Cobra 29 WX NW ST 40-Channels Base CB Radio

I spend a lot of time in my truck and needed a way to communicate with others with a minimum of distraction. This radio has several outstanding features that I considered prior to purchasing a radio. Having used CB's for over 40 years, I have owned many brands of radio's and many after market microphones to inhance the modulation of the signal. I also own aviation band VHF radio's that have the NOAA weather alerts and various helmets and headsets that are "Bluetooth" compatible. I desired these features in the radio I was to purchase.
The Cobra 29 WX NW ST has a mic gain to adjust the modulation of the output signal, it incorporates the NOAA weather bands that will provide weather alerts and will do so even when the radio is off. This radio is "Bluetooth" compatible and has an included mike that clips into the sunvisor to allow hand free cell phone operations to include a last number redial.
This is not a small compact unit but is a quality built full featured unit. I do utilize my vehicle at various times around the airfield and this unit allows me to be in cell phone contact with the paging speaker alerting me to incoming calls when I am in areas that cell phones are prohibited.
I haven't found any problems with this radio other than there are a lot of knobs that might intimadate a first time CB radio user. The manual does an excelent job of explaining their functions and using the radio and the various features, the adjustments become second nature.
Another good feature of this radio is built in SWR calibration. The older radio's required the operator to tune the antenna system to the radio using an swr meter and trimming the antenna. This radio has that capability built in and an antenna light to alert you if the antenna exceeds the SWR acceptable limit.
In short, this is an excellent radio if you desire all the "Bells and whistles." If you desire less then I would recommend other Cobra models as they all are quality built CB two way communication radios.

The NW stands for night watch which is front pannel lighting so you can see the controls in the dark. The nightwatch feature on Cobra radioes fails often and is exspensive to get repaired. I own four of these and the illuminated panel does not work on any of them. The WX stands for weather channel and is extreamly useful. If you are in your car and do not have access to a tv or no cell service you can get weather reports instantly with reports like theres A torndo in the area or freezing rain is expected or a blizzard or flooding in an area that you can bypass.I use this feature everyday. You do not have to wait for the news to come on you can just turn on your WX and get an instant report that repeates about every 2 minuits and is updated every 2 hours unless there is severe weather and then is updated constantly. If you want some good advice from en exsperianced user of these radioes here it is. Buey A Uniden pc68Ltw or pc68Elite or pc78Ltw or pc78elite. These Uniden radioes use the same circuit board but they use LED's to light their pannel and they last forever. They will also do more wattage and cost less.

I orginally purchased the radio for the weather band function. That function seems to work very well, if possible I may try a differnet setup for better reception over longer distances. The CB portion seem to send and recieve chatter quite well. To get better distance I may have to get longer antennas. I don't have the Bluetooth portion setup yet, I don't exactly know some of the information that I need for my phone to work with the CB system. Although most of my driveing is during the daylight hours the illuminated display is quite nice in the dark the few times that I have tried it. Over all I would have to say that I have been quite pleased with the radio and would recommend it to other people. I am a member of the local fire department and would recommend that they would get one similar; with the weather band, and probably without the bluetooth; for their emergency vehicles.

Purchased this model CB radio really for one purpose, when traveling with our RV so we could communicated with our in-laws.Previously we were using hand held 2 way radios, which held 4 AAA battery's.We used these to communicate with each other for rest stops and or directions.They worked good but range and battery life was short. The new Cobra 29 NW is the ticket, it has great range but also has national weather reports. The Cobra 29 was easy to install and it also has what Cobra calls NW(night watch), the radio has an illuminated dimmer switch. This is great for night time operational driving,it can be adjusted from bright to dim. Makes viewing of controls at dark a big plus.Range is limited only by which type and length of antenna used.I would recommend this radio to any who need this type of operation.Great product and they have a toll free hot line to help with any issues of installing or use.

Great product easy to install and operate its been 30 years since my last cb radio and forgot how much fun they are especially with the pa system, the weather stations are great also the night watch is a must for us older folks, & with the dimmer switch its adjustable to the brightness desired looking forward to years of good service there are many more out there for more money but I doubt if its a better value than the cobra