GALAXY Microsystems DX-959 40-Channels Base CB Radio

This is an excellent CB radio. It's "DNA" comes from the Uniden family of radios, the circuitry as well as the used components share a lot of simularities with Uniden CB radios.
I particularly liked this one for the following reasons:
- The receiver uses a balanced mixer using two J-310 high-dynamic J fets, normally found in much higher priced HF radios. This guarantees excellent receiver performance and large signal handling capability. Not too many CBs have this.
- The AM receiver chain uses its own filters instead of using the SSB filter for AM like so many other SSB capable CBs do, the latter resulting in a too narrow audio response for AM. Due to the dedicated AM IF chain and filters, this radio sounds excellent on both AM as well as SSB.
- The receiver AGC performance for this radio is excellent, so you are not constantly re-adjusting the volume for stations having different signal strength.
- The frequency counter in this radio is a real counter, not a CPU derived readout from the synthesizer coding.
- The radio works excellent straight out of the box. Don't pay extra for a "tuned-up" radio, this only results in poor modulation with lots of splatter. For instance, out of the box it gives you 12 watts PEP with excellent modulation, "tuned-up" it gives you 18 watts with terrible modulation. The difference between 12 watts and 18 watts is about 2 dB in signal strength, less than a needle thickness difference on the other guy's S-meter...
- Don't dismiss the older model (pre-2008) using the 2SC1969 transistor instead of the later model using the IRF mosfet in the PA. The 2SC1969 is a very tough transistor capable of withstanding infinite VSWR (i.e. transmitting without the antenna connected), where the MOSFET can not. So the older bipolar version of this radio can save you as much as 50 bucks with actually better performance.
- Last but not least, the radio is built with excellent workmanship. All internal wiring terminates in connectors. The PCB soldering looks clean and of high quality. The radio is built with miniature throughhole components, not SMT so repairs are easier to perform if ever needed.
To summarize: one of the best legal all-mode CB radios on the market. A purchase I can recommend!

Nice looking radio with all the bells and whistles. Big deal.

I have to wonder if there is any quality control at Galaxy at all. I don't just speak for myself, I have shared stories with many other 959 owners.

Problems? Here is a list.

Meter light dims on transmit - it's NOT a power supply problem.
SSB has noticeable less power than AM, and that only puts out 3.5 watts ( still sounds like a power issue to me ).

Frequency counter drifts on transmit.

SSB is off frequency.

The clarifier will tune 3kz under, but NOTHING above.

The volume switch is jumpy and feels like it needs lube.

The squelch knob wobbles, like it's been damaged. I called the factory when I opened the box and noticed - they said it's NORMAL on SOME radios.

I also asked about these other issues. I was told by Galaxy that the radio passed all tests and that was all they are willing to do to any radio. They suggested I take it and have it tuned and aligned ( extra cost ).

With specs and frequencies this far off, something is obviously wrong, and they don't seem to care.

One thing I want to say to be fair. If these radios are tuned and aligned properly, they are one of the loudest, clearest radios on the air.

I just don't think I should have to pay another $100.00 to get this radio to work as it was DESIGNED to, and that doesn't address the sloppy switches.

My LAST Galaxy.

My experience.... Over 45 years on CB radio. Used dozens of different radios. Talked to and compared radio with thousands of radio owners. Very active on MANY CB forums.

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 hooked this radio up just to check it out as I already have a Cobra 29 LX LE in my truck, 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.

THIS IS A GREAT UNIT,I'VE NEVER HAD A GALAXY BEFORE AND IT IS A TALKING MACHINE.
I DID MY OWN TUNE-UP AND MOD TO IT,I INCREASED THE AUDIO BY TURNING THE MODULATION POT ONLY AND GET OVER 140% AUDIO OUT WITH MY STOCK MIC.I SET THE POWER AT 1.5 WATT LOW SIDE AND 6 WATT HIGH SIDE WITH A SWING OF 25 WATTS,THIS IS MORE THAN ENOUGH. BUT AS FAR AS THE RADIO ITSELF IT HOLDS UP WELL IN MY TRUCK AND DOES WHAT I NEED IT TO DO,THIS IS MY FIRST 11 METER RADIO I'VE BOUGHT IN 15 YRS.MY RADIOS I USED BEFORE WAS THE RCI 2950 THIS UNIT WORKS JUST AS WELL WITHOUT ALL THOSE EXTRAS

There are a lot of good CB's out on the market and some that are just junk. Galaxy packs a lot of nice features into their radios. Frequency counter is really nice, it's only five digits but it does the job just fine. All the swicths are laid out perfect and easy to use. I wish this was the first radio that I bought because I probably would have never bought another radio. The price for these radios new and used are a good buy (180-155 dollars new and 100 dollars used). It doesn't have echo but it has USB/LSB and you can add a lot to them like echo and extra channels. Go buy one and you will see. I like mine and they just look cool!