Cobra® 40-Channel NightWatch™ CB Radio with SoundTracker®

Comments about Cobra® Cobra® 40-Channel NightWatch™ CB Radio with SoundTracker®:

The "Tech Specs" on the Radio Shack listing of this product are incorrect. They show that the minimum operating temperature is 30 F and the max is 50 F. If that were true, this unit wouldn't work at all. The correct temps should be the same, but in Celsius (centigrade) temperature scale, not in Fahrenheit! Check the manual like I did. I wonder what other mistakes there are. I'd ask someone I know personally to show me this before I'd buy such a complicated model. The writer of the specs obviously didn't know what he was writing.

Comments about Cobra® Cobra® 40-Channel NightWatch™ CB Radio with SoundTracker®:

Pros This radio has good reception and is very
quiet. I really like the illuminated display and
dimmer switch. The swr calibration is nice to have.Weather radio works great at night.

Cons I can hear the weather channel at daytime
but it is not very clear or loud. The radio when
powered on comes on very loud even if the volume
control is off. And the volume control is located
between the mic and the Rf gain which makes it a
little trouble to use. But over all it is a very
nice Radio.I wish they would make one like it with
SSB.

Comments about Cobra® Cobra® 40-Channel NightWatch™ CB Radio with SoundTracker®:

Great radio. Picks up great and sends out signal clear and loud weather in the mountains or in town. Only thing I don't like is the size. I have a mid size pick up and space is limited but got it mounted and looks great !!!

Comments about Cobra® Cobra® 40-Channel NightWatch™ CB Radio with SoundTracker®:

Nice radio but a little on the priciey side but well worth it. Love the weather channels and the night watch feature. A little hard to fit in my s-10 pickup. Now that i have it fit in cant wait for the next road trip..

Comments about Cobra® Cobra® 40-Channel NightWatch™ CB Radio with SoundTracker®:

This is one of the best radios i have had the pleasure of owning. I always have had a radio installed on my vehicles since I was first able to drive. If you go camping or off roading this is a must have, I get a minimum of 10 miles and have heard people close to 100 miles away. When i bought this I also bought the 102in whip with the heavy duty 6in spring. And currently get a consistant 1.1:1 which is the best swr reading i've had for a while.

Comments about Cobra® Cobra® 40-Channel NightWatch™ CB Radio with SoundTracker®:

Great for keeping informed about the weather and possible traffic problems ahead.

Comments about Cobra® Cobra® 40-Channel NightWatch™ CB Radio with SoundTracker®:

The SoundTracker is among one of the best features this CB offers. Really does cut a lot of the annoying background noise. Along with my Lil Wil, this CB performs great on the road.

Comments about Cobra® Cobra® 40-Channel NightWatch™ CB Radio with SoundTracker®:

I picked up this radio after having the Radio Shack model TRC-447. The reason for the switch was basically to have the Nightwatch feature. I was pleased with the 447, and thought the Cobra would be just as good, if not better. The radio was paired with a 4 foot firestick II, and I was only getting the SWR to about 2 after many attempts to tune the antenna (the 447 was around 1.3 on the same setup). The built in Power/SWR meter would stop functioning after about 1 hour of driving. Soundtracker would help cut down on background noise, but also cut out on incoming signal. I found the included microphone to be too large.

I read on some forums that the nightwatch lights are known for going out after a year or two.

I did like the feature of being able to choose what NOAA weather channel to receive. Came in handy to hear a nearby station you may be traveling to.

This radio was in my possession for all of about 1 week.

Comments about Cobra® Cobra® 40-Channel NightWatch™ CB Radio with SoundTracker®:

I use this unit in my shack(I'm a ham,too) to talk to other CBers in town and on the I-10. Modulation was weak until I replaced stock mic with a "Desk-Top Voice-Compressed Power Mic". Gotta watch the mic input and the "Power-Mic" output. It is easy to over-modulate with such a scheme.

I like the 'touchy/feely' controls. After about one week, I was able to control the unit by feel with my left hand. I'm a righty.

WX receive is deaf. But in all fairness, I am using this unit as a base tranceiver with a Crossbow 10/11 meter vertical antenna. When I connect the tranceiver to my 5/8 Collinear vert, I get S9+10dB on WX. Since I have a dedicated VHF antenna and 2M rig, I see no need to utilize the WX capabilities, but it works just fine.

Comments about Cobra® Cobra® 40-Channel NightWatch™ CB Radio with SoundTracker®:

I bought this radio off a friend of mine, added a few extras to it, and I hooked it up to a 102" whip, SWR hardly moved, got out 30 miles on it easy. I could hear people 100 miles away. GREAT RADIO to have! WX band is a lifesaver if you live in the Midwest.