CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

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CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by INTERCEPTOR »

I think I may need a new radio :o

Been reading all the reviews and posts etc.

I have never bought a new one only old used ones which I will store away for now.

Would like a new one to put in my car, I need a new antenna too....my springer disappeared somewhere whilst off road.

So new springer hopefully coming and HD mount, I think its the only antenna which will stick the abuse off road.

Radio...I was thinking CRT SS9900 or AT6666 they look the same?

I saw they have all modes and decent power level. I read some people dont run full power?

Are these a good choice radio? Is there a better alternative for the money. I would like something with AM FM SSB and built in frequency counter. I like that it has Dual watch and High SWR Protection & High Voltage Protection .

Its going to live in a Land Rover so needs to be durable. Are there any quirks/problems with the latest versions.

Thanks for the advice everyone. :thumbup:
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Tim
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by Tim »

A lot of these new rigs are pretty much all exactly the same but with a different name/brand. The CRT ones, SS6900n has about 10W AM FM output and 20W variable on SSB, the 9900 is I believe rated at 40W SSB output variable. I have the SS6900n and found that it is very good on both TX and RX and it has very good 'ears' on RX. it has, as does it's 'relatives', a lot of quirks, the channel readout does not in some frequencies follow the 'normal' frequency chart. The Kc shift is accessed by pushing in the clarifier, the digits on the frequency readout will flash, let it stop and turn the knob left and it will shift the readout by a number of one, push the knob until the digit you want 'shifting' flashes, first push will shift the last zero, say it's on 27.565.oo, second push for the next zero, push again and the last 5 flashes, this is where you get your zero frequencies as in 27.560 The CRT ones seem to come with two manuals in the box, one in German and one in French but the one I have luckily had an English one, you need this to be able to understand the facia button setting codes for the different functions, they take a bit of working out and even then not everything is covered, you'll still discover the odd quirk. Before you decide what rig to buy do some research and ask questions about the different ones, YouTube is a good source of info, just type in the name/brand and watch, not all the videos are in English though. I could go on but will leave it there for now, hope this gives you some idea and help in your quest.
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dt307
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by dt307 »

9900 cracking little rig but for the love of god keep the fm and am power down or it will self destruct I know lol
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by astradyne »

dt307 wrote:9900 cracking little rig but for the love of god keep the fm and am power down or it will self destruct I know lol
Run them at around 10W on FM/AM or there'll be trouble. Off the top of my head they're rated at 60W output which is fine for SSB. There's a good size heatsink on the back but they still get warm, so mounting in an area with good ventilation is essential. They're small rigs so finding somewhere to mount them shouldn't be an issue.
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by 26SD782 »

I got the anytone 6666 for the car and I am very happy whit the 6666 but it is mainly used for SSB
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by TimH1971 »

I am also looking to buy one of these rigs and have also found a lot of discussion about the fact they get hot on FM maximum output.

If I was looking for extra power on FM it looks like I need an amp which is fine. However, it does call into question whether I buy one of these or go for a cheaper one such as a v6 Anytone/CRT 6900 or an Alinco 135/CRE8900?

Apart from the extra power what else puts these ahead of the V6 Anytone's/Alinco135?

Can anyone enlighten me? Looking to return to the hobby after a long way away but anxious to buy the right rig!
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by theEarwigger »

Yeah,
something of a design fault that they overdrive on FM. Just wind the power knob back half way on Funny Mode and you be OK!
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by theEarwigger »

Forgot to say...

Mine has been A OK even running hot. The PA is based on FQP13N10 that cost under a pound for 2 replacements anyway if they pop. IMHO a decent radio the AT 6666.
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by INTERCEPTOR »

theEarwigger wrote:Yeah,
something of a design fault that they overdrive on FM. Just wind the power knob back half way on Funny Mode and you be OK!
How does the power adjust? Is it seperate adjustment for each modes? So run at max on SSB and low on FM/AM I guess is the best thing to do.

I will probaly us it mainly FM when in convoy with others so low power but will hopefully try some DX on SSB.

Thanks for your advice. Think I am going to get one....quite like the idea of a new radio instead of my old used radios which keep failing :thumbdown:

Just need to mount it nicely so it doesnt get stolen out of my truck! I will have to look at mounting solutions.
Lost my antenna the other day :evil: New one arrive today but lent my truck out to my brother so cant fit it until later :x
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by INTERCEPTOR »

26SD782 wrote:I got the anytone 6666 for the car and I am very happy whit the 6666 but it is mainly used for SSB
Thanks for the feedback...I will hopefully use SSB modes for dx'ing so sounds like the radio will do my job :thumbup:
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by astradyne »

INTERCEPTOR wrote:
theEarwigger wrote:Yeah,
something of a design fault that they overdrive on FM. Just wind the power knob back half way on Funny Mode and you be OK!
How does the power adjust? Is it seperate adjustment for each modes? So run at max on SSB and low on FM/AM I guess is the best thing to do.

I will probaly us it mainly FM when in convoy with others so low power but will hopefully try some DX on SSB.

Thanks for your advice. Think I am going to get one....quite like the idea of a new radio instead of my old used radios which keep failing :thumbdown:

Just need to mount it nicely so it doesnt get stolen out of my truck! I will have to look at mounting solutions.
Lost my antenna the other day :evil: New one arrive today but lent my truck out to my brother so cant fit it until later :x
The RF power control sets the power for each mode. So when you reduce the power on FM for example, the power for SSB and AM will also be reduced. There's no way to set the output for each mode independently.

I find the SSB RX audio cleaner on the 6666 than on the 135. To me the 135 sounded a little raspy. I say "sounded" as I had both radio's at the same time and decided to sell one of them. I personally thought the CRT 9900 (same as 6666) was the better radio so the 135 went. The 6666 feels like a more solidly built radio too.
Never, ever, ever....bloody anything ever!

Far too many radio's to list here. But I do own a legal one...
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by INTERCEPTOR »

astradyne wrote:
INTERCEPTOR wrote:
theEarwigger wrote:Yeah,
something of a design fault that they overdrive on FM. Just wind the power knob back half way on Funny Mode and you be OK!
How does the power adjust? Is it seperate adjustment for each modes? So run at max on SSB and low on FM/AM I guess is the best thing to do.

I will probaly us it mainly FM when in convoy with others so low power but will hopefully try some DX on SSB.

Thanks for your advice. Think I am going to get one....quite like the idea of a new radio instead of my old used radios which keep failing :thumbdown:

Just need to mount it nicely so it doesnt get stolen out of my truck! I will have to look at mounting solutions.
Lost my antenna the other day :evil: New one arrive today but lent my truck out to my brother so cant fit it until later :x
The RF power control sets the power for each mode. So when you reduce the power on FM for example, the power for SSB and AM will also be reduced. There's no way to set the output for each mode independently.

I find the SSB RX audio cleaner on the 6666 than on the 135. To me the 135 sounded a little raspy. I say "sounded" as I had both radio's at the same time and decided to sell one of them. I personally thought the CRT 9900 (same as 6666) was the better radio so the 135 went. The 6666 feels like a more solidly built radio too.
Sounds like the SS9900 / AT6666 is the radio to get then. Do I need the programming cable? I'm not really into computers/programming so unless its something I need to learn should I give it a miss? What's gained from cable? Thanks for your help :thumbup:
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by harakiri »

INTERCEPTOR wrote:
astradyne wrote:
INTERCEPTOR wrote:
How does the power adjust? Is it seperate adjustment for each modes? So run at max on SSB and low on FM/AM I guess is the best thing to do.

I will probaly us it mainly FM when in convoy with others so low power but will hopefully try some DX on SSB.

Thanks for your advice. Think I am going to get one....quite like the idea of a new radio instead of my old used radios which keep failing :thumbdown:

Just need to mount it nicely so it doesnt get stolen out of my truck! I will have to look at mounting solutions.
Lost my antenna the other day :evil: New one arrive today but lent my truck out to my brother so cant fit it until later :x
The RF power control sets the power for each mode. So when you reduce the power on FM for example, the power for SSB and AM will also be reduced. There's no way to set the output for each mode independently.

I find the SSB RX audio cleaner on the 6666 than on the 135. To me the 135 sounded a little raspy. I say "sounded" as I had both radio's at the same time and decided to sell one of them. I personally thought the CRT 9900 (same as 6666) was the better radio so the 135 went. The 6666 feels like a more solidly built radio too.
Sounds like the SS9900 / AT6666 is the radio to get then. Do I need the programming cable? I'm not really into computers/programming so unless its something I need to learn should I give it a miss? What's gained from cable? Thanks for your help :thumbup:
I can`t say for sure,as the closest to this radio I`ve had (still have somewhere) is the DX 5000 (Also under the name of Anytone 5555 and many others),but I am almost sure you want the cable. The programming of the radio is what these radios is all about. Some things can be done in the menus of the radio,but the channel banks or frequency range needs to be made to what you want and not how they often are pre-set. Its not hard at all to use these radio programing software. They look very much like how these dual/single-band uhf/vhf hand held china made (Woxoun ,baofeng etc) looks like. You can easy download other "sheets" to your radio,so you don`t have to write every single frequency for each channel,but rather just edit some small settings thing as you please.

If the cable does anything near what the dx 5000 could do with it then there is no way you would not want it.

I am actually in the situation that I try to choose between 9900 and 6900N (ver. 6) . If I understand correct I would not actually want to run any of the radio`s on max,the only difference is looks (maybe an outside usb on the 9900?),and the ctcss/dcs in the 9900 and not in 6900N..(?) The weird thing is that at the moment I could get the 9900 a bit cheeper than the 6900N,but what bothers me a bit is that I like the looks of the 6900N the best.. I think. Which is best.. {bnghd}

-H
Eh..Its time.
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by astradyne »

You can buy any of these new radio's with or without the programing cable, but personally I've never felt the need to use one.

You can buy the radio preprogrammed to cover all the export modes. There are extensive menu's that you can access via the buttons on the radio (roger beep setting, SWR protection, voltage protection, mic gain...)

It's down to personal choice really. But if you're wanting to personalise the frequency coverage of the radio you should buy the package which includes the cable.
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Re: CRT9900 Anytone AT6666

Post by dt307 »

What worked for me was
Set the max power inside to 10w fm and 18w ssb got stunning reports with it linked to my b300ps amp
In all fairness tho I did run it flat out on fm and ssb for months in the car before the 13n10's went to heaven in a blaze of glory and smoke
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