Good to know, and I wish you the best.
Until we hear from you - I can only do and provide only so much...
But, we'll keep the channel on for you.
CORRECTION:
As with everything done up late at night and much to the Chagrin of my XYL - there are some errors in posted graphics.
Yes I'd Fire myself if this keeps up...
On one of the W37 Blue Wire FOIL SIDE photos - I mislabeled two transistors
TR 17 and TR 18 - in the pic shot below, they are correctly identified...
Sorry about that...
[ATTACH=full]23605[/ATTACH]
And if you need - the Limiter itself - that part, is a 2SA733 (TR18) - it's a PNP and NTE/ECG is a 32 - TO-92 style like the one that's in there now. Follow pinout on the package, the Ferrite Bead is on the EMITTER leg of the one on the board now...(goes to ground )...
If REMOVING the TR18 restores audio - then that means there was some other work done to it - it's supposed to protect TR17 from damage - due to excessive modulation - but if someone did some work on it or tried to install something - reversed it out and returned it back to the store - now you know why they say "If there is something wrong with this item - do not return it to the store! Call us first..."
They mean that - because you may have simply "detuned" it by accident - but for you to have this kind of problem from a new radio -means they (someone) "pulled" a fast one on someone else and you're stuck with the problem - whether its' by ignorance of the clerk for the return, or the previous owner attempting to do something more and found out it didn't work and returned it under the radar so it looked normal...
SPEAKING OF NORMAL...
For the longest time EVERY COBRA SCHEMATIC I'VE SEEN FROM COBRA (not redraws) SHOW THIS TRACE LEADING MIC AMP SECTION - Ignore it! Doesn't exist even in real world Foil Trace...you'd never hear any audio without some resistor in there...
[ATTACH=full]23606[/ATTACH]
You never know these days...
Let us know!
:+> Andy <+:
