GALAXY SATERN HOMEBASE ANY GOOD ???

[WARLOCK]

Anyone got or had a galaxy satern homebase are they any good or not ,what do any of you think of them ???

[The Collector]

I think Sammy (cb4ever) had one of these recently. If not, it was very very similar.

[Mudslinger]

Yes they are good, IMO far better than the similar looking cybernet boarded Jumbo's.

They use a Superstar 3900 type board.

Is it s CRT G.Saturne, or a Proper Galaxy Saturn (Note the spelling difference)

The proper Galaxy version will be better as it is earlier.

http://78roger.free.fr/dirland/galaxy_saturn.htm

http://78roger.free.fr/crt/g_saturne.htm

[cjay]

Personal opinion, not so hot, dislike them. Cheap PCB, Excessively complex PLL.

Apparently they perform nicely though

Can be a bugger to find the *correct* service info for and filled with hard to get parts.

[14CS06]

Hello

Some pics of my DIRLAND GALAXY SATURN

Platine : EPT360014B
Homologation : 930084 CBO









@+
Claude

[astradyne]

Anyone got or had a galaxy satern homebase are they any good or not ,what do any of you think of them ???

I have one in my shack. Mine is the early non-CRT version with the Dirland PCB.

I think it's an excellent radio. Very good TX/RX and stable on frequency. I've had nothing but good reports on it. It's a proper frequency counter too, not just a readout (although I wouldn't have minded a six digit display instead of a five).

I suppose it's as close as you'll get to a Cobra homebase without gutting a Jumbo and bunging a 148 board in it.

I'd say if you've been offered an original Dirland one at a fair price go for it. I couldn't comment on the CRT version though.

[Mudslinger]

Personal opinion, not so hot, dislike them. Cheap PCB, Excessively complex PLL.

Apparently they perform nicely though

Can be a bugger to find the *correct* service info for and filled with hard to get parts.

Which parts are hard to get? 3900's are not exactly a rare radio, so in a worst case scenario you could just buy one to steal the parts from it.

If it is an earlier board the quality should be pretty good. If it is a later one it might well be a bit ropey, and drift a bit until warmed up.

The Galaxy Pluto I had was a very good radio, I am assuming this is just a homebase version of that as the board is the same and the counter looks to be as well.

[astradyne]

The Galaxy Pluto I had was a very good radio, I am assuming this is just a homebase version of that as the board is the same and the counter looks to be as well.

Exactly the same as the Pluto Mr. M. I can't remember if the Pluto had a built in echo board (something at the back of my mind is telling me that it didn't), but the Saturn homebase does. It's like an amalgamation of a Jumbo, Galaxy Pluto and a Superstar 3900E.

[cjay]

Ooops, mea culpa..... You are of course correct, it's a 3900 and as such a piece of cake to source bits for (relatively)

Had it confused with the DX2527 for some reason which is a variant of the Ranger 2950.

[cb4ever104]

I've had a good few . All the original "Galaxy Saturns" are Taiwan made , with the Ranger board . I think they're EPT360010s , or 11s . I'd need to check . Stay clear of the later made "Super Jopix 3000B" with the computer psu on the back . Junk !. As previously mentioned the radio has the same guts as the mobile versions , Saturn II , Pluto , Ronald , SS3900HEPFGZTG-DX thingy . With the exception of the additional ECHO board . The counter whines a bit , but it can be cured with the addition of a ceramic cap .

Sammy

[beamer320i]

Superb radio's in my opinion, had no end in the past and always regretted selling them so keeping mine this time! My Saturn dates from 1997 and has the EPT360014B board with the later style echo board (surface mount components) - earlier Saturns had the 'regular' echo board which require a component removal to improve the modulation.

No problem for spares, even in the unlikely event of a PSU unit going down, just simply stick a switch mode replacement in there!

[astradyne]

Can't say I've noticed a whine from the counter on mine Sammy. Maybe it's had the ceramic cap mod done in the past though.

I'll check later to find out the PCB number.

[cybernet]

I like these, good radio's in my opinion.

If I could find a minter I would snap it up,

[cb4ever104]

Can't say I've noticed a whine from the counter on mine Sammy. Maybe it's had the ceramic cap mod done in the past though.

I'll check later to find out the PCB number.

Most , if not all of the older TAIWAN ones do Andy . There's a thread on this forum which I started on how to fix it which I got from another forum . Maybe the EPT360014's don't . Same with the Galaxy Saturn II , Jopix 2000 , Ronald etc clones . I can remember the EPT number of the counter board . Saying that there might be more than one affected . I don't know if it was ever fixed or not .

Sammy

[bigal68]

I just bought a 14B boarded one cheap off eBay.

Its a bit beatten up, the counter has some digits ropey, it drifts a bit, the writing has worn away on some parts of the face panel and the RF/SWR meter bulb is out.

Needs a bit of TLC.

Plugged it in to my homebrew gainmaster and worked 1,2,9,13,15,18,161 & 233 divisions in 2 afternoons barefoot.

Unsurprisingly I'm quite happy with it......