FINAL REVIEW ON PRESIDENT GEORGE FCC, LEGAL U.S.A. CITITZENS BAND RADIO ALONG WITH COMMENTS NOT NECESSARILY "GEORGE" SPECIFIC

 

MY FINAL COMMENTS, FEELINGS, AND SPECS ON THE PRESIDENT GEORGE FCC, ETC.

 

This was really a Topsy-Turvy  review that included checking every feature, verifying watts and the audio tone. Then, after all of that I compared it to other radios I've owned and used.

                                             THE PRESIDENT GEORGE FCC AM-FM-USB-LSB 40 CH.

 In many cases they were 10m mobiles which could be converted to 12-10 meters, allowing for an easy clarifier pick between R, T, or R&T setting. 10 meter radios typically had a higher output, but I'm a 11-15 watt Sideband guy, who gets a kick making long distance QSO's with 15 or less watts (I've made a QSO 1,000+ miles, then slowly going down to 500mw - all on an indoor antenna).

I kept a President McKinley FCC in the car for years, then gave it away and put my Cobra 138xlr in it's place. It's my favorite CB, and I know someday it will stop working. But for a 47 year old radio, that's pretty good.

 

The quality of these newer radios seem to be cheap, possibly the new boards with teeny-tiny chips that require reading glasses + a well lit magnifying list to even determine what they are - but who cares? you can't get the tech manuals anymore. Let me be clear: THE PRESIDENT GEORGE IS NOT A CHEAPLY MADE RADIO, AND HAS A FRAME THAT FEELS LIKE IS WAS FORGED OUT OUT OF STEEL (OR ALLOY).

But I digress...

Back to the President George -

 Here's the President George FCC sitting on top of my favorite all-time winner of an all-model HF ham radio mobile: The Kenwood TS-50:

 

 

The is one helluva radio! All you have to be aware of are some electrolytic caps and glue that dissolves connections and you'll be okay. Just make it a practice to do maintenance check on it, every 2-3 years and you'll have a rig that lasts longer than you.

When I going to be on a long drive, or trip, I tend yo have the TS-50 and whatever LEGAL CB I want to use, riding shotgun with it. I like CB radios, 40ch, depending on the brand a decent NB. As well I like the NOAA channel/frequencies as they can really come in handy at times. And I like being legal. Other features not to be be forgotten: Dual-channel watch and a programmable EMG button.

I can't remember how many CB radios I've have in a vehicle or another, some owned, and others just to test/review except for the early years ( 1972-1984) - otherwise, it was a butt-load of CBs. 

Perhaps I'll change these words at some point and time, but the President George is my go-to LEGAL CB radio from now on.

• AM and SSB power was "as advertised"
• The Frequency was spot on.
• The built in NRC (noise canceling) can't be beat
• And who'd of thought the USB charge port would come in hand...😉
• THE WARRANTY!!! How could I have forgotten that at 2.am.?? The President CB radios have a C-R-A-Z-Y warranty which is 2 years, and I believe, if you buy a President antenna at the same time you get another year added, i.e. 2 + 1 = 3 (That wasn't for you - just me. I crawled into bed around 2:45 and just fell asleep, when the cat from hell woke me up @ 3a.m. and delighted in repeating her practice of  torture until she fell asleep around 4:30. Then the first line of alarms went off not soon after so we could get there on time. Anyway, DON'T FORGET THEIR WARRANTY!!
  

I don't know what happened at President, but a few years ago the FCC allowed the CB to have AM and FM come out with on AM-FM mobiles. I don't do FM, and only use AM on ch.19, so there wasn't much to impress me until rumors reached me about the soon to be announce  George II. If they were coming out with a Europe version called the George II, you could bet that a "George FCC" was not far behind.

So, via BELLS CB, I was able to buy one and check it out. I'm not paid to mention them, but I do like to promote a good business, with fast support, and quick shipping. Not only that, 100% of our communication was via text. Even when I got the "we're closed until tomorrow" auto reply, they surprised me time after time (nope, it wasn't Cyndi Lauper) with texts that came several hours after the "we're closed post".

So at last we come to the President George's final review. It took awhile to get there, but sometimes I take a different path to get to the finish line.

SIZE:

If you need something narrower, the McKinley has a bit less width to it, enabling you to fit hole in the dashboard, although it's a tad taller (sometimes there's always a little give with take).The biggest advantage with the McKinley is its front firing speaker.

Nostalgia and a brief comparison aside, I've weaved my way back to the President George FCC final analysis, and rig rates a 9.5 on a scale of 10. Here's what I noticed:

• In the house I get less background noise than my ham rig
• In the car I get less noise compared to 4 other radios, except one - the Cobra 138xlr
• The 5v USB plug up front, which I thought was wasted space, turned out to be not such a waste. I had a lot of errands to do one day and Robin said "Don't forget your phone". Well, I didn't forget the phone, but I had forgot to put it on the charger the night before. That USB charger sure came in handy.
• While slight, the channel knob has a slightly tougher click going from one channel to another, and it reminded me how the channel clicks felt on some older radios, and didn't have that cheap sound when going from on channel to the other.
  
• Not every ham radio is exactly on frequency, but I tried it against two of 'em, the Yaesu 757GX and my ICOM IC-705 and my voice sounded natural - not too low, not too high, but just right. Comments for the locals said I was on frequency, but a little different. I attributed it to the fact that they'd got used to hearing me on the previous radio test/check, the new Alinco DX-10, and I was on President's stock mic.
  

• The buttons below the screen were logically placed and easy to activate or de-activate, and the screen itself gave me the incoming DC voltage, RF Gain setting, and S/RF meter. If I had the NB turned on, it was displayed as well as the usual stuff, like your channel number and mode. It also displayed the useless frequency readout.

• THE SCREEN. I usually have a hard time finding a screen color that my eyes seem to like, and usually it's either Orange or Yellow and I've always HATED blue. It always looks good when I take a picture of it, but try and see it across the room, or where it's mounted in the car? Nope. This is why it's always good to have a "fallback" radio (Cobra 138XLR) But the President George can be the orange/yellow or NOT either blue/cyan is now all I use, (I lost my color notes, and possibly it's both) although I could occasionally use the Orange color. I would like to see an included, variable adjustment, to slightly brighten or dim each color (unless I missed that part in the manual). Other "wants"-  I'd like to see a screen reversal - by that I mean having an option to have a light screen/dark data (as it is now) or a dark background/dark lettering, so with a push of the button it could be changed.
  
• Not necessary but it think it would be cool having a "George" styled matching speaker that could take a lot of volume pumped into it with a decent sized magnet. That would be, as they say: "The cat's meow"
  

On the far right side, starting from the far right and moving inward we see some knobs, followed by a vertical lineup of buttons. Let's check 'em out:

• At the top there are two buttons TB and F (lock). TB as you might guess is to toggle your Talk Back ON/OFF, while the second button has 2 functions as well - "F" for the function menu, and LOCK to lock/unlock everything on the front screen, as to avoid mishaps. It certainly would keep you from accidentally activated VOX, Talkback, NRC, or CB/to the NOAA channels (amongst other dual-band buttons).

I've found that writing a more detailed review beats 15 minutes on a YouTube video, but even then I may leave something out or make a mistake. If I'd made a mistake, just shoot me an e-mail.

One thing I've always meant to mention is: When a new radio pops up on their website 99% of the time, so will the manual. I think it's always a good idea to D/L the manual and see what the radio(s) have to offer vs. another model

I've notice a couple new microphones on President's EU site

 

A REMOTE BLUETOOTH MICROPHONE

 

AND

 

 

A REMOTE MICROPHONE

 

Maybe they'll make their way "across the pond", but the Digi-mic is my choice now.

OTHER STUFF

In a recent post I put Ham Radio Outlet's (HRO) video on post. While they didn't use any the words like "upset", "unsettled", or "pissed" about what I had to say about it, the general feeling I got was along those lines. They pointed out that they are a Ham Radio shop and only provided a few CB radios to appease someone who walks in and asks "I want to buy a CB, do you sell any?"

I'm glad they sell them, BUT, they should at least sell a 1 quality radios (Cobra has a great name, but it's not the radio it was decades ago). 

I'm a ham and if I walked into a ham store and all they offered were Baofengs and Anytones and maybe a Yaesu. I'd probably walk out. A never-a-cber might be a good intended buyer, but a seasoned operator is willing to spend the bucks if the quality is there.

 Yes, the Cobra AM-FM handheld is a good price at about $110, but personally I would paid more to get the President Randy II. And eventually, when the coffers refill themselves with greenbacks, I'll but one to test. It's excellent testing territory our where I am, and pretty darn flat. I'll try to make that happen by Spring or early-early summer (i.e. - before you could fry a Woody on the sidewalk if he stood still too long... 😉)

 

 

 

And, it's only about $50 more than the Cobra. While I haven't reviewed it yet, you find a bunch them (both the U.S. and EU version to view).

 

**This 3-part review can be found in December & January, or easier, just search for President George in the search bar at the to left screen.

 

Last, but not least, if you've found a few spelling or grammatical errors in the final review, it's because it's 2:00a.m in Texas right now and my eyes are bleary, as well as knowing I have a few things to do that'll take an hour or so to get to bed...😴

73

WOODY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 "How many CBer's does it take to mount a mobile antennas? 

Answer: 8, one to hold the antenna, and 7 to turn the car"

***and yeah, the longer this got, so did I, by either misspelling words or thinking of the word and not having that info sent from the brain to my flying fingers of fury, because I had to get my wife to the hospital for a test at 6.am. - and I just misspelled 6 words typing this paragraph. I'm going to bed...

 

HRO SELLS CB RADIOS VIDEO (unfortunately only Cobra and Uniden)

 3 WEEKS GO HRO IN CALIFORNIA MADE A VIDEO THAT REPRESENTS WHAT CB RADIOS THEY SELL.

Sadly, whoever chose the gear to be stocked and sold at HRO (Ham Radio Outlet) must have come home and forgot to do his/her homework, then after dinner they started playing ham, into the wee hours of the night / early morning.

Perhaps HRO is 

sticking their feet in the water to judge how well they'll sell, but for the most part it seemed as if they were sticking their feet into their mouths. I could possibly see a purchase of a new handheld with both AM and FM, the UNIDEN PRO538HHFM, which, at $109.95 beats must of their competition. Anyways, here is their video - 

 

AY CARAMBA: A PART .000001 REVIEW OF THE PRESIDENT GEORGE FCC

 

REVIEW: PRESIDENT GEORGE FCC

[SECTION ONE: PART A]

 

 

 

 

Well, my equipment reviews suddenly began to stack up, one on top of the other, until I took a look at the stack and uttered: "Holy Crap". 

I had just nearly finished the final summation of the Alinco DX-10 review, when, this afternoon -  I was double-whammed by the delivery services and received the Radioddity QT-60, President George FCC, the most recent build of Sirio's Precision 2000 mobile antenna, and some other knickknacks, all to be reviewed....[at some point]. 

So as the radios came in I unboxed them, then powered 'em up (because, as I've mentioned, I like 'em powered on for at least 24 hours before I take a look at them). I don't like to rush my reviews so I figured I'd start with whatever radio hit the door first - in this case, it was the George FCC. So I unplugged the Alinco DX-10, then plugged the George FCC into the harness (power, PL-259, and microphone), then started to flip through the manual (for these old eyes, the .PDF version was much better so I could enlarge it to whatever felt comfortable). 

 

                            WHILE IT MAY LOOK A LOT LARGER, THE ANGLE HAD MUCH TO DO with it's comparison to the Kenwood TS-50.

 

I set it on top of my Kenwood TS-50 (GREAT rig to have, if you've never owned one), so from that angle it appears that it's much larger than the TS-50, but really - it's not.

My first impression was: "Oh great, another glossy looking radio whose looks kill, but in all other aspects it sucks". I say this because the Uniden Grant II and Grant II+ looked very similar, but, really failed in several areas. Thank You President!

 

THE DOORBELL FROM HELL...

 

About this time, the doorbell rang again, and after checking the security cameras and verifying it was Fed Ex, I slowly made my way to the front door to retrieve a mixed bag of packages (some were my, some were Robin's). 

The George FCC, which I purchased from Bell's CB had arrived in the same time period that the DX-10 had, and like the DX-10 (and any other equipment you read about in my reviews, was a straight out purchase, and if there were any "Tuneup/Adjustments" to be made (at a price), as I usually do - I passed. 2 reasons:

• I'm cheap on extras
• I like to review a radio that many folks get: the one they can afford, even if it means from the factory to the dealer, to the buyer.

I'm not against 'em, but it tends to get expensive when you (me) have to pay for the tune-up package. And exactly as before, when I made my first purchase from their company (Alinco DX-10), I was treated with respect, my questions answered, and yes, I could have gone elsewhere looking for a better price, but unless I can't get it from them - I'll buy my equipment from Bells CB for the foreseen future, because they'd spoken the truth to me and I respect that.

"I realized that this (the GEORGE FCC) was possibly the best sounding CB I'd ever listened to"

So, my unforeseen problems with the upcoming reviews came to light while I was flipping through the manual to the QT-60.

As I read, I was also listening, and I stopped to check my connections. Once I verified everything was set up correctly I realized that this (the GEORGE FCC) was possibly the best sounding CB I'd ever listened to, and that meant I'd be spending extra time on this review.

So, you've been warned - this is just .1 of the review, which could take awhile to do it justice, and I may squeeze a review of something else in-between; but at this point, I want to take me time and get it right - in the meantime, my ears are Loving It....

73

WOODY

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOOKING FOR AN HONEST ANSWER TO MY CURIOUS QUESTION

 

IS A RADIODDITY 10M RADIO JUST AN ANYTONE 10M RADIO WITH A LABEL CHANGE?

Back in the olden days, a lot of folks deciding between a certain Cobra radio or a Uniden, didn't know that as a rule, if the radios were on the same level or in the same price range, they were had the same internal circuit boards. So your choice came down to cosmetics, and which one looked "cooler" than the other...

Yeah, there were diehard fans who would go to their graves saying radios were different (add in other radios with Uniden PCBs inside them, like Teaberry, Realistic, etc.) but for the most part it all came down to the look. 

Radioddity sells handheld dual band radios as well as 10m mobiles and if you were to set one of those hf rigs next to another manufacturer (i.e. - Anytone) you'd think you were seeing double (so it's not even the "look" anymore). Most recently they've come out with model QT60, which covers 12-10 meters. So does the AnyTone AT-5555N II.

As you can see, the AnyTone model AT-5555N II and the QT60 look like twins.

 

 With these newer radios I know that programming is a big deal and perhaps one radio can be done with more or less features than the other. The AnyTone is $259.99 on Amazon, and the QT-60 is $219.99 from Radioddity, INCLUDING: a 

• programming cable and a 
• desk stand.
  

So with all things being equal (are they?), is the QT-60 a much better deal? 

I don't know. I've never owned either, and plan to get at least one for a future review - so if anyone has had experience with one, the other, or both...shoot me an email and let me know what you think about them.

73

WOODY

 

 

 

 

 

 

YOUTUBE VS. THE WRITTEN WORD. I RECEIVED A QUESTION, AND HERE'S MY ANSWER

 

TO TUBE OR NOT TO TUBE?

[THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION]

In between PT1 and 2 of my review on the Alinco DX-10, I received a few emails about returning to YouTube and resuming my reviews there. 

The fact of the matter is, I never really left. I've done several Magnetic loop antenna reviews sans sound, with a brief script in between the photos, more like a slide show.

There may come a day when I go back to my old style, but to honest with you, I feel that I'm able to convey more information on a subject or review with my keyboard vs. my unscripted audio. 

This method let's me anguish over spelling or grammar changes, sometimes deleting whole paragraphs and starting over again, or sleeping on it and making a decision the next morning. [example: for some odd reason every time I typed DX-10, I typed DX-70. I didn't notice it until after a second read-thru] 

Between the two parts of the DX-10 review I probably spent several weeks getting it all together, typing up to six hours at the keyboard one day, followed the next day with only 30 minutes.

 

"This also is probably some of my wife's preclusion for making mistakes on spreadsheets and heck, even email, rubbing off on me. I've watched her spend hours trying to get an email "just right" before sending it off into the ether''

 

Perhaps I'll mix 'em up one day, but for now I feel that you're getting higher quality, detailed information out of my written reviews than I could do now with a YouTube video.

So finally, you can dash those nasty rumors of some horribly disfiguring car crash, giant warts growing on my face, or, losing my voice, as reasons the YouTube videos stopped. I choose to do it this way so you can learn more about a subject at your own pace, and ask questions if you have 'em.

Oh, I almost forgot (see...text is better 😉) Yesterday I unhooked the DX-10 and put it on the "cushy" side of the bench to get some photos of it's internals. Before doing that, I thought I'd get some use out of my President McKinley, so I moved the President electronic hand mic from the DX-10 back to the McKinley.

After taking enough photos I emailed 'em to my account, downloaded them into the DX-10 review folder and decided to take a break. I hopped on one of the best overall radio websites you'll run across. I think part of it's lure is that it's not just for hams, CB'ers, or shortwave enthusiasts - the website is for ANYTHING radio. I've mentioned it before, have had a link to it on the right-side column for years, and I'm plugging them again: WorldwideradioDX

Back to my break... While going through new posts in the CB section, there has been an ongoing thread called "Reclaim LSB 16", and I went to the last page (always the most current) and saw that someone was hanging around looking for contacts, so I went down to 16 on the McKinley, heard him calling CQ and son-of-a-gun we made a contact with each other. 

The other operator, Jeff, was in Yosemite National Park, and briefly lost me until my next transmission, where he said I was now well above the noise floor. I was elated (I'm elated every time I make a contact). Our QSO came via my McKinley (about 10 watts SSB), and my indoor Magnetic loop. 

Hopefully this will encourage those of you who think indoor antennas just don't work. My loop is 3 feet from the ground floor, mounted on a tripod, and it doesn't get simpler than that (when it warms up I ought to take it out on the back porch and see how it works from there).

So hey! Stay warm these next few days. If I'm looking at lows in the teens, down here just outside the Southwest area of Houston, most of you are probably having it worse - and longer. And IF you have to go out in that mess, keep it on 19 to avoid any major issues...

73

WOODY

 

 

REVIEW: ALINCO DX-10 PART TWO & FINAL THOUGHTS

 

ALINCO DX-10 REVIEW PT.2

AND

FINAL THOUGHTS

I've had this rig running 24/7, mostly receiving with a few exceptions to make verify how stable the frequency was from a cold start. However, plenty of two-way contacts as well. As mentioned in Part One I had swapped the hand mic out for President's noise cancelling microphone with its funky bright green, push-to-talk bar, but whenever I had a solid DX connection I'd quickly go back to the Alinco stock mic and get some A/B comparisons.

There wasn't any scientific processes going on, no O-Scope monitoring, just me asking "How does this mic sound?" (getting an answer) followed by "Hold on a few seconds....now how do I sound now?".

In many of my references I refer back to PT.1 of the review found HERE, and in part one I mentioned how display appeared in advertisements (bright) vs. in person (dim). Going through the manual there appears to be no way to increase the frequency readout brightness, yet the channel number display is bright as hell, and if anything, I'd like to be able to vary it's brightness as well.

The various bands (on a modified DX-10) work like you'd expect them to: Band D is 40ch CB, and if you're on 38 and someone says "let's go to 41" you switch to Band E and turn to channel 1.

Regarding the frequency display that always looks good in photos, I did notice that when I stood up from the bench, my eyes were no longer at eye level with the display and it did appear brighter! For anyone, including myself, who have to mount their radios lower in the vehicle, then I think it'll be fine (I tried it out in the test SUV over the weekend).

 

 On the left-side of the DX-10 everything looks like they put some thought into where they put the dials and buttons. The only nit-pick I have here is with the Echo-Tone controls. For an old sidebander like myself I sometimes have to work the Clarifier control for those who have radios that are locked-down, and can only adjust their receive.

I would have preferred the Clarifier where the Echo-Tone control is, and the rest pretty well works out fine. The "clicky" clarifier is what it is, but depth of the control and it's ability to go down to 1hz is great. I like it where I can change by 1kHz. The channel selector goes 10kHz (38,39,40, etc.), while the clarifier is more for (27.385, .384, .383, etc.).

When the lid was opened, I was kinda surprised to see a full size PCB with adjustments instead of the half-size boards we almost always see in radios today.

I was also surprised at the gunk left on the lid of the top can, and why didn't they clean it up at the manufacturer?

 

    BESIDES ADJUSTABLE CANS, YOU CAN ALSO SEE SOME LITTLE MICRO ADJUSTABLE ADJUSTMENTS

 

 I had my finger on the "Publish" button when I realized that I left something out - more about the rear panel.

As mentioned in Pt.1 No.26 was a USB port. Was it for Firmware? was it for programming? What the heck was it for? 

ANSWER: Programming the radio.

I downloaded the program and tried all of the various USB program cables that would fit, but couldn't make a connection. So, I looked to see what the older Alinco used and found it on Amazon.

 

Should you have one of the following radio programming cables already, you're set to go!

 

From Amazon: AnyTone USB Programming Cable for AT-6666 Mobile Radio, Compatible with AT-5555N II, the ARES II 10 Meter Radio, and now - Alinco's DX-10. 

The software itself is bare bones with absolutely NO radio feature adjustments. You can D/L the software (free) from Bells and take a look at it before you spend $16 on the cable (it will install and open on your PC w/o even being connected, thus giving you a preview of what are able to do). I can't believe I almost forgot to put this into the review (head smack!!).

 

 

FINAL THOUGHTS - LIKES - DISLIKES

 

Well, we're down to the nitty gritty I suppose and here are my thoughts:

• While the display should be as bright as it is in photos and advertisement - it isn't. Depending on where you mount it could be a blessing or a curse. Mounted low in the dash, or at an angle on the console on the passenger side I think you'll like it. Mounting it on the dash or above and it would be fine at night, or by using the ultra bright channel display during daylight hours.
• The frequency never budged, I was never told I was off frequency, and having the Clarifier transmit & receive tied together meant "I was where I was"
• I love the large frequency readout with it's 5 large digits, followed by 2 smaller ones, totaling 7 digits.
• When using the stock hand mic I often was told that my audio was a bit low and muffled. The President mic fixed all of that, so I'd just pony up and buy the President mic with this radio, the toss the Alinco stock mic in the drawer labeled "In case my mic fails look in here for a replacement".
• Like the reviews I read of the older Alinco DR-135, this is a super sensitive, noisy receiver. I had my RF gain at less than 50% most times, and even lower than that at others.
• This could be an adjustment (regarding the receiver) or not, but even as I turned down the RF Gain to listen to a station they seemed slightly distorted with the internal speaker, an old Rat Shack external speaker, and even the almost $400 Yaesu SP-9000 dual filtered speaker. 

 

 

                              THE YAESU SP -9000, DUAL INPUT, DUAL FILTERED SPEAKER

 

I'm not discounting the fact that I may have received a factory dud. When I was doing reviews for Copper Electronics in the 90's I got a small percentage of factory misfits, but I can't remember what I was reviewing around that same time (maybe something I bought direct from a distributor) or a review for my column in a Trucking magazine, but in any case, when I plugged that sucker into the wall outlet it came "ON", blinked a couple times, and then - the smoke came. It stunk like a skunk in the shack for several weeks**, but it did give my an idea for a humorous intro to one of my YouTube videos, back in 2005.

**Don't try scented aerosol cans with different scents. It only makes it worse...

                IF YOU'VE SMELLED THIS, YOU'LL KNOW WHAT ODOR/AROMA I'M TALKING ABOUT

•   The NB function was like many of the radios being built today - Fair, at best. My Cobra 138XLR mops the floor against the DX-10 (and if you'll recall, the Uniden Grant II wasn't anything to write home about either (regarding noise blanking).

• In comparing this to the President McKinley I'd knock off half a point on the McKinley due to the tiny frequency display, but at least 2 points on the DX-10 because of the noisy receiver. The McKinley did not exhibit any receive distortion.
  

 

SO WHAT'S THE FINAL VERDICT?

 

Would I buy another DX-10? If I used it in the car 99% of the time - Yes. I like the large frequency readout, and accessible controls, and usually there's enough road noise and other things going on where a slight amount of audio distortion isn't going to bother me, much less, likely to be noticed. As your main home rig - NO. In a room where the only sounds are possibly a clicking keyboard and a slightly distorted side-band station, it can be like that dripping faucet you might have seen in those Looney Tune cartoons: Drip...drip...drip..drip leaving 'ole Porky Pig or Sylvester sleepless, and angry.

 

 ANOTHER BIG SOMETHING TO CONSIDER

[AND THIS APPLIES TO ANY PRODUCT YOU BUY]

 

No matter what radio you're after, another thing to consider is after sale support from the place you buy a radio from. In this case, I purchased the DX-10 from Bells, so I can only comment on my experience with them: I can say the Bells CB offers stellar after sale support, and while I had many questions - they never dodged one. If the answer wasn't immediately available, they made calls and I got my answer.  I think I'll stick with them for awhile due to the great support. It could have been any one of stores I've read about on Facebook or the CB Forums on the WorldwideDX website, but as Shakespeare once wrote: "I shot a signal in the air, not knowing where it would land and didn't care, but I found it hath landed  on top of Bells...so I bought my radio, strictly stock - because I can talk the world with 5-10 watts..."

At least I think it was Shakespeare...😏

 

                         CLICK ON LOGO TO GO TO THEIR WEBSITE

 

UPDATED SUPPORT:

 

I asked Bells if anyone had complained, or asked about some distortion in its receive audio, and they replied that they hadn't heard anything about it - which, considering the DX-10 was relatively new (again) to the market, I could understand it - YET - after I sent 'em a picture of the gunk on the internal chrome lid, while asking about the audio, I received a fast (and considering they'd been closed for 5 or 6 hours, let's call it "blindingly fast") reply, asking me if I'd like to swap the radio I had for the one in a picture (they'd opened up another new box and taken a shot of the same innards, without any dried gunk), to which I replied "let me think it over".

It would seem like a no-brain er to do a swap, but I had to take the round trip shipping cost into the equation and I'd been flipping through 30+ years of my notes of radio reviews, especially 10 meter mobile radios that could be converted to 12-10 meters, and it appeared that many seemed to have slightly fuzzy receive audio along with excellent transmit audio. **Yes, I've always been nit picky when reviewing equipment, but shouldn't always compare receive attributes with a rig like an IC-705 or Yaesu FT-757GX.

So I started pulling rigs out of the storage closet and found the receive was fairly even across the board: Overly sensitive, leading to a slight fuzziness, and, after listening to the DX-10 all week, I forgot about it. So I thanked 'em for the exchange opportunity but declined it, along with a request to hold a President George FCC for me when his next order came in, because I wanted to buy one and test it next. I'm expecting it to arrive today, and if the hand mic seems a little too lightweight and/or flimsy like the one that the DX-10 had, I'll just pop on the President microphone that I borrowed from my McKinley to use on the DX-10 (I think sooner, more than later, I'll have to buy another President microphone... 😉).

 

73,

WOODY

 

 

 

 

 EYE FODDER