bigred222 said:
I was at a cb shop near me and a guy came in asking about the 200. i know nothing about radios, but he told and showed me a picture of this MICROTHIN special Resistor they make for i think this radio, the tech at the cb shop said this radio is a BITCH to work on, you need special SOLDER, SPECIAL GUN, and A MICROSCOPE TO SEE THE DAMN THING!!!! this guy says he doesnt buy this radio anymore to sell because 9/10 of them he sold got RETURNED!!!!!!
Big red on this 2547 is sittin on the side
PEACE
and 73's
RANT ALERT
Big Red this is not pointed at you but at the tech.
I have been watching all the posts here and elsewhere about this radio and I have to say that far and away the biggest problem with the Cobra 200 is DUMBASS TECHNICIANS.
Let's step back a moment. A few years ago Cobra decided they wanted to "cash" in on the 10 meter radio sales that Galaxy, Ranger, and others were enjoying. So they designed a full feature high power (100 watt pep) radio called the Cobra 200GTL (of course make it "modifiable" so that 98% of the sales would go to the CB crowd). Initially, it had a mosfet driver (RD16HHF1) and 2 mosfet finals (HF50-12). It uses SMD design because parts are cheaper, no leads mean repeatable performance, denser circuits, and better stability (and oh BTW, most techs don't have the right equipment to work on them so they will have to send them back to the factory for repair. CHA CHING, more money for us when the warranty runs out after a year).
They soon find out that the MOSFET finals aren't cutting it and so they re-engineer it and use 2SC-2290's instead. They have been proven to be rugged through years of use and abuse in amps. They should have spent a $1 on a more rugged driver, .50 on better pots/VR's, and .25 on more NPO caps in the PLL and Clarifier circuits, but that would be $1.75 less in their pocket. They discovered that, as it was, if it was kept to the 100 watt spec, it would hold together.
Now comes along John Q CB public and hears that Cobra, one of the most respected names in CB, is finally making a high power 10 meter radio with all the bells and whistles that the other exports are offering and killing them on price. Shop hard and you can find it for under $200. A 100 watt full featured COBRA radio for $200? Sweet Jesus, it must be the second coming.
So everyone rushes out to buy one and every (so called) tech that can, tries to cash in on it. They get one in (later model) and open the case up and HOLY MOLY! she's got 2290's (memories of that first 2-pill come flashing back through their mind). They diddle around and figure out where the all important ALC and AMC pots are (Hmmm, these are pretty cheesy...) and crank her up. AHHHHHHH... 160... 175... She's blowing smoke now. That'll be $25~$40 for the peak and tune, Thankyou. Slap the covers back on (Dang, those parts are small; I hope I never have to see the inside of this thing again...) and ship her out.
2~6 weeks later, 90% of all of the tech's Cobra 200 customers are calling him up and cussing him and the radio because the high power doesn't work any more or it works for a couple of keys and then drops down. Well, with that many people having the same problem, it MUST be a design flaw. (NO, IT WAS THE DUMBASS TECH THAT RUINED THE RADIO BEFORE THE CUSTOMER EVER GOT IT). And then it gets started, the bad reputation bandwagon, which once started, everyone that's ever had even the slightest little problem, jumps on.
That's too bad, because for a first crack out of the box it wasn't too shabby. Is it perfect? Certainly not. It has some rough edges and hopefully between TSB's and circuit changes, Cobra will get them worked out. Anybody remember RCI's first shot, the 2900? What a joy that was...
Here's an example. I have a couple of Kenwood 480HX's. Kenwood sells them as a 200 watt pep radio. The radio has 4 "finals" (to use CB lingo), each one has a max power dissipation rating of 220 watts apiece. That's a possible 880 watts pep input of power dissipation. So I go into the service menu and crank up the output to 400 watts and then 2 days later I blow out my TX/RX relay.
Now, is it fair for me to call up Kenwood and bitch and complain about what a piece of S*** the 480HX is? NO, that's Stupid. The 480HX is designed for a continous 200 watt carrier for 30 minutes with out damage, not for 400 watt output, even though the "finals" are capable of it.
I don't understand people trying to get wine out of water. AFAIK, only one person has ever done that. If you want a 100 watt radio, buy it. If you want more out, buy something else.
BTW, how many complaints have you seen from owners that run a properly aligned 200GTL at the recommended power levels? Not many. Some to be sure, but the vast majority are from owners that paid that little extra to make sure it was "blowing smoke".
Bottom line, it's the best bang for your buck under $200, and if you run it at Cobra's power spec (100 watts), it will last a long time. We can all hope that Cobra will listen to customer feedback and fix the big issue with the driver and the other smaller issues as well.
OK, Im climbing off my soap box, putting on my Asbestos underwear, and going to bed. You guys have at it.
Dr DX
If I recall , even back in the day , even radios like the Mighty Cobra 2000 had bugs and needed certain fixes in the beginning to make those radios work for the better , I honestly don't see anything different here concerning the Cobra 200GTL , time will tell. Good luck to you Tony