Galaxy DX-2547 AM/SSB CB Base Station w/ Freq Counter, Talkback & Roger Beep

I have been a Cb’er since 1966 when I had to pay $8 for a license and worked a tube radio with a homemade antenna. No one cared about SWR with these monsters and 15 miles was Dxing. I’ve owned many mobiles and bases through the years. I certainly don’t claim to be an expert – just a seasoned user. I tend to write for people less experienced than I do so I may simplify things at times. Those more knowledgeable can sort things out easily. My antenna is a Sirio GPS 1/2 with a modest height of about 30 ft. The GPS 5-8 would be nice if you have the room/height for the ground plane sticks. I ran/tested the radio from both the 120V house power and my MFJ-4225MV switching power supply. Testing was done on a Dosey TC-4001-P test center. Not the precision of testers like Bird, etc. but suitable and relevant. Radio performance was the same in either case with slight improvement running on 120V. I was running a Galaxy 959 as my base until I bought this 2547. It is basically a Galaxy 959 with a built in power supply. The differences to the 959 are subtle but dramatic. This thing has a bigger set of ears. I hear things – with the same setup – that I could never hear before. The Xmit audio – as reported from those I regularly talk to and know my old radio - is clearer and has good swing. This is especially true running on 120V household power. Unlike the new surface mount radios, this thing is all discrete components and is easily adjusted. A newbie guided by YouTube can tweak this thing. I’ve found no need for the ANL or NB. I do use the Galaxy Noise Filter (GNF). In my opinion, this is a valuable but misunderstood filter. I agree that it is basically useless in normal use – close by receiving. However, for weak/distant signals this feature shines. As I said, one of the great things about this radio is its’ ability to receive weak signals and still sort out the audio. You can clearly understand audio when other radios are swamped by all the noise. The GNF makes this better. It is difficult to put into words but the filter takes out the very high pitched hissing. The audio goes to a low tone but it is now easy to listen to because all that high-pitched hissing is taken out. Yes, there is still some atmospheric noise but it is dampened and not annoying to listen to. It makes Dxing more pleasurable. Other than that you just leave it off. Out of the box the radio put out 1W to 3.8 W – min/max on the RF power dial. On sideband it measured 10.5W. The downside, like all radios, was the lack of swing. Audio was limited to about 65% with the mic gain at full. We all know that the manufactures limit the radios for the FCC inspectors. All in all it was a little better than most typical radios out of the box. For most people this would be acceptable with no tweaking. Just plug-and-play. The upside is that this is just plain the easiest radio to adjust. Within 20 minutes I had the AM and SSB power and modulation adjusted. That includes removing/replacing the cover, unplugging/replugging the speaker, locating and tweaking the VRs. I did not do any mods. The clarifier, etc. are all left as stock. What I set my radio to is irrelevant. Everyone is different. With the dual MOSFET finals this radio is quite capable. Let’s talk drift. I read and hear a lot about frequency drift on this radio. I’m going to make a bold statement here and I hope the “big guys” with their own calibrated frequency counters running kickers on their Presidents give me some leeway. I think you’ll understand my “drift”. This radio does not drift – or at the very least drifts less than others – including my 959 (I measured it). The only reason you hear so much about drift on this radio is because it has a 6-digit frequency display. You can actually see what your radio is doing. Even my Galaxy 959 only has a 5-digit display. It rounds to the nearest digit – the 5 and appears stable. Most radios don’t even have a real frequency meter just a preprogrammed readout of what the frequency should be for the channel selected. The other radios are doing the same thing – you just can’t see it. With the 6-digit display you can see the last digit change – it kind of flips back and forth on/off the “5’s” one digit. That is the 1KHz position but the flipping on and off the 5’s shows it is something much less than a 1KHz shift. My point is that the other radios are drifting slightly too. You just can’t see it and think your radio is stable. This drift is just plain a “so what” on AM and so little as to not be an issue on SSB. Just stop obsessing with the frequency display and constantly tweaking out a “who cares” and you’ll be happy. You’ll know when to tweak and that’s when it just stays off frequency. This radio is pricey but it is not your basic CB. It is exceptionally capable. It may appear busy but each of those dials has a specific function that let’s you make the radio work the way you want it to. All those dials are a blessing. This is not one of the new radios with programmed buttons that make it a bugger to change something easily. I know. I also have a Uniden 980 SB that I bought for my wife’s car. “But honey it’s pretty” – nuf said. I’m not bashing the 980 mind you. It’s a nice competent radio but not for a mobile (IMO) - unless you want to spend a lot of money for a mobile radio relegated to On/Off and squelch. For clarity: I’m driving – now let’s see – which of those buttons do I push? Oh now I have to cycle through a menu. Or, I have to push the button then key the mic and hold it while I turn the channel knob to adjust to the setting I want. Make’s you want a second set of eyes and hands cuz it’s just not reasonable and safe to tune/change anything while on the road with the new-fangled “pretty” things. I relegated it to a backup base radio. My wife now runs a Cobra – with dials. I got the one with the orange backlighting so it would be pretty.

Packaged in three layers of box's. Perfect condition looks great, came with a service manual, operating manual and cb rules. Had up and running in 10 minutes. Power meter says 5.9 watts AM not ssb is on the low side 8 watts but that does not matter. Guess somone messed up on the good side! Checked with my meter and also read 5.9 watts. Right off the batt good swing on meter. Knobs all feel very solid, buttons work well. Would be better in blue digits red seems harsh but that's minor right? OK so no real CQ yet. Propigation bad in Montana tonight. Will put more info in on transmit and receive soon! 266. 73 on the side channel 38 LSB Update second day. Tested with son on base unit. AM perfect. LSB off frequency and wattage swing to low. Adjusted LSB frequency, LSB wattage, AM modulation and power. Will rest at long distance tomorrow. And by the way very easy to adjust just lift top off and find dash pots in Service Manual or online. Well have been operating this radio from February on. Still works great talked all around the US, Canada, Alaska, Australia, New Zeeland on LSB 38. All reports say I'm right on frequency and the Clarifier works great to fine tune in coming. Of course this is when DxING is good. I use a 5/8 vertical ground plane by Sirio. The rf power out is a nice feature I use quite a bit. Like I said earlier this radio is very tunable nice big open circuit board. 100% happy still! Hear of a lot complaints about drift.....just let it warm up for 10 minutes it levels out. Make sure you have a good match use good coax. O I also use a MFJ antenna tuner. 73

Nice Radio, works great.The only thing is the internal speaker did not work.I used a external speaker works great.

Very fast shipping. Nice . Over all really does it job. Sound clear. Thanks . Easy to use. Reception clear .

First of all, this is the LAST base station CB still made. Sniff Sniff. Yes, the last. A very solid unit. Nice features, nice sound with the speaker, good meters, etc. SSB works well. I don't use it a ton anymore, but it works well. It's a big unit but that's what I wanted. Nice that it has a built in power supply also. Note however, the transformer internally is on all the time and the front switch is on the output of the transformer. :O) When I tested the power usage it was virtually the same on or off (not transmitting) so I'd recommend putting it on a switch. The frequency display is very nice. FYI, you can also use the clarifier when not in SSB to 'fine-tune' receive frequency on plain old AM I had an issue with 'frequency hunting' after I had used mine a while, talked to Galaxy (Great company) and finally sent it back and got it back all fixed in no-time. I have another Galaxy SSB mobile unit and that's top notch also.

I know this will be pulled ASAP but I feel it is only fair to let people know that this particular Radio has issues. Ranger Radio and Galaxy know of these issues and yet still fail to address the issues. Their support people are always polite and friendly, I just wish they had more say in quality control! Got this radio in. Hooked up to base antenna and started calling. Got immediate response from skip as well as local that I was off frequency. The SSB signal was clipping so bad no one could hear a complete word, not to mention a sentence. No way to adjust the transmit frequency. The Clarifier only works on receive. Contacted Galaxy and they attempted to walk me through adjustments over phone. No go. Ended up sending it in for service and tuning. Got the radio back 2 weeks later, (today). Plugged it in and turned it on. The frequency counter jumped to 27.3843. This is the transmit frequency. I knew I was in trouble without even transmitting. The frequency on transmit should be 27.3850. (This is the frequency for channel 38 LSB by the way). After 30 minutes "warm up" time the frequency counter moved up to 27.3846. Still off 3 KHz. This doesn't sound like much but if you are listening to me, you are not going to answer me because you would have to retune your radio to do it. Most will just ignore you when your that far off frequency. You either sound like you’re in a deep cave when frequency is low or Donald Duck if your frequency is too high. A single KHz does make that much difference. 27.3850 is the standard center for transmission frequency on channel 38. On receive, when I tried to clarify the unit, I turned the clarifier all the way to the right and could not clear up the receive enough to even make out words. The reason I sent it in was to have it adjusted. Now it is worse than when I returned it. You have to wonder what is going on in the technician’s life that he or she could not see what I noticed 2 seconds after turning the radio on. Not a happy camper! Bear in mind that this issue only involves SSB. The AM never gave me any problems or bad reports. While waiting for this unit to be "repaired", I purchased a Uniden Bearcat 980 SSB. It worked out of the box. The course and fine settings on the clarifier have been 12:00 dead center and never moved. Transmits and receives without any problems or negative reports. Doesn't drift on SSB frequencies and never has to be "warmed up" for 30 minutes before use.

The Galaxy DX 2547 is a solid radio designed to be a dependable well-performing 80 frequency SSB CB base station. Although it will easily operate as an extreme 12 volt mobile, its size and configuration tells you that this is the premiere desk-top CB radio in the country. Although The Galaxy DX 2547 has an easy 12v connection, there is no need for a transformer because this unit has one built in. This means you can plug the supplied 110v cord directly into your wall outlet. You will enjoy the clarity of reception on this radio since the clarifier allows you to fine-tune each frequency. And it has transmission power to spare. This Galaxy unit operates at the FCC allowed limit of 4 watts on the 40 CB channels, but it kicks clear up to 12 full watts for the 80 Single Side Band channels! If you are looking for a SSB CB Base Station Radio, the Galaxy DX 2547 is the best unit that you can buy.

I received it six hours ahead of time . It was in three boxes . Not a scratch on it . It will take a lot of time to figure it out and see how it works . I like the 12 volt or 115 volt option . All the accessories came with it . Nothing extra to buy . Already had my antenna and ran to inside of house . I have never had anything this nice . The two year warranty is what sold it for me . I would list all the goodies on the radio but I am not allowed that much space . Some how you have got to save your money and buy one and quit buying that junk you have to have repaired a lot . The price is worth it to me . THANK YOU Consumer Electronics Unlimited for listing it on Amazon .I could of gave a lot of money if I had bought it earlier . RES in Anderson , S.C.

Sent back bought as new and it was used.

good clean radio with lots of room for tweaking... slight drift if not warmed up a bit but most wont even notice.

Good radio very clean sound lots of room for improvement....

very good cb base station for the price