Cobra 29 DOA - Almost

[BigBase]

I got a Cobra 29 from ebay that worked ok 4 a while, I "decomissioned " a few months back cause I got a TR-296. I turned it on the otherday and it has no receive, not even with a radio right next to it. It TXs gr8 wit about 8 watts, but no receive. And After I key the Mic (and unkey) the radio goes quite except for fast thumping or ticking noise comming from the speaker. No idea whats causing it. The radio is in bad shape: smoke/dust all over inside, echo board install by an idiot, meter falling out of socket.......I just want a working backup radio.

 

[nomadradio]

Hey, uh, BB first I think you need to choose an objective here.

Anybody who offers to "patch" what came loose this time should also point out all the stuff that is "hanging by a thread", and quote a price to clean it all up.

From the sound of it, a clean yard-sale radio for ten bucks or so could be a far better deal than a "rebuild" on a radio with 100,000 miles on it.

If you just "patch" what came loose this time, the odds are that the NEXT time it comes off the shelf, the same thing will happen. One of the other dozen things hanging by a thread will snap when you pull it out to use next month or next year.

If what you're really after is a spare radio that will WORK when you pull it off the shelf, this specimen may not be the best deal for what it will cost.

73

 

[BigBase]

You know, that makes alot of sense! Its a good idea.

 

[Switch Kit]

Wow !! none of it sounds to serious to me on that 29 ? all fixable I would say ....i kind of like those radios that can be brought back to life ....but brought back to life by myself ...not a shop where it would more then likely cost me as much as a new used radio ....I guess it just depends on how one looks at it ? Shops and repairs and upgrades don't come cheap ...but if one has a little ability to do things for themselves ? they can save themselves a lot of cash . IM no expert ,but I do love it when I can figure out whats wrong with a radio (with help many of the times) and buy my own parts and fix the thing,it may not be perfect ,but it ends up working all the same. If I knew what half you guys knew out there ? I would be sharing that help with others (not to say that folks don't) .....it's really not so much about a dime for me .it's a fun hobby and I totally enjoy learning how things work and why they dont with radios and also the right ways and the wrong ways and why ? See now that 29 would be a little project for me ...well for others ..it would simply be a parts radio or trash .To each his or her own. Switch Kit