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Cobra 19 Ultra III Compact CB Review

B

Buckshot555

Member
Jul 25, 2010
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Heres a review of the Cobra 19 Ultra III.

Its an awesome compact little radio for a great price. I have one in my collection and it fits perfectly in the small space below my CD player in my truck. I picked up this radio at the last minute when I was taking a road trip and the primary goal was to get a cheap, functioning traffic update radio for communication with truckers.

I originally wanted a midland, but I am glad I got this little radio instead. The price at a Pilot truck stop and everywhere else I have seen is 54 dollars but I got mine for 29.99 at walmart. Thanks walmart!

This has been one of the greatest little compact CB's I've ever run. It has crystal clear recieve, a good working squealch and comes with a channel 9/19 switch button, and PA.

Inside this radio, theres a tuneable modulation pot that can easily be turned with a flat head screwdriver. Ive got it tuned up to the max. It deadkeys at 4 watts and swings to 12 watts. Surprisingly, it does not splatter and the truckers report it sounds great on the air like a "big radio". There is another mod that involves clipping the mod limiter resistor, they say you can get out about 20 watts, but I don't reccomend this, it will probably over modulate it.

But running this cheap radio, buying a cheap antenna, and doing a very simple mod, you can get a great sounding radio for a beginner or vet, for a price that won't break your wallet.

I've had fun with this radio and I think it will stay in my collection for a while.
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Correct there is no gain control. The next model up has one, though I can't recall the name of it, but is the ultra III plus a gain control. The receive is pretty touchy, I don't even need to use the preamp on my kicker.
 
I had the chance to get one of these, Went with an older Uniden 510 as far as space saving goes.. which also is barebones like this.. I seen the guy hook it up and it just wasnt my cup of tee.. And I am a bigggg cobra fan. On another thread they called the 510 a splatter box, so I have removed it and going to put a cobra 25 original. BTW these little radios can really make someone think your on a big radio.. As they say.. Its not the size of the tool, its how well it performs
 
you only say that if your packing a little tool, lol.

for me the lack of a noise blanker/ noise limiter option kills them for me. they are usually to noisey for me in a mobile (mini-blazer/ suburban). i do liek cobra 25's if your looking for a great performing mid size radio. sad part is you can get used pc-78 or cobra 29 for usually the same money or less when buying used. i think i paid $35 for my pc 78ltw
 
The noise limiter on my old Uniden 510XL was called an ANL: Automatic Noise Limiter. It only helped to remove white noise and engine ignition noise out of the background but the squelch was the same with ANL on or off. The cobra 19 might be labeled as "touchy" only because it has a sensitive squelch. As far as picking up alot of background static and white noise, its been pretty good at blocking it.

The 510XL was the first cb I ever had and my buddy had the same. They were unusable with ANL off. Other than that I love them too. Have to say, I like the Cobra better. With my 510, I replaced the mod limiter resistor with a different value and tuned the coils out. It peaked about 15 watts. Originally I cut out the mod limiter and of course it splattered, so I had to put another resistor back in. But after that is sounded sweet on the air and was very loud for what it was. As far as a stock 510 being a "splatter box" I'd have to disagree, unless its been tampered with.

The Cobra 19 peaks at 12 watts by only turning up the modulation pot. If you want to get greedy and cut the mod limiter it will sound like azz. The 510 does not have a tunable pot as I remember. (Mine was an older 510 though, the new ones may have one). So as far as power goes, the 19 far outdoes the 510 without having to really start modding it. I have heard that if you play with the 19's mod limiter value and coils, you can get about 15-20 watts out of these, but of course you will cut its life in half driving it that hard.

So in my opinion, having owned both these radios, between the 510XL and the Cobra 19, I'd have to say the cobra outdoes the 510 in receive and in good sounding powerful output. But the 510 is much smaller. I had mine mounted in my truck in place of the cigarette ash tray. Yes, it did fit in that tiny space. Though they are both really great radios and you can't go wrong with either.
 
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The Cobra 19 IV comes with the RF gain option.

I'm surprised to hear anyone mentioning anything good about the 19 Ultra III. So far I've not heard many good reports on them at all. However I've considered finding one real cheap, seeing if the dead key could be dropped, and then adding a good sized amp to it.

Also truck stops are notorious for overpriced CB equipment. They're good for when a trucker's radio blows up over the road and he needs something in a pinch.
 
Turbo T said:
The Cobra 19 IV comes with the RF gain option.

I'm surprised to hear anyone mentioning anything good about the 19 Ultra III. So far I've not heard many good reports on them at all. However I've considered finding one real cheap, seeing if the dead key could be dropped, and then adding a good sized amp to it.

Also truck stops are notorious for overpriced CB equipment. They're good for when a trucker's radio blows up over the road and he needs something in a pinch.
Click to expand...


Most trucker radios in Florida on I-4 and I-95 have audio that is as flat as a pancake. A Cobra 19IV would be a vast improvement even though they are mudduck radios.
 
Well, the Cobra-19 Ultra-III was cheaply priced, about 37 dollars , at Walmart.

I noticed that the case was plastic, instead of metal, like the Cobras that I have had previously.

When trying to talk to someone on the air, they say that they have a hard time hearing me, and that the audio level is very low, or quiet, the signal strength is good, but the audio level is very low, even when almost, "eating" the microphone, and yelling into it.

So I took the bottom cover off, to see whether I could turn the audio up, and listening to myself, on another rig at home, I can't tell any difference when turning the audio up.

I also noticed that the Cobra 19-Ultra-III has a Cobra-IV board in it.

Anyway, I am not too happy with the Cobra 19 Ultra-III, I always liked Cobra, except that I couldn't trust the built-in SWR meter, in Cobra radios that have a built-in SWR meter, and had to use an external meter, when adjusting the SWR, because if you "trust" the internal SWR meter, you won't be adjusting the SWR of your antenna properly, as when I tuned for a minimum SWR indication on the Cobras that have built-in SWR meters, I found out why it was showing a lower SWR, it was also only getting a watt or two out, instead of full power, and when I used an external meter, to tune for minimum SWR and maximum power, the internal SWR meter showed about a 1:3.0:1 SWR, so I don't trust Cobra built-in SWR meters.

Anyway, this Cobra, is the first Cobra, that I've owned, that has a plastic case, instead of a metal case.

Also, I can't seem to get the audio increased, to the point of working well, or being heard, without "eating" the mike, and having to yell into it to even be heard.

It has very low audio.

Anyway, for adjustable pots, it has RVQ1, RVQ3, and RVM1, and there's a CTX1, but that adjusts the frequency, and I wondered whether the RVM1 was for Mike audio or not.

Anyway, not very happy with it, and the first time that I was dissatisfied with Cobra.
 
Guys, I've had better luck with mine.
I have a Cobra 19 Ultra III that I came across at a local pawn shop for $20 with a small magnetic mount antenna included. Both look brand spanking new.

Have to say I have been amazed by its performance in both receiving and transmitting even with the piddly 2-foot antenna. I do wish the speaker was on the top of the unit rather than the bottom but remedied that with a small external one.

Next to my Connex CX-366CE the Cobra doesn't look like much. But looks aren't everything. If someone is looking to get on the air in fine basic fashion without spending much money, the Cobra 19 Ultra III should be a good choice.
 
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