President Randy III Handheld CB Radio - Revisited - Secrets Exposed
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- Опубліковано 5 чер 2024
- If you haven't seen my original review, then it can be found here • President Randy III Ha...
The President Randy III is a handheld CB radio made by the President Electronics Group which has its head office in France. President sells radios globally and has European versions and versions for the Americas that comply with the FCC's regulations. President is known for high quality radio equipment and have been in the business for over 44 years.
CB Radio was popular in the 1970's and 1980's but fell by the wayside with the advent of mobile phones. CB Radio is not dead and is still very much alive with the UK seeing a comeback and revival. President have made a cutting edge (for CB Radio) device with some great features. It's not cheap but you get what you pay for.
In this revisited video we tear down the radio and put it through its paces. We expand the radio which provides additional frequencies and boosts power. We delve into the hidden services menu and provide a detailed run down on what the options are and how to change them. We managed to achieve a massive 12 Watts of power output on this radio but there is a catch which you can find out by watching the video.
This video is intended to be a detailed dive into the Randy III and expose all of its secrets. I have done my best in researching this content with countless hours of trial and error and hope you find it interesting and useful.
I do not have a Randy 2 FCC which is the USA version of the Randy III so if you own one of these radios and feel like trying out the expansion and want to report back in the comments that would be very helpful for my other viewers in the USA and for the community in general.
If you would like to buy me a coffee and help support the channel, then please follow this link www.buymeacoffee.com/nlkmedia
Your support and kindness is greatly appreciated, thank you so much. - Наука та технологія
Hello Brian. I'm from Portugal, and I want to thank you for the work and time you spent making our lives easier. I have a Randy III because I love radio communications, but also because I like to be prepared for a situation where you have to leave the house, and there is a break in telephone communications. I always have a T2LT antenna in my backpack, which greatly increases the range of this great little radio. Thank you one more time. I say goodbye with high esteem. 🙏
Hi Michael, thank you for the great feedback it really is appreciated. A larger antenna on the Randy really does help quite a bit. Its the best handheld on the market in my opinion. Another option is the Bill 2 with an external battery and antenna. Its not as compact as the Randy but is also a good backpack option. I wonder if President will release a Randy 4 at some point with a larger battery which is easier to swap and some other features like SSB. All the best and thanks for watching
If the Randy III has SSB that would have been really amazing.
It would be brilliant if they could squeeze SSB into the Randy 4 along with 2800mah easy swappable battery, faster scan mode, back light time options and the desktop cradle coming in the box. The Randy 3 is a great handheld, President did really well with this one. With a removable higher capacity battery they could get closer to 4 watts in standard mode rather than just about pulling 3 watts and a decent belt clip that attaches to the radio not the redesigned battery. Oh and the option to charge via USB C would be nice as well.
@@NLKMediaGroup Yes, USB C would have been really good!
The battery should have been easily twice the capacity or at least allow higher capacity batteries, perhaps you could squeeze a larger on in ?
With a larger battery there's no reason it couldn't do 5 watts.
SSB would be nice on a Randy 4 but I doubt they would do it and you might not see a Randy 4 for another 8 years or more.
I would gladly sacrifice size .little bigger and more battery capacity to gain ssb.
No brainer for me.
@@randyguay7115 It seems really incredible that they could exclude SSB.
R&D costs,parts to add ssb,retooling costs,emc recertification in chambers,pre-sample costs,supply and demand for ssb sales, etc
If you worked in radio manufacturing it's not as easy as it sounds.👍
Email groupe president electronics France,sales with your requests or feedback to dealer to pass info onto main factory.
Cost maybe the final factor ,shipping,taxes etc €400+,maybe?
Many thanks from Germany! Very good video, really professional and thanks for your easy to understand pronunciation and "language-speed", like we learned at school - many, many years ago. Best wishes!
Hi Uwe, thank you for taking the time to comment and for your feedback. It really is very much appreciated. These videos take ages to produce and research so its great to hear you found it helpful. All the best and thanks for watching
Superb, I've been waiting for this one. Brilliant. Thank you MJ7NLK.
Your most welcome, thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed 🙂
Great music too in the video. I have same handheld and find it very very good.
I would like to thank you me too for your work and your great prononciation, it makes you easy to understand.
Thank you, Fabien, for your feedback which is very much appreciated. I am glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching.
Thanks from Canada, for posting these. Cheers
Hi Buzzie, thanks for commenting, great to hear you like the content. All the best
Thank you, very clear and well explained.
Hi Dave, thanks for watching and for commenting. All the best and Happy Easter
Thank you for your tips. Following your instructions I just modified my Randy III but I also added a 2 ways - 6 pins slider switch, placing it in a hole I cut on the side of the transceiver so that just by sliding it I can access the Extended or quickly revert to the original EU mode.
To do that, I just soldered 4 wires from the 4 halves of the bridges I cut, connecting them to the slider. Very useful if you have to access the regular channels so that you don't have to flip the chan banks and skip the alphas. This of course if you don't mind cutting a hole in the case. In my case I weighted the pros and the cons and the pros were far more important than the cons.
Hi Roberto, thank you so much for the super thanks, really appreciated. Good idea on adding a switch to quickly flip between modes. It certainly is helpful to have the standard mode available easily when needed. Really pleased that the content was helpful to you. All the very best
Very informative. Thank you.
Thanks for watching and for your feedback. All the best
Awesome, love the style.
Hi Alexander, thanks for watching and for commenting. All the very best
the best handheld I had was the Cherokee Spitfire 454 back in the mid 90s and early 2000s. It was a 10 Meter handheld that had AM, FM, and SSB, and was modified to get about 10 bands of frequencies. I forget what the frequency span was. It was a great handheld to use. I used it a lot to talk to my locals while walking around the neighborhood or when I would go on a bike ride around the neighborhood. It was almost like having a handheld version of the RCI 2950.
Nice job! Thanks for the info!
Your welcome and thanks for watching and commenting
Hi thank you for the video. My Randy 3 has arrived, and I am going to follow the steps this weekend. Once complete what should the frequency range be? Thank you for your time and efforts!
Hi DJ Bill, when expanded the Randy 3 is capable of 25.6100 to 27.8650. Press the F key twice and the band block flashes and then use the up and down arrows to move between band blocks. Press and hold the F key and you get a dot appear between the channel numbers and this decreases the band blocks by 5KHz. So that is how you get 25.6100. TS on screen when you turn on means the radio is in Standard mode and if it displays T0 then its in the 5KHz decremement mode. Just press and hold F to switch between modes. The double press F key makes life so much easier moving between band blocks. Hope your R3 arrived and the mod went well. All the best and thanks for watching
Great video , Your voice sounds like Simon our local car dealer who is almost as honest as the day is long. Thanks for sharing some of your excellent knowledge ☕🍪🙂
thanks much appreciated. good vwork very helpful...
Hi Chris, thanks for your feedback which is greatly appreciated. All the very best
Can the same process be used to mod the American version radio? Does this also have SSB? I just ordered based on the video. good video.
Hi Cleshean, I am not 100% sure but feedback from other viewers in North America has been that the Randy 2 FCC has had the expandability options removed. Neither the Randy 3 or Randy 2 FCC have SSB which is a feature I hope President bring to the next version. It really is a solid and reliable radio and I am sure it will serve you well. I would like to get my hands on a Randy 2 FCC and tear it down to compare to the Randy 3 to see what differences there are between them (if any) on the PCB. Maybe the differences are in software. I have also been told that the Randy 2 FCC does not come with the car kit connector that all Randy 3's come with in the box. It is not available from President US to purchase as an addon either. I would like to see what happens when connecting the car kit to the Randy 2 FCC. They are bascially the same radio so would be good to know if purchasing the EU kit would work for my North American viewers. All the best and thanks for watching
Спасибо друг! Всë разъяснил и показал. Спасибо!!!
You are most welcome, glad to have helped. Thanks for watching.
Пожалуйста, рад, что помог. Спасибо за просмотр.
Hi, reports that my audio is good (purchased a couple days ago) but a little quiet, would the FM MOD need to be adjusted with the correct test equipment? Great informative video. Thank you.
Hi Kaylem, You can adjust the FM setting and see if that helps. It adjusts the deviation of the signal and is set at factory for your specific radio. You might find that pushing it up or down a little may help but without the proper test equipment you cannot set it to the exact recommended percentage. However, you have nothing to loose provided you record the value you already have and can return the radio back to its factory setting if needed. Its worth a try as the factory may have set it short or long and a minor adjustment could help out. All the best and thanks for watching
@@NLKMediaGroup Thanks NLK, great vids and very useful.
Hiya lad you’ve talked about the Randy 4 a few times, have you heard of a possible ETA on this or is it just rumours and/or assumptions? Very tempted to pick this up and expanding it to dip my toes into CB and gain access to HF as a prep along with something like the xeigu g90 or the crt ss9900, cheers
Hi and thanks for watching. President don't give much notice on the release of Radios. The Harrison 2 has been "coming soon" on their website for 18 months now. No idea on a potential Randy 4 but have given my feedback in the video and comments so they can ignore me when they start the R&D on that one. It's mainly a collection of observations on what they could do to make an already excellent radio just a little bit better. If you're in the market for the best handheld CB then you cannot go far wrong with the Randy 3. I have a CRT SS9900, SS6900V, SS7900V and 2000H on the shelf to review along with 5 or 6 other radios. The CRT SS models are 10-meter radios so won't cover CB frequencies without expanding. If you want a legal out of the box SSB CB radio, then the McKinley is worth a look. All the best and thanks for watching and commenting
Thanks for the super video.
I have one question - what happens when you cut only the left wire? The right hand side wire is the advantage mode. Do I increase only the output on the left hand side? If yes, how much?
I send my regards from Windhoek (Namibia)
Hi, thanks for the feedback which is greatly appreciated. I do not know what happens if you only cut one of the wires. I suspect that one wire expands the frequency ranges and the other wire unlocks the additonal power mode. This is a guess as I have not tested this. This would however be consistent with other President radios when expanding them. So, my guess would be that cutting the right wire would have no affect until the left wire has been cut. Hope this helps and thanks for watching and for commenting. All the best MJ7NLK
Brian, hi mate, I’m fully expanded now and working well.
I was working it through my 5/8 antenna (with a little help) and my FM mod was reported as being a little quiet. My setting via the service menu is set at 5-10. Can you recommend the best way for me to increase the FM mod? I.e send me a few settings to try?
Love your channel and how you explain things! So good!
Laurie
Hi Laurie, thanks for watching and for commenting. In the factory services menu the FM-MOD option is the only way to make adjustments. Both of my Randy3 radios are set to 5-11 as the default setting. You can try 5-12 and also 5-08 and see if there is a marked improvement. The FM deviation is usually around 1.9KHz but without a spectrum analyser you will have to use trial and error. If after changing to 5-12 it gets quieter then go the other way and try 5-08. Do keep me posted on how you get on. All the best MJ7NLK
@@NLKMediaGroup hi Brian, I tried 5-12 and it seems perfect!
My friend said it was blasting over - so much so that he recorded it for me. I couldn’t believe it! Sounded incredible!
Definitely worth doing the Wideband especially as it retains the UK40.
Power I just run on M setting (3.76w) thru the amp. Perfect!
Thank you so much for your brilliant videos! So informative and so well presented! Laurie
Trying to figure out how to get the Scan Skip mode (that the Randy II FCC has) which reportedly has been added to the new production Randy III, without any differentiation of model numbers. This adds even more confusion to the model names! I'm very much hoping there's a firmware update on the way, although I have no idea how that would be applied.
Excellent video too bad we don't get the extras in the USA (we got the randy 2 fcc, but not the one you had). Do you have information on the car kit (schematics)? President USA won't sell them or give me any information so I can make my own. Thanks for sharing information with us.
Hi Spanky, yes the US Randy 2 FCC has been restricted and does not have the same features and expandability as the EU Randy 3. I do not have any schematics for the car kit. Its included with all Randy 3 radios in the box. You could try Doug at www.kcb.co.uk (Knights Electrocom) as he ships all over the place and stocks the car kit. Go to their site and enter PR3CAR in the search, they are £28.95 which is alot cheaper and less hassle than trying to make your own. KCB are the longest standing CB radio outlet in the UK, been around since 1981. I know he ships all over Europe so worth checking re the America's. All the best and thanks for watching
Great info on them radios Randy ll and Randy lll will the R/lll work just as well in the US or just use the R ll Ty for sharing this
Hi Paul, they took the Randy 3 and restricted it to comply with the US regulations and called it the Randy 2 FCC. The US and CEPT EU band frequencies are the same so either would work in the US but getting a Randy 3 into the US could be very difficult. When expanded, Band Block A is the block for standard EU and matches the US. I believe the expansion options have been removed from the Randy 2 FCC as its more locked down. Thanks for watching, all the best
Well next time your in the states, Wisconsin specifically, I’ll buy you that coffee. Interesting video. Can you increase the power any without cutting the wires?
Hi Rick, yes you can increase but only by a small amount. No two radios are the same so sometimes you might be able to increase a bit more on one vs another. The USA version of the Randy 3 is the Randy 2 FCC but that has been restricted and does not have all the same expansion options. One viewer advised that they had disassembled the R2FCC and the wires were not there. Another viewer ordered a R3 and had it shipped to the states without any issues. I need to get my hands on a R2FCC to take it apart and see what the differences are. The R2FCC also does not come with the car kit which all R3's come with in the box. You also cannot buy them in the states as President don't sell them in that region. I would like to test a R2FCC with the EU car kit and see if it works. All the best and thanks for watching and for commenting, much appreciated.
Thanks
Hi S2004S, thank you so much for your "super thanks", very much appreciated. All the best and thanks for watching
Thank you for the vid. I have the Randy II FCC, I'm wondering if the snip modification does much for me. I'm not trying to skip with it.
The Randy ll FCC cannot be modified, the FCC version does not have the wires to snip.
Are you going to review the lincoln 2 plus in the future.Enjoy your videos thanks.
Hi David, I have had a Lincoln 2+ for ages but have not got around to doing a video on it yet. Its the king of the hill in the range, more complex than most but packed with features. All the best
Hello, I have this walkie.
What is the factory setting of the "FM mod" option?
Do I have to cut the wires just to get more than three Watts running on battery only by going in the service menu and adjusting
Hi DJ Morgan, you won’t get much more than 3.3 watts running on battery due to its size and capacity. You don’t need to cut the wires as this expands the radio to cover more frequencies and boosts power when running on the car kit. This relates to the Randy 3 covering the UK and European model. The Randy 2 FCC doesn’t have the option to expand when dismantled so I am told. The difference between 3.3W and 4W really doesn’t matter much. The Randy 3 is an excellent quality device and worth every penny. Hope this helps and thanks for watching.
I'm trying to find that antenna online but I'm having a difficult time trying to find it, is there a link to order one from?
Hi Jason, sorry for the delay in responding. You can get the longer antenna from Knights by going to www.kcb.co.uk and type in the search box HHL2 and you will see the Extra Long Rubber Duck Antenna (BNC) appear. Hope this helps. All the best and thanks for watching
Remember on AM you have to modulate the radio to see actual power possibilities. You only tested the carrier on am (tells very little about performance). On fm you tested full power.
Inject a 1000hertz tone on am and you will more power on am. A good am radio will modulate 2 or 3x of carrier if voltage can hold.
Hi nbookie, yes will incorporate into AM testing. I have an instrument tuning box which can output constant audio signal so can trail that and see what AM output is rather than just the carrier which is what I normally do. Appreciate the feedback and thanks for watching
Actually full modulation is 4x
I'm interested in the 12watts of transmit
This is the Randy 3. I'm in the USA so the Randy 2 is available. Can the Randy 2 be modified by clipping the two looped wires? Or is it just the Randy 3 with the looped wires?
I'm not sure what a European CB radio is but is it the same frequencies as the 1-40 USA Radios?
If so I guess if I can get my hands on a European Randy 3 I can use it in the USA???
THANKS!!!
Hi Brian, thanks for watching and for commenting. The Randy 3 is the European version of the radio. The Randy 2 FCC is the USA version and there are differences between them. The Randy 3 is sold in approx. 30 countries, and some have different laws and regulations, so it has the ability to set different band blocks and cater for different power outputs. The Randy 2 FCC has been approved by the FCC in the US and as such has had the abilities to expand removed. I do not have a Randy 2 FCC to be able to compare them, but a viewer advised me that the two wire loops are not present on the Randy 2 when disassembled. The European CEPT CB frequencies are the same as the USA frequencies. Setting the radio to EU mode gives 26.965MHz at channel 1 to 27.405MHz on channel 40. The Randy 3 does not have the Weather channels as it's not something radios in Europe have. When expanded band block A represents 26.965 to 27.405. Band block C being Inferior 26.515 to 26.955 and band block B being Superior 27.415 to 27.855.
So, in answer to your question, yes it will work as the frequencies align but it most certainly would not be legal as its not FCC approved. I hope this helps clarify. All the best and thanks for watching.
@VaGunTrader. We live under the FCC we can never have nice stuff 😁
Yeah I believe only 4w are legal in the us of a
I am in the USA so if I purchase the Randy FCC does your video also apply to mods?
I am a ham operator and would like just the 10 meter band.
Hi, the FCC versions are different and normally have the ability to modify removed. I believe that the Randy FCC version does not have the two white wires when taken apart. I do not have the US version so cannot perform testing so am just telling you what other viewers have said. Some viewers have told me that they ordered EU versions and had them delivered into the US. The standard EU 40 channels (CEPT) are the same as the US 40 so would work fine. Obviously the EU versions are not type approved by the FCC so would be illegal to use.
Why dont you look at the President Richard or the President Lincoln 2+ which are both 10 meter radios (and can be expanded to CB). The Richard is a great radio if you dont need SSB, the Lincoln is more complex but has SSB. There is also a new President George 2 SSB radio which everyone is waiting for that is supposed to be available in September. Check out the EU President website as all the info is on there. Hope this helps, all the best and thanks for watching.
Is there not a test for am peak carrier power..
Great informative video thank you
Hi, at that time I did not have my other power meters only the Nissei. Next time I have the Randy 3 out I will check it on the old Bird. Happy new year, all the best for 2024 and thanks for watching
do you have a link to car adapter? I can't see to find the one that you have even on President's website.
I am not sure if your in the EU or the USA and its a bit of a strange tale on the car adapter. The EU models come with the car adapter in the box with each President Randy 3 and they can be purchased but are not shown on the President EU website. You can buy them from www.kcb.co.uk and just enter PR3CAR in the search box. However, the FCC model does not come with the car adapter in the box and they cannot be purchased from President in the US. I do not know if the Randy FCC will work with the EU car adapter. I would like to get my hands on an FCC version to be able to test these things but have not been able to get one so far. All the best and thanks for watching MJ7NLK
Hello. I've disassembled a Randy II FCC to cut wires. But it doesn't have the wires inside. Can you still get it in export mode ? or have I overheard something.
The Randy ll FCC is NOT modifiable! The Randy lll is the European version and is modifiable but it's not available in North America! The FCC versions of the President radios cannot be expanded as the FCC will not allow it on radios sold in the USA. The Randy ll is only 40 channels!
Hi CBoxmann, the Randy 3 is the European version, and the Randy II FCC is the US version. I do not have a R2FCC to be able to test it but would be very interested in getting one if I can find a US retailer that ships internationally. Failing that, if you could take some close-up pictures of the circuit board and send them to me, I can do a comparison and see what the differences are. I wonder if its minimal and able to be unlocked or drastic and impossible. If you're interested in collaborating on this, then please let me know.
@@NLKMediaGroup Hi. I bought mine on Amazon for 163§ 14 days ago. Yes we can try to compare radios, I have already taken some photos of the board. How do we get them exchanged for each other? Pardon my written English.
@@CBoxmann the easiest way is to go to my website use the contact page. It's here nlkmediagroup.com/contact/ and that will ping me your email address. I will then ping you back an email from my personal email address. I will need to take one of my Randy 3's apart again and remove the keypad board as we will need to see under there. Will be interesting to see how similar they are or are not :-)
Thanks for the video. I would like to point out that the Randy 3 is NOT the same as the US version randy 2 fcc. I found this out the hard way. I bought the Rapndy 2 FCC and was disappointed to find that it comes with no car kit as the Randy 3. It does not have the antenna connections in the bottom contacts of the radio. It also does not have the 2 white wires in the radio to clip for expansion. After discovering these things I decided to order a Randy 3 from the UK.
Hi Mark, the PR2 FCC is certified by the FCC and has many restrictions over the PR3. The PR2 FCC cannot be expanded in the same way, does not come with the car kit in the box and is rather limited. It does have the weather alerts feature which the PR3 does not have but apart from that if you can defo get a PR3. I will get hold of a PR2 FCC at some point and strip it down to find out the differences at a board level, am interested to find out. I wonder if a software upgrade would restore disabled features or if they are very different. All the best and thanks for commenting
The Randy III is strangely missing the scan skip feature. I’d love to see a firmware update or mod to enable it.
I realise this video is now 11 months old, but I've decided to get back into cb and a handheld would be good to use with a car kit and also while dog walking, you have the power up to 12 watt with a car kit instead of a car cb's 4 watt, which would save me using a burner, but at 12 watts power can I still use it as a handheld while out walking the dog?
Hi Paul, yes the radio adjusts dependent on if its plugged in to the car kit. So, it will only have low and medium power options when unplugged and when connected it then has low, medium and high. So you can walk the dog at 4W and when back plug in and punch out 12W through the car antenna. Hope this helps. Also worth getting a longer rubber duck antenna when mobile. if you go to www.kcb.co.uk (Knights Electrocom) and type in HHL1 that should give you more range. All the best and thanks for watching
I apoligise for my rude comments,,,,,I was having a bad day trying to get my head round it,,,,in actuall fact your vid is very informative,,,,,,
Hi Chris, no problem and I very much appreciate your comment. All the best and thanks for watching
electret microphone or dynamic microphone ? cant find a wiring Schematic for external microphone
Hi, I checked the manual and there is no wiring diagram in there. President do sell a Speaker Microphone for the Randy 3 which is part number ACMR407. This has a double jack connector with the headphone jack being a two pole pin and the Microphone being a three pole pin. I hope this helps. All the best and thanks for watching
Hi good afternoon how can I adjust the fm power setting without doing that mod you did can’t find anything in the manual many thanks 😊
The power adjustment affects both AM and FM and is limited if just using the menu unless the radio is unlocked with the wire mod. All the best and thanks for watching
@@NLKMediaGroup thank you for getting back to me
So does this all work the same on the randy 2 am/fm in North America?
Hi Joe, I have been told by a viewer from North America that the US version does not have the same expandability. They took the US version apart and there were no wire loops installed. I do not have a R2FCC model to take apart myself and compare to see what the differences are. Another viewer was trying to source the car kit in the US as the R2FCC doesnt come with the car kit. All R3EU models come with the car kit in the box but the R2FCC does not. I will try and see if I can order a R2FCC model and get it delivered to the EU myself, not sure how easy that will be but worth a try so I can compare. All the best and thanks for watching
Hi I got question, I mean when I turn on radio always on screen first is T5 this is ok or not?
Hi, yes that is correct. t5 means that the radio is set to +5 KHz on each channel. You can set to t0 by pressing and holding the F key on the radio while on. You can then see a decimal point between the channel numbers, So 02 band block A in t5 and it will show 0.2 band block A in t0 mode. You need t0 mode to get to frequencies which are 5KHz lower than standard bands. Normally the radio should be in t5 mode but some countries use frequencies 5KHz lower. Hope this helps and thanks for watching MJ7NLK
@@NLKMediaGroup thank You so much profesional mate ;)
Are president going to make a version that has sideband like the albrecht ae 2990 afs
Hi Indiana, I do not know but it would certainly be excellent to have a President handheld with SSB. I have not heard anything in this regard but we can hope that they add this to the Randy 4 if and when that appears. All the best and thanks for watching.
Can you recommend an external shoulder mic sir ?
Yes, President make a lapel speaker mic for the Randy 3, its part number ACMR407 which works well. Thanks for watching and hope this helps. All the best MJ7NLK
@@NLKMediaGroup thank you sir.
Can this same modification be done to the older President Randy?
In some cases yes, just depends on which radio and which version. Generally the US FCC versions have the modification ability removed but the EU versions have the abilities you just need to find them. I cover quite a lot of the recent range on the channel. If there is a particular model you are referring to? I might have the info on it and be able to point you in the right direction. It just depends on how old the radio is. All the best and thanks for watching
Abouth the alpha channels. Since those channels are off frequency, is there a way to reverse them back to the original frequencies?
Hi Kenneth, alpha channels are inbetween the existing channels. You get channel 15, 15A, 16, 17, 18, 19, 19A and then 20, etc. So the non-alpha channels are the original frequencies and the alpha channels fill in the gaps in the band plan. If you mean, can you revert the radio back to its original state without the expanded frequencies, then yes you can, but you need to reconnect the wires that you cut. On the normal radios you can just move the jumper back but the PR3 does not have a jumper only the two wires. Hope this helps. All the best
@@NLKMediaGroup yes it does thx
Hi..DO I NEED A LICENCE TO HAVE THE RANDY 3 ..
No you don’t need a license for a CB radio in the UK. It’s been license free for many years now. All the best and thanks for watching.
So expanding it,And adjust the values,low as possible in service mode,will raise the wattage in Borh Car kit mode And just on the top antenna,But it Won't increase it Much,on the top antenna.
It will increase it alot,using car kit???
Still pretty Good tho....
Yes correct, the top antenna is limited re output and its mainly the car kit antenna that benefits from the highest power output setting. Thanks for watching, all the best
I would willingly subscribe etc if you could tell me if the car kit mode plugs into an antenna on the outside of the car, and, if in export mode is giving about 10-12 watts? Also what about swrs when interchanging between antennas, original, long hand held and car. Much appreciated thanks
Hi, the car kit is designed to allow you to connect to an external antenna on your vehicle. It has a standard SO239 / PL259 connector on it. You can only get the higher wattages using the car kit as the wiring for the internal antenna does not support it plus the power requirements and the internal battery. That is why you can only get High power mode when using the car kit, powered by the vehicle and external antenna. Every antenna should be tuned for SWR so as long as you have tuned your vehicles external antenna swapping between the two is fine. I hope this helps, all the best and thanks for watching
What head set for the randy 3
Hi, I am sorry, but I am unable to recommend one. However, President do have an external Speaker / Microphone which plugs into the two jacks on the side. One is for headphone and the other Microphone. The reference number is ACMR407. It must therefore be possible to connect a headset with remote PTT as the ACMR407 allows for this as it has its own PTT button. Maybe a viewer could recommend a headset that provides this functionality. The Randy 3 does not have Bluetooth so hopefully President will add this in the Randy 4 if and when that gets made. Would be very useful for Motorcycles so must be possible but I don't know of one to recommend. Thanks for watching
Any idea where the name Randy comes from? For every President Radio we can trace back the name, except for this one...
Hi Luc, I have no idea why they called it the Randy, it's a mystery. I have asked in comments and have not had an answer that makes any sense. I don't know if it was a nick name of a US President or if someone at President Electronics just made a mistake and thought that "Randy Jackson" from American Idol was a US President! I would also like to know so if anyone can connect a US President to the name Randy, please let us know. All the best and thanks for watching.
@@NLKMediaGroup The first president of the Continental Congress (1774-1789) was Randolph Peyton, "Randy" for friends.
Can you us an External / broach mic sir ?
Newbie !
Hi, President make a few mics that might work for you. The ACMR407 is a lappel unit and plugs into the Randy 3. or maybe a ACMI200 which is a hands free mic. Happy new year and thanks for watching
No idea what you meant when you said that it reduces power to the "top" when using the car kit adapter so it doesn't radiate so much power in your face? Makes no sense at all... What does using the car adapter have to do with which antenna and why would it be less when using the adapter?
The radio is wired to only output high power to the antenna of the car kit and not the internal antenna. I think it has more to do with power consumption than anything else. If you plug the car kit in the radio allow you to switch between Low, Medium and High power but if you detach the car kit adapter it only allows for Low and Medium. The battery is tiny in the PR3 and it certainly wont have the juice to maintain 12W on the internal antenna without taking its power from the vehicle. You can see the menu options restrict as soon as you unplug it and testing with power meters the output on the internal antenna is restricted. All the best and thanks for watching
Can I add a Wilson 1000 for this?
Hi Gregory, yes if your using the Car Kit as it has a standard SO239 connector on it. Now comes the annoying bit. It looks like President don't sell the car kit adapter in North America. All Randy 3 radios come with the car kit in the box but the Randy 2 FCC does not. I have checked the President website in the USA and they don't list it. However, you can buy them in the EU/UK easily but I cannot confirm for sure that it will work with a Randy 2 FCC. If you go to www.kcb.co.uk and type in part code PR3CAR this is the adapter that comes with the Randy 3. I am going to try and source a Randy 2 FCC as I get lots of questions about them. Will be interesting to see how much they have crippled the 2FCC compared to the R3. All the best and thanks for watching
Can I just go to service menu,and bump the power of Mid and Low,to raise the wattage,WITHOUT expanding the radio,or Do I Have,to cut the wires to expand it??
Hi, you can access the menu and adjust power without cutting the wires. There may not be much upward adjustment available but you don’t need to mod the radio. Expanding will unlock more channels and the high power mode but for handheld use and the top antenna it’s not going to give a great deal more. It’s the car kit where it really boosted power output. All the best and thanks for watching.
Love the radio, so advanced. Too bad here in the US you have morons on ch 6 screaming "got down" non stop and the like. Makes scanning very difficult. Wish we could lock channels out of the scan list. That would be a nice feature to block some of the goofball channels over here (6,11)
Hi Stephen, yes that would be helpful, if the interface could allow you to select the channels you want to include in the search. It can be annoying when "silly people" cause interference just to annoy others. However, best to just ignore them so they don't get the reaction they are desperately seeking. It's unfortunate to have someone within range doing this, would be good to have some equipment that could triangulate their location so it could be reported to their parents as its most likely kids messing around. All the best and thanks for watching
No Scan Skip???
when wires are snipped do you still get uk cb
Hi CB Radio, yes you do. It cycles between AM, FM and FM UK when expanded. Thanks for watching, all the best
Привет из России.
У меня новый Президент Рэнди 3 и я его модифицировал как вы.
всё отлично и всё так и есть как у вас, но позже я обнаружил что у меня нет функции пропуска сканирования каналов:
- Так и должно быть?
Hi, yes you are correct in that the Scan function seems odd after expanding and it seems to skip between two channels and not work. However, what I found is that if you push the F key so that the F symbol is flashing on the display and then press Scan it seems to work. I checked this on FM and AM and using a few band blocks and it scans for me as normal. I dont know why you have to push the F key first but I hope this helps. Thanks for watching, all the best.
Привет, да, вы правы в том, что функция сканирования кажется странной после расширения, и кажется, что она переключается между двумя каналами и не работает. Однако я обнаружил, что если вы нажмете клавишу F, чтобы на дисплее замигал символ F, а затем нажмете Scan, это сработает. Я проверил это на FM и AM, используя несколько блоков диапазонов, и он сканирует меня как обычно. Я не знаю, почему вы должны сначала нажать клавишу F, но я надеюсь, что это поможет. Спасибо за просмотр, всего хорошего.
@@NLKMediaGroup Большое спасибо!
И ещё один вопрос: планируете ли вы сделать обзор по новому President Lincoln II+? Спасибо!
@@50SS021 I have 10 new radios on the shelf to review (President, CRT, Midland and Alinco) and yes I have a Lincoln 2+ in that pile to review. There are two other videos partially complete which need finishing before I can get to the pile. All the best and thanks for watching. I hope the scan is now working on your Randy 3.
У меня есть 10 новых радиоприемников на полке для обзора (President, CRT, Midland и Alinco), и да, у меня есть Lincoln 2+ в этой куче для обзора. Есть еще два частично законченных видео, которые нужно закончить, прежде чем я смогу добраться до стопки. Всего наилучшего и спасибо за просмотр. Я надеюсь, что сканирование теперь работает на вашем Рэнди 3.
@@NLKMediaGroup Да, сканирование работает, нет в меню опции "пропуск канала при сканировании" - я о нём спрашивал).
У меня новый President Lincoln II Plus есть и я очень жду вашего обзора по нему, особенно по инженерному меню! Вся надежда на Вас!!!
С Рождеством Вас!!!
Спасибо за поддержку и ваши видео!
В одном из видео на Ютюб я видел опцию меню "пропуск сканирования канала" и подумал что у меня она тоже была до модификации но потом исчезла. Теперь я подумал что возможно в том видео была другая версия президент Рэнди 3? 😁
Спасибо ☺️
If they make a model with sideband it will sell like hotcakes ive 3 albreçht handhelds fantastic i do not know how i ended up with 3
Im not well dont smoke or drink but i have good kit
If they could make a PR4 with SSB and a hot swap battery which clips on and off they would have a killer radio on their hands. I have two PR3's as one just looks lonely on its own. All the best and thanks for watching.
Just 3 watts power from a radio costing £180? That's terrible!
Hi Zaden, the battery is small and is the limiting factor with this radio. I haven’t tested other CB handhelds to see what they output but will add that to the list. It is a lovely quality radio but it would have been good if it was able to hit closer to 4W. If they make a Randy 4 I would like to see a detachable battery double the capacity. Thanks for watching. All the best.
@@NLKMediaGroup the main reason I was watching was that I want to get one of those convertible handhelds. The old Midland Alan 42 was only 3 watts, but according to a video I watched the new Alan 42 DS does give 4 watts from rechargeable batteries. Assuming that's true, it would affect my choice.
@@ZadenZane yes that's understandable. i do not know what the tested output is from the Alan 42 DS but will also add that to the list of things to source and test. It won't be anytime soon but worth doing a comparison between handhelds at some point. Another radio thats worth looking at is the Wouxun KG-S72C CB handheld. It says 2W AM and 4W FM so checkout reviews on that and see if anyone has confirmed power numbers. Its available in the USA again after they all sold out but not sure on UK or EU availability on that handheld.
The randy 3 EU version is built better,performs far better the midland 42DS! Plus far more professional built!
It's a handheld at end of day ,so ranges on stock antenna is never going to be same as a base or mobile system.You can upgrade the Randy 3 TNC antenna to a longer one ,or add a ground trailing wire 9ft long to outer of tnc ground improve fringe ranges.Randy 3 supports split ctcss ,single ctcss,repeater shift for future cb VoIP gateways and parrot repeaters!! (Germany have already implemented this on CB band).Randy 3 EU if far better built in quality terms Vs 42DS that's what your paying for 👍
8watts is ideal RF power when running base loaded antennas as ERP is generally half input RF power ie 8w in=4w ERP roughly as rule of thumb.So your still within legal RF ERP.Am generally needs x4 RF power so 1w carrier 90% mod Am= 4w pep as most CB use series modulation,why Am generally slightly lower carrier RF power until modulated.👍
Please never CUT the White Wires ...Desolder and Isolatet it ...
You are of course correct as it’s the safest option. However, Presidents service manuals and export mod sheets say to cut the wire. I do desolder on some radios but I need to get to the back of the board and complete disassembly on a Randy is a pain. Thank you for commenting and for pointing this out. It’s nice to get genuine comments so I appreciate that. All the best 73’s MJ7NLK
Yes, I purchase one of these radios. No, they will not get out It will not get out over 500 yards and when you are in a vehicle, you cannot get nothing Beware for you by one
Too bad you can't put a speaker mic on it!!!!
What do you mean? There's an optional speaker/mic for the radio!
Hi Thomas, Thanks for watching and for commenting. Cariboo is correct, there is a Speaker Mic available directly from President. Part no ACMR407 and connects to the headphone and mic jacks on the side of the handset. This accessory is available in UK/EU and also USA with the same part number. Mentioning this because the Randy 2 FCC (US version) does not have all of the same accessories available as the Randy 3 (EU version) with the most noticable ommission for the US version being the car kit which comes in the box on all EU versions.
Oh well ... looks like mine is going in the bin.
Had it 3 months and i now have no output.
Its covered in the video but do think carefully before you nip the wires to wideband it.
I did it with mine and now regret doung it. Yes it widebanded it but then it just stopped working.
I'm now at a £200 loss so if you buy one LEAVE IT ALONE!
Disappointed.
Hi, wide banding is a supported feature so if your unit is not functioning as expected then return it to President for warrantee repair. I have two PR3's both are wide banded and have worked flawlessly for almost two years. If the radio has developed a fault send it back for repair. You are the first person I have heard from that has had an issue with the PR3. Hope this helps and thanks for commenting and letting me know. All the best
Hi mate, having reviewed this case it turns out that it was increase to 9w that caused the radio to pack up. Very surprising because it would have gone to 11.8w so thought 9w would be fine.
When i contacted President they simply were not interested and advised me to take it to a local engineer (who was the one who diagnosed and quoted £70+ new board + VAT for the repair)
Im so done with President now. Ive just bought the new Thunderpole T-X handheld and have to say that its phenomenal.
Have a look at it! Its great!
Laurie
12 watts out put will drain and shortened your battery life
12W is only achieved when running on the car kit and powered from the vehicle. On the built in battery you can't output higher wattages. 12W would not be kind on any built in battery and the one in the PR3 is tiny and couldnt sustain it. All the best and thanks for watching. MJ7NLK
Doesn't even cover the 10 meter band
The Randy 3 is the EU version and the equivalent in the US is the Randy 2 FCC. However, the US version does have various differences and does not have an export mode. Its been restricted. All the best and thanks for watching.
So what’s the secret to make this radio actually work good? Lol
Hi Fox250R, great hand held the PR3 and packed with expandability options. :-) All the best and thanks for watching
@@NLKMediaGroupquestion please, do all the Randy’s put out the same watts? Thank you
@@Fox250R The Randy 3 EU model and Randy 2 FCC will put out the same power in standard unmodified mode. The Randy 3 has the expansion options as shown in the video but the Randy 2 FCC does not. The FCC usually insist on the removal of export mods before approving them for use in NA. As they are only for the NA market and 4W is the legal maximum there is no argument to keep the export mods on those versions. The EU model is sold all over the place and in regions with different legal power options so the export mode is for those countries and remains a hidden feature. Hope this helps and thanks for watching. MJ7NLK
Long live CB Radio, F%$k ham radio and other licence requiring services
Hi McGyver, that did make me laugh, I know what you mean. However, I am a licensed HAM radio operator as well as a CB radio die hard. I have a foot in both camps :-). All the best and thanks for watching.
@@NLKMediaGroup i have a problem with ham and gmrs keeping records of people practicing their hobby.
@@GWGMJ I completely understand your position and CB is unlicensed so a good fit for you. PMR 446 is also unlicensed but at only 0.5W is a bit of a draw back. GMRS requires a license but is cheap and you dont have to use a call sign so apart from paying for it tracking usage is not really a big issue. HAM requires you to use your call sign with every transmission so tracking is easy but you can use a massive spectrum so its down to personal requirements. CB is cheap, easy and hassle free and that is why I love it so much. All the best
Seems like a waste of money 💰 only truck drivers on cb. What's the point of adding FM mode to a CB radio? Most are using gmrs anyway
Hi Richard, it depends on what your needs are. In the US market you have GMRS which is an alternative but not in europe. We have had FM on CB in the UK for many years (2006 i think) and is nothing new for us, we also have our own FM UK band block which differs to the standard CEPT block. In the license free areana its CB or PMR in Europe. Thanks for watching and for commenting. All the best
I would not own a president for all the money in the world cuz the president Randy radio in the USA is 194 dollars and that's a little pricey I think the FCC should forget about this FM garbage these radios are not worth I'll take an old radio from 40 years ago p from 40 years ago who cares about FM I don't that's why I'm not going to upgrade
Hi Ernest, Thanks for watching and for commenting. The Randy is not cheap but is a high quality, solid and rugged unit compared to others I have used. In the EU we have had FM for many years and it is widely used alongside AM and SSB. I can understand why you feel this way especially as FM has only just been legalised by the FCC. All modern radios are now system on a chip-based devices being microchip based. This has advantages and disadvantages and a well-tuned old school CB is a pleasure to use and has a charm that is not replicated by the microchip-based devices. Where things fall down is with CTCSS and privacy tones/ codes and the more modern filters and features. However, if these don’t interest you then a classic AM and SSB quality CB radio is a lovely thing to own and operate.
I've never understood why President makes such cool radios yet such crap accessories. The Randy speaker mic is pure junk. It has a unique plug so you're stuck with it. There is no larger President rubber antenna. You have to buy an Albrecht TNC mount model from Europe. Most Euro CB stores won't ship to the USA. No larger rechargeable battery. I have emailed President twice about why they have such poor Randy accessories. No reply.
Hi Matthew, the worst is that President removed the car kit adapter for the R2FCC which comes in every box with the R3 EU version and is a really useful accessory. You can also buy them separately in the EU as an accessory but they don't sell them in the US. A viewer contacted President US and they confirmed its not available in NA. I have no idea why unless it was a stipulation of the FCC type approval but am just guessing. You could try Doug at www.kcb.co.uk as he ships all over the place and stocks many brands including President radios and accessories.
There is no real option for a larger battery with the current design as its inbuilt into the body. It would be nice to see a slide and clip battery on the next version so larger batteries could be added. Even if they only made one size you could at least easily swap them in the field rather than having to unscrew the thing and mess around with the tiny connector.
I do not own the speaker mic so cannot comment on its quailty. I purchased the HHL2 from www.kcb.co.uk which is an extra large rubber duck antenna (i have two of them) and they work really well. You could try posting on their Facebook page and see if you get a response. Thanks for the info and thanks for watching
I would have absolutely subscribed, in a heartbeat. But, because you went through that pathetic begging asking viewers to do so, I now will not. Viewers choose to subscribe or not based on the content, they don't need to be told or asked to do so. Everyone is aware of how the subscribe function works, where do you think you get off begging people like that? Let people choose what they do freely.
Its how the UA-cam world works and a simple reminder to support the channel is far from begging. I am sorry that it offended you so greatly. Thank you for watching, all the very best. MJ7NLK
hi, can you increase the watt output on internal battery mode ?
Hi Arch Stanton, you can tweak the power mode on battery slighly but not by much. The high power mode is only enabled when the car kit is plugged in and you cannot push much more than standard using the built in antenna. I guess its not very safe to be pumping higher wattages out of the internal antenna which is right next to your head or they would have allowed for this. I even tried connecting the car kit antenna and running of battery but the radio knew what i was doing and no high power mode. It must be powered from the car kit to get the high power mode. Hope this helps, all the best and thanks for watching.
Oh, you could use an external battery rigged up to the car kit and an external antenna, that would work if you wanted to be mobile away from a vehicle but more to carry and external battery packs are quite heavy.
Hi.
What is the point,of having all the abcdegh bands ?
What extra Can I do now,And How do I do it?
What's having the decimal point between the ch number.
What does that little cl, mean,where the ch number is?
Thanks.
Hi, It increases the available frequencies you can use. The band blocks represent 40 channels starting and ending at different frequencies. Channel 1 in band block A will start at a different frequency to Channel 1 in band block B. This opens the radio up to frequencies outside of the CB frequencies and covers 10 and 11 Meter bands. The decimal point between the numbers is a 5KHz decrement to the pre-defined band block frequencies. So, on a channel that is 27.405 in normal mode, when using the -5KHz mode it becomes 27.400. Its all about supporting a much larger range of frequencies but still using the normal 40 channel interface. The symbol shown in the second digit of the channel number denotes "alpha" channels. These are very simple and represent gaps in the range. The CB frequencies step in 10KHz gaps but at certain channels they jump in 20KHz gaps, so the Alpha channel shows as 19, 19 alpha and then 20 with the alpha representing the missing channel if stepping in 10KHz gaps. Hope this helps and thanks for watching
Hi.
MY FRIENDS RANDY 3 WONT CHARGE.
THE RED LIGHT CGARGING LIGHT COMES ON WHEN NOT CONNECTED BUT ITS OFF WHEN CONNECTED TO THE Radio.
WHAT COULD IT BE ??
Sounds like a dead battery, swapping out the battery would be the first thing to try. You can purchase spare batteries from www.kcb.co.uk. I have also seen them on Amazon. Thanks for watching, all the best
Hay Brian,nice explane the update for this radio handheld,but my question is,can de randy 3 this high power setting without any danger greet
ings Henco Netherlands??
Hi Henk, yes the high power mode has been built into the radio by President for regions that allow it so there is no danger of the unit failing when using it. You would need to see what the law and regulations are in your region as to whether there are any dangers on that front. The radio was designed to be used in standard and expanded mode and that is why its all built in to the menu system. Hope this helps and thanks for watching
@@NLKMediaGroup Okay thanks for your answer, logically yes, knowing the president I should have known that!!
Based on your video, I bought one, works very well, I'm happy with it.
Please continue with your videos!!!