The Cobra 148GTL was the best CB ever made, but that was 43 years ago! Now what?

[SnowWalker]

No SSB on either model, no thanks!

Wrong!! I have two, one year old, Galaxy DX 959s and the radios are SSB. I use one of the Galaxy's as a base radio. It just does not have a scanner capability.

 

[iMONITOR]

I guess I got confused.

 

[SnowWalker]

I guess I got confused.

I am sure happy to know that I have never made a mistake in my entire life.

 

[TenSleep440]

Galaxy DX979F is a good little rig on AM and SSB also

 

[prc117f]

There are a bunch of real nice Export radio CBs that have expanded CB channels and have more punch as well. Yeah those old cobras were nice but there are better alternatives today.

 

[KK4JUG]

There are a bunch of real nice Export radio CBs that have expanded CB channels and have more punch as well. Yeah those old cobras were nice but there are better alternatives today.

Perhaps I'm naïve, but since the channels are specified by the FCC, how do you "expand" them?

 

[jhooten]

Perhaps I'm naïve, but since the channels are specified by the FCC, how do you "expand" them?

Illegally.

 

[KK4JUG]

Figures. I'm surprised it doesn't come with a 1000 amp, too.

 

[scanmanmi]

No legal CB radio sold in the US was ever rated at 75 watts.

I saw it with my own eyes in the 70's and it was old then. I believe it was about the size of a toaster, green, had tubes, and the 23 channel dial. I think the wattage rule came in the 70's with the addition of 40 channels.

 

[prc117f]

Perhaps I'm naïve, but since the channels are specified by the FCC, how do you "expand" them?

I have seen these new CBs that have extra banks of 40 channels with a selector knob (A,B,C,D,E)

So you have extended CB channels. They already come that way with the expanded cb channels. Not that it makes sense since CB is pretty much dead, I plugged one in and tuned all 40 channels and got nothing but static so pointless to buy a CB with extra banks of channels if the initial set are dead.

 

[prc117f]

I saw it with my own eyes in the 70's and it was old then. I believe it was about the size of a toaster, green, had tubes, and the 23 channel dial. I think the wattage rule came in the 70's with the addition of 40 channels.

I remember my uncle had a pretty nice CB setup with some kind of Tube amp It had an American Eagle logo on it this was before the expansion and I guess then like you said the big amps were made illegal.

 

[599]

It's always been 4 watts AM and 12watts SSB on CB since day one in North America...

I remember my uncle had a pretty nice CB setup with some kind of Tube amp It had an American Eagle logo on it this was before the expansion and I guess then like you said the big amps were made illegal.

That was probably a Browning Golden Eagle ? the ultimate CB radio in its time !



As far as CB being dead: stations were coming in from the great lakes area for about an hour just minutes ago. Sporadic-E openings can happen anytime.

Those so-called "export" type radios with out of band channels are useless when band isn't open for F layer skip with Europe. In america most of the traffic i hear will be on the legal channels. But anyway why go out of band when there's lots of free space on the 40 channels ? simple logic.

 

[TenSleep440]

I’m not so sure CB is dead, on any given night you can listen and there are those out there talking, even in this podunk town I live in just outside of Texarkana, TX. However, intelligent conversation is all but gone in most cases.

Export radios have the extra banks of channels, type accepted CBs will only have the normal 40 channels, of course there are SSB rigs but it is still all in the 26.965 - 27.405 range.

One of my favorite older rigs is the 148F GTL.

 

[Blackswan73]

I saw it with my own eyes in the 70's and it was old then. I believe it was about the size of a toaster, green, had tubes, and the 23 channel dial. I think the wattage rule came in the 70's with the addition of 40 channels.

Ever since CB was created from the 11 meter amateur band in 1958, it has always been restricted to 4 watts maximum output. There has never been a legal radio made for the CB band that had an output of more than 4 watts output. If you saw a stock radio with more than that, the output was probably being measured with one of those “Dozy” meters

 

[Blackswan73]

I remember my uncle had a pretty nice CB setup with some kind of Tube amp It had an American Eagle logo on it this was before the expansion and I guess then like you said the big amps were made illegal.

Sounds like a Robyn T123b. Definitely not a 75 watt radio, although they were a decent radio, and even doubled as a space heater

 

[prcguy]

What you saw on the back of the radio was the power rating it draws from the wall socket, not what it puts out. That is common on most everything from toasters to vacuum cleaners to CB radios. The radio put out no more than 4W AM to the antenna when it came out of the box. The 4 watt rule dates back to the beginning of class D CB in the 50s and stayed the same when we went from 23 to 40 channels.
prcguy

I saw it with my own eyes in the 70's and it was old then. I believe it was about the size of a toaster, green, had tubes, and the 23 channel dial. I think the wattage rule came in the 70's with the addition of 40 channels.

 

[KK4JUG]

I seem to remember the FCC also forbade the manufacture of 23 channel radios when they came out with 40 channels. They said they would not be certified, I think.

 

[prcguy]

Not sure if that was a rule or not but around 1976 when 40ch was announced I was working for the largest CB mfr on the planet and months before the 40ch release date we had warehouses full of new 40ch radios certified and QC'd waiting to be shipped. Any mfr that intended on making or selling 23ch radios at that point would be out of business very fast.
prcguy

I seem to remember the FCC also forbade the manufacture of 23 channel radios when they came out with 40 channels. They said they would not be certified, I think.

 

[BloodandRoses]

Best ssb radios

2950dx
stryker 955 hp

magnum1

I have all of them....

 

[prc117f]

It was July 1976 when the FCC announced 40 channel.