DX-959B Mobile CB Radio with Blue Frequency and Channel Digits and Backlit StarLite Faceplate

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.

Galaxy is still quality radio

At first I thought I had to send it back cause none of the displays were lighting up. Then I checked all the switches and knobs. One of the knobs pushes in to turns all lights completely off and back on. Never had that feature on a radio before. Other then that everything is in great shape. I ordered it new and completely stock and that's the way I recieved it. Completely untouched. None of the packaging was ever opened. Very happy about the product and it was packaged great for protection. I would recommend this seller. I stopped recommending this seller cause I paid for a new Galaxy dx959b not a refurbished one and recieved a refurbished one. I bought this radio to learn cb mods but as I was looking at a schematic and the radio nothing was making sence. Some of the components wasn't there or was different from the schematic. I found out the missing components are mounted on the solder side and they have two diodes connected together in series in like 5 places on this radio where and it doesn't mention that on a schematic. They show only 1 diode. The grease that goes behind the finals is all over the finals to where they can't be read to tell what they are. Some of the solder joints looks to be done by a kid by how sloppy and gloppy they are. The radio works but the part that upsets me the most is that it is suppose to be new not refurbished or used radio. Now I'm going to be worried about how bad some of the components have been treated and will last from their previous abuse witch is why I wanted a new radio so everything will be fresh.

Galaxy 959BWell what can I say about this radio that has not been already said. I gave it 4 stars because I do like the looks and receive is very good as well as AM has good audio quality. However like others have said in the past this radio has some major drifting issues after being on for at least a 1/2 hour or so. Really noticeable is on SSB, automatically because of the locked transmit clarifier you will be told in UN-CERTAIN Terms you are OFF FREQUENCY on channel 38 LSB when the skip is in. No matter your explanation of having a locked clarifier does not please many who will sit there and argue with you about it. I guess they never grasped the concept that that's why they make clarifiers to tune in off frequency stations that are slightly off. I'm sure they will never grasp the Ham radio concept that anywhere along the band can be used for transmission even if it's 100 hertz's off the next guy! Anyway sometimes CB'ers have some odd ball idea's about being OFF Frequency. I guess they will never be satisfied.Back to Galaxy this has the Blue display which I like but wish it had 2 more 00;s after the 5th digit and had a more stablecircuit to keep it from drifting so much.The cabinet came scratched which to me is poor quality control despite being a New radio and packaged fairly well.Would I recommend this radio I would but buyer should be aware that you will have drifting issues on SSB as far as a AM radio the drifting would not be so much a issue as receive on AM is wider than SSB receive.Would I buy another one for myself Not Likely despite the issues. I will get the clarifier unlocked and solve that problem and get it lined up on SSB but this will not totally fix the normal drifting issue!Thanks for Viewing

Great product