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Any suggestions on this radio...Cobra 19 plus


it's a $20 radio. they work ok, can have good audio, not a power beast. one drawback is the adjacent channel rejection is poor. i have one and it worked ok. it is good if you want a cheap radio, and it's very small.
 
it is NOT "new in box." The cigarette plug was added, and the mic holder was put where it is by someone. The lighter plug is not pard of the original equipmet. It was added afterwards and the mic holder comes in its own little plastic bag if new. It is not placed anywhere by the factory.

So it is being misrepresented. It may be "like new" but it ain't new in the box. I have no opinion on it otherwise.
 
Its a better radio than any new cobra that has the number "19" in it-- good modulation-- OK power for the size but nothing big (better than the new 19's)

Its a ok radio-- better off getting that one than a new cobra 19
If money is tight, and you like it and want to get on the air-- or need something small and cheap-- go for it

The main thing is to get on the air best way you can-- and that 19 would be a ok way to do it
 
antenna

I've heard that a good antenna is almost as important as the radio. Could you recommend a good antenna? I guess I would prefer a magnet mount, but again don't know enough about this stuff and don't want to get stuck with crap.

I'm more than willing to go with a better radio but am looking for one that can plug into the lighter. Are cig lighter adapters made for all cb's or just the smaller sizes?

Sorry for the dumb questions but I can't tell you how appreciative I am and how much I've learned already. :D
 
The best antenna, that is a mag mount and is just a throw on and use with very little tuning would be a Wilson 1000 or its big brother the wilson 5000-- the only difference between the 2 is the wattage they can handle-- the wilson 1000 will be great for your needs
Use a cheap antenna for awhile then use a wilson 1000 and you will notice a huge difference--Once you buy one you will not want another antenna-- because it will be hard to find one that works as good-- unless you want to get into big external coil centerloaded antennas and add it to a mag mount then there is the predator 10k, BB, Mr.coily, Fat boy etc etc
For your needs wilson 1000 kicks butt--- a K40 works pretty close to it-- the wilson is a bit more expensive
A cheaper antenna that will work good would be a TRAM Super Sparrow or something like that in the Tram line-- you can buy them new off ebay for under 20 bucks and they work as good as a wilson-- but your going to have to buy a mag mount for it-- and its a centerloaded open coil design that some guys don't care for
With the wilson you will be happy-- great RX and TX range and good for skip-- even with a stock radio
Don't get a wilson Lil Wil 500-- not as good as the 1000-- don't get a Firestick or fiberglass whip of any kind
You could use a 102 inch whip if you don't mind the length-I've had my Wilson for years-- tried other antennas and there were very few that didn't suck compared to the wilson-- the only ones were an open coil design antenna, and designs like the wilson like K40 and such
 
Re: antenna

lking said:
I've heard that a good antenna is almost as important as the radio. Could you recommend a good antenna? I guess I would prefer a magnet mount, but again don't know enough about this stuff and don't want to get stuck with crap.
Click to expand...

Its actually more important but yea, you got the idea--- good thinkin
 
thanks

Bushwacker, thanks so much for the input. I really appreciate everyones time.

I edited my post above but was wondering if cig lighter adapters are made for all cb's or just the smaller ones? I am willing to purchase a bigger, better radio but just want to make sure I can easily move it between my 2 rigs with the adapter.

Thanks again!
 
Re: thanks

I edited my post above but was wondering if cig lighter adapters are made for all cb's or just the smaller ones? I am willing to purchase a bigger, better radio but just want to make sure I can easily move it between my 2 rigs with the adapter.

Thanks again![/quote]

Yea-- you can put one on any radio-- bad part is you can get alot of alternator noise that way and contacts in the cig lighter are not the best-- some guys find it fine and if it works good for you , right on
Another option--- on both vehicles, run wire directly to the positive and neg of the battery, run the wire into the car interior--- wire a plug to this power wire and wire on the other end of the plug to the radio-- this way you can plug into both of your vehicles and your runniung directly off the battery and won't get as much alternator noise-- in theory--- off the battery is always best, but do what you like to do and what works for you
Main thing is to get on the air
Cigarette lighter plug will work fine but might have some extra noise---
Try to find a cig plug that uses a fuse inside it
Some radios are worse for noise than others so just try it out--
For a stock 4 watt radio the CLplug is fine-- but once you get into bigger radios that use alot of power, I would'nt use it, again, you can but its not the best-- when the radio puts out more power it draws more amps, and like i said earlier of the poor contacts in the cig lighter plug, the radio might not get enough amps to run at peak power-- for a bigger radio with more power run a big plug at the radio and at the power line running to the battery-- they make heavy plugs for amps that will work great-- you can pick them up at an automotive store -- they are used for automotive use also
SO-- big radio-- don't use the CLplug-- stock radio and if you can tolerate the noise, then sure
 
pep boys sells a 20amp inline noise filter for $12 if you use the cig lighter plug and have alt noise.

works well, can be found in the car audio accesory section.
 
That perticular Cobra 19 plus is a very GOOD AM radio !! should come with a small stock mic with a gray handle ,tuned correctly it will do just as much as any other AM only CB radio , they have very clean audio with there stock mic's. I ran one with a Astatic 575M-6 for a few years off a Wilson 1000 ...I personallly never had any problem with ajacent channel crap (but I suppose that might depend on where ones at, at any given time) A decent antenna and a well tuned radio will go a long ways. There's an old saying ,you can have a 5 dollar radio on a hundred dollar antenna that will work fairly well but if you put a 500 dollar radio on a 5 dollar antenna chances are ,you won't do very well. )-:
 

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