Uniden Madison CB Radio 3D model

Uniden Madison CB Radio

Process:All parts are built with combined 3d tools like Bryce, Vue and Daz Studio. Then I transferred all parts in OBJ and put the model together in Daz Studio. The textures are made in Photoshop and then transferred to all parts in Daz Studio.

About:Hard to miss because of it’s square design and use of external speakers the Madison will go down in history as one of the best straight CB base stations ever made, often ranking up there with the Cobra 200GTL. It actually is very similar to the Cobra 2000GTL in design and functionality with but with fewer features and a complete different style.

Now there were multiple versions of this radio that were released over the years. There are some small differences and some easy ways to tell which version you’re viewing. The first generation of Madison’s carried the President Label and used the 858PLL. They had three LED’s under the channel display. This model also had the four pin microphone jack.

The second generation also carried the President Label, used the same inside components but added a channel 9 button and a fourth LED for the channel 9 indicator under the channel display. It also added a PA feature on the squelch knob.

The third generation Madison was the Uniden Madison (shown picture at the top of article) it utilized the MB8719PLL and had the rotary clock. The Uniden Madison’s had a 5 pin microphone jack. The fourth and last generation Madison was also made by Uniden but used a digital clock in place of the rotary one.

A Uniden Madison is really a beautiful radio but they will take up a lot of your desk space. Madison’s have a square shape and although the face of the radio isn’t very large, the radio case is pretty deep and so they won’t fit on many shelves. The silver knobs and black face have a very classic and smooth finish and they never used the faux wood grain you see on many of the other radios of this period. The round meters are very cool and retro and are recessed into the face.

These radios are not high swinging radios, and they don’t need to be. I’ve seen many claims of people who said their radio is swinging 20 watts and even one person who said their radio was doing 40 watts PEP. Don’t worry if your radio isn’t doing those numbers, it wasn’t designed to be a high out radio and pushing a Madison to it’s limits power wise is only going to result in distortion, splatter, and an altogether crappy sounding radio.

The Uniden Madison on average on AM will deadkey 3-4 watts and with a good desk mike should swing anywhere from 10-14 watts. On the Madison I owned I lowered the deadkey to 1 watt on AM and saw 10 watts PEP. On SSB this radio will swing 12-15 watts. With a good tune you can see 15-18 watts.

Perhaps the most highly touted aspect of these radios are there amazing receive abilities. Much like the Uniden Grants the Madison radios have that quiet receiver that picks up very little static (unless you live in a high static area). Even in areas with some electrical static, pressing the ANL/NB button on these radios will often cut out almost all interference without reducing incoming signals.

The receiver is one of the reasons these radio are great for DX. They seem to pick out stations from the hash much better than many of the newer exports. I currently have a 2950DX on the base and it’s an excellent radio, but the famous 2950 background hiss is present and while it has great receive it just doesn’t give you that quiet and clear receive of the Madison.

I found that these radios can suffer from channel rejection problems, with loud stations on the bowl bleeding through 4-5 channels on occasion. But with a sensitive receiver that’s often the case and I wouldn’t trade the receive abilities for anything. The squelch works, but I’ve never found the squelch on the Washington’s/Madison’s to work as well as it does on the Cobra’s or newer radios. RF gain controls are smooth and work well.

One of the all time greats, often even preferred over the Cobra 2000GTL in some circles, the Madison radio truly has made a place for itself in CB history. If they had come with a frequency counter I think it might have become the definitive CB radio of it’s time. On eBay you’ll see them sell used for anywhere between $75-200 depending on condition and modifications. I’ve even seen a couple new in box go up for auction.