price aside the best ssb radio on the market now?

[kurtis1971]

i want to know what the best ssb radio for 11m is.

[drdx]

The best would be a ham rig converted to 11m, they all are capable, just not legal. You can spend anywhere from a few hundred to over 10 grand on one.

Pure legal cb wise who knows. None of the legal ones are great that can be had new and most are identical or close to it under the hood. Used, a cobra 148, the old ones with 4 switches in the middle are hard to beat but not the new ones. Most new ssb cb's i've bought in the last few years were off frequency out of the box.

-drdx

[Tucker442]

DrDx I agree with you 100%. Staring in 11 meters in the mid to late 60's guess I got spoiled with the quality of radios in those days. Johnson, Lafayette, Early Cobra, even through the 70's and the 40 channel era they were still really good radios, somewhere in the middle of all the bad skip in the 80's the radios really lost their appeal to me, Crummy modulation, off frequency, horrible sounding internal speakers etc. The new wave of export SSB radios is really like getting a breath of fresh air to the hobby. RCI 2950 and 2950DX models, Magnum S-9 257, the new 257HP, RCI Ranger 6900 series radio all work really well if tuned correctly and operated correctly. In todays SSB world and using a ton of new radios bought new and used I have to say the 2950DX is my favorite with my 6900F low power radio right up there too just not as stable staying on frequency as the 2950DX. I reciently purchased a Magnum 257HP and love it. 200 dollar SSB radio with 80 watts output, great recieve it just doesn't get any better than that. I've only had it just a month but use it everyday and will continue to until it decides to stop working. I have all my radios hooked up with an antenna switch and all connected to 2 different power supplies so I can switch between all of them to check recieve and transmit modes. Just my 2 cents hope this helps to open your eyes and ears to what's out there today and Sparkys is the place to buy it no doubt.

[721HACKSAW]

It is relevent to the meaning of the word "best" to you. Do you mean best price, best quality, best size, ect... Everyones idea of "best" differs.
I have been using a Yaesu FT-450 HF rig for all my radio communication for many months now. What ever it lacks on AM is more than made up for by it's SSB capability, also the RX is far superior than any other standard CB I've used. It was a little more costly than an average CB base unit but its features and reliability are well worth it.

[Sheriff Bart]

The answer to the OP can only be subjective at best. On the horizon there's a few imports coming down the line. Optima, Huracan, Superstar 6900 (which is the same as the Maas DX 5000 and the Commtex 1000DX and Hanover 5500 ????) Anyway since you said cost not being a sticking point the radios I mentioned reportedly will be in the states around Christmas. Lots of good stuff on the horizon.


3's

[drdx]

It is relevent to the meaning of the word "best" to you. Do you mean best price, best quality, best size, ect... Everyones idea of "best" differs.
I have been using a Yaesu FT-450 HF rig for all my radio communication for many months now. What ever it lacks on AM is more than made up for by it's SSB capability, also the RX is far superior than any other standard CB I've used. It was a little more costly than an average CB base unit but its features and reliability are well worth it.

I love my 450. It is expensive but look at it this way: It is cheaper to have one $800 (new, way cheaper used) radio that is rock solid, killer receive, 100w hf rig than it is to have a half dozen decent cb bases like 2990's, 2950's, 2000gtl's, etc and the hf rig will run circles around the cb in just about every area but am booming sound, but mine sounds ok on am. I'm using the w2ihy 8 band eq and a cheapo studio mic.

It would be exciting to see some new stuff hit the market like SB mentioned. Hopefully they are great performers. I'd gladly pay a premium price for a premium mobile that had the quality cb's currently lack.


-drdx

[Eskimo_Pie]

i want to know what the best ssb radio for 11m is.

Have to agree with all that have posted so far. If you're wanting a new rig, an RCI 2950dx or 2970n2 should fit the bill for a mobile choice, don't have personal experience with those rigs, but had a 2950(non DX) original model that was great. If you can find a President HR2510 used for decent money and hasn't been messed with, go with that. I've been using my 2510 for 20+ years and love it, haven't had any issues with it, haven't had to tune or align it since a very very qualified tech tuned it for me. If the $$ for a 2510 is too much, you can't beat a Philippines or Taiwan Cobra 148gtl or it's close cousin, a Philippines Uniden Grant XL are great choices. Great receive, tunes up nicely, but won't have the RF power of a converted export 10 for 11 meter rig would. Like wine, older is better. I had a Taiwan 148 that I should have never sold. I miss it often. I have two other older SSB rigs, a President McKinley and a Cobra 140GTL, just my 2¢'s hope you find what you're looking for.

73's

greg

[dasquishman]

Hard to beat a Texas Ranger radio for audio sound!! For a CB..I Find yaseu etc all tin can sounding.

[TheCBDoctor]

If you could find a working HR-2510 you can have the best of both worlds. It is legal 10 meter Ham radio that is easily converted for 11 meters. Out of all the exports I would have to say the Magnum S-9.

[Please login or register to view this link] The HR-2510

Respectfully,

[North Texas Mudduck]

for something to just get you on ssb i would go the cobra 148 simple and easy

back in my days of ssb
it was the 2510 or 2600 for the mobile and for the base
i had a kenwood 430 and the 440sat also a Yeasu 757gxII
if i had to pick between the 3
i couldnt i would choose the 440sat and the 757gxII but chunk them hand mics that come with the 440 and the yeasu as far as you can

[maters]

Mobile 2950dx.

Base HP257, great ears but noisy in a mobile.

[North Texas Mudduck]

this is kinda like fishing
that fish dont care if its a zebco 303
or a Shimano Curado E7
they both will get the job done

[maters]

this is kinda like fishing
that fish dont care if its a zebco 303
or a Shimano Curado E7
they both will get the job done

Want to pull in a 6 pound smallmouth on a Zebco 33 ?

[North Texas Mudduck]

this is kinda like fishing
that fish dont care if its a zebco 303
or a Shimano Curado E7
they both will get the job done

Want to pull in a 6 pound smallmouth on a Zebco 33 ?

hey i done it before not a 6lber but a 4 lber on my youngest girls rod and reel
Daddy rigged it up with Green braided line 8 lb dia. and think it was like 12 to 15 lb test
and also i put a green topwater torpedo on her line and she threw out and cast right over the top of a stick pile had limbs sticking up out the water about 6 inches she pulled it threw the mess and hit it on the limb and came loose and in the back of my mind this was what i would do but in her case it was going to be a hangup
well the water exploded with a 8 lber LMB then hung it in the limbs and i went out a got it and the bass was still on
hooked in the mouth and hooked on the outside jaw, then hung it in the branch
sure nice that the water was around 2 to 3 foot deep.

I taught my girl well

[Big_Mic]

Got me a Nice spot in the Truck for my Kenwood TS 2000 ... Uploaded a small Audio tailoring program.... It's like having EQ without the extra box... The small hand Mic with this program does an awesome job, and the AM sounds great too... Now I realize the Kenwood TS 2000 is impractical because of size, but for me I had the spot so I run it...

The Yaesu FT 857 is a great little rig, when comparing sizes, I also like the RCI Rangers... No Frills and Terrific receive and Audio... Namely the 2950/2970 series...

Lot's to choose from so it's hard to call anything "best" .... Lot's of Bests more like it, depends on your situation and what you can stuff under the dash...