Accessory Review:
Cobra 148 GTL AM/SSB CB Radio
by Jeffrey Reed, Editor, London Ontario Golf

I have a confession to make – a few, actually. During the 1970s, I wore platform shoes, went disco dancing, and was an avid CB enthusiast. Londoners knew me as, The Candy Man, a handle I borrowed from my boyhood idol, pitcher John Candelaria of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

You would think that in today’s computer age, CB radios would be a thing of the past. Wrong. While platform shoes and disco dancing are now buried away somewhere in a museum – and thank God – CB Radio is alive and well in North America. In fact, William Polk, a marketing representative for Cobra Electronics Corporation, tells me CB radios received a tremendous response at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Ever since the CB craze of the early-1970s, Cobra has been the hands-down leader in CB – or Citizen’s Band – electronics. Now, the benchmark of top-quality mobile AM/SSB CB radios is back – and as Cobra says, the 148 GTL is “better than ever.”

For those of you not familiar with CB Radio, here’s a brief explanation. The CB frequency range of 26.965 to 27.405 MHz is available at 40 AM channels. Under normal atmospheric conditions, and using properly installed, lawful equipment, two home (or base) CB operators can talk over a distance of about 32 to 64 kilometres (20 to 40 miles). Distances vary when talking base-to-vehicle (mobile), or mobile-to-mobile. A good antenna and antenna wire (or coax cable) is a must.

Just to confuse you even more, if you aren’t a CB aficionado, the very best CB radios are also capable of SSB – Single Side Band – communications. There are 40 Upper Side Band, and 40 Lower Side Band channels with a 40-channel AM/SSB radio. SSB communications work with 12 watts of output power, while AM radio has 4 watts – you can, therefore, converse approximately three times as far with SSB, a much clearer mode of communication.

It wasn’t until I earned a solid working wage that I could afford my dream radio – Cobra’s 29 LTD Classic 40-channel AM radio. This month, we put to the test the 29 LTD Classic’s big brother – the Cobra 148 GTL AM/SSB radio.

Here’s the setup we used to test Cobra’s fine-looking radio. We used the radio as a base unit, with 30 feet of RG-8 coax, a groundless 3-ft. all-purpose CB antenna mounted just 22 ft. off a roof side, and a 5 amp constant/7 amp surge power converter. A simple setup, but the results were astounding. We agree with Cobra: this legendary radio is “better than ever.”

Feedback from fellow CB operators: outgoing audio clarity was outstanding, and power output (given our simple setup) was surprisingly good. Incoming audio was superb with the 4 ohms built-in speaker, and even better with an 8 ohms external speaker.

The Cobra 148 GTL is recognizable by its outstanding aesthetics. Front-panel controls now include the microphone jack – an improvement over the side jack utilized in previous models. There’s a Noise Blanker/Automatic Noise Limiter/Off switch, plus a High/Normal/Low Tone switch. Tactile controls combine tasks in a convenient, safe operating mode. These include: Volume/Squelch; and RF Gain/SWR. Front knobs also include a Dynamike, Voice Lock and Dim/Normal/Bright control. Additional switches include: USB/AM/LSB for frequency choice; CB/PA; and S/RF/Cal/SWR for internal tuning of your antenna so it matches well with your radio and coax. The front panel metre provides adequate reading of incoming and outgoing signals, plus SWR match.

I used an external antenna matcher, too, and was quite pleased to find that both the 148 GTL and the external metre provided the exact same match reading of 1.2:1. That means next to no power was being lost between the radio and the antenna. The NB/ANL/OFF switch operated well during noisy conditions, and I was surprised to see that the 148 GTL did not lose much of its incoming audio nor its treble even when in the NB mode. There are two jacks at the back of the radio, for external speaker and PA speaker. When using the PA speaker, incoming signals will still be heard when not keying the microphone. In PA mode, the Dynamike controls the microphone volume. 

The Cobra 148 GTL Voice Lock feature will especially come in handy during SSB communications, when you are locking in an operator. We communicated great distances with our radio on SSB, and even with the supplied stock microphone, we received very positive feedback. The stock mic comes with a 9-ft. cord, but realistically offers about 6 ft. of comfortable operating room.

What more can we say about this outstanding radio, other than offer its physical attributes? It’s 9.75 in. in length, 7.88 in. wide, 2.38 in. in height and weighs in at 6 lbs. 12.2 oz. 

The Cobra 148 GTL may be “The Trucker’s Choice” – the king of the road – but it also makes an outstanding base unit, with a proper power converter, coax and antenna installation.

So, let’s have some fun. Which golfers on the PGA Tour do you think use CB radios? I would think guys like John Daly (in his RV) and Boo Weekley (an avid hunter and outdoorsman) would fit the CB image. But don’t fool yourself: despite the fact mobile communications are dominated by laptops, Bluetooth, the Blackberry and cell phones, there is most definitely still a need for CB Radio amongst the general population. I just think back to the recent pileup on Highway 401 during winter weather conditions when motorists could simply pick up their CB microphone and get instant information from drivers who warned them of a treacherous highway ahead.

CB Radio is still the people’s mode of communication. For more information on the Cobra 148 GTL and all of Cobra’s products, visit the company web site at www.cobra.com.