Two of the three cheap Cobra 29s I bought from eBay arrived today.
Cobra 29 LTD Classic, MFG '15, meter doesn't seem to work on SWR mode, meter jumps to and sits still around 9 on S/RF mode when TXing, no meter illumination. Everything else seems functional and no evidence of repairs/mods.
Cobra 29 NW ST, MFG '99, no power, D23 protection diode blown in half, C123 capacitor is swollen/leaking, rear power socket missing but positive and negative leads on board still there, no current draw when connected to power but also doesn't power up. Possible signs of repairs/mods, I can see what looks like some non-factory soldering on the back of the PCB and a few clear gobs of clear hot glue on the front of the PCB in certain areas, don't think it's factory. I did make the rookie mistake of applying power with the leads reversed at one point, got a little more leakage and magic smoke out of C123. I guess the silver lining here is that I learned which lead is which in a Cobra 29.
That's where I stopped on both. Got some more vids to watch, and books to read once my order from Lou Franklin arrives. Lou did get back to me after a couple days to confirm everything, those should be shipping today or Monday. Excited to see if I can save that 22 year old NW ST from the parts bin.
