Cobra 19 Ultra III & Little Wilson Cross Country Experience

**FoolishOne** · 10-03-2008, 02:56 PM

Well, I’ve had this cheap CB radio, the Cobra 19 Ultra III from Wal-Mart, for about a month and a half now. Followed the suggestions of people on here and went with the Little Wilson 36” whip. I had no idea what to expect from this thing. The antenna was $39.99 and the radio was $32.99. I literally threw the Wil up on the center of the PT Cruiser, shut the door on the wire, screwed thing into the front of the CB, turned it on, and tuned to channel 19.

I used it probably a handful of times before I left this past Saturday, Sept. 27. I could hear truckers talking to each other and that was cool, but nothing like AirMoore said, about bears being called out dozens of miles ahead of time. I knew I could get stuff like that, because I was getting about 5-7 miles of range in the central MI environment (kinda flat, but didn’t really seem optimal in CB worlds.), but they just didn’t seem to be calling them out at all.

(We left from Flint, MI and traveling to English, IN on Saturday, and there was really nothing to comment on. The needle never dropped below 85….)

Then came D-day, Sunday, Sept. 28, a day that will go down in history.

(Food for thought: look at the dates, this is quota time…and I knew it)
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Left about 8am EST from English (fun tid-bits about this at the end), and got into Louisville, KY probably about 9:30-10:00am. Let me tell you guys, it was a massacre. Massacre is a HUGE understatement. There is not a word in any language that I know that even remotely conveys amount of traffic enforcement that took place in the course of about 25-30 miles. The CB was like a group of 9th grade girls at a sleepover, it NEVER ONCE stopped at all on the 25-30 miles through Louisville. Truckers were interrupting other truckers’ bear reports to report more. It was getting hard to follow. There were bears in plain white wrappers, plain brown wrappers, with customers, without customers, left shoulder, right shoulder, median, blacked out Chargers, traveling with traffic at the 160, etc, for 25+ miles. It was ridiculous, to say the least.

The coolest thing I saw in a while was….

I was using this Metro Police car as a rabbit, clearing the way, for about 5 miles before he exited. While after following him for a few miles (doing about 80-85), he turned on this RADAR gun, Ka. Well, I let off the gas and was cruising at about 70 in the left hand lane still following him, with him pulling away. The Ka bogey is getting stronger ever so slowly. Well, he gets about 15 car lengths in front of me, and I lose him behind a curve. Doing my 70, I come ‘flying’ around the curve to find a PERFECTLY placed blacked out Charger sitting in the left shoulder, COMPLETELY hidden by the curve and concrete barrier, running a full blown CO rear antenna. I swear I didn’t see him until I was about 2 car lengths off his back bumper. In the end, he didn’t give me a second look as I strolled by him at 70 (in a 60?).

When we finally got through the heart of it, south of the city, on the other side (northbound travel), over the course of at MAX a half a mile, 4 CV’s with customers, at the same time, all with the blues on, and you know what…not a single solitary sticker, antenna, or light on the outside of any of them. (I had already known about this ‘bunch’ for a while because of the CB, but I didn’t know what direction nor MM.)

After a bunch of time, and about half a dozen bears later, we make it into TN. This is really were the CB strut its stuff. Doing my 85, at MM 182, I get a bear report of a pair of marked LEO SUV’s sitting at the top of hit at MM 171. I nearly peed myself with excitement. About 4-5 minutes later, I confirmed the 2 SUV’s sitting at the top of the hill. Let me tell you, there is NOTHING like being at MM 172.1, lifting your foot off of the gas, and coasting to PSL, only to pass 2 LEO’s sitting at the top of the next hill.

That was pretty much it as there was not a single LEO in AR, and in TX we switched cars, and I had to leave the CB in the PT

I have become a true believer of the CB and would like to thank my master, AirMoore, and grand-master, Volvo, for all of the information on here.

Let me tell you that the video of Volvo(AirMoore?) running into the NYSP on the Thruway (the one with the swear word at the end) is true. At the beginning he says something like “I just got a report of a bear at MM xx, which is coming up…”, well, its completely true, and it does really happen like that.

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1. Along I-64 East there is a 14 mile long single lane, construction zone where its 55mph. I was doing 55, keeping with traffic and about half way in I get a bear report at MM xxx, facing eastbound. I didn’t know where that MM was so I just kept it in the back of my mind. This was my first authentic bear report, and I was thrilled to see what it was. Well sure enough, right at the end of the construction zone, there was a state trooper running some RADAR. The V1 started chirping about 1 minute from him, but I had already known about him for about 8 minutes, and sure enough the MM matched.

2. My first conversation with the CB took place on I-64 east. About 2 miles after the construction zone, after flying by a trucker, I get a call on the CB… “PT, you got it on?”……. “PT, with Texas plates, you got it on?” As I scramble for the mic, I thought I was going to get reamed out about this and that, and being a speeding 4-wheeler, milking the truckers, yada, yada, yada. Nope. He just wanted to know what it was like in TX after Ike. I said I didn’t know, as I was in MI for the last 3 months. His uncle said it was bad, and gas prices were high. I also thanked him and everybody else for the bear at the end of the construction zone.

It was a nice little conversation. My fiancé made fun of me for talking, and at the end was like “A friend made, friend lost.”, but that’s sort of the nature of CBing. Why not be friendly, you’re not going to ‘know’ them for long? I spoke to him for probably about 3 miles.

I was nervous because I hadn’t had my CB tuned. I used the cheesy SWR meter on the Cobra and the instructions on the Little Wilson to get an SWR of 2 on 1 and 40 (which could be 2.0/2.9 but I don’t know, the resolution wasn’t that good), but I didn’t know just how much damage I could do. He heard everything I said, and didn’t say anything about the clarity, so I’m assuming it was atleast listenable.

**duhtroll** · 10-03-2008, 08:51 PM

This is the exact same setup I have - also didn't "install" the antenna - just slapped it on the trunk, closed the door on the wire and took off. Mine worked very well when traveling about IA. Though I didn't get any calls, since I'm driving an old police cruiser.

It was fun to listen though.

**RoadWarrior86** · 10-03-2008, 10:38 PM

I am actually thinking about getting the same cb that I saw today at walmart. Its cheap to, so know I know it works good. BUt had a quesion, do i really need an antenna

**DeadReb245** · 10-04-2008, 05:20 AM

Originally Posted by FoolishOne

My first conversation with the CB took place on I-64 east. About 2 miles after the construction zone, after flying by a trucker, I get a call on the CB… “PT, you got it on?”……. “PT, with Texas plates, you got it on?” As I scramble for the mic, I thought I was going to get reamed out about this and that, and being a speeding 4-wheeler, milking the truckers, yada, yada, yada. Nope. He just wanted to know what it was like in TX after Ike.

It happens like this all of the time. I have had several random radio convos start out like this. "How about that little green 4 wheeler, you from around here?" I've found the trucker that was asking for directions and pointed out my window at stop lights telling him where to go since he was behind me and I knew it. I've had conversations on there last for miles, on topics ranging from my dating life, my first speeding ticket, child molesters, and politics. One time I was on I-74 headed west in Illinois, which has a 55 MPH truck speed limit. One guy I was talking to and passed since I could safely go 70 asked me to holler back if I saw anything and said he was going to run a little faster than usual. It's a fun thing to have on road trips and I sure would never leave home without it.

Originally Posted by FoolishOne

I was nervous because I hadn’t had my CB tuned. I used the cheesy SWR meter on the Cobra and the instructions on the Little Wilson to get an SWR of 2 on 1 and 40 (which could be 2.0/2.9 but I don’t know, the resolution wasn’t that good), but I didn’t know just how much damage I could do. He heard everything I said, and didn’t say anything about the clarity, so I’m assuming it was atleast listenable.

If you're SWR is 2.9, I would not talk on it much until you got it lowered. If it's 2.0, you're SAFE, although 1.5 and lower is usually what you should shoot for.

**DeadReb245** · 10-04-2008, 05:21 AM

Originally Posted by RoadWarrior86

BUt had a quesion, do i really need an antenna

Without one, you're wasting your time.

**AirMoore** · 10-04-2008, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by DeadReb245

Without one, you're wasting your time.

x2, Without (any) antenna you will not be able to transmit nor receive and it will also 'blow-out' the finals in your radio after any real transmitting... aka ruin it. You NEED to have an antenna hooked to your CB.

You should also tune the SWR on it for maximum performance, and 'safe' operation.

**AirMoore** · 10-04-2008, 01:24 PM

FoolishOne:

First off: thank you for the kind words of appreciation!

That is exactly what a lot of this forum is all about: The most effective police countermeasures we can get... and helping to spread that knowledge to others.

I really am glad the CB worked so effectively for you (though I am by no means surprised by this! I only tell people its an effective countermeasure because I feel it is!). When I first started reading this: I admittedly thought you were displeased and did not work as I had said it (normally) does for me... but after continuing to read it soon became apparent that the CB showed it was worth its weight in gold (and more)... and thats exactly what you can expect of it in the future.

I am glad you were open-minded to this countermeasure and I hope now you see what I and others: VolvoRob, and more) have been saying is nothing but the truth...

I'm glad you now know the feeling of exactly where LEO's are 5,10+ miles in advanced.

I hope you feel it is money well spent, especially because you can see it is a bit more then just a countermeasure (to stave off becoming bored, and also just having a quick well-natured chat with someone). Taking into account the (relatively) low amount of money you spent on this set-up (compared to the V1 persay) I hope you feel that it was worth every penny and more. As I have said (and as you did above): There is nothing like knowing what MM an LEO is miles in advance... no other countermeasure offers the precision and adaptability of a CB.

Granted it does have downfalls as ALL countermeasures do, I hope you see these are FAR outweighed by the benefits of owning a CB.

Again: I really am very thankful that you mention me (among others) with helping you in your decisions, thats what I post on here for.

I do suggest you go to RS and get the $50 SWR meter to tune the antenna if possible: The lower your SWR ratio: The more effective your radio becomes! (In a TX sense especially, though RX is also impacted). Even without it though, I am glad this worked for you... I hope now you can see what a little more tuning (or a little more expensive equipment) can really do... but as you have seen, even some of the cheapest equipment works like no other countermeasure.

I hope you feel its money well spent, and I hope you continue to be part of the CB community out there on the interstates, it benefits everyone!

**Stealth Stalker** · 10-04-2008, 05:09 PM

This thread rocks! LOL@massacre

What I want to know from the OP is, when you started talking, did you automatically change your normal voice and speech pattern, like so many people feel they have to do on the CB, or did you just speak normally?

That always amuses me.

I saw that Cobra 19 for $27.95 at a Love's truck stop a few days ago. That thing is definitely the smartest buy on the market.

**FoolishOne** · 10-05-2008, 08:59 PM

Originally Posted by DeadReb245

If you're SWR is 2.9, I would not talk on it much until you got it lowered. If it's 2.0, you're SAFE, although 1.5 and lower is usually what you should shoot for.

On the Cobra its only integers, so I don't know if its on the top end of 2 or the lower end of 2. All I know is that channel 1 has the 2 block illuminated and channel 40 also has the 2 block illuminated.