Do all Cobra CB radios have bad readouts?

Just picked up a Cobra 29 LTD WX classic radio. I really dont find much
use for CB anymore. But for a couple bucks, I liked the look of this
radio and the weather band is a big plus.

Over the years I have had several Cobra CBs. I swear everyone of them
has at least one bad digit on their LED readout. This one does also.
Cobra made darn good radios, but did they use bad readout boards or
what?

 

[Fox's Mercantile]

On 10/9/19 6:40 PM, tubeguy@myshop.com wrote:

Cobra made darn good radios, but did they use bad readout boards or
what?

A friend of mine's brother in law summed it up best.
"Pay shit, get shit."

--
"I am a river to my people."
Jeff-1.0
WA6FWi
http:foxsmercantile.com

 

[gregz]

<tubeguy@myshop.com> wrote:

Just picked up a Cobra 29 LTD WX classic radio. I really dont find much
use for CB anymore. But for a couple bucks, I liked the look of this
radio and the weather band is a big plus.

Over the years I have had several Cobra CBs. I swear everyone of them
has at least one bad digit on their LED readout. This one does also.
Cobra made darn good radios, but did they use bad readout boards or
what?

I have one may have been replaced, bright blue, really bright on high.
Overdriving can diminish life.

Greg

 

[KenW]

On Wed, 9 Oct 2019 19:46:23 -0500, Fox's Mercantile <jdangus@att.net>
wrote:

On 10/9/19 6:40 PM, tubeguy@myshop.com wrote:
Cobra made darn good radios, but did they use bad readout boards or
what?

A friend of mine's brother in law summed it up best.
"Pay shit, get shit."

+1000

 

On Thu, 10 Oct 2019 07:56:39 -0000 (UTC), gregz <zekor@comcast.net>
wrote:

tubeguy@myshop.com> wrote:
Just picked up a Cobra 29 LTD WX classic radio. I really dont find much
use for CB anymore. But for a couple bucks, I liked the look of this
radio and the weather band is a big plus.

Over the years I have had several Cobra CBs. I swear everyone of them
has at least one bad digit on their LED readout. This one does also.
Cobra made darn good radios, but did they use bad readout boards or
what?

I have one may have been replaced, bright blue, really bright on high.
Overdriving can diminish life.

Greg

Looking on youtube, it seems this is a very common problem with these
radios. Cobra made great cb radios, but must have used crappy readout
chips.I only have one digit out so im just gonna leave it. Its the low
vertical segment on the number 2.

 

[BillyBob]

On 10/9/19 7:40 PM, tubeguy@myshop.com wrote:

Just picked up a Cobra 29 LTD WX classic radio. I really dont find much
use for CB anymore. But for a couple bucks, I liked the look of this
radio and the weather band is a big plus.

Over the years I have had several Cobra CBs. I swear everyone of them
has at least one bad digit on their LED readout. This one does also.
Cobra made darn good radios, but did they use bad readout boards or
what?

My Cobra has been sitting on the shelf unused for 19 years. Every so
often, I energize it and check output and frequency to make sure it is
still working and in spec. It is an original 148 GTL made in the
Philippines, not the newer crap out of China. There is a difference
because I picked up a Chinese made one at a yard sale within the last
seven years and it was a very poor performer compared to the originals.
Anyway, at some point, I have had to replace the LED on almost every
radio I've ever owned but I eventually got smarter and began adding a
resistor to dim the display if there wasn't already a bright dim switch
present. Made a big difference to keep the LED's dimmed if for no other
reason than to extend life. After several replacements and a learning
curve, I always ran them on dim after that.