SS9900 advice anyone?

Hi again folks,

I've just got back from a work trip to the UK a few days ago, and found my new 9900 waiting for me.

I had the chance to test it out for the first time (on the Euro FM band with my son in another car) today, and there are one or two things that perhaps people can advise me about.

Firstly the volume of received speech seems very low generally and very low  compared with the volume of the static background.   I needed to have the volume turned up almost to full, which meant a very loud and harsh squelch tail.  Also I noticed that I need to have the gain turned up fully to receive properly.

Testing was done locally over a few km, communication was easy up to about 3.5km (bearing in mind the above remarks) but after that it seemed like we came to a kind of wall, and couldn't communicate either way.

Is this normal, and is there anything in the settings or via pc programming that I could do to improve the situation, or am I doing something wrong?  Overall my little mini Albrecht set is so far a lot more pleasant to use, doesn't hurt my ears and performance transmitting and receiving seems the same or fractionally better, even.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
- Z

What signal strength were you getting from your son and what antennas were you both using?

If the antenna is something like a 3-4ft one then a range of around 4km comes as little surprise. A weaker signal will sound quieter than a stronger one.

Antennas - I have Sirio ML145 and he has Cobra HGA1500.

Regarding actual signal strength I didn't think to look at the meter duh! Will try again tomorrow.

Thanks for the reply!

OK, well I've been out testing, again on the basic EU 40 FM channels, and on the principle that a picture says a thousand words here are a couple of very short videos taken at 3.5km and 8km.... how do they sound?

Noise cancel and high cut are both ON.

3.5km, receiving signal around strength 7 with the gain fully up:


8km, receiving signal around strength 3 with the gain fully up:


The Mocomo set that my son was using has a signal strength indication with 4 leds, and at 3.5km I was showing 3 leds, with 2 leds at 8km, and the signal was clear and understandable, he said much better than the video clips above.  My transmit power was set around the 10 O'clock position, in the assumption that's around 4W.

One real surprise was that a guy in Norway of all places overheard us, and I didn't realise at first but he was calling me.  I managed a brief conversation, he said that he doesn't often hear Finland.

We could also hear a lot of Russian women talking, it was a bit hard actually to find a quiet channel.  One station sounded like a Russian woman talking to a child, presumably it was skip from St Petersburg. We didn't try and talk to them.

Anyway the radio definitely works, but I can't say I'm 100% happy with the volume.  We did also test the little Albrecht set and it was subjectively easier on the ears and more pleasant to listen to.

Any thoughts or comments?

Thanks!
- Z

Chances are the FM deviation is set a little low in his radio if others sound better. The lower the deviation the quieter you'll sound. FM deviation in the UK is 2.5kHz but in other countries in the EU it's 2kHz and many manufacturers will set it to 2kHz or just under to ensure they comply with all EU country requirements. End result is that it sounds quieter compared to a UK 40 rig.

That's an interesting point, yes, thanks. I haven't heard yet what the Albrecht sounds like on the 9900. I need to get myself off to work now (another UK trip I believe) so that testing will have to wait until I get back.

I'll bring the 9900 along with me, at least if I have the same wagon as last time I'll be able to listen in, and will have a chance to get to know the radio better.

I listened to the short video yesterday agreeing with you it doesn't sound quite right at all but now I listen again it strikes me as it is your sons audio that seems low.

Having the same set, one of its quirks I have found is when the clarifier is set to adjust both RX & TX that the 12 o'clock position is not on the channel frequency but around 7 minutes past is on my set at least.

I would be taking a mag mount with me and be getting to know it very well indeed, once your antenna SWR is set you can transfer it from vehicle to vehicle often with no adjustment needed although it is always advisable to check.

We did this a lot when young based upon who could get their parents car that day.

...except he sounded just fine when I was listening on the little Albrecht.

on the 9900 I need to have the gain up full, and the volume for comfortable listening to speech seems to start being useful at around 30 (max is 36) although by this point the squelch tail is uncomfortably loud.

I'm at work now and will be actually leaving on the next trip tomorrow. I'll bring the radio with me but my magmount won't be much use as the DAF XF has a GRP roof. At least there is an antenna on the back of the cab but it's not usable for transmitting (SWR 5)

There is that of course, how are other stations coming across on FM?
It's a shame you can't use a mag mount with the cab I know there are antennas that need no ground plane such as the Firestick but I am unsure if there are any mounts that you can pop on and off quickly without making changes to the vehicle to mount them.

Regarding other stations locally there really aren't any, a couple of friends have cb but they weren't available for testing last weekend.

I'll be bringing both the 9900 and the little albrecht with the me to the uk, I'm leaving tomorrow but have several jobs elsewhere in Europe first. I'll be working in the London area so there should be plenty to listen to.

A quick check with the 9900's swr meter gives a reading of 3.9 with the original equipment DAF antenna. not as bad as the 5 I thought from my analogue meter but still, yikes! I won't be transmitting...

You wouldn't be able to it has auto SWR protection so you can't transmit into a miss-matched antenna although this can be turned off if you wish, I was trying to get a short clip of mine(same issue as yourself a lack of users especially on FM) so you can make a comparison as it doesn't sound quite right people are booming through on mine but in fairness it has had one or two quirks and I recall having mixed feelings until I properly familiarised myself with it.

Thanks, yes, I was wondering at what point the SWR protection kicks in. I double checked that it is set to ON.

I'm definitely reserving judgement on the set until I have more experience with it, and am really looking forward to at least having a listen in a place with more radio traffic happening.