Cobra 75 WX ST

[homeguy]

Hi All,

I've been looking at CB's the last couple of months, research everything before I pull the pin.  Been looking at the Cobra 75.  My question is where would be the best place to get it and the best price.  They sell in the US from $99 to $129... so ... hopefully I can get a good price. 

Thanks for the responses!

Steve

[w squared]

Most of us go to the guy at the Road King truck stop on Barlow. Dean @ comtek if I recall correctly. It may not be as cheap as mail ordering a CB...but if you don't know someone that can suggest a good mounting location for your rig, an antenna that will resist abuse in the bush, a coax that will withstand constant opening and closing of the tailgate...I'm sure you get the picture.

There's more to getting yourself a CB than just buying a unit that looks fancy, and Dean has done a good job of guiding a bunch of us.

Your other alternative would be to buy beer or food for a club member that can help you. The problem is that some of us have susbstantial appetites, so that may or may not constitute much of a savings.

[RckyMtnTJ]

I have the Cobra 75 and like it.  It's great for being compact.  I have no complaints.  I was at Road King on saturday and they definitely have that model there.  They were closed and I didn't see the price though.

[Slewfoot]

I have one and got it from Stan at northridge

[w squared]

One thing I should mention - the 75 is great for being compact, and makes mounting easy. Just be aware that you'll want to mount an external speaker too. The tiny little speaker on the hand unit is almost unintelligible. Not that sound quality on CB's is ever anything better than cruddy...but it's truly craptacular through that little speaker.

[FiEND]

even with an external speaker it really isn't that good.  have to add $30-$50 to get a ext. speaker.

too many problems to mention and/or worry about for a simple cb.

cb's i would recommend for jeepers are Uniden Pro 510 or 520 - very compact and have the features that are really important.


520 has squelch, rfgain and noise limiting - pa isn't that important.


510 is missing rf gain but that is the least important for general use, just handy sometimes.

Dean at road king carries both (ca$h normally $ave$).  he also has the 4 foot wilson flex antenna (best antenna for tj style jeeps).

[RckyMtnTJ]

I've used external speakers and an FM modulator with decent results.  I have heard some say they had less then spectacular performance with the Cobra 75.  I primarily like mine for space constraints in a TJ.

[Elsifer]

I have the 75, and I mounted the little antenna/power box in front of my stick shift, under the coin tray in my tj.
I use the 20ft stainless whip, works awesome. Tree-proof, and parkade proof!

I don't mind the speaker tho, the external is only really necessary at highway speeds with any situation other than the hard top.

I find I really need to turn the squelch up, but I'm pulling power from the internal fuse box, so a lot of internal noise translates into the radio, especially the wipers on mine.

But I like the 75, one connection, and the unit is out of the vehicle, quite the hidden install. Other than the obvious giant stainless whip on the arse end.

My antenna is an L-bracket, NMO style, using one of the bolts that holds the tire carrier to the tailgate, the bracket is notched in one corner where the tire carrier steel has a bend. Tough to explain, but you'll see when you look behind the tire at the carrier.
I also have the tailgate grounded to the frame with a riddly-piddly ground strap, so I highly doubt it works that well. The long antenna length helps, over 5/8's of a wavelength.

[X-Treme]

I have the 75, and I mounted the little antenna/power box in front of my stick shift, under the coin tray in my tj.
I use the 20ft stainless whip, works awesome. Tree-proof, and parkade proof!

I don't mind the speaker tho, the external is only really necessary at highway speeds with any situation other than the hard top.

I find I really need to turn the squelch up, but I'm pulling power from the internal fuse box, so a lot of internal noise translates into the radio, especially the wipers on mine.

But I like the 75, one connection, and the unit is out of the vehicle, quite the hidden install. Other than the obvious giant stainless whip on the arse end.

My antenna is an L-bracket, NMO style, using one of the bolts that holds the tire carrier to the tailgate, the bracket is notched in one corner where the tire carrier steel has a bend. Tough to explain, but you'll see when you look behind the tire at the carrier.
I also have the tailgate grounded to the frame with a riddly-piddly ground strap, so I highly doubt it works that well. The long antenna length helps, over 5/8's of a wavelength.

You sure about that? Where the heck did you find a 20 FOOT whip? Isn't 9 foot the norm? 108 inches.

[Elsifer]

5/8 's of 11m = 6.875m = 22.55ft
1/2 of 11m = 5.5m = 18.04 ft
3/8's of 11m = 4.125m = 13.5 ft

Well, thinking about it, the whip is prolly a 3/8's wave antenna, but it sits about 4.5ft off the ground, so in reality its close to 20ft tall mounted.

So, technically speaking, it is a 20' antenna! 

Roadking, he has the long, swashbuckling whips for ya.

[w squared]

11 meters = 433.07 inches.

433.07 inches divided by 4 (because it is actually a 1/4 wave antenna) = 108.26 inches

The height of the antenna "don't mean a thing" when it comes to antenna size...only to the propagation of the wave in terms of clearing the obstacle represented by the vehicle that it is mounted to an achieving a line of sight.

That said, don't get too rammy about going out and buying an actual 5/8 wave CB antenna. In an off-center mounting as is common on Jeeps that don't have a metal roofs, the real gains offered by a 5/8 wave are nowhere near what the "theoretical"advantage of +/- 2 db should be. Time has proven that a 108" stainless steel whip is probably the best all-round CB antenna for bush bashing

[homeguy]

I probably will stick with the cobra 75, just due to being able to take it out of the jeep for security reasons... like said above.  I was looking at the speakers, so will probably add one of those. 

[w squared]

If you take out some of that cruddy hard foam that is right over the driver's left shoulder on the "roll" bar, you will be able to fit a speaker inside the fabric cover where it zips up. Then you can run the wire down along the pillar behind the driver's door.

You can also do the same thing on the passenger side if the mood strikes you. I actually run a CB speaker on the passenger side, and a HAM speaker on the driver's side. I need external speakers for both since I find the speaker on my CB to be anemic, and the speaker on the chassis of my 2 meter rig is underneath my seat and kinda muffled because of that.

[AV.NINE]

Just so you know, Road king was over $300 about a month ago. Well worth buying online or give northridge a call.

[RckyMtnTJ]

I don't remember what I paid for mine.  It was 7 or so years ago.  I think it was $150+/-.  I did get mine out of the US.