President Andy II FCC CB Review


I received a new CB radio, the new President Andy II FCC. President is the most popular brand in Europe and now has a USA division. I have installed it and am now ready to review. This model replaces the "President Andy USA".

The Andy is a 40 channel AM radio, designed for the USA market. It has the following features:

LCD Display
Roger Beep
Talkback
Weather radio with weather alert.
Programmable Emergency channel
Automatic Squelch Control.
USB charging port
4-pin electret microphone.
Compander
Noise Gate




First off, let's address receive and transmit. The radio transmits well. I like the Electret microphone, as I consider the audio quality much better than a dynamic microphone, at least for my voice. Receive quality is very good. The low receive signal volume matches the high signal receive volume. This means there is an automatic gain control (AGC) in play. There is no turning the volume level up and down. The squelch has no hysteresis, which means a signal can cut in and out as it goes above and below the threshold. This is a drawback. The automatic squelch control (ASC) also has this flaw. The ASC generally works well; but isn't perfect. A noisy channel will open the squelch at times and a weak signal sometimes will not open the squelch. We can't expect it to be 100% perfect at all times. I use it extensively, it's acceptable.

About the compander and noise gate: These are two features I know people are wondering about. The Noise Gate seemed to slightly reduce hiss on the channel. The compander seemed to have no affect whatsoever. I have both switched on. I really cannot tell overall if it cleans up the received signal or not. Sorry to disappoint about this subject in my review. If I make any more observations, I'll list them here in an update.


The LCD display can be adjusted for several colors. One may fit your tastes. I stick with red, for the time being.

The talkback works. All I can say. I don't use it. I don't need to hear myself.

There is a VOX function that allows you to talk without keying the microphone. I do not understand this. You are holding the microphone, why not just key it? There is, evidently a VOX microphone as an option. Maybe it it a hands free deal. I do not know. At any rate, I do not use it. The dedicated button for VOX really could have been purposed for something else.

The roger beep also works. I rarely use it. It is an unobtrusive multi tone beep. Less annoying than many out there. Nice to have if you have a mind to use it.

The emergency channel can be programmed for whatever channel you want. It defaults to channel 9. You can set it to whatever two channels you want, to access a commonly used channel instantly.

The scan function is invoked by cycling through all channels once. It'll stop on an active channel, and resume scanning when the channel is silent for a few seconds. Deactivating the scan can be tricky. You can push a front panel button or key the mic; but I have found the ptt keying doesn't always work.

The weather channel function works well. I can receive more than one of the channels, so it is nice and sensitive. I haven't been in a weather alert situation, so I cannot tell how the alert function works.

The Andy II allows you to use either an electret or dynamic microphone (with a standard 4-pin plug). This is an excellent feature as there are many dynamic 4-pin microphones out there.

The Andy II has a USB power port. Useful if you have something to power or charge.



Circuit description: This radio has the typical 21st century surface mount design. There are no adjustment points on the board.

I rate the radio as "excellent" The squelch hysteresis, or lack thereof is the only drawback of this radio. Everything else seems to be positive.

I hope this review has been of some use.

A very neat and small unit! It fits nicely under the dashboard of my Lincoln Town Car! I need to acquire a good antenna for it; preferably with a magnetic base and not to long! Any suggestions??
Thank you
R. Nethken