Ranger RCI-2950DX reviews

I can't say much about the RCI-2950DX, but I can tell you that the original RCI-2959 is a good all around performer. Bought mine second hand in 1991 and still find it a great rig. The rig is really a souped up CB rig. So if you like the performance of the Uniden Grant, or the Cobra 148GTL, then you might have an idea what to expect. The rig does sound decent with its stock mic, but a D-104-M6C mic makes it really shine. I find that it works the best if I have AM / FM set to 6W carrier and SSB at 18W PEP. And this rig has decent ears, like that of a CB, .5uV AM / FM and .25uV SSB and CW. Lots of folks compare this rig to the President HR-2510, and that rig sounds great for SSB, but this rig performs and sounds better on AM and FM. Don't expect Hi-Fi audio, but good crisp, punchy, audio. This rig did suffer the Uniden idiosyncrocies of most of the electrolytic CAP's being rated under voltage of less than 12VDC. Knowing this, it's not too hard to find and replace them all with CAP's rated at 16VDC, or 25VDC. The clue that a rig suffers this is when SSB TX audio breaks up and is very raspy. After about 15 years, changing the Li 3VDC battery has to be dealt with. Other friends of mine have Ty-Rapped a double AA battery pack on the inside chassis, and there's ample room to do this. Since I have the original series of this rig, it still has the orange glow display look. I plan to change to white LED's later, but I like how big that display is. No CTCSS circuits for 10M FM repeater use, but 29.600MHz FM simplex, and any repeaters left that don't require PL tones, will work well. I understand the the "DX" model includes the 12M band as well, so that's two "All Mode" band operations for less than $400.00. Try getting that with all mode 2M, 6M, 222MHz, or even 432MHz, new. Get this rig, or even the newer "DX" model, and don't over drive it, it will be a great rig for years to come whether base, or mobile.