This radio excels overwhelmingly in probably the most important category: receive sensitivity. You can compensate for a lot by cranking up the watts, but if the radio can't hear distant stations, there's no point in even keying the mic. I happen to be a communications system engineer so I have an HP 8920A in my office, and I hooked this radio up just to check it out. And I was duly amazed. Out of the box, receive sensitivity was almost 10 dB better than my $1200 Yaesu rig in AM and SSB. It comes factory aligned, but the VCO was 350 Hz out of tune (spec is 20). Fortunately I was able to easily find the service manual online. The schematic is very impressive; only a couple IC's, mostly for handling audio and generating the AM transmit signal. The rest of the rig is discrete, making it easy and cheap to troubleshoot and repair.
After a couple hours fumbling through the alignment procedure, I am very happy to report that receive sensitivity is way, way, way better than advertised. Understand that results vary from one rig to the next, but this radio can pull in a tenth of a microvolt in SSB and less than a quarter uV in AM. That's four times better than the manual claims. I was able to pull the VCO in and get back on frequency, but for some reason the procedure in the manual did not work; I had to figure it out (it was not that tough).
There are a couple complaints out there, and I found that I agreed with them. The knobs are a little flimsy and feel cheap, the frequency drifts a bit, especially during warm-up, the frequency display only reads down to 1 kHz, and the mic is gigantic and of relatively low quality. Add to that my observation that the meter lamp dims when transmitting, even on low power, and the noise blanking and Galaxy Noise Filter are no more effective than similar features on any other HF radio (they're best left turned off).
The SWR meter was a little pessimistic, reading about 3:1 with a 2:1 match, which is good, and measuring signal strength, modulation and power it was spot-on. Being able to dim or shut off the display lights is also a neat feature, as I don't like lights glaring at me from my dashboard.
In a laboratory I was of course able to get very high transmit power out of it, but keep in mind that "swinging" a CB is against the law, as is making adjustments described above without a GROL to at least look over your shoulder. I backed mine down to the spec 3.8W and 90% modulation because in my opinion, quality is better than quantity when it comes to radio signals. Also note that if you want your radio "tuned up," you should specify what you want because given the opportunity, many radio techs will just snip the AGC diode and crank the RF power all the way up; this is much faster than performing the entire alignment procedure, and it gives results on a wattmeter that are hard to argue with. And the 959 is tough enough that, depending on how much you talk, you will likely get a couple hundred miles down the road before the finals blow, making a return trip to the radio shop impractical.
This radio is also easily programmed to operate on the 10m band if you are licensed to do so, and its extremely sensitive receiver makes it an excellent transverter head unit.
The Galaxy DX-959 does not have an echo feature. It does not change colors. It does not play mp3's, and you can't use it to view digital photos. But these are all features that made it an even more attractive rig for me. I like my radios to do radio stuff, and nothing else. (There is a PA feature, by the way.)
If you don't want sideband, you can probably do just as well with another Galaxy offering. It may not even be the best choice for SSB given its wandering VCO and vague frequency readout, but these problems are not an issue at all for AM, and I would confidently recommend the Galaxy DX-959 to anyone who wants a CB that gives them communication when they need it. Buy it. You won't be disappointed.
Pros: incredible receiver, nice looks, adjustable RF in and out gain.
Cons: cheesy-feeling plastic knobs, drifty VCO, 99-cent microphone.
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This Item  Galaxy-DX-959 40 Channel AM/SSB Mobile CB Radio with Frequency Counter |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | — | $139.99 | $169.95 | $169.00 | -7% $129.99 List: $139.99 | -27% $43.59 List: $59.99 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 7 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 7 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 8 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 7 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 7 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Noise cancellation | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Easy to install | ||||||
| Easy to use | ||||||
| Accuracy | ||||||
| Sold By | — | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Busiapp Corporation | Amazon.com | Amazon.com |
| number of channels | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 |
| tuner technology | — | AM/FM | AM/FM | VHF | — | HF |
| water resistance | — | not water resistant | not water resistant | not water resistant | not water resistant | not water resistant |
| voltage | — | 13.8 volts of direct current | 13.8 volts of direct current | — | 12 volts | 12 volts |
| IP rating | IP66 | IP00 | IP00 | — | — | IP67 |
| weight | 4.4 pounds | 3.35 pounds | 3.35 pounds | — | — | 2 pounds |
Reviews with images
Great radio if you get a "good" one.
Let me start by saying that I've always been a fan of the Galaxy radios and especially the 959 model. Great radio and very easy to make loud and proud.This new made in Vietnam 959 has some issues. I'll explain what I've experienced. I ordered a Galaxy 959b starlite from Amazon. Arrived quickly as usual. Hooked it up, radio transmitted fine, however the receive wasn't correct. When first turned on receive was loud as it should be, but then gradually became quiet. So much so that it was difficult to hear a local with a thousand watts of power that usually blasts out of my speaker. This happened over and over again so I advised Amazon and they sent out another. The second 959b starlite was defective right out of the box as the face didn't light up (photos included) it almost looks as if a non starlight face was placed over the original face. There was also a light scratch on the meter and there was dielectric paste smeared all over the back of the radio. Called Amazon again and they sent another.I'm on the third 959b starlite at this point. Transmit is good, the starlite face lights up (photo included) however the receive if still iffy at times. When it works correctly the receive is great, however when it becomes very low it's worthless. I believe it's heat related as it seems to have the low receive in the daytime and it's 110 degrees where I live. At night the receive seems to be stable. This is a mobile CB radio meant for automotive applications so the heat shouldn't be a factor, but I believe it is. The radio is not installed on the dash in the sun, it's totally out of the sun, but it still gets hot in a parked vehicle. None of my older Galaxy 959's, 99v's or Connex CX-3300HP ever had this issue. I'm using a Wilson 5000 antenna and SWR's are low across the band using an antenna anylizer. Radio is grounded by negative power wire and by a chassis ground to the case of the radio.Your results may vary if you're not in such a hot climate. This is just my guess. Overall it's a good radio, I like the features and the starlite face. Hopefully the Vietnamese quality control will get better. You can tell the 959's are being made with cheaper internal components, but that's with all electronics these days.
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