Just Do It
I'm only shopping straight up AM/SSB radios, no 10m super-duper wonder boxes.
Is it desirable to have a frequency counter on SSB? What about unlocking the clarifier? I've read that doing that can make it more of a hassle to get good contacts.
To the first point, you did say you were thinking of Connex or Galaxy. If I'm not mistaken, Connex is a 40 watt radio. Here's a not so secret, little secret. Ranger Electronics makes the boards for Galaxy, Connex, General Lee, SuperStar & of course, Ranger. A couple of those companies have made legal CB's. The Galaxy 900 series & the "Texas Ranger", Them are fantastic radios. I have a DX 979 and I prefer my Texas Ranger 669 to it. Don't discount the "wonder boxes" just yet.The fact that you can crank them to 40 or 60 watts doesn't mean that you have to. My next radio is going to be a magnum. I love the quality of the board, but noway am I going to crank it to 60 watts. I have my radios turned up just a tad, but not full blast. I only want to talk to the next truck, not Guam! But the 3 watts that my 979 came with had to go. I think you'd be happy with a "big radio" if you turn it up just enough to get across what ever valley you live in.
Next: The freq counter and clarifier are for the same purpose; so others can hear you and you can hear them. When you get the new radio the clarifier will only do the receive thing. This is fine for when you and one other person is talking.You dial him in, and he in turn dials you in. But what if several members of a SSB club are on the air in the evening and each CB is transmitting a tad off freq. Even after you align them, radios change slightly as they warm up. You have to jump up and tune in each person when they talk? What pain in the tuckus! This "unlocking" the clarifier thing is just hooking the transmit and receive together. Now your radio receives on 27.4050 and transmits on 27.4050... exactly. Not 27.4053. Everyone has the capability to talk on freq, so you don't have to spend all evening tuning in each slightly tweeked factory set radio. Now, everyone is talking on key. Side band is very quick to make a person sound like Donald Duck, where AM is very forgiving over a few degrees of the compass.
The freq counter is so you can see your radio's exact freq and tune it to perfection. It will become an addiction, I promise you. :/
To set the record straight, unlocking the clarifier will assure you more contacts and less people B!+ch1ng at you because YOU are off freq. You will join the "in-crowd" fer sure!
So go get you're SuperStar or Galaxy with the freq counter in the face. Tell the guy to leave the Mod Limmiter in it & have it dead key at 5 or 6 watts, swinging to 15 AM and 30 to 40 SSB. This will give you a mid range radio that wont piss the neighbors off but you can still reach the county line. (Note: the side band power is a different screw than the AM).
The reason people are buying the bigger radios is because all of the interference caused by cell towers, radio waves & wifi all around us that wasn't there when CB was rated at 4 watts. 4 watts used to get you 30 -40 miles, today you're lucky if you get 5. So cheat a little, just don't go overboard.
If you want to stick with a "legal" CB, you can always put a bigger final inside the box to get you up out of the mud, but remain humble.
It's all up to you.
Happy Choosing
