Ranger made Cobra 148GTL?

[mechanic]

I posted a message in CB Band CB Radio about my Frankenstein 148, during the rebuild I came across several items and they only made more questions.
First thing I came across was the name Ranger on the inside of the face plate with the number PTO148010A, the chassis has this number on it.... EPTO148110Z. Made in Malaysia about 1994. The IF cans have the name SUMIDA. :blink:


The donor chassis had these #s PC-142 and PC-142AB, made in Taiwan about 1993. The IF cans have the name TOKO RCL on them.
The "RANGER" radio works very good and tuned up right away! The core slugs were broken on the PTO chassis but the donor chassis fit perfectly and tuned right up!
Both have the "F" pll chip and the face plate fit good from the donor. Worked several stations all over with it and almost done with the overhaul. It was really messed up and almost not worth the repairs.

The clarifier mod is different from any I have seen, covers +5 and -5 on each channel. Blue wire stayed in place, orange to ground via a resistor and the brown goes to a pad near the vco. Don't know if there is a super diode or not. :blush:

So what is the deal with these radios especially with the "RANGER" 148?

73 mechanic

 

[TonyV225]

ranger had there hands in on alot of radios its actually kinda funny and does not surprise me when I see the RCI label on boards and some components PL chips ETC.

 

[psycho]

I posted a message in CB Band CB Radio about my Frankenstein 148, during the rebuild I came across several items and they only made more questions.
First thing I came across was the name Ranger on the inside of the face plate with the number PTO148010A, the chassis has this number on it.... EPTO148110Z. Made in Malaysia about 1994. The IF cans have the name SUMIDA. :blink:


The donor chassis had these #s PC-142 and PC-142AB, made in Taiwan about 1993. The IF cans have the name TOKO RCL on them.
The "RANGER" radio works very good and tuned up right away! The core slugs were broken on the PTO chassis but the donor chassis fit perfectly and tuned right up!
Both have the "F" pll chip and the face plate fit good from the donor. Worked several stations all over with it and almost done with the overhaul. It was really messed up and almost not worth the repairs.

The clarifier mod is different from any I have seen, covers +5 and -5 on each channel. Blue wire stayed in place, orange to ground via a resistor and the brown goes to a pad near the vco. Don't know if there is a super diode or not. :blush:

So what is the deal with these radios especially with the "RANGER" 148?

73 mechanic

Just because the PLL is a RCI 8719 and a couple of other parts have Ranger's name on it doesn't mean it is a "Ranger". That is like calling a Ford or Chevy a mexican car because a couple of the parts were made in Mexico.

 

[Shioda]

Ranger manufactured radios for Cobra until around 1997 or thereabouts.

 

[Carl]

it was made by ranger.

from 1979 to sometime in 1989 the 148's were made in taiwan by uniden, from 1989 - 1993 they were made in the philippines again still by uniden (this is also when the uniden grant became) cobra's contract with uniden was over somehow and they looked to rci to produce them for them. they were direct copys using parts sourced or created by rci. the first rci 148's said "Made in The Malaysia" and were later said "Made in Malaysia", also the texas ranger 296's were produced at this time. the only difference was the name on the outside.


the uniden grants were still being made by uniden in the philippines and continued to be made there untill production stopped.

there were some other that were related by name. there were 2 148dx models made by uniden (same as superstar 360fm) a black plastic 148dx that was made by cybernet (same as the lafayette 2400fm) as well as a 148f gtl dx+ made in 1997 (connex 4800dxl). not very common in the us as they were not type accepted and not legal to sell.

took me so long to type that out and fight with the kids i was beat to it, damn

 

[Carl]

ohh about the 8719pll's

mb8719 was the origional, the 8734 was the same with pin 10 dissabled so extra's didnt work. i believe this was due to the fcc cracking down on the 858pll's. funny the mb8719 later had the same fate. they were both 8v

the rci 8719-97 was the modern replament (it was crippled like the 8734) it was also 8v. i dont know if it was made before or after the fcc had there way with the mb8719's or not. kinda the chicken or the egg syndrome. i believe it was after though. the early galaxy 9x9's and texas ranger 9xx used these. i think the 4 pin 148's used these for a little while as well

rci8719-99 pll's had pin 10 functional so expanded frequency was possiable but they are 5v so a resistor and cap were added to pin 9.

another is the micronix mmb8719, its will work in both 5v and 8v applications and allows for extra's to work. the newer 4 pin gtl's use these

 

[mechanic]

it was made by ranger.

from 1979 to sometime in 1989 the 148's were made in taiwan by uniden, from 1989 - 1993 they were made in the philippines again still by uniden (this is also when the uniden grant became) cobra's contract with uniden was over somehow and they looked to rci to produce them for them. they were direct copys using parts sourced or created by rci. the first rci 148's said "Made in The Malaysia" and were later said "Made in Malaysia", also the texas ranger 296's were produced at this time. the only difference was the name on the outside.


the uniden grants were still being made by uniden in the philippines and continued to be made there untill production stopped.

there were some other that were related by name. there were 2 148dx models made by uniden (same as superstar 360fm) a black plastic 148dx that was made by cybernet (same as the lafayette 2400fm) as well as a 148f gtl dx+ made in 1997 (connex 4800dxl). not very common in the us as they were not type accepted and not legal to sell.

took me so long to type that out and fight with the kids i was beat to it, damn

I have four other 148s, one is a parts rig and it supplied the Frankenstein 148.
Two of them say on the tag "Made in the Malaysia" dated in mid 1994, this includes "Frank". Three are Taiwanese made in early to mid 80s (Date on the MB8719) The two Malaysian (Ranger) ones work well. Both of them have Japan MB8719s as do the Taiwan 148s.
The two remaining Taiwan 148s need cap replacements as the audio is not working on RX on one and RX & TX on the other. These sat for a long time and the caps dried out and shorted on the audio circuit.
As a side note, I have a Emperor TS5010 that needs a complete cap replacement...

This is getting interesting! Never knew the history of the 148s and Grants! :headbang

73 mechanic

 

[d104]

cobra 148s are great radios I have had a few of them.one i used in my car for years and never had any trouble with it at all.it was an older one from the 90s and made pretty good.they may not have echo etc but i really dont need that anyway.The 148s made in the Philippines are suppose to be the best ones.