Cobra 19 MINI Recreational CB Radio - 40 Channels, Travel Essentials, Time Out Timer, VOX, Auto Squelch, Auto Power, Instant Channel 9/19, 4-Watt Output, Easy to Operate, Black

Its in theory a nice radio with a mic or the option to use hands-free which is not bad when driving. Youll need to buy a fair amount of equipment in order to get this to work correctly, so be sure to look at whats included, what you already have, what you want to do with it/where you want to mount it, and be sure that itll meet your needs before spending the money. I think there are better solutions out there for the price, but if youre integrating this into an existing set-up or replacing a radio, it could be a viable option.

Broke after 2mo from internal. No response on exchange when I asked for 1

Cobra has always been a good name in car electronics. You will need to use an antenna with this, and it can be plugged into the cigarette lighter, although I think its not recommended. To hook it up that way. I recommend my friend, breaker, breaker 19. Thank you. God bless you. May the rest of your life be the best of your life. OZ

Installed this unit in a vehicle of mine and gave it a good source of power and hooked up my antenna and not 10 seconds later the unit shuts off and won’t turn back on. extremely disappointed.

t’s small, but powerful enough to not notice! Setup and installation were a breeze. The function to change the channel or adjust the volume is smooth. I personally move it around from vehicle to vehicle, is it’s very easy to deploy and takedown. Overall, I do recommend it!

It was nice to open up the box and see this compact CB-- my first impression was -- Its a Cobra-- the top name in CBs back in the old days. I really liked the compact size-- it was easy to find a place to mount it and-- it wasnt so large that you could see it from outside the car. My old CB (in my other car, a 1973 Chevy) and I traveled through day and night - finding like-minded users thru the airwaves on empty highways and was a great 2 am listen-to when I was camping in my car -- the chatter at all hours of the day and night was a wonderful companion. Using this Cobra brought back these great memories from 40 years ago....but... the good old days of CB usage are gone-- I found very few other users in my area. This model is sparse-- fewer buttons, more advanced but it felt a little less user-friendly in that I had more bells and whistles on my old CB. However, Cobra has made yet another good product, in keeping with its good name, the price is ok -- and Im glad this maker is continuing the legend.

I ordered this CB radio for camping use: road reports are helpful, and the radio can provide emergency communications in areas without cell towers. This compact CB radio is about the size of a margarine box, and it provides easy-to-use full functionality. The radio main controls are an ON / OFF / volume knob, a push button that cycles channel 9 / channel 19 / selected channel, and a hand microphone with PTT switch plus UP / DOWN buttons for selecting channels. The package includes a mounting bracket, a microphone bracket, necessary mounting hardware, and a terse Quick Start Guide (that includes a URL to download the full user manual). The radio has an internal speaker plus a 3.5 mm rear socket to connect an external speaker. The (not included) CB antenna connects to an SO-239 rear socket, and hardwired power leads (with an inline fuse) extend from the radio rear. I terminated the power leads in a (ASIN B08SM6GHMH not included) clip-on DC power standard connector, allowing me to power the radio from a bench power supply or to use the radio in multiple vehicles. Between camping trips the CB radio and a compact magnetic mount antenna (ASIN B097R9HY22 not included) wait in my bugout bag.

Installed this in place of the original radio on my 1971 Volkswagen Beetle with a custom made mount - this guy is pretty tiny and would imagine it is more meant for vehicles with little to no space under the dash or near the buckle area of a seat. The speaker is bottom mounted and does provide clear enough sound from others where you can hear them over the noise of a rattly old engine. No complaints from others over the radio and asking for a quality check I received a loud-n-clear so I imagine the budget microphone is fine enough for getting the word out. I was surprised since I was worried that the poor electrical system in my vehicle would really hurt the performance of the radio, but clearly not. This is my first personal CB Radio, having only used friends, and from a control perspective, it seems to work fine enough connected.

To be fair and honest, Im a ham radio operator. I really prefer having 20 watts or 50 watts in the car to get out past the trees. However, I also want to have the backup of a CB. This one is it. Its a nice little unit that works really well. It receives nicely. Speaker is good and loud. Transmission seems to be good and I got good signal reports out on the highway. I couldnt reach the highway from the house (its about 2 miles), but maybe with a better antenna than the one on the car, it could. Setup is easy. Operation is easy & clear. Controls made sense. Everything went together easily. Great little radio.

Personally, I go WAY back with CB radio, when it was in its heyday around 1974. My first rig was a home base consisting of the classic Lafayette Comstat 25B (vacuum tubes!), a Turner Plus-Three desk microphone, along with a 20’ omnidirectional antenna on the roof of my two-story house. It was a great set-up and over those years I met so many wonderful people, some of which I still keep in contact with to this very day. Cobra has always been a great brand in the CB arena, and this unit is no exception. Though it’s so tiny, they’ve really packed a ton of function into it: - Full 4 watts of transmission power, the maximum allowable by the FCC. - Dedicated button to instantly toggle between channel 9 (emergency) and 19 (a trucker favorite). - Good mic with thick coiled wire. A nice touch there are two additional buttons on top, to quickly switch between channels. - VOX capability, so you never need to take your hands off the steering wheel. - Automatic and manual squelch. - Adjustable RF gain. - S/RF meter. - Accommodates an external speaker. - And more! Its antenna jack is a standard S0239, which accepts a PL259 connector. I purchased a 20” center-loaded magnetic roof antenna and amazingly even within the city I can easily get a good 5 miles of transmission distance out of it across all channels I’ve tried, with no SWR antenna tuning required. However, where a CB really shines these days is on the highway, since they remain popular with truckers who routinely transmit invaluable information such as traffic accidents and speed traps. Also, on those open roads my transmission distance at least doubles, since there are far less obstructions. Power connection is bare wire, but I simply attached that to a cigarette lighter adapter using heat shrink butt terminals so it can be stored in the trunk when not in use. For permanent installations, you can of course use any available 12V power source within your vehicle. If you decide to go that route, all required mounting hardware is supplied, including a microphone bracket. As far as documentation, only a “quick start” guide is included which may not be detailed enough for beginners. That said, be aware that you can download the complete owner’s manual at the Cobra web site within their “Support” section, in three different languages. There’s also a page there with Basics, Tech Tips, Troubleshooting, and FAQs. Whether you’re just curious about the world of CB or an experienced enthusiast, this radio certainly won’t disappoint, especially at this modest asking price.