Maycom EM-27 CB Radio

Reviewed By: Steve N

Review Date: 19/01/03

When returning to CB, after an almost 10 year break – I was quite surprised to see the new styling and feature list of the new radios.    My original purchase of the Maycom EM-27 was influenced by the cost/feature comparison of similar radios – I felt the Maycom offered all the specs of the more expensive radios (Midland 48, for example) but at a much more affordable price.

Initial impressions were very good – the radio felt solidly built (if a little light), and when lit up certainly looked the part.   The large LCD screen is clear, and shows the channel number, channel frequency and signal strength.   The backlight is good, and can be dimmed for night driving.

Radio reports from this radio have been fantastic.   Transmitted audio is loud, punchy and clear – even with the Mic at a considerable distance from mouth (ie, on lap).   I suspect they use audio compression with some sort of noise filter – but, whatever it is – it works very well, and road/engine noise does not cause problems.

On receive – I noticed an immediate difference in comparison to the old 80’s rig I was replacing (a DNT / Danita model).   Russian ‘noise’ reduced from +30 to about 3 in received signal strength!    I now often here people complaining about the Russian noise on the band – but I’m usually blissfully unaware of it.   The filters in this radio seem a thousand times better than anything I’ve used in the past – and the wanted signals (either local or DX) still came through loud and clear.

Initially, much of the feature list seemed more of a gimmick than actually useful.   However, over time – many of the functions have been regularly used.   Dual Watch is particularly useful – as I’ve been able to monitor channel 10 and channel 19 whilst mobile.   In Bristol, channel 10 is often used for a local net early mornings – and Dual Watch enables me to monitor two channels for activity, without the need to constantly change channel (much safer when driving!).

Auto Q is a modified squelch system.   I’m not sure exactly how it works – but in use, it effectively lowers the volume of squelched signals – rather than muting the radio 100%.   This is useful as it allows the monitoring of a channel (unsquelched), without getting deafened by the FM noise.   Also – useful when mobile as ‘choppy’ reception can become somewhat more listenable.   For the same reasons – I also found this function useful when DX’ing during the Summer – it makes things much easier on the ears!

This radio also has a battery voltage check.   Useless … perhaps?   Well, in my old MG it helped me successfully diagnose a faulty alternator… so perhaps not!    Although, admittedly – now I’ve moved this to my main car, it’s pretty much redundant.

After living with the radio for the past 6 months – I’m still impressed.    I’m still getting excellent radio/audio reports – and many of the features still get regular use.    A final positive point - the Mic, which is a good size – fits comfortably in my hand (not too small, not too bulky!) and includes channel change buttons plus other programmable buttons.

This radio has only a few negative points.   Firstly, when power is lost for >10 mins, the radio resets (losing its memory) – essentially making the programmable buttons useless.   This also means the radio usually turns on at channel 1.   Both of these things can be mildly annoying – but they’re easy to live with.    If like my car – your car switches power to the radio via the ignition switch, you may want run power directly to the battery (via a fuse, of course!).   However, if also like me – you can’t be bothered with the hassle, it’s not a major problem.   Original models used a battery backup and whilst didn’t suffer from this problem, they did suffer from battery leakage (hence the change to the new design using a capacitor).

The only other negative point I have – is the receive audio.   It’s clear, but – the internal speaker is rather tinny sounding, and distorts/vibrates when set to the required volume for motorway driving.   This is partly due to my car, as my dash does muffle the speaker, but be aware – you may want to consider an external speaker if mounting the rig within a modern dashboard.

The Maycom EM27 - mounted in the dash

Scores out of 10?   I’d give it 8.   Fantastic little rig, very modern – with only the mild hassles of memory loss and slightly tinny audio to detract from a full 10/10 score.  

In conclusion – if you want a fully featured rig for less than 90 UKP, you can’t go far wrong.    You may pay for the extra features with a slight reduction in build quality (compared to Midlands of a similar price) – but, in my case I felt the trade-off was worthwhile.

Other radios to consider:

On the cheaper side – the Midland 38+.   It’s a basic 80-channel radio (no advanced features) but is built solidly – and performs very well.

On the pricier side – the Midland 48 Excel.   This is another fully featured rig – with a build quality to match the price.