Bill II in my wife’s truck. I got the Harrison over the Thomas because of the additional features, mainly the weather channels.

You’re right about the size of the Bill II; it hard to see, but it fits perfect in my wife’s Tundra’s center console. She doesn’t really mess with the radio controls except for the WX and uses the mic to charge the channels.

 

[smittie]

@DavidL142, thank you for the confirmation.

 

[smittie]

Is it reasonable to assume that the transceiver circuitry in the Harrison and the Thomas are the same? The only difference Between the two is the extra functionality in the Harrison.

 

[slowmover]

I don’t think so. Integrated NRC is a function introduced last year. Different circuit board on models where the other functions are otherwise almost the same will continue on (with several brands) under a known model name/number . A designator usually applied to distinguish it from older models.

 

[smittie]

@slowmover, I'm confused. So, you think Harrison and Thomas do NOT have the same transceiver circuitry?

 

[slowmover]

Correct.

 

[n7lrg]

Decided to keep the President McKinley.

When you start hearing blurty ssb signals that sound distorted it's because of the digital audio chip President decided to use. I traded mine in to a CB shop, selling me another who said they did some work tuning it etc but it's marginally better so I put it in my truck. If you want a good mobile CB, the McKinley is awesome.

 

[slowmover]

When you start hearing blurty ssb signals that sound distorted it's because of the digital audio chip President decided to use. I traded mine in to a CB shop, selling me another who said they did some work tuning it etc but it's marginally better so I put it in my truck. If you want a good mobile CB, the McKinley is awesome.

Was on phone last night with my son as he went thru verifying the install we’d done on his private vehicle with a McKinley a couple of years ago.

Just needs DSP, now.

I ran that radio in the big truck for about a week (with DSP). It’s a radio head & shoulders above the comparable Uniden 980 (itself better than older designs).

DSP speaker will wake it up the rest of the way for mobile.


FWIW, the Lincoln II+ is better yet despite some saying the McK has a better receiver. I’ve used both in mobile. The Linc ain’t easy to use, and the advantage isn’t great (AM/SSB 11-Meter).

A Q5/QT60 is the easiest way (and cheapest) to put together all factors.

Near future will see the FCC-version:



At which point the lead passes back to Prez in AM/SSB even with a price somewhat higher.

President George II

President George II https://president-electronics.com/RadioCB/AM-FM-BLU/GEORGE-II Starting a thread so that the latest & greatest from President has a discussion home. General release in EU is just up ahead. Price is high at the moment, but so is demand. All I know is that I really want...

forums.radioreference.com

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[Waynesworldmedia]

I have the Harrison in my truck and the Bill II in my wife’s truck. I got the Harrison over the Thomas because of the additional features, mainly the weather channels.

You’re right about the size of the Bill II; it hard to see, but it fits perfect in my wife’s Tundra’s center console. She doesn’t really mess with the radio controls except for the WX and uses the mic to charge the channels.

Any mods for the Harrison