Well I just installed my KL-203 today as the muscle for my Cobra 29LTD in my Toyota Tacoma. I didn't plan on actually installing it today but one thing led to another and it was done I never put a watt meter in-line like I had planned. I tried talking some skip immediately after install and couldn't believe how I was getting out there in skip land especially to the big radio's out there. I have heard of talking skip bare foot but I've never been able to do it any way I did a road test with my wife at the base "Cobra 148GTL" I went to an area where I knew my signal is weak I was giving my base three pounds bare foot and with the KL-203 on I was giving her seven pounds. Well that was better than I expected and certainly couldn't complain with my sixty five dollar investment. One thing I was surprised with is if you listen very carefully to the motor and watch the tach when keying the mic with amp on it does barely tax the alternator slightly about the same as the head lights draw. This Tacoma is a TRD V-6 with every accessory and has the higher output alternator I believe.
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RM Italy KL-203/Cobra 29LTD
- Thread starter hammer0630
- Start date
Before you get too far into it make sure your radio is set right for that amplifier. The KL203 is a great amp for the money but do not overdrive it. Your Cobra 29 will have to be tuned for an AM dead key of 1 to 1.5 watts and a max peak swing of 14-18 watts. If you don't do this you will burn that amp up.
You are right I have completely forgot about this! This is my second KL-203 the first one died while my wife was at the helm when it was used for our base "148GTL" I believe because of long key downs and I was putting five watts DK into it."i have just recently got back into C.B. again" What I was checking for was how much heat it was generating as compared to my first one the first one in almost no time would actually burn you to the touch this one merely gets warm after excessive DK's. On my base I now run a KL-503 with a one watt DK and two five by five inch fans. I run these cheap amps because of cost lets face it but I do talk to people who are very experienced and run good equipment and when I run power the audio stays the same I get very good feed back even when I'm not asking.I don't know if it is dumb luck or what? I have been researching how to turn the power down on my two Cobra 29LTD"s and it looks like it is VR-4 but I have others stating that is for audio out put?
I just wanted to clarrify the three S unit signal to seven unit S signal with amp now on I have just found out through further questioning my wife the seven pounds is with forward audio swing included and the three pounds is DK.
You will have to check on cbtricks.com or with a member that's done a Cobra 25/29. On AM cb radio's there is no pot to adjust the dead key. You have to get a cap and resistor and try different value resistors to get the dead key right. It might be worth it to have a shop do a variable power mod, this way you could adjust the dead key from say 1-5 watts with a knob on the side or back of the radio.
No wonder I have not been able to find the pot that controls the wattage there is none! It was very simple on the 148 and thought it would be similar on the 29.Thank you..Jeff