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1991 cobra 146 made in phillippines

Trainwreck

Trainwreck

Member
Aug 4, 2012
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I just received a 91 model cobra 146 that was made in the Philippines from a friend today. At looking at radio, it looks like it has been through the ringer, but pulling the covers off it looks new. What i am wondering is, is there any mods for a fet in this radio and if so where do i find them. I looked at cb tricks but i cant seem to find what i am looking for anybody got any idea's. Thanks for your help and information. God bless and Merry Christmas
 

i'm sorry , you're looking for 146 info .... i thought you needed 148 info . try PMing ExitThirteen and ask him if the 148 mod will work on a 146 and if not if he knows a way to convert the 146 to use MOSFETs .
 
the 146 is actually better in performance..
verses the 148..
even though if memory serves..
it uses same board as the 148..

though the one i used was from early 80's vintage
 
KingCobra_CDX882 said:
the 146 is actually better in performance..
verses the 148..
even though if memory serves..
it uses same board as the 148..

though the one i used was from early 80's vintage
Click to expand...

Your memory serves you wrong, the Cobra 146 is/was the same as the Uniden 122 XL,President AR-144,Realistic TRC-451/453/465 and a few more.All were decent radios but often overlooked.
 
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IMD262 said:
Your memory serves you wrong, the Cobra 146 is/was the same as the Uniden 122 XL,President AR-144,Realistic TRC-451/453/465 and a few more.All were decent radios but often overlooked.
Click to expand...
So will the 148 mosfet mod work for this radio or do i need to keep looking?
 
swapping to mosfets wont gain ya enough watts really to notice a difference
ou be better off to buy a small little amp like a kl-60 ,kl-203 these will boost
your signal out quite well. and wont break the wallet copper.com has them
 
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Don't mess with that 146!! If you want more power then add an amp.

The 146 was never as popular as it's big brother the 148 for a number of reasons- the main one being they were considerably more difficult to mod for expanded frequencies than the 148 was. Difficult, but not impossible. The lack of a mic gain control also contributed to their lack of sales.

In many ways though they were a superior radio to the 148. For starters they were rock-solid on frequency. On SSB they did NOT drift. They also had a better-than-average receiver. A competent tech could expand the frequency coverage and mod the clarifier as well. The trick was in finding a competent tech who had the experience, equipment and patience to do it properly.

I've a friend who has three or four of them and they all sound great with an external amp on them.

Don't go fixing something that isn't broken
 
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i would never swap a good rf transistor for a switching fet, would never buy a newer cb with switching fet outputs either,
the manufacturers went to switching fets because they cost next to nothing vs sourcing real rf transistors.
 
Atlasta said:
Don't mess with that 146!! If you want more power then add an amp.

The 146 was never as popular as it's big brother the 148 for a number of reasons- the main one being they were considerably more difficult to mod for expanded frequencies than the 148 was. Difficult, but not impossible. The lack of a mic gain control also contributed to their lack of sales.

In many ways though they were a superior radio to the 148. For starters they were rock-solid on frequency. On SSB they did NOT drift. They also had a better-than-average receiver. A competent tech could expand the frequency coverage and mod the clarifier as well. The trick was in finding a competent tech who had the experience, equipment and patience to do it properly.

I've a friend who has three or four of them and they all sound great with an external amp on them.

Don't go fixing something that isn't broken
Click to expand...


And the 148s weren't stable as the 146s on ssb...where did you hear that nonsense. The 146s were superior to the 148s in many ways????? You are kidding I hope.
I owned a Cobra 146 and they are loud radios, but they are not half the radio the older 148s were,
 
psycho said:
And the 148s weren't stable as the 146s on ssb...where did you hear that nonsense. The 146s were superior to the 148s in many ways????? You are kidding I hope.
I owned a Cobra 146 and they are loud radios, but they are not half the radio the older 148s were,
Click to expand...
Ok i didnt mean to start a debate over which was best, i just was looking for answers on how to get mine up and running. It keys up but no modulation, thought i might be the finals. I was just looking for a mod for power and distance is all sorry if i started any argument over which was best. I may just see if i can find rfx directions instead thanks
 
Trainwreck said:
Ok i didnt mean to start a debate over which was best, i just was looking for answers on how to get mine up and running. It keys up but no modulation, thought i might be the finals. I was just looking for a mod for power and distance is all sorry if i started any argument over which was best. I may just see if i can find rfx directions instead thanks
Click to expand...
Did you put a power meter to check the radio's output first; or are you going by the radio's built-in meter?

Does it receive OK?

Did you put it in PA mode and plug a speaker into the PA output jack in the back of the radio and talk/hear audio coming out?

If the answer is 'yes' to these questions; then it may be a failed final OR driver transistor. You will need to take each one out one at a time and test them with a DVM meter in diode check mode. They are NPN transistors. So the transistor base junction will be the leg on the far right (facing the printed side), the middle leg is the collector, and the leg on the far left is the emitter.

Even using an RFX-75 won't work if the driver has failed . . .
 
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Robb said:
Did you put a power meter to check the radio's output first; or are you going by the radio's built-in meter?

Does it receive OK?

Did you put it in PA mode and plug a speaker into the PA output jack in the back of the radio and talk/hear audio coming out?

If the answer is 'yes' to these questions; then it may be a failed final OR driver transistor. You will need to take each one out one at a time and test them with a DVM meter in diode check mode. They are NPN transistors. So the transistor base junction will be the leg on the far right (facing the printed side), the middle leg is the collector, and the leg on the far left is the emitter.

Even using an RFX-75 won't work if the driver has failed . . .
Click to expand...
Yeah Robb i checked that stuff and still no swing. I am at a stand still now, not sure which way to go now. Thanks for the help and if you happen to run across rfx-75 instructions for this radio please let me know. Thwnks again
 

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