In the 80's I did micromin soldering and multilevel board repair. I later got into computers and network engineering. I had no idea people still looked at schematics and did this stuff you do. I thought hardware skills were history. This is awesome stuff. Great videos.
Great Video Mike! I started doing surface mount repairs on hearing aids made in Switzerland in 1986. Been a radio hobbiest since way before then so I used my experience on CB and Amateur equipment. Great find on the mods. It's probably what President had to do to get certification. Great Technicians will always figure out a fix/mod. :-)
Mike, I just wanna say I've been watching a ton of your videos and they are spectacular. I love, not only how simplistic they are, but informative as well. That's the reason you have a new subscriber! A+ Brother!
Hi @mikesradiorepair , this is why it is preferable and more judicious to have a CB station with a "Clarifier" device dedicated to reception (Rx), and another dedicated to transmission (Tx). When using a CB MOBILE station (Rx and Tx) in driving, we cannot clarify both at the same time, normal because it is up to the (QSO) receiver to clarify its reception (Rx)!😉 In summary, do not to buy an MC KINLEY to use it at home (QRA), An MC KINLEY is designed to be used in MOBILE CB. Buy a GEORGE 2 or a Washington 2 instead!😁 Sincerely
Thanks for the legwork in figuring out the unlocked clarifier mod. It is great to know that the newer radios still have some magical mods that can be done.
Thank you for sharing . I live in the UK , I have a President MC KINLEY also , but the strange thing is their completely different radio's inside insofar as the main PCB mother board is completely different , the operational software on the menu is quite different too , it's most strange , I guess there's different radio types for the U.S & Europe .
Thanks for your excellent video! I'm wondering why the radio wasn't supplied with your necessary modification? I'm currently considering the new "II" version, so I wonder if the new version is supplied with your improved circuit so that the clarifier works properly?
If I bought one of these transceivers (which I am going to) and send it to you what would you charge to do ALL the procedures you would recommend to do to this radio? Why would you want to unlock a clarifier. Sorry, new to SSB CB radios. I just subbed and rang the notify bell!
I recently unlocked my clarifier rci 2950dx but its slightly out of exact alignment between transmit and receive by about 75 hertz .... Adjusting lsb can, just moves both transmitt and receive together Lmk if there is another adjustment to calibrate xmit and receive after unlocking clarifier.
With just moving the two through hole resistors, how much movement was in the coarse clarifier, and was it so far off on rx that the fine couldn't pull in the received signal?
The McKinley would be my choice. Better warranty, they actually have customer support (a phone number with a real person in the USA that answers it) and my opinion a better radio. I use 3 of them. One as a bench radio and two of them mobile in different vehicles.
That's not a problem. If RX and TX are still factory with only the RX being adjustable from the clarifier on the other persons radio when they transmit you adjust your clarifier to "tune" them in. Then when you transmit on that same exact frequency (because your clarifier has been unlocked) the other person adjust their clarifier to "tune" you in on RX. There's never a problem with 2 people when either both or neither have modified clarifiers or only one has a modified clarifier. The problem occurs when you have 3 or more people talking. With factory locked clarifiers you end up chasing each other around with the clarifier every time a different person talks.
Hi @@mikesradiorepair, this is why it is preferable and more judicious to have a CB station with a "Clarifier" device dedicated to reception (Rx), and another dedicated to transmission (Tx). When using a CB MOBILE station (Rx and Tx) in driving, we cannot clarify both at the same time, normal because it is up to the (QSO) receiver to clarify its reception (Rx)!😉 In summary, do not to buy an MC KINLEY to use it at home (QRA), An MC KINLEY is designed to be used in MOBILE CB. Buy a GEORGE 2 or a Washington 2 instead!😁 Sincerely
Out of the box all CB radios have clarifier locked. Only the RX frequency is adjustable with the clarifier, the TX is only adjustable from inside the radio. Unlocking the clarifier ties the RX and TX frequencies together.
I'm not aware of another version. Probably been over a year since I had one in for warranty repair so I really don't see them very often. LOL, they seem to never break.
+Kurt Peckenschneider Your transmit and receive frequencies are then locked together. From the factory the clarifier only effects the receive signal. The transmit signal is only adjustable inside the radio. Unlocking it locks (kind of a contradiction of words) the RX and TX frequencies so they are the same. Factory is fine if only two people are talking. One person talks, you clarify them in and when you talk that person clarifies you in, all is well with the world. The problem is if a third person enters the conversation. You end up continuously adjusting your clarifier to tune in one person or the other. If everyone had their radios with RX and TX locked together it wouldn't be a problem. You want to enter a conversation, you clarify that person in and when you transmit it's on the same frequency. Amateur radios generally are selectable. You can make independent RX and TX adjustments or select to have RX and TX locked together with the push of a button.
Freelancer FRLNCR Because the FCC has stupid rules that say they can't do that. Back in the mid-70's, I had a Radio Shack TRC48 (I think) 23 channel SSB radio. It's clarifier tracked xmit and rcv together. I think when the new 40 channel radios came out in 78, the new FCC type acceptance rules required a fixed xmit with the clarifier only tracking recieve. As Mike correctly noted, this causes all kind of problems with conversations involving more than two people.
Cost, reliability, performance, stability to name a few. Pretty much all modern electronics use surface mount parts. They have been around for over 50 years. Production cost of them is now much less than comparable thru hole parts.
