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COBRA 200GTL RECONSTRUCTED

TonyV225

TonyV225

W9WDX Amateur Radio Club Member
Apr 18, 2005
5,824
323
143
Wisconsin
I was told that Cobra was reworking these to get them where they should have been when they first tried producting them. Has anyone else heard anything about these being remade or new models coming? I actually really liked mine as far as power (when it worked or shall I say the 2 days it worked after it was repaired 6 times) the layout was nice it was easy to run and see in the dark automatic SWR circuit was also nice.

I wouldnt mind another one if they indeed were revamped and coplete new models (boards) are actually manufactured. I dont know if it was all B.S. or if these sre being worked on or not so figured Ide ask here if anyone else had heard anything.
 

i never had one but i did notice folks that got them from DTB didnt have any problems . id contact him about getting it fixed if you still have it .
i havnt read anything about cobra comming out with new exports but im sure if they did that they would try to distance the new model from the 200's/150's as much as possible .

i think they made a export version of the 148 called the 148GTL-DX at one time . they could simply copy that design with maybe some updated exterior styling and have a damn fine radio . but then again why dont they bring back the 2000 base or why doesnt uniden bring back the grants or the president line of base radios ?
 
I'm with you there Booty Monster, even if Ranger re-did the 148GTL-DX+ that would be most exellent.

Man Tony, 6 repairs for one new radio....ouch. If they could re-do them and get it right might be a ecent seller. At this point though most people would probably not take a chance.

If Cobra does do this and they do get it right it would be best of they sent out some test radio's on the house to the top 10 techs or shops that have web sites and forums. This way the positive word could get out right from the start and maybe they would sell.
 
mackmobile43 said:
The connex 4800 was A POS
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I've owned 2 of the 4800's, the first was a POS but I think it had been in the wrong hands.It was supposed to have been tuned by a well "respected internet tech". I wasn't impressed. The second one I owned I turned up the AMC and ALC some and besides the SSB it did pretty good.
 
My Cobra 200GTL was eventually just kept at Cobra in Illinois after Brian the main Tech had fixed it a few times himself after a few warranty centers had it and failed. Brian called me one day and just said were going to refund your purchase price and thats when I was told that they were no longer making these radios.

I was out over $100.00 in shipping costs but atleast they gave me the purchase price afterall they didnt make me buy and purchase that radio it was at my own freewill. As I said I did like the radio eventhough I had used it for about 6 hours total in a years time because it ws at warranty shops or Cobra themselves.

I actually have been thinking about a Magnum S-9 as a new toy I can still use it on HF bands but can also just as I said toy around with it. Again how reliable and hows the SSB gonna be? There is one in the swap section here and I was tempted but yet still nervous due to my buddy owning the S-980 and having a problem running a D104 because of the p!$$ poor audio hes getting.

2 weeks ago my buddy brought the radio to me and with a mod that the shop he bought it from that was to get that radio to except the ASTATIC D104 microphone it was clipping a leg on a resistor or changing the value we clipped to see and I seen or heard no change so changing it may also have done nothing but made a little more work owell.

I think the radio sounds great with the stock Mic like the little Magnum 257 my wife has in her Convertable I mean hell its money saved when the mic you basically paid for when buying the radio works and sounds great. My wifes Kenwood TS-50 HF radio is also like that it has perfect audio with the stock Microphone. I think we are going to see alot more of this perfect stock mic matching with these radios in the future.

As far as the good ole 4300 mobile radio in the late 1990s I had a few people order those connex 4300 I did the basic setup allignment and they liked those radios I personally didnt care for them nor would I have bought one or spent that money they wanted for them.

I actually since lastyear have been eyeing up the SS-158 but talked myself out of it I am a pretty strict SSB user and Ive owned a few radios that were new and found out they had a poor SSB design and a not so good audio quality so I am now careful with buying these before they prove themselves to others.

I do like that 158 but until I get a true report of how it actually works I wont tosss the cash out there for the gamble because if I see its a crappy SSB I have to tell the next guy or girl about that bad part and well that is pretty much a detour and price drop . I look at it as a money loss in any event.
 
I believe you do like it undertaker as I said the guys that I ordered them for also love them so thats all that matters. Its all pretty much in what you want to do with it and how it works for those specific purposes. ;)
 
in the cb/export world who tunes or works on a radio has almost as much to do with how the radio performs as what model radio it is to start with .
anyone can turn a silk purse into a sows ear , but a good tech can turn a day bag into something special .
 
I have owned a 158EDX for about a year now and aside from the drifting the TX and RX are very good.I contacted Ranger about getting replacement crystals to correct the drifting and was told that they don't carry parts go figure!!
Bob
 
WELL THAT ANSWERS THAT LOL!!! about the 158 I was thinking about getting one of those to try out / mess with a new tinkertoy but suppose I should get that outta my head??? LOL
 
I used to own a 158, and that thing drifted worse then a drunk driver on a four lane highway. Sent it back to RCI three times to 'fix' the problem and it always came back as bad as it was to start with. I suppose it wouldn't be too bad as a base, but having to constantly fiddle with the clarifier in a mobile is a royal pain in the ... Unless they have improved the design in the last year or so I would steer clear of it if you do a lot of SSB. AM they work fine, but there are other (less expensive) radios on the market that do better on AM.
 
that whole 6900 board series design did that drift thing . and you could have bought every one of those radios and not one would have done anything diffrent.
 
spider451 said:
that whole 6900 board series design did that drift thing . and you could have bought every one of those radios and not one would have done anything diffrent.
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I think it has more to do with the (lack of) quality and tolerances of the components used. I have other radios that use the 6900 board, and they don't suffer from the severe drift problem the 158 I had.
 

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