The President Randy II AM/FM CB Part 2, Let's Range Test This Cool Walkie Talkie.
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- Опубліковано 11 чер 2022
- As promised, it's time to show how far a 10 inch whip can talk. The Randy II is a great little walkie talkie from President and it's also the first legal FM capable handheld in the USA. I noticed in my test that the radio preformed at least 33% better on FM than on AM. What do you think?
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I so look forward to yalls videos. Good, honest, interesting content. I miss the live chats, but I'm working crazy hours anyway. Thank you two for your work, ideas, and help. Really appreciate it. Stay awesome
Thanks for doing your part in keeping the radios alive I like Citizen band. Rubber duck we are on the side clear😎
Wall to wall, tree top tall!
You are welcome, it was fun
Finally got my first ssb rig going yesterday. Im hooked. Just today alone i talked VA, WV, TX, PA, GA, Ontario Canada and more. I appreciate your videos they were a great reference for me. Im in Memphis btw.
I bought this months ago because my name is Randy and I love it
8:57 4:17 I'm in Toronto Canada and i was talking to slayer in Florida loud and clear with the randy 2, couldn't believe it.Love the channel, back into cb after 45 years.. gonna set up home base..my handel is Rock dog.
Glad to hear it!
Yes line of sight is the key. Back in 1969 I had a 3 watt 5 channel walkie talkie. Back then for some reason the air waves were much quieter. I used to get out 2-3 miles while at ground level. When I used to go up on the roof of a 16 story building I was able to get out like "Gangbusters". People were getting back to me over 15 miles away. They didn't believe me when i told them it was a 3 watt WT. It was from Radio Shack before they changed the name to Realistic. I sort of miss those days when Radio Shack and Lafayette Electronics were the biggest competition out there. One thing different was that Lafayette sold Heathkit products under their own name including ham radios and linear amps.
Back then a good deal of audio products did not have RF shielding. I worked as a stagehand and took it to work with me. I used to freak the sound company guys out because i would be about 20-30 feet from the mixing console and i would come though the PA system. They had no idea what was going on
Years later when i had a car with a radio and a linear I was in a parking lot of a Burger King. I was on the radio and my friend comes running out of there and told me I was coming through the speakers. Being the wise ass I was I keyed the mic and said "Attention Burger King costumers for the next 5 minutes "Whoppers" will be available for 25 cents no limit". There was a total mob scene inside. The manager had no idea. it was to funny. I found out it worked at other Burger Kings. For some reason it didn't work at Mc'Ds.
Would be nice to hear the same test having that little guy connected to an external antenna. Seeing how much of an improvement it could make. 73’s from El Paso, TX!!!
If I ever have time, I do want to try that
That’s impressive ! The bridge is 3 miles from the end of my driveway , I’m sure the signal could make it that far President has stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park ! Good review and follow up
Especially when you pop on the aftermarket handheld antennas. I got the nice 16 inch HYS whips for more portable use and then the HYS 52 inch telescopic antennas for when not walking around as much and staying in one area.
Thank for sharing. Keep up the great Video's. Good to see U all staying safe and doing well. Keeping the hobby alive. Til next time. DESPERADO 56 north of Tampa Fl. Waving a hand And just passing thru. 73's EVERYONE
President CBs used to be named after US Presidents. I hope the day never comes when we have a President Randy. The one we have now is a little randy towards children, but that's another story.
We need a Donald Trump edition
A president Biden radio would automatically mix up and slur your words on transmit to achieve that true Biden sound.
@@VicGreenBitcoin
It would promise nationwide CWP reciprocity but give us a bumpstock ban instead. 😄
@@udx-294tn5 , oh, yes, the scrambled edition :)
@@udx-294tn5 Squelch tail would say "C'MON MAN"
Any time you transmitting near a stream , river , or ocean you are using the water as a ground plane !! It makes the range better!!
Has America ever had a President Randy ? As opposed to a randy President ! Good honest real world review, thanks for posting 👍🏻🇬🇧
I thought the audio was great on both am & fm. Be interesting to hear it hooked up to your A-99 & Stryker antennas. You hit the nail on the head about Cobra. I’m gonna replace my Cobra 25 with either the Johnny III or Thomas sometime over the summer.
Thanks for the video, really like this kinds of test! In my opinion FM is the winner!
The range is not bad for such a unit. I am sure hooking a larger antenna would greatly increase the range
@@FarpointFarms Ladder wire works good.
Thank you for this video. I run a Realistic TRC-216 and a little Will antenna in rental cars when I travel. The radio works well with the external antenna hooked up.
Thanks for sharing- using it in a rental car sounds great
It works well with the built in antenna extended up as well. Up until chinese companies like HYS started making the 52 inch telescopic whips it the TRC216 AND 217 were the best handheld around just due to the telescopic antenna they all had.
Me and my dad have the president Randy 3 and we love ours we have be able to get out from Yorkshire to Newcastle
Good job to both of you , I have the president thomas am fm and uniden pro401 ht
Thanks for the review/ video 📹. Good audio on that little radio.
Thank you
Hey that is a great radio I purchased it myself a while back. the best handy I've ever bought.
I'm going to let you in on something that radio will push 5-6 whisky if you hold hi cut-dw button when you turn it on then you can adjust the factory power settings down and it makes the watts go up. Have fun 73. 879
I turned the audio and the RF power up a hair on mine. It helped. Also, turn Compander on. That halps too.
Because of you, I just purchased the President Randy II - thank you for all your videos and knowledge; I learned so much from your videos. My HAM Call-sign is K6ASF; and, my GMRS ID is WQZI967. I played with CB as a kid. I was feeling nostalgic; hence, I searched for “Is it worth getting a CB radio?” Your channel came up. I don’t know if there will be much CB comms in Northern and Southern California and New York City; but, I will give a shot. Anyway, I have tons of transceivers, but I don’t have a CB transceiver; so, at the very least, it will just add to my transceiver collection.
/s/ Alfonso Faustino
How do you like the President Randy? I am considering purchasing one myself.
Hi, @Alpaka_Lolo. Thanks for your comment. Surprisingly, I like it. I am part of a small group of CB users in NYC, and it’s fun and nostalgic, as well as surprisingly effective.
I like the President Randy II because of:
- build quality: this transceiver is built with quality, and it’s got a nice weight and feel - it doesn’t feel cheap;
- Good TX and RX: the farthest I’ve been able to RX and TX with my CB group is about 1 mile SOS with clarity…if you’re in a city, you can expect about half-a-mile of so, and the communications could be fuzzy; and,
- FM feature: I like having the option of going FM; though, I’ve not tied it yet; because, my group of CB users doesn’t have FM in their transceivers.
I hope this helps you.
@@AlfonsoFaustino Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I appreciate your insights. Have you tried any different antennas with it?
I saw on UA-cam a video (which you can find if you search for biscuit tin antenna) that showed how to use a magnetic mount antenna on a metal cookie box with aluminum foil artificial ground to improve signal reception and transmission.
Hi, @Alpaka_Lolo. Thanks for watching my video. That was for my Motorola XPR 7550e.
I replaced the President Randy II’s antenna with a telescopic antenna, which seemed to help with RX and TX, though I haven’t done any empirical measurements - I will say, the RX and TX worked better than the rubber duck in the city.
It’s really long and cumbersome, though; but, if you’re in a rest spot, like a café or sitting in your car in a parked area, then the antenna is manageable yielding noticeable results.
Nice to see an FM comparison! Thanks so much!
I am hoping for a All Mode base station radio to come into production. AM,FM & SSB. Then I would buy one
Use a 1/4 wave antenna. Like a Hamstick.
They probably won't do that, unfortunately 😪. I don't think there is even a President base radio for the European market, and as far as I know, President never left the Euro market, but fortunately they came back to the USA. I own a McKinley, Johnson II USA, and the Ronald. All have been great radios with not a single problem. IF they were to come out with a new base, though, I would love for it to be in the Uniden PRO-810e form factor. Perhaps with different button placement. Look that radio up if you are unfamiliar with it...a good small size, but a base station.
Those have been around forever, just get a Galaxy or Stryker 10 meter type radio. Covers aroun 24 to 30 mhz continously so you don't have to deal with the useless moron traffic that makes the standard 40 channels unusable.
I’ve had positive tests with fm too. Just not a lot of people using 11 meter FM
There is a FM radio group on Facebook on 11 m their home frequency is 26805.
There are some good DX a.k.a. skip or talking to long distant stations on FM right now.
For what it’s worth, I live in Manhattan in NYC right near the midtown tunnel. The tri boro bridge and tunnel authority broadcasts a warning on CB channel 19 about every minute or so warning truckers that the tunnel has an overhead clearance of 12’1” and to avoid it if you exceed that. I hear this broadcast every morning as I leave home ( and I drive within a block of the tunnel ) on my President Richard radio. I have to say that I was quite surprised when I tried listening to this on FM. The volume was much lower, and it was no clearer than the AM band. I was expecting the exact opposite.
Yeah that's the whole point. The standard 40 channels is filled with nothing but idiots so if you're not going to freeband it then you pretty much need FM.
We usually got great reception when it was cloudy as a kid in the mountains of north Idaho.
That is called atmospheric bounce and it can really lead to some cool long range contacts!
The courtesy tone needs to be turned off and the squelch break is loud. Otherwise, can’t wait till the radio shops insert finals and increase the wattage to 50 watts. These lowband CB FM radios will work the entire County on mobiles!
From S.E.Tennessee, thank you for this. Probably gonna get one
Just an idea for a video. I would love to see a list of the easiest radios to work on if they break. My understanding is some have push through connections or something like that and most the newer ones have complicated circuit boards that or soldered directly to the top of the board making it more difficult to modify or to fix if something goes wrong. Im new to radio so forgive my ignorance if I messed that up. I might have my lingo wrong. Anyway thanks 🤠
Great suggestion! I will see if I can come up with something
Always like real world range test 👍
Appreciate this video. Thanks for it.
If cell towers go down sometime CB is the best alternative if you have distance between each other.
Yup! These are always ready when things go wrong.
That's a nice radio portable always a fan of president 968 east tn
President needs to put PL/DPL on more of their radios.
I need help with the settings everyone comes in with allot of static, how can I change the settings
I don't have the manual handy, but what are you looking to change?
I guess UA-cam deleted my comment in regards to a Viewer @ Farpoint Farms who mentioned that he had Liver Cancer (his name was Roy, a viewer of yours Farpoint Farms). I was curious to see how Roy was progressing with his life even though I don't know the gentleman, but sadly he passed away this past March. Roy Eugene Eastham Obituary.
You Tube will do that sometimes, for unknown reasons. Thank you for sharing the update on him. I remember a few comments from him about what was going on and trying to stay positive about it.
@@FarpointFarms BTW I just decided to get registered with the FCC in regards to having a GMRS license. The Ham Radio License will be something I plan on doing in the future, but since the GMRS is very easy and doesn't require a test, I figured I'll start with that. Anyways thank you for your fantastic UA-cam Channel, new subscriber.
Harmonics all over the place.
It might be my car not the radio
Wonder if being in the car made the SWR shoot up real high.
What Antenna do I have to run for FM because All I have are Wilson 1000 and a 5000 magnetic mount plus s Lil Wil. Will they work?
Same antennas. Only the modulation of the signal frequency is different (FM) as opposed to AM and SSB, if you have that on your radio. The Wilsons will do fine.
@@Tank6883 Thank you for replying. Cruiser from South Bend Indiana waving back at ya.
You’re good to go!
@@hatchetjackphillips thank you
Hearing the word chicken I am getting hungry Yeah but that radio sounds good not as good as the chicken but it sounds good
Don’t know much about these at all…if I get a magnet mount antenna for my pickup, do I just screw that in where the rubber duck antenna is???
Yes, that will work great!
This seems like a great addition to our trip from Kansas City to Bryson city North Carolina. We have rented a cabin for three weeks around the Fourth of July. Any advice on things to do while we’re there? I’m assuming the weather will be hot and humid.
Use it in the cabin too. Just get a wire dipole to string up between a couple trees outside.
New Suscriber: Thank you for your videos. Just a question.....what is your opinion of the portable Kaito KA1102 ?
It is a PLL FM/MW/SW Dual Conversion Synthesized receiver with SSB reception And it has a jack for plugging in an extended antenna. And a Wide and Narrow bandwidth selector.
Also what is your opinion of the Eton E100 ? It doesn't have SSB or bandwidth selector, but it's smaller and more compact for tossing in a backpack for travel and has a Low, Medium and High Antenna Gain switch. I find that it works pretty good. Good reception for its size.. and even better when I clip 20 extra feet of wire to the antenna
THANK YOU.. DES CREAN,, BELFAST ,,IRELAND
I have a president Randy 2 radio with rubber duck antenna also a telescoping antenna
it want get out in the car. When I am driving down the interstate I do radio checks and no one hears me why ? All the settings are correct on my radio and no one can hear me.
Using a walkie talkie in the car is not a good option. You'll need to get an external antenna and use that with your randy if you want to be heard.
@FarpointFarms ok Thanks
Thx so much!
Any time
Good video. Would like to hear this done on the interstate channel 19. I have a Cobra old school in my Ram and a very short stick. Always said if I can hear and talk as far as I can see I am ok with unit. Do not need (for me) a long range. When in wife's Explorer, she has no use for a hole in roof and I do not like crushing weather stripping of coax. So, a hand held that gets out a mile or so is ok. For around house, I have a set of Midland radios with little stub ant. No good on road(has no 19) but fine for house to yard talk. Came from Sam's years ago. So, I guess this is a hand held device to the law? In my state I can still talk on cb a/c to my local rep. How does that shake down in your area?
I am looking at this radio and midland 75-822 price is ok about $40 difference the midland can use AA batt and AA rechargeable so is the Randy that much better then the midland as I have lots of AA batteries for other types of radios?Thanks
The randy is a much newer design, and has a larger full color screen. While I love my midland, I struggle to see the display while driving.
Hard to believe it communicated that far using an attached antenna inside a vehicle. Does that vehicle have a fiberglass body? The times I have tried using a CB ht from inside a vehicle, the farthest I could reach was a couple of car lengths.
I like the squelch tail on FM. Sounds like real Motorolas and GE's did years ago.
I still think someone at President should be kicked for omitting CTCSS/DCS on these radios. The Euro (III) version has that feature. Are we undeserving of such here in the states?
Needs to state the car model but if I recall that is his wife's car and it's all steel body.
@@user-neo71665
WOW!
Question: on a base antenna can I get an accurate SWR on the ground??
I noticed that when you use the auto Squelch, I start getting the radio skip more.
Hey bud. Could you explain what exactly peak and tune means on cb radio sometime? Does it increase power output etc?
I’m really curious about this brand.
President has been a leader in CB radios in the 21st century. They make great stuff!
My best radio yet…admittedly…beats Cobra 🐍 HH50….especially in clarity..
President Randy II rules!
Truckers told me my AM naturalness improved about 50%…can’t raise anyone on FM…kind of a shame…since the reason I bought the radio…but…considering better AM improvement…even on Rubber Ducky…it’s worth the money for higher quality audio.
Receiving way better than the Cobra 🐍 HH50…new tactical antenna for Cobra 🐍 coming tomorrow…hopefully will make it equal to…if not surpass…the President Randy II.
You can always change the antenna if you want longer range- I think it works well with the stock antenna.
I just got mine in the mail last week. I have had problems with using an external mic/speaker with the same plugs but different brands? A Commountain mic from Amazon and a Baofeng mic both started transmitting as soon as they were plugged in and didn't stop until they were unplugged!? Vox was off. No sound from the radio speakers on radio or mic? Do you have to get the almost double in price President mic for one to work? Your help would be greatly appreciated!
Hmm. I am not sure. I'll have to look into that for you.
@@FarpointFarms I did a little bit of troubleshooting and found out that the Commountain will work on my Baofeng UV5R+ and the lapel mic that came with it does the same thing on my President Randy 2 ! So the seller on Amazon was wrong when he told me that it would work . I just ordered a new Ranger noise canceling mic for my Ranger RCI 69FFB4 mobile in my pickup that was $10 cheaper than the President mic for this handheld! Thanks for the reply and let us know if you find a different brand quality mic that works .73
Sir, can you do a range test using an external microphone with that randy II? Just wondering if reception and throw is the same
Compander
Hi cut
Anl
Stock antenna
And not being in a car
Best range follow specifications
Have fun 73
Hey boss man! Can we purchase the randy 3 off of amazon in the US ? I heard the euro version is better. For example you can connect all cords in mobile mode on bottom?
I'm not sure. What is wrong with this one?
@@FarpointFarms they have different frequencies unlocked supposedly and on the car charger it has an antenna plug on the bottom
@@FarpointFarms one more question boss man can I use this Randy to FCC while it's charging in the vehicle question is it going to damage it cuz I couldn't find anything in the manual about it
An external antenna for sure would work better, but you know that.
You try with external antenna? Wondering hiw much difference.
Test outside the metal box (car) or use an external antenna
Wish they included the UK car adapter
Can these be modified for the wattage to be higher
A 54 inch telescopic whip is the best all around solution for a CB walky talky. Need more signal just pull out more sections. A mag mount for it is handy too but, range on most Interstates is pretty good.
In the instructions it states to adjust the swr before use. Am I supposed to do this just using the antenna provided or can I use it out of the box with the provided flexible antenna?
The stock antenna requires no adjustment. If you want a longer range antenna, the yes, SWR should be checked.
The President Lincoln, George, and Grant II has the FM well before the Randy II, Bill II, and Thomas.
Greetings everyone,
BLUF: on a road trip currently. I've hand my Randy 2 for a couple of weeks and my new antenna was delivered moments before I 16 hour road trip. I'm new to CBing but I read that I need to use a SWR test before I actually use the two together.
Honestly don't know if I'm going to damage my new Randy if I plug it in and use it. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Btw I don't have an swr meter.
What is the antenna?
@@FarpointFarms it’s a TRAM 300. I stopped and got a SWR meter and jumper and it came in at 1.7.
What Brand and Model are you testing??
FM signals are polarized. If you transmit into the radio like your have your thumbnail picture, you are horizontally polarizing the antenna pattern (and essentially reducing the efficacy by aprox 50%) if the receiving radio is vertically polarized (as designed) Cheers VA3RD
All signals are polarized.
@@bigdEnergy666 That is true, however in the HF realm, once the signal completes its first ionospheric bounce, the polarization of the original transmission matters far less than a line-of-sight dependent mode such as FM...
@@BrooklinFunkProject , I talk dx using fm mode all the time. And while the polarization does change after hitting the ionosphere the recieve station can see an odd mix of vertical, horizontal, or circular polarization. Sometimes the yagi outperforms the vertical and sometimes it doesn't assuming similar toa.
@@bigdEnergy666 Doesn't change my point. He's holding the handi incorrectly for maximum performance. Just thought he might like to know that. Your anecdote about FM dx using a high gain Yagi has no comparison here, and the science is simply decided on this point. Cheers.
President told me that the FCC hasn't addressed the tone (CTCSS/DCS) issue. I can't see where it should not be allowed. This is no different than a FRS or GMRS radio, and as everyone knows, you've got tones on those radios. At one time, you had tones on Super High end VHF Marine radios (the Motorola Triton).
As this "Randy" is now, it's price tag is too high for me. Add the Tones, and AM Single Side Band and then I'll be interested... Let someone come out with a Portable CB/GMRS/FRS/MURS then... But I'm sure the price would be totally outrageous. Nice video though
If you are testing range, why isn't the antenna size on the base station mentioned or important? A 10 inch whip to another 10 inch whip won't be as good as 10 in whip to 30 foot base station tower, right?
It's an Antron A99 at 24 feet.
Do handheld CB units with removable antennas meet FCC compliance? I thought that was the big issue with all these Chinese ham radios lately. Am I wrong?
The FCC does not restrict handheld CB radios to using fixed antennas. A handheld CB typically puts out the full legal power on AM and so it can be just as powerful as a mobile unit, when you attach an external antenna. There is no restriction to using external antennas with amateur radio, GMRS, or MURS either.
You are probably thinking of the restriction on FRS radios. The FRS is for short-range communication among people without a license and the fixed antennas, along with a power limitation of 2 watts (and only 0.5 watts on channels 8-14), helps to limit its effective range.
Did you ever get around to testing the Randy with the antenna in your wife’s car?
I've used it a lot with just the built in antenna in the car and it's good to about 1.5 miles in traffic.
May be its presidend randy 3?
Maybe?
@@FarpointFarms Oh, this is not president randy ii, but this is president randy ii FCC! In other countries this model is sold as President Randy III (three). Sorry :)
Where can I get a speaker mic for this radio?
Amazon has them.
On high signals sounds good but audio gets harder hear on weak signals .
Also daytime ok n cb you will be get a slot sun n ok use and are propagation interfence with DX Land.
But interesting if ok nly afcc would opened up 120 channels we could be using FM on 27.605 higher.
But interesting .
I have heard no one using FM when Skip is in.
That is how FM works on the lower signals .
But when you kick RF power up you can beat fading into the white noise.
RM Italy 100w amp will do I.
But still be as rback radio cam perform nice all over town. On FM .
Sound and signal are 2 diffrent things
Thanks for all your videos. Can you transmit on FM and someone on older AM still receive and talk with you? Or do both have to be on FM or AM?
FM will talk with FM and AM with AM, no cross talk will be possible.
Wouxun has a new CB handheld - the KG-S72C - which includes support for both AM and FM.
Yes, it does. The Wouxun is less expensive, even more compact than the President Randy, can be charged via USB-C, and has an IP65 rating, so there's no need to worry about using it in the rain. If I hadn't already purchased the President Randy II FCC, and I was trying to decide between the two of these, I would probably choose the Wouxun over the President, mostly due to the IP rating and the USB charging capability. I really like being able to charge my devices with USB (especially USB-C, since I already use this for my phone and laptop) and having an IP65 rating is good for piece of mind when using radios outdoors and rain is a possibility.
The Wouxun only has 2 watts of output power on AM, though. Also, while I like the fact that the Wouxun is smaller, I do like the look of the Randy better.
As I predicted, the sound quality is really good, but the range is meh. But this'll be GREAT for vehicles running convoy. I think I want one in my 4x4 and maybe one in the work truck. Having AM available will be a requirement for making outaide contacts though. I would love it more if it has SSB as well.
what does meh mean?
The BIGGEST limitation of the President Randy is the PRICE 😮
That is the case with everything in the new 3rd world economy of the USA.
10 KM ????
Trying to find one of these or any other Good Handheld CB in the UK for under £100
not the easiest thing.
I will keep my 138xlr. Very loud radio.
very disappointed in this review , I could not hear what you were saying on the radio, you were to low and your wife was to loud. So never heard the results.
Best we could do for free with the equipment I've got.
I hope fm fails. 🙏
cut off that Roger Beep
Ha! No way man, I love me some Roger beep. Just like those boy landing on the moon, way to cool to shut off.