Cobra Techs

[mightymite]

Hello, i would like to know of a Good Cobra Technician to work on a Cobra 142 Base, i have had this radio since mid 90's and it has an old channel modification done, it has Toggles switches on the front, i don't like these Toggle stuff, so i am wondering who could do a newer channel mod. with using a Band Knob, no Toggles, with possibly 160 to 200 channels and i also have a FM Kit that needs installation, got it from Funk Service in Austria, with a 10 kc switch, plus a dual clarifier with leave fine stock and set the course as a 5kc slider.
Thank you
Mighty mite

[2600]

I suspect that any tech qualified to provide all the stuff on your wish list will recommend against doing it.

The radio is probably around 30 years old. Not a bad thing by itself, but there are reliability issues that arise at that age. The mileage has a lot to do with it. If it were a 1984 car, you could look at the odometer and make a judgement from that. But your 142 doesn't have one of those.

If we add the cost of a 30-year tuneup for the radio to the price of your wish list, the total will exceed the market value of the radio in a big way. Of course it's your money to spend as you wish, but a tech may be wary of getting stuck with a radio that would never sell for half of the money that's being spent on it.

Your wish list has a flaw, as well. That radio can be broad banded to perform fairly well over a range of 80 to 100 channels. That's twice to 2-1/2 times the band width it was engineered to cover. Your "160 to 200 channels" objective is probably not realisitc

When that radio was made, your only way to cover more than 40 channels was to modify a 40-channel radio. Three decades later there are numerous other choices on the market that are built from the ground up to do this trick, covering 200 channels or more before losing transmit power or receiver sensitivity. And that's what happens when you try to 'stretch' this model beyond that 80-to-100 channel coverage. The radio's PLL will put the radio on those frequencies, but the performance will suffer at the highest and lowest frequencies.

The cost of a good-quality used radio that's only 5 or10 years old like a RCI2950 or Galaxy 99 will probably be less or equal to what your wish list adds up to.

But again, it's not just the years, it's the miles, too. Finding someone who can provide all the items on your wish list is one thing. Finding someone who WILL may prove harder still.

If you scroll down to the very bottom of the main page of this forum, you will see links to CB World, Tubes Plus, DTB Radio and Barkett's Electronics. If you email these folks with your wish list, that would be a good place to start. All of them are honest and qualified to take care of that radio.

73

[gator7]

As 2600 outlined, a 10 meter rig will give you the channels without compromise. You can get a nice 10 meter radio used for the kind of $ it would cost to mod that cobra.
Or go with less channels on the cobra?

73

[Sandbagger]

I have to echo the sentiments being presented so far. Trying to turn a Yugo into a Lamborghini by adding on aftermarket parts is not going to live up to your expectations. I've added custom FM to several CB radios in the past, and if you get the pre-emphasis right, and find an effective way of clamping the deviation, it will actually sound pretty good. In other words, this is more of a job for an engineer than a simple screwdriver technician. Same deal with adding channels. There are 3 major issues. One is how many channels the PLL/VCO will actually tune. That radio will tune somewhere around 200 channels, and that usually requires a mixer crystal change as well as the usual PLL mods. Second issue, is how broad the receiver/transmitter are. Usually you are good for somewhere around 150 channels before power and sensitivity start to fall off. Yes, you can make modifications to expand this, but again, you are now beyond the expertise of a simple technician and into some serious engineering to redo those circuits. Lastly, you've commented that you didin't like the "toggle switch" method of operating the PLL's extended channels. The toggle switch/channel selector/truth chart method is the simplest way of implementing channels. Fancier ways would involve band switches and binary adder chips, and that is an additional cost adder. Or you could find a digital scan device (if they're still being made - I haven't seen one in a while).

Like 2600 mentioned, it can all be done, but at what price? Would you be willing to invest $300 in time and parts to give you what you want?

Years ago, I used to "hot rod" my CB radios to squeeze every ounce of power and channels I could, along with any other mod I could think of, because that's all there were. That was before export radios and general coverage ham rigs appeared on the market. Now I like my CB radios to be bone stock, and I enjoy them that way. If I have a need to be "elsewhere", I have ham rigs that will do the job far more effectively. So that's my advice to you. Enjoy that Cobra as it was intended, and find a more "capable" radio to do those things you can't with the Cobra.

[gator7]

I hope he is going to take the advice. The lack of response tells me he may not have liked our answers?

[2600]

Hmmm. Last login date April 28.

Gotta figure he read the replies.

73

[coathanger]

I just got a 142 GTL from a guy up my way.The rig is in real good shape.He got it new put extra chans. on the c.b. p.a. switch.Nice and clean.Dead keys 2 swings 20 not bad.The radio looks like it just came out of the box. ;D

[BBB]

Quote: "I just got a 142 GTL from a guy up my way.The rig is in real good shape.He got it new put extra chans. on the c.b. p.a. switch.Nice and clean.Dead keys 2 swings 20 not bad.The radio looks like it just came out of the box"

Any pictures?

[ducksoupe]

Well, I collect vintage cb radios and have learned how to find good ones on Ebay. It takes one remark as "it works I!" think, or other such statements. It has to be pristine. I just got 2 cobra's. A Cobra 19x and a Cobra DX 4. Both work great. As far as techs go Cobra Electronics has a site and maybe they can steer you that way.

[mark4]

I hear you with the cost. I do my own work. And do it because I love the old rigs. I just installed a modern PLL kit in my 1978 Royce 642.
This radio is rock solid on frequency. Totally recapped the radio. A lot of these new export radios drift a lot and stink
On SSB. I have back up radios for parts cars if needed. But I do this for me because I enjoy restoring pristine condition old rigs.
And using them. But if I were not capable of doing any of this I would but a 2995DX. Wish they still made the 2985DX.

[captbarry]

All good advice here. The best SSB radios (11meter) that I have are: Uniden Washington, Cobra 2000, and my MarkIVA does a very good job on SSB too. As far as the extra channels go I'm pretty sure everyone on this board has watched folks trying to stretch the PLL's in their radios too far and the outcome is never good. I too leave my CB radios as they were built frequency wise. If you need more then 40 channels there are a lot of radios (export ect) that will get you there. Now I'm not saying I always did that say many, many years ago ( I'm an old fart) but I like to leave them like they were built now. Someone mentioned radios (export I believe) that drift, well I have one on those! It is a SS-158DX. This radio is a good performer on both AM and SSB transmit wise but it drifts so bad that SSB is a real pain in the butt to use mobile so I took it out and put my old OLD trusty 2950 in the truck. Have had a couple of these over the years including the one that I used as a base station at my beach place In Fenwick Island De. This radio took a shot on the power line ( the expensive surge protector didn't work) I had the coax unplugged. Well needless to say when I got to the trailer park that night after work and the power company is there after some big time t-storms have rolled through isn't good. The 2950 was cooked, I mean it was well done! Sent it back to Ranger to see if anything could be done with it but they told me it was DOA! Now much to my surprise and delight I get a package back in the mail and figure there were returning my burnt up radio. They sent me a "repack", a radio that had been returned for warranty repair and it looked and worked like a new radio! They sure didn't have to do that since the damage to my 2950 was not their fault. That was 1996 and I still have that radio and it is still working well! Like to share that story since it seems most of the negative stories make news today! Needless to say I am a dedicated Ranger customer even if they made a radio that drifts a bit. Hope everyone has a good weekend. If these T-storms get out of here tonight I might be able to get the tower down tomorrow and get the Y-Qua d installed. Can't wait to check in the Wednesday night net. 73's

[Sandbagger]

May 10, 2014 22:25:59 GMT -5 captbarry said:

All good advice here. The best SSB radios (11meter) that I have are: Uniden Washington, Cobra 2000, and my MarkIVA does a very good job on SSB too. As far as the extra channels go I'm pretty sure everyone on this board has watched folks trying to stretch the PLL's in their radios too far and the outcome is never good. I too leave my CB radios as they were built frequency wise. If you need more then 40 channels there are a lot of radios (export ect) that will get you there. Now I'm not saying I always did that say many, many years ago ( I'm an old fart) but I like to leave them like they were built now. Someone mentioned radios (export I believe) that drift, well I have one on those! It is a SS-158DX. This radio is a good performer on both AM and SSB transmit wise but it drifts so bad that SSB is a real pain in the butt to use mobile so I took it out and put my old OLD trusty 2950 in the truck. Have had a couple of these over the years including the one that I used as a base station at my beach place In Fenwick Island De. This radio took a shot on the power line ( the expensive surge protector didn't work) I had the coax unplugged. Well needless to say when I got to the trailer park that night after work and the power company is there after some big time t-storms have rolled through isn't good. The 2950 was cooked, I mean it was well done! Sent it back to Ranger to see if anything could be done with it but they told me it was DOA! Now much to my surprise and delight I get a package back in the mail and figure there were returning my burnt up radio. They sent me a "repack", a radio that had been returned for warranty repair and it looked and worked like a new radio! They sure didn't have to do that since the damage to my 2950 was not their fault. That was 1996 and I still have that radio and it is still working well! Like to share that story since it seems most of the negative stories make news today! Needless to say I am a dedicated Ranger customer even if they made a radio that drifts a bit. Hope everyone has a good weekend. If these T-storms get out of here tonight I might be able to get the tower down tomorrow and get the Y-Qua d installed. Can't wait to check in the Wednesday night net. 73's

Back in the day, it was almost like a contest of the mind for the local techs to see who could squeeze the most channels out of a particular PLL chip. I can remember chipping away at the epoxy on the bottom of the Cybernet PLL-02A SSB VCO block to tack solder a 2nd varactor diode across the original to extend the VCO range, and jumping to the outside windings of the IF cans on the Uniden 858 boards to extend TX and RX range. 150 - 200 extra channels were not uncommon, although power and RX sensitivity would fall off on the extremes. The real irony was that we hardly ever used more than a fraction of those extra channels. It was simply a challenge and the establishment of bragging rights. Then the exports came along and ruined our fun.....

[AppleSause]

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I believe these vintage cobras to be the best receiving radios of our time in the right hands they are outstanding..