There are not many out there now making 24-30MHz radios other than Yeticom with the Optima, MAXLOG with the impossible to locate 8900 and now Magnum with the 1. So for the first time we opened the hood to take a look at the 8800 v09 2015/03/20 board inside.
As you can see first of all the export modification is different than others. This time in true HF radio style it’s bridge a jumper. The programming port is still inside the radio but does it work with 8800 software? Now there is a question or is it sat there from old times as with the Lincoln II. As many don’t say it I will the radio looks internally very samey as the Qixiang radios, and along with this it looks a little Uniden’esque in some ways too.
Further back there is space for another AM/FM crystal so not sure why that was ignored and not completed. Could have been useful? But the radio is labelled well for what adjustment does what for the engineers at home, looks very well sorted and put together internally. There are some jumpers near the final, not sure what they do if anything?
And the export mode area is different, photo is below.
Well working radio on SSB, think must have been the key area of work. The radio is quoted on a forum in the uk as “Magnum1 is the same as the MAXLOG 8800” the response is try it! Far from being the same actually. Looks don’t always mean the same.
Go out, test one, buy one! I think you’ll be surprised. I’m trying now to see if can get one as a prize here on the blog. I was a doubter but at home even with the erratic s-meter the noise is quite ok and it works really quite beyond what I’d thought before it arrived here.
Videos are here soon…
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you can take the YETICOM OPTIMA mk3 off your list of 24-30mhz radios,, they don’t sell them anymore,,
It’s really finished now? That’s a real shame indeed
Thank you for letting me know
S.
thank you Simon,this radio is for me very intereresting.
I wait for your video.many thanks
Hello Hartmut. My camera broke so new one will be here quickly and I’ll have it on air and on video. It’s a terrible delay but hope this weekend all will be ok again. These poor photos only via iPad.
Thank you for writing.
Regards
STW