When I come through I yell GANG WAY and the trees just part...
Damnedest thing really.
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"The Great Antenna Test of 2025"
- Thread starter niceguy71
- Start date
When I come through I yell GANG WAY and the trees just part...
Damnedest thing really.
niceguy71
Active Member
E-bay bites me again
over the last 20 years I have gotten some "serious" JUNK off e-bay....
I once bought a Hitachi Rotary / jack hammer weighs 100 pounds because I liked the one I used at work ( a $1000 unit) for $359 brand new on E-bay .. what showed up at my door was a plastic jack hammer with the same Hitachi sticker on the side of it???... it looked like the same $1000 jack hammer.... but it was more like a Harbor Freight plastic piece of junk.. returns were not accepted, I fought with e-bay but could not return it.
I needed a Driver Extreme DX-901 speaker... and saw the E-bay seller was Rooster CB shop ( Rooster CB Radio Connection) with one on E-bay for $69.99 with free shipping... I know Rooster CB is a very professional shop. I watch some of his video's ... I know he's no crook,,, good guy with good products.
this in no way knocks him..... or his products
after I bought the DX-901 for $69.99 and free shipping
I decided to look at his web site to see what else he has.... I saw he also sells the DX-901 speaker on his website.... but on his website he gets 64.95 with free shipping!!!! Driver Extreme DX-901 for $64.99
oh well live and learn... I just plain HATE e-bay
I've been on Ebay since 1998 and purchased hundreds of items, largely radio stuff and for my other hobby of collecting vintage/classic bicycles.
I've had a handful of mediocre/bad experiences in that time. Fortunately, the big ticket items ($800 for a JRC NRD-515 receiver in 2017 and $1,500 for a mid 1930's Schwinn in 1999) were extremely positive.
One particularly bad experience had nothing to do with the item - it was the seller. He allowed for 3 days to receive payment. I paid on the third day and he left negative feedback. It turned into a war in the feedback forum. LOL
Most of the radio equipment I purchased was accurately described both working or not. There was one vintage tunable monitor receiver that I purchased, a PolicAlarm from the 50's, that was advertised as working. When I plugged it in, all it would receive was 60 cycle hum. Oh well.
Ebay was much better early on (15 - 25 years ago) than it is now. The majority of my buying was done 15+ years ago and has seriously tapered off in the last five years.
niceguy71
Active Member
well the radio equipment that you see on E-bay is sadly 30 to 40 years old... you never see a new style Radioddity or Anytone radio... it's all old Radio Shack or old Cobra... Midland.....I've been on Ebay since 1998 and purchased hundreds of items, largely radio stuff and for my other hobby of collecting vintage/classic bicycles.
I've had a handful of mediocre/bad experiences in that time. Fortunately, the big ticket items ($800 for a JRC NRD-515 receiver in 2017 and $1,500 for a mid 1930's Schwinn in 1999) were extremely positive.
One particularly bad experience had nothing to do with the item - it was the seller. He allowed for 3 days to receive payment. I paid on the third day and he left negative feedback. It turned into a war in the feedback forum. LOL
Most of the radio equipment I purchased was accurately described both working or not. There was one vintage tunable monitor receiver that I purchased, a PolicAlarm from the 50's, that was advertised as working. When I plugged it in, all it would receive was 60 cycle hum. Oh well.
Ebay was much better early on (15 - 25 years ago) than it is now. The majority of my buying was done 15+ years ago and has seriously tapered off in the last five years.
there is a ton of people making a good living going to yard sales ( or junk yards ) and buying radios for a $1 and selling them on e-bay..... 15 to 20 years ago the radios were much newer and they worked... those same radios have sat in people's basements and garages for 25 plus years... most of the capacitors have leaked by now... so there are very few that work anymore.
Fair point. However, the JRC NRD-515 was 37 years old when I purchased it in 2017. Another radio, a Realistic DX-160, was 34 years old. It's a roll of the dice no matter what. Even sellers at hamfests will look you square in the eye and say a radio works, when they darn well know it's fried.
At least with Ebay, you have a chance of getting your money back.
slowmover
Active Member
Trying to save pennies incurs no virtue.
No gain, no advantage.
I lost 2-3/hours of compensation to acquire the first two DRX-901. OOR in Phoenix to the Peterbilt dealer, and again in IA to a Petro. Both had the DRX line-up for sale. No where else convenient for me as naught was online. As it wasn’t being promoted, the DRX line may have been discontinued by Pro Comm for all I knew. I hit 3-4 other “authorized dealers” in-between those successes, and called still more.
Online videos were poor. Maybe 1 or 2. What spurred me was developers description plus online brochure. “I knew”.
Same experience with DSP Speaker, SIRIO 5k, Bypass Filter, and integrated NRC. No disappointments. A few minor misses.
Make this pursuit into what it isn't — the love of money — and expect dissatisfaction.
.
No gain, no advantage.
I lost 2-3/hours of compensation to acquire the first two DRX-901. OOR in Phoenix to the Peterbilt dealer, and again in IA to a Petro. Both had the DRX line-up for sale. No where else convenient for me as naught was online. As it wasn’t being promoted, the DRX line may have been discontinued by Pro Comm for all I knew. I hit 3-4 other “authorized dealers” in-between those successes, and called still more.
Online videos were poor. Maybe 1 or 2. What spurred me was developers description plus online brochure. “I knew”.
Same experience with DSP Speaker, SIRIO 5k, Bypass Filter, and integrated NRC. No disappointments. A few minor misses.
Make this pursuit into what it isn't — the love of money — and expect dissatisfaction.
.
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niceguy71
Active Member
I can afford anything I want.... but it's just so much more fun to look for a deal... I do that on almost everything I buy... if I want a QT-40... I'll look at E-bay... I'll look at Aliexpress .... I'll wait for a sale at Amazon, I'll look for coupons from Radioddity... or wait until Black Friday...... I waste hours and hours looking for a dirt cheap deal .... I even stay up at night with a notepad figuring... well if I order it here, it's $11 shipping... and if I get it there its $10 dollars more but I get free shipping..... so I save a whole $1.00!!!!
I spend weeks or months chasing pennies.... not for the savings.... it's just a silly hobby...
I have been looking for a Jeep for 2 years.... found some incredible deals.... but I want to steal it! so I spend 5 or 6 hours a week going over Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and a million dealer web sites..... .
lately I just can't seem to pull the trigger.... I have my heart set on a red Rubicon... found a 100 that fit the bill.... between $10,000 and $12,000.... this weekend one came up for sale. Facebook Jeep for $6,000 OBO ..... I am thinking nope.... I can do better....
I looked at this Jeep with $67,000 sticker.... and he would let me have it for $40,000.... I thought about it.... but again I think I can do better.... $67,000 sticker for $40,000
as I said .. I love chasing pennies.
Davidbt
Member
Where you live, when looking at Jeeps, pay really close attention to the frame. As I'm sure you're aware.
niceguy71
Active Member
so many problems with Jeeps.. I could turn this into a Jeep warning forum
50% of the jeeps have the fames rotted right through .. I mean literally broken in half
on the JK's ( I want a JK Rubicon ) they all get the "3.6 tick" between 120,000 and 150,000 ... EVERY SINGLE 3.6 will get the tick... you either pay $6,000 for a partial rebuild..... lifters cams, and rockers... or you buy a Jasper remanufactured engine for $6500 with out labor to do the install
on the TJ's the rear main seals leak on all of them! and if you pull the motor and replace the rear main seal... 6 months later it will be leaking again
getting a CB to work on a jeep sucks...
anyone buying a Jeep needs their head examined.
DeeEx
Member
My friend’s family owned one of the few strictly Jeep dealerships I’ve ever seen. He was the service department manager.
Another friend mentioning wanting to buy a Jeep vehicle… my friend who is in the business said don’t do it unless you’re the service manager at your family’s Jeep dealership (as he was!) because you won’t be able to afford or stand the inconvenience of all the repairs. Absolutely piles of garbage.
prcguy
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The current 8 speed transmission is bullet proof.
Davidbt
Member
Well, I'm on my 7th. I'm a jeep guy. The rear main seal can be repaired without pulling the motor, check out the jeep wrangler tj forum. Also, if you run regular dinosaur oil in a tj, it's better for the seals. Maintenance on any vehicle is key. My first jeep was a 1982 CJ-8. It was a great jeep and took my kids and I over the Rubicon trail. I now own a 2005 TJR, and it will be with me for a long time. 
niceguy71
Active Member
totally agree... nothing but a money pit
sorry for getting off the CB forum
now as for a money pit.... it does give you incredible performance when it runs ... the 2007 to 2025 Jeeps have BLD "Brake Lock Differential" differentials.... it makes the front and rear ends like having a posi... all 4 wheels have speed sensors and a computer... if one wheel spins it applies the brake to that wheel causing the opposite wheel to spin.. so it will crab walk out of anything... absolutely brilliant idea. if you watch any 4-wheeling video of 2007 and up jeeps.... you will see it is unstoppable.... also the 3.6 engine has 275 HP in a small platform ( at least in the 2 door ) meaning it has unstoppable off road capabilities and a plenty of power to make it fun.
people drive them 50% of the time and push or tow them the other 50%
but something will break on a daily basis if you get a used Jeep...... so they tell me
I know return us to a CB forum
niceguy71
Active Member
interesting development
when we did the "Great Antenna test of 2025" we tuned both 5555 N II radios to 10 watts dead key..... I picked 10 watts as my old President Grant would transmit 9 to 11 watts dead key all the time on AM and I know that the old President Grant could reach more than 10 miles mobile to mobile.
I didn't want to do it with 4 watts dead keyed as most of the radios today can be easily modified to 10 plus watts.. so I thought 10 watts dead keyed was going to be a good antenna test.
after the test I was surprised to see the power knob was turned to the right about 3/4 of the way... almost all the way turned to the right just to make the radios get to 10 watts??? .. ... I thought 10 watts would have the power knob closer to the left????.. maybe just turned a little?
as I watched all the video footage from the test it seems my truck was always showing 6 to 7 watts on all the tests????
I was sitting in a parking lot today and thought I would turn the dial 3/4 of the way again. as I never have any knob turned up all the way..... I just never turn anything to max to help things last longer... and 10 watts dead key should be plenty for daily operations
I was curious so I turned the knob from 3/4 of the way to all the way until the knob could no longer be turned... and I saw 18 watts.
when I got home I thought I would share my findings here and thought I would take a picture of the 18 watts with the knob turned to max.... well when I got home it would not go over 14 watts dead keyed turned all the way to the right???? so I drove to a different town... still 14 watts???? so I drove to yet another town and again 14 watts dead keyed with the knob maxed turned to the right ????
so for anyone with a 5555 N II ... if you turn the power knob 3/4 of the way it will be around 10 watts
if you turn it all the way until the knob stops it's 14 watts
and if you are using FM it went to 42 watts turned all the way up.
when we did the "Great Antenna test of 2025" we tuned both 5555 N II radios to 10 watts dead key..... I picked 10 watts as my old President Grant would transmit 9 to 11 watts dead key all the time on AM and I know that the old President Grant could reach more than 10 miles mobile to mobile.
I didn't want to do it with 4 watts dead keyed as most of the radios today can be easily modified to 10 plus watts.. so I thought 10 watts dead keyed was going to be a good antenna test.
after the test I was surprised to see the power knob was turned to the right about 3/4 of the way... almost all the way turned to the right just to make the radios get to 10 watts??? .. ... I thought 10 watts would have the power knob closer to the left????.. maybe just turned a little?
as I watched all the video footage from the test it seems my truck was always showing 6 to 7 watts on all the tests????
I was sitting in a parking lot today and thought I would turn the dial 3/4 of the way again. as I never have any knob turned up all the way..... I just never turn anything to max to help things last longer... and 10 watts dead key should be plenty for daily operations
I was curious so I turned the knob from 3/4 of the way to all the way until the knob could no longer be turned... and I saw 18 watts.
when I got home I thought I would share my findings here and thought I would take a picture of the 18 watts with the knob turned to max.... well when I got home it would not go over 14 watts dead keyed turned all the way to the right???? so I drove to a different town... still 14 watts???? so I drove to yet another town and again 14 watts dead keyed with the knob maxed turned to the right ????
so for anyone with a 5555 N II ... if you turn the power knob 3/4 of the way it will be around 10 watts
if you turn it all the way until the knob stops it's 14 watts
and if you are using FM it went to 42 watts turned all the way up.
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prcguy
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When I do any kind of antenna gain or range test where antennas will be swapped, I use 6dB attenuator between the radio and antenna. That cuts down the power to the antenna by 75% but gives the radio a very good 50 ohm match and the antenna also sees a nice mostly resistive 50 ohm match. Otherwise your wattmeter will usually not give correct power readings into an antenna due to mismatch so you might be a couple watts high or low and not know it. That can throw off readings at the receive end.
slowmover
Active Member
slowmover
Active Member
This is as close as I find. Avoiding India stuff. Needs HF to N adapters, but is it what’s wanted in terms of 50-ohm, 10W and
(I not know) “DC to 3-GHz” applicable.
— Am looking for the device simplest for CB purposes. Supplier is reputable.
This whole test biz got a lot more interesting since the OP started this.
.
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prcguy
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You can get them in 100 watt versions. Look on fleabay for a used one for a good price.
