President Martin CB Radio - Hidden Service Menu - Power Adjustments

[@MrBSD-vq5yp]

Thanks for the nice new President-Video. Greatings from Dortmund. :)

[@NLKMediaGroup]

Hi Mr BSD, thanks for commenting and for watching. All the best to you in Dortmund :-)

[@al_from_australia]

nice review of the service modes. Thanks!

[@NLKMediaGroup]

Hi Al, thanks so much for the feedback and thanks for watching. All the best

[@brunorabaey7173]

Hi, i really like your videos and the clear explenation about the hidden menu’s. Will you make videos in the future about other radios with hidden menu’s like the taylor4 for example?

[@NLKMediaGroup]

Hi Bruno, thanks for the feedback. The Taylor 4 is the next one up so expect that in a few days' time. Thanks for watching and all the best

[@davidking5708]

Good info .

[@NLKMediaGroup]

Glad you think so!

[@paulzuncle2980]

Have you tried accessing a service menu on the McKinley using the same access method? Out of curiosity I tried on mine which resulted in the letters 'ru' displaying on power up for a moment then the regular display showing on EU FM channel 20 and ts displayed to the right of the channel number. Being a novice, and not wanting to risk damaging my rig, I repeated the steps which returned it EU frequencies. Maybe a subject for a future video ? Enjoyed the video btw.

[@NLKMediaGroup]

Hi Paul, the President McKinley is a proper radio and the PCB is covered in potentiometers for adjusting power, deviation, modulation, frequency and SSB. The radios that have hidden service menus are the "radio on a chip" type radios. These tend to be used on the mid to lower end devices. The McKinley is a fine radio and does not have a hidden factory services menu. I have the Engineering Service manual for the EU and USA McKinely models which covers in great detail all about the pots and adjustment values. If there was a hidden menu it would be mentioned in the Service manual as it is for other President radios. I do not have the service manual for the Martin but knowing how President typically do it and after a load of trail and error managed to crack it and produce my own service sheet as President dont like to share them. The manual does not show a norm for RU so not sure what you stumbled on there. Next time I have the McKinley out of the box will give it a go and see what happens. All the best and thanks for watching

[@chrislarn8675]

As a new CB (last week!) user, I've really found your videos useful. Made my first contacts today and really wanted to thank you for all the effort you make and the high quality production. I have a pres Randy 3 and a T800 which is going to be my base station (although I might pop that in my wifes car and get something better for home. Do you have a specific recommendation in that respect? Thanks and all the best, Chris ("Silver Machine").

[@NLKMediaGroup]

Hi Chris / Silver Machine, T800 for the wifes car is definately the way to go. In the President range, if your wanting a really good CB then the Walker 2 is my recommendation for a base station but it does not have SSB. (Harrison 2 is also worth considering if you use CTCSS/DCS tones and codes which are supported on the Randy 3 but not on the Walker 2). If you have a requirement for SSB then the only CB legal option in the President range is the McKinley which would be the best overall choice as it gives you maximum flexibility and the front facing speaker works well in a base station environment. So, based on the fact that you have a Randy 3 (supports CTCSS/DCS) and a T800 which does not I am assuming this is not important to you. I would go for the McKinley overall as there is lots of action on SSB these days and less so on normal (DSB) frequencies. Its more expensive than the Walker 2 but that additional cost is worth it. Hope this helps and thanks for watching and for commenting

[@chrislarn8675]

@@NLKMediaGroup Thanks very much for the recomendation. I had watched all your and several others videos and come to the same conclusion - I want it all! The T800 was a reflex purchase made before I had done my homework - it's a cb and theyre all the same right? Wrong. So yes SSB is important as is expandability. The T800 is likely to be replaced with another randy 3 for wifey but my hands are full now with antenna erection, SWR settings meters, cables nand many pages of scibbled notes. Thanks so much for your great channel, it was just what I was looking for. Gave me a bloody good laugh along the way too! Now I'm hooked, count me as a regular viewer. chris

[@m.wiesner4747]

@NLK Media: Don't cut the wire, move it to the 2 connector pads beside and get 15 Watts in FM out of this tiny little radio !!! I've done it this way with my Stabo XM-3006e which is the Stabo sister of the President Martin. Should work on Martin, too. Only the RF-Gain is replaced for an VOX-Gain, which is very needful. Only hook on Stabo is the much higher price. 239€ instead of 159€ for a Martin... If the wire is replaced, you get the P2 (Power Medium) option in the service menu. Put it to measurement A1 which puts out 6.xx Watts. Also A2 (AM High Power) appears, but I've not played around with this. There is NO explicit Power High menu point, but if you are back in regular mode the radio pushes 15 Watts FM into the air. To get in the service menu is exactly the same procedure as for President Martin. I hope this information is useful, maybe for another revisit of the President Martin on your channel ;-) Best regards Marc 13HN3471

[@NLKMediaGroup]

Hi Marc, thanks for the info, very helpful, have been moving the wire to enable high power mode in the latest videos. Check out the George 2, lovely new radio with all the bells and whistles. Happy new year to you and all the best for 2024

[@doctorguillermo]

Thank you for your videos, it is very complete and very well explained. I have a couple a question for you. 1) can it increase to 8.6 w in FM, and in AM how much can it go? 2) Which one would you recommend between the Bill 2 and the Martín? It is to install in a car and communicate with the other participants of a route, it is possible that I make some power modification.

[@NLKMediaGroup]

The Bill 2 is great if you want a very small radio but is a bit harder to modify. The Radioddity CB-500 is a lovely little radio and has NRC and is well priced. I have a video on all of the radios mentioned. The power modification affects both AM and FM at the same time and you cant control them individually. I can't remember what the Martin was capable of as it was sometime ago now. If you don't need SSB (and it sounds like you don't) then the Walker 2 would be my choice, it has everything in the right place and is super easy to use. All the best and thanks for watching. MJ7NLK

[@raytowler2286]

Many thanks for the Interesting and informative video, do you think President will release the Harrison II?

[@NLKMediaGroup]

Hi Ray, it’s been “coming soon” on their website for years. No idea what the status is but we are all waiting for it. Maybe they waited for the legalisation of FM in the states and then got hit with the component shortages, I don’t know but it looks an interesting radio and I certainly want one. Thanks for watching

[@themoby1025]

why do you advise setting the deviation to 1.9KHz when legal limit is 2.5Khz ?

[@NLKMediaGroup]

Hi Moby, because that is what is recommended in the President Service manuals for standard deviation setting on most radios. I don’t have all of the service manuals but the ones I do have say 1.9kHz. Good to know it can be pushed to 2.5kHz so thanks for sharing and thanks for watching. All the best.

[@themoby1025]

@@NLKMediaGroup Your Welcome, sadly though the required FM Deviation meters for setting up the deviation aren't cheap. So you are correct in advising it's factory setting left alone. And on the Richard can be set to 5KHz on the ham bands as it's an amateur radio.

[@themoby1025]

Sorry and Ooop's, after a bit of further investigating, it seems that only the older 27/81 radio's we're 2.5KHz max deviation, the newer radio's all seem to be advising 2KHz to 2.2KHz Max deviation.

[@NLKMediaGroup]

Hey no problem Moby, 1.9kHz sounds like a sensible setting and as you say a deviation meter is very expensive and hard to come by. So for most people it’s best to just leave alone. Thanks so much for clarifying and for watching. I might do a video on FM deviation at some point in the future. All the best. MJ7NLK 73’s

[@hitechrr]

Do you have the sequence for the president lincoln II+? I have looked all over for a PDF service manual.

[@NLKMediaGroup]

I have yet to review my L2+ but you can try holding the up and down buttons on the right of the screen and turn the radio on. Just be careful as the Lincoln 2 engineering menu can really mess up the radio. This was the combination for the Lincoln 2 but it’s worth trying on the plus. It’s at your own risk but please let me know how you get on. All the best

[@hitechrr]

@@NLKMediaGroup I did get into that menu but I don't know what all the abbreviations are. I also have the pc cable and that works fine. My problem is the mic wiring of a d104 for this radio. I wired it up and it will sometime change channels when keyed up.

[@NLKMediaGroup]

@@hitechrr There is no official material out there for the service menu so its trial and error. The mic wiring for the President should be (Pin1 Modulation, pin 2 RX, pin 3 TX-UpDown, pin 4 Not Connected, pin 5 Ground, pin 6 Power) Centre pin is number 6, turn plug so that alignment crease is at 12 o'clock and pin 1 is to the right. Pin 3 is needed for up/down so check your wiring for potential bridge. Good luck

[@DuanesMind]

Hi do you know if there is a setting to keep the VOX setting on when the power is switched off and on again?

[@NLKMediaGroup]

Long pressing the EMG/VOX button turns Vox on and off. Pressing the F key and then pressing the Vox key enters the Vox settings and the Vox symbol flashes. Then pressing the F key moves between the three Vox settings. I am not aware of any other settings to force it to always be on. All the best and thanks for watching MJ7NLK

[@caseykelso1]

all the combinations for all President cb radios are the same as long as it's digital display cb , to get into hidden menus,(the Andy2 i found,has a bunch of extra holes in the board, the 1,2,3 jumper is just holes labeled 123 lol, we can solder,, and the white wire like in the barry is gone but other holes to jump that same area ... cut just a little wire and solder it up) . 😉 I think I'm close ! 🤣🤣🤣🤔 .I'm going to use my Andy2 as a guinea pig. I'll save my shillings and buy an extra one.

[@NLKMediaGroup]

Hi Casey, the key combination varies between radios. The Taylor IV requires the slider switches in a certan combination as does the Walker 2 and both have digital displays. The Andy 2 is the Barry 2 in Europe. The combination for Barry 2 is PTT+MODE+EMG then release and press EMG and then MODE. The Martin is PTT+MODE+F then release and press F and then MODE. I am hoping when the Harrison 2 arrives it will be something similar. Some of the radios, like the Walker 2 also have multiple export mods. Cutting the white wire provides a power increase and moving one end of the white wire to another point provides a higher power gain. (watch my video on the Walker 2 for more info on that). I do not have the service or export mod documentation for the Barry 2 so cannot help you in your investigations on the Andy 2 but am very interested to hear how you get on with this. If you figure something out then please share and I can try it on the Barry 2 as well. I hope you dont damage your Andy 2 in the process but do watch my Barry 2 video as that PCB should be the same as the Andy 2 and our implementation might give you some clues. There are two videos on the Barry 2 and there will be a picture of the PCB on one of them. If not then let me know and I can take some photos and send them to you. I look forward to hearing how you get on. All the best and thanks for watching and contributing.