Customer Reviews

Cobra 200 GTL DX 4-Band 10-Meter Amateur Radio

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

COBRA 200 GTL DX w/Nightwatch

Type: 10 meter radio

Frequency range: 28 to 29.7 MHz from factory - 26.0650 to 29.6950 after conversion

RF power: 4 watts low power - 30 watts high power (deadkey)

Transistors: Dual 40-watt SC2290 finals

Control frequency switch: 10 kHz - does not work after frequency coversion for expanded coverage.

Bands: 4

AM/FM: Yes

SSB: Yes, 100+ watts

Channels: 320 (80 per switch setting)

Variable power : Yes - high/low button, high (max range) and low (conserves power)

Antenna warning indicator: Yes

SWR calibration: Yes

NightWatch panel illumination: Yes

Echo control: Yes

Analog meter: Yes

Mic gain: Yes

Frequency counter: Yes, 6-digit

Jacks: 4-pin front mic

Warranty: 1 year parts and labor

In the box: 200 GTL DX radio, microphone, user's manual

RECEIVE -

The radio has an excellent receiver - but it does pick up some background static. The AM stations sound clear far off or close up.

You will get bleedover with this radio - I'd say it's worst within 6 channels.

SSB receive is very clear - the radio stays on frequency for receive very well - no drift whatsoever from turn on to turn off.

TRANSMIT

On low power the AM deadkey on my stock radio was 3 watts swinging to around 12-15 watts. The SSB output was about 12-14 watts.

On high power the AM deadkey on my stock radio was 30 watts swinging to 70 watts. The SSB output was about 110-120 watts.

I didn't test FM or CW.

AM REPORTS- It gives a very steady signal and very clear steady modulation. On high power you definitely get a boost in modulation on both AM and SSB.

Everyone says the radio sounds great and has a very unique sound to it.

SSB REPORTS - Everyone said that the modulation is clear, clean and LOUD. My signal has been hitting everyone well.

THE RADIO LIKES AND DISLIKES -

* I love the NIGHTWATCH

* The echo is really clear and has no distortion problems at all. BUT with no adjustments for speed all you can adjust is the level of echo.

* There is NO talkback - stupidest thing I've every seen. Why have adj echo or roger beep when you can't hear it to adjust it.

* Knobs are pretty solid - Some of them have a tiny amount of "play" and the plastic of them feels a little cheesy but you get over it pretty quick.

* The front facing microphone is kind of in the way, BUT it's nice for up front installs since the radio is already pretty big.

* The fine/coarse controls are excellent. The clarifier is unlocked from the factory and moves on TX and RX.

* Six digit freq counter works great and mine is spot on freq from the factory.

* The push buttons are small and a little cheezy - I wonder how they will hold up over time....buttons on radios like my Omega worked great, but on some older radios I know at some point they pop out or become loose, only time will tell.

* Output from the radio is great on AM and SSB. NO it is not as high as a 2970 ...BUT this radio is $200 less than most of those. It's advertised as a 30 watt RF radio. If you have it tuned and get 80-100 watts AM I'd say its a fair deal. 60-70 watts stock is still plenty to get you heard.

* The stock speaker is okay..not great..but it works good enough for me. I tried it with my external speakers but haven't found a good match yet.

* The heatsink is big and heavy, but I think this radio could still use a fan. After 30 mins of solid use on SSB the heatsink is almost too hot to touch.

* The rotary channel knob is a little picky. Somtimes when you turn it, it won't go to the next channel, sometimes it may skip a channel. Not really a huge problem, 80% of the time it won't miss, but every couple of times you may skip over a channel.

* I don't like that I can't cycle through the 40 channels and end up back at channel 1 - because it's 80 channels per bank you have to go up/down or all the way through all 80 to get back to the beginning.

* BLEEDOVER

As a buyer you do have to be aware of some of the problems - ones acknowledged by Cobra

- Overload possiblity with strong signals
- Possible Warble or popping noise due in modulation (I didn't run into this at all)
- Channel rejection decreases with the NB/ANL on.
- Choppy Squelch control
- Possible that freq display needs adj, not accurate from factory.


SUMMARY - for the $225-250 Price range I think it's an excellent deal. It's never going to outdo a radio + amplifier but if you don't want to run an external amp the radio will do enough to get you heard and is perfect for SSB Dxing!

I have purchased three of these radios. Great receive and transmit. This is the best deal out there......digital readout, high power, and rock steady on frequency. This is a winner.

This is an excellent 10 meter channelized radio - I am new to HAM radio and I selected it for my first "rig" to use with my new general class license. I am very pleased with it!

I bought my Cobra to use in conjunction with a 2 meter transverter. SSB is great and "natural sounding" due to a particularly wide SSB filter. FM is equally nice. Unfortunately, Cobra seem to have utilized a very narrow AM filter. As a result AM is "muddy" and pinched sounding - definitely something I didn't expect from the manufacturer of the great-sounding Cobra 148.

If you are actually going to use it on 10 meters or with a transverter, you probably won't regret your purchase. However, if you plan to modify it for CB use, you will NOT be happy with the AM audio quality.

***Yes, it is against FCC rules to use this radio on the CB band. However, I believe I can safely assume that most of these units will be modified to operate there...***

Just bought this radio. It has had a lot of good reports.
I like the way the radio transmits. It will do 30 watts out of box AM, and 100 watts SSB. It did not have MosFEt Finals like the ad claims. It has Mosfet pre Drivers, but the actual finals are sc2290 Transistors, Bi Polar type like all the 10 meter radios and 2 pill linears use.
I thought that was a disappointment, because that is about the only reason I purchased this radio.
I wanted to try out MosFet Finals, as a cleaner alterative to transistors. If you are going to buy one of these Cobra Rigs to get into the MosFet world, Beware this radio is a mixture of both worlds.
I have been told by others that it is a very excellent sounding radio on SSB but without talkback enabled, you cannot monitor your audio or echo effects. In fact I have never seen a radio with echo without talkback, very strange. To modify this radio for 11 meters would be a hard and risky business and not legal in the USA. It would also be a nightmare because the components are all surface mounted, and tiny.
The radio peaked to about 120 watts AM but the MosFet pre-drivers don't drive the SC2290's the way the conventional SC2166 or similar do, as there is a higher dead key, and less forward swing. If you try to take the dead carrier lower than 10 watts the SWR will go crazy on you, as if the PRE DRIVER MOSFETS fall out of range or something. The smallest dead key possible before SWR funk is 20 watts. Way to high for a lot of amps.
Low power equals about 20 to 85 bird watts. High power about 40 to 125 bird.
Now the really bad part. The receiver has rotten channel rejection, and if someone within the city limits runs a lot of power, the radio becomes almost un-usable. It is a BLEED BOX, but that seems to be a trait of Cobra, Uniden.
This Radio may look great and sound great on transmit but without good ears a radio is worthless.
The receive is no where near the quality of a RANGER or RCI 10 meter rig, but for $204.00 what can you expect. There is a mod out the to add standard components to the SMT board, (nightmare)to reduce the channel rejection, but once again that evolves micro board level repair. It's a big hassle, and you might end up wasting your radio! (NIGHTMARE)
Why won't Cobra spend a couple of more bucks and make these radios receive better? Any way it's a beautiful radio, in the country it might be really great, but in the city it is a little to noisy for my taste.

Ok cobra has fixed all problems with Cobra 200 GTL DX,
Production #2 Cobra 200 GTL DX radios are out now / And in good fashion
cobra has added "talkback" to there Production #2 Radios. In acordance with all complants With bleedover Has ben reduced to exceptable levels,
As with all ham radio gear modding this type of radio is not a good idea
due to searious hand slapping and fines. Anyway my (Production #2 Cobra 200 GTL DX) Is in fine working order sounds great preforms well above
Production #1 model. [Note to talk on this radio you need a Amateur License] All the people who bought this radio enjoy Dxing 73's and good bye...

Nice radio. Stopped transmitting after three months. I returned it under warrantee. Turn around was 10 days. It's been fine since.UPDATE 5/09/08 After 2 trips to warrantee center for repair (NO Transmit) It is dead again and out of warrantee... thanks Cobra for a real piece of crap. This thing has never been mobil and used very little.

i purchase this unit super price.great product, and lighting fast shipping.the best part of the shipping was it's free.had the unit comverted.now i'm talking on hi and low and side band channels.great deal and product i love it.i had to share my joy.

Nothing but problems, receive was terrible, sent back to cobra for warranty, then for refund.

The earlier models had many problems how ever the new ones are great (mine was bought new December 2008). If you are a truck driver and a fan of Cobra dependability you will really like this one. If you are a fan of the Cobra 148 GTL, you will especially love this model. Everyone loves the sound (with a Roadking 56 microphone). The stock microphone is too "tinney" sounding for me however with a good noise cancelling microphone it is cystal clear and loud after a good tuning. If you use the 10KHZ switch alot like I do it is especially nice. It does have FM however I do not use it due to the fact that amatuer radio is dieing and most amatuer radio is boring and monotonous. I use only the AM and sidebands. The sidebands stay exactly were they are put and are rock solid like the 148 GTL's. I really love this radio. I own Rangers, Connex's, Galaxys, Generals, Magnums, and every type of Cobra. "This radio is really cool"