Old School Advice

[Uneasy Rider]

I have been searching and reading post on here gaining lots of information and didn't realize I had an account from years ago. Hopefully I can get some advise from all the experience on here.
I currently run RCI and Galaxy Export radios but I got bit with old school radio bug and picked up a couple of old Cobra base stations. Guess I'm reliving the 70's CB craze.
1st one is a 139XLR. Looks like it may be all stock and in decent shape. On the way home I stopped by the local CB shop and had it bench tested. It powered up and transmitted. Needs pots cleaned and needs to be aligned. Has a missing digit in other channel display. It will he 8 or 9 weeks before he can get to it. Not a big deal. Time is not an issue.
2nd one is a '91 Phillipines 142 GTL in very good condition. I took this one home and tested myself. It didn't have a fuse in it. I put a fuse in and it powered up. It appears to transmit and receives well. I was playing with the D104 handheld adjustment and my modulation meter. When I turned the mic up close to wide open to see where it would start to squeal, it blew the fuse. I popped the cover and TR32 and R104 have been removed. Best I could tell the inside still looks pretty clean and untouched other than the modulation mod.
My question is what to do with these radios? I don't have a lot invested in them so I don't mind spending some money to get them working and using them. Should I have the local shop tune and align them and just use them? Take them back if and when something else goes bad. This is one man general repair shop near the truck stop and has been business for 30 years or so.
Should I send them to someone who takes the time and specializes in restoring these old radios? Replace the caps and parts that are prone to trouble. Is this like you can pay me now or pay me later scenerio?
I don't need a lot of bling and mods. I just want a good working radio on AM and particularly SSB.
73's
Uneasy

 

[nomadradio]

The 139XLR model had some infant-mortality issues shared with other radios using that circuit board. Cobra issued a slew of technical bulletins covering the fixes.

http://73.235.100.209/radios/cobra/139xlr/index.html

Later production radios incorporated these changes on the assembly line. A radio that's over 40 years old like this one won't be a reliable daily driver until it's re capped. Mind you an odometer would be helpful. A radio with miles on it already has one or more of those caps gone bad. A radio with low mileage might hold up for a month or a few before those capacitors "remember" how old they are and begin to fall like slow-motion dominoes.

A Philippines 142 might be okay if mileage is low. But there's no odometer to read. A radio that was run 24/7 for decades will be ready to re-cap. And a radio used very little won't.

Yet.

73

 

[Uneasy Rider]

The 139XLR model had some infant-mortality issues shared with other radios using that circuit board. Cobra issued a slew of technical bulletins covering the fixes.

http://73.235.100.209/radios/cobra/139xlr/index.html

Later production radios incorporated these changes on the assembly line. A radio that's over 40 years old like this one won't be a reliable daily driver until it's re capped. Mind you an odometer would be helpful. A radio with miles on it already has one or more of those caps gone bad. A radio with low mileage might hold up for a month or a few before those capacitors "remember" how old they are and begin to fall like slow-motion dominoes.

A Philippines 142 might be okay if mileage is low. But there's no odometer to read. A radio that was run 24/7 for decades will be ready to re-cap. And a radio used very little won't.

Yet.

73

Thanks for the reply and link Nomad. Your logic makes sense. The 142 I got from an estate auction. There were three 142's in the estate. I decided to go after the newer one. It's a roll of the dice because like you said there is no odometer.

 

[nomadradio]

Newer may not always prove to be better.

But it's safer.

73