Cobra 148GTL

[The Howler]

Purchased from a EBay seller, 1989 Philippines model.
Has variable power on the RF gain adjustment, from 1/2 watt to 7 watts. Much rather this feature be mounted somewhere else, miss having adjustable gain. This radio seems to have very, very good receive.
I was getting very good, clear, audio reports on AM. On lower SSB, however, I was told I was way off frequency?
My question,
Is there a simple frequency meter that is available, to verify where I am at, and is it a simple adjustment, to get this radio back where it needs to be?
Local radio guru is 3 weeks out to even look at, and very expensive.
Thanks, Greg

 

[Tokin]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like it needs a proper alignment and that takes a little bit of equipment and/or knowhow.
Where are you located? There may be a member near you that can help.

 

[The Howler]

Thanks for the reply!
I do know a few people that could help me out, but, I want to take this and see what I can learn.
Could you recommend a test meter?
Thanks again, Greg

 

[nomadradio]

Odds are that the reason you're being told that you're off frequency is that the radio's clarifier is still set up as factory stock.

This means that the knob on the front of the radio controls ONLY the receiver tuning, and has no effect on your transmit frequency. FCC rules are the reason. The radio's transmit frequency is controlled by a tiny trimmer potentiometer inside the radio. No way to make a consumer-grade radio EXACTLY on frequency with an internal trimpot. If it were, you wouldn't need a fine-tune clarifier control for the receiver.

As a rule sideband operators would like for your transmit frequency to line up with the receive frequency that you've tuned them in to make them sound right.

This means unhooking the factory setup and "locking" the transmit frequency to the clarifier knob. That puts your transmit and receive frequencies together. Tune in the other guy and you'll know that your transmit agrees with his transmit frequency.

Requires removing one diode, unsoldering one end of a wire, and soldering it back down to a different foil trace. Don't have the procedure here at home. I'll have to dig it out next time I'm at work.

Much cheaper than a counter that's accurate (and sensitive) enough to do what you asked.

73

 

[The Howler]

Thank you very much for the reply, did not know that about the clarifier. Getting those instructions would be great when you have the chance.
Thanks again, Greg