Cobra 148GTL-DX?

[kc2asb]

Was searching around and came across this radio, which brought back some distant memories. I received one of these in a multi-radio trade over 30 years ago. It was a basket case that someone had screwdrivered. I was going to have it repaired, but then an HR-2510 fell in my lap. I ended up giving it to a friend who was going to make a project of repairing it.

There is not much information online about this radio. It's obviously a export rig, but Rig Pix refers to it as a "Fake". Did anyone here have one of these back in the day? Any idea who manufactured it? Why is it referred to as a "fake"? It does not have the familiar styling of Cobra radios from that era.

RigPix Database - CB, "Freeband" and more - Cobra 148 GTL-DX "Fake"

 

[EAFrizzle]

Probably because it wasn't actually made by Cobra. Looks like some of the Radio Shack rigs of the era, or some 3rd world knockoff.

 

[kc2asb]

Probably because it wasn't actually made by Cobra. Looks like some of the Radio Shack rigs of the era, or some 3rd world knockoff.

It's definitely not one of the Uniden-made Cobras. I'm still digging. It's a bit of a mystery rig.

While the example I had was messed up, it did have a lot of channels and the receive seemed more than decent.

 

[WSAC829]

Pretty sure these were made by Cybernet Electronics back in the early 80’s. It shares the same board/chassis as the Superstar 2000 and a few other brands. Even the meter and knob and switch placement are identical.

 

[kc2asb]

Pretty sure these were made by Cybernet Electronics back in the early 80’s. It shares the same board/chassis as the Superstar 2000 and a few other brands. Even the meter and knob and switch placement are identical.

You nailed it! Thanks! Those radios are identical, beyond some minor cosmetic differences. The Cobra-branded version has a green LED channel readout.

So the Cobra version was not a fake, but just a model that was not made by Uniden. I found that there was a 148GTL DX made by Uniden, which looks like the 148 we are all familiar with

RigPix Database - CB, "Freeband" and more - Cobra 148 GTL-DX

 

[gary123]

I had one of the cobra 148GTL-DX It looked exactly like the picture KC2ASB shows. I think the picture in post 1 may be a clone or knockoff just using the cobra branding.

 

[kc2asb]

I had one of the cobra 148GTL-DX It looked exactly like the picture KC2ASB shows. I think the picture in post 1 may be a clone or knockoff just using the cobra branding.

It could be a clone/knockoff or perhaps Cobra just used a different manufacturer for this model. The one you have should be a Uniden-made model.

 

[Token]

View attachment 186729

Pretty sure I had one of those Colt 1600DXs in the early - mid 1980's, probably 1984 or so. Got it from VW's CB shop in LA, I think on Rosecrans maybe? VW sold all the Export rigs, I also got a SuperStar 2600 from him, and he did the mods to one of my Washington base stations. The selection of gear was very good, but that was a hack job on the mods, it worked, but ugly.

T!

 

[kc2asb]

Pretty sure I had one of those Colt 1600DXs in the early - mid 1980's, probably 1984 or so. Got it from VW's CB shop in LA, I think on Rosecrans maybe? VW sold all the Export rigs, I also got a SuperStar 2600 from him, and he did the mods to one of my Washington base stations. The selection of gear was very good, but that was a hack job on the mods, it worked, but ugly.

T!

The old Copper Electronics board has some posts on the 148GTL-DX/Colt 1600 - apparently they were very good performers, especially on receive. If only the one I had wasn't a basket case.

Back in the very early 90's, one of the locals on our channel attempted to do the channel mod on a Washington base and made a complete mess of it - gobs of solder all around the chip and the radio was totally inoperable. Fortunately, another tech was able to bring it back and peace was kept on the channel.