Best Fm rx ? Made in Taiwan or Hong Kong

[108EH002]

I would like to know if the radios like the Audiolline 340 with the 034 board inside,that were manufactured in Hong Kong,are better on rx than the radios made in Taiwan for fm rx,or were they about the same,just that my 340 can hear stuff my modern G2 and L2 can only dream of,thanks in advance.

[The Collector]

Best RX'ing radios I've owned are the likes of my Fidelity Homebase, Amstrad and Cybernet-boarded radios. All my Uniden-boarded stuff is only about 80% as receptive, possibly due to filtering.

I've got about 80 UKFM radios, so I've been able to compare most radios on the market over the years.

As long as I didn't have any other radio users within a mile or so of me, I'd always use one of those. Where they're actually made country-wise I don't think makes much of a difference, more the board or component types (probably the cheaper the more sensitive).

[astradyne]

People forgot that the likes of the Amstrad' s were designed and built for use in a car with a DV27 or similar antenna. In their intended environment they were excellent. But put them on a GP27, Antron, Silver Rod etc they suffered badly.

[The Collector]

People forgot that the likes of the Amstrad' s were designed and built for use in a car with a DV27 or similar antenna. In their intended environment they were excellent. But put them on a GP27, Antron, Silver Rod etc they suffered badly.

'Tis true if you lived close to another user, but most of us now live 100miles away from the next closest, so the over-sensitive receivers have now come into their own. I've only used used a Uniden-boarded radio once homebase, as a neighbour 50 yards away had a silver rod high up and a 50watt burner to contend with. He'd wipe out most of my channels on my Uniden 200, but all of them on my Fidelity Homebase, Amstrad 901 and my Harvard 420m. He'd stick to ch40 and I'd stick to ch1 to help matters, as I battered his Kernow radio something rotten even on low power.

[Mudslinger]

I couldn't tell much difference between the Hong Kong assembled Audiolines and the Taiwan built Uniaces. But I did find that the black fronted Uniden ones which were made in the Philippines to be slightly better. Supposedly they had a mosfet front end...

[astradyne]

I couldn't tell much difference between the Hong Kong assembled Audiolines and the Taiwan built Uniaces. But I did find that the black fronted Uniden ones which were made in the Philippines to be slightly better. Supposedly they had a mosfet front end...

And a crystal filter replacing the ceramic ones used in the older silver models.

[108EH002]

[quote="The Collector" post_id=510833 time=1540729513

'Tis true if you lived close to another user, but most of us now live 100miles away from the next closest, so the over-sensitive receivers have now come into there own
[/quote]

Maybe good if the closest source of man-made mush is 100 miles away,but when I used plenty cybernet radios they got hammered with man-made mush,and the lower signals are inaudible,maybe a Uniden is only 80% on rx compared to other cb radios,but the 20% less is easily made up for me at my location,as I can hear stuff on unidens that I can't on cybernet,just for the record a few of the cybernets were sent to Black Spirit and spot on.

[bigal68]

I was very lucky years ago in that I had access to some good quality calibrated test gear.

Very often, the most sensitive sets suffered badly with adjacent channel and strong signal blocking problems, basically due to poor dynamic range.

Before I set off on my ramble, I never had a Uniden boarded CB27/81 radio until recently, and this was after my access to the above equipment.

I still remember that the most sensitive set I came across was a Harvard 402MPA, with the cybernet PCMA002F Amstrad board in it. This still had audiable 1k tone at -132dbm into 50ohms..... which for hf band use is ridiculous. External noise is often way over this, so a sensitivity measurement like this is just for the "Top Trumps" cards.

The most sensitive 134 cybernet I had was a Binatone 5Star, which came in at -126dbm. Still lower than external noise, but a little more realistic.

The final test was a Maxcom 4E, which was a more realistic -122dbm, bizzarely not registering anything on the s-meter until -98dbm, but this is more related to how the agc is generated around the MC3357 chip.

All three sets suffered with poor strong signal handling, with the Binatone being best, and the Harvard being worst.

But, in my humble opinion, the best received audio was from the Maxcom. The next was the Binatone, and the noisiest harshest racket was from the Harvard.

Now, I know that strong signal handling is not the issue it used to be, so, sensitivity is now of more interest, but you still have to be able to stand listening to the recovered audio, so maybe the Maxon chassis radio's deserve a second look....

Hoping that I haven't put everyone to sleep......

[The Collector]

[quote="The Collector" post_id=510833 time=1540729513

'Tis true if you lived close to another user, but most of us now live 100miles away from the next closest, so the over-sensitive receivers have now come into there own

Maybe good if the closest source of man-made mush is 100 miles away,but when I used plenty cybernet radios they got hammered with man-made mush,and the lower signals are inaudible,maybe a Uniden is only 80% on rx compared to other cb radios,but the 20% less is easily made up for me at my location,as I can hear stuff on unidens that I can't on cybernet,just for the record a few of the cybernets were sent to Black Spirit and spot on.
[/quote]


It's always been the other way around with my radios where I've been located in at 2 locations in Birmingham and here 10 miles from Bristol. A Cybernet-boarded radio's quiet but audible S3 signal can just about be heard as "garbled audio" on the Uniden's with little or no signal seen on the needle. I always found I could hear the audio slightly more clearly, especially at distance on the Cybernets etc as the sound had a bit more treble in it. I'd always choose one over a Uniden unless living very close to another user.

I've recently used a Realistic TRC2000, Quasar MCB400 and Uniden 200 whilst testing a few radios to sell on ebay, but comparing them rx-wise against my Cybernet-boarded Petrusse Excalibur, none could hear a Welsh breaker I was listening to on it "right at the back of the set".

If you're getting mush from wireless stuff then I appreciate you're having to compromise a bit and use a more heavily-filtered radio to hear distant stuff. A change from a fivreglass aerial to an aluminium one can have a positive effect on mush if you aren't already using one, as well as if one is practical where you are.

I love stirring the Uniden vs Cybernet pot once in a while

[ch25]

Best CB FM radios I owned were DNT Carat and Stabo xm7082 branded with may different names, Maycom EM27 for example.
Still have Carat.
Chris

[108EH002]

I couldn't tell much difference between the Hong Kong assembled Audiolines and the Taiwan built Uniaces. But I did find that the black fronted Uniden ones which were made in the Philippines to be slightly better. Supposedly they had a mosfet front end...

There was a black fronted Uniden from a s.k. sale a few year back and the locals who used it,did say it was slightly better on recieve compared to other Uniden radios that were 27/81,it belonged to my mate originally and he still swore by it when he got it back again

[Coppernob]

I always liked the 134 chassis Cybernet radios.
The Amstrad 901 had the most sensitive rx I've come across tested on my Marconi 2955 with the test gear and sieadder sinad meter etc..
In the old days when every channel was full people called them a beedover box, but didn't realise that the rx was far more sensitive.
Best regards all.
And long time since I posted.
Coppernob Roger.