LOOK!!! IT'S A BABYCOBRA!!!

Guess what Owen bought himself for Ava? A baby Cobra 19 Mini!

Walmart Run

My dual-band QYT radio is most likely going to become my base station for 2m/70cm. Since I took it out of my car, I needed to put another radio in. With the PRO500D still acting up and my other radios being nothing more than parts at this point (save for the 13-857 and the 13-867...stay tuned), I just bit the bullet and took the chance on a new radio - The Cobra 19 Mini.

Walmart and 99% of most stores sell this model for around $80. Plus a Walmart Metra 28" starter antenna, that drew up my final car CB setup to a little over $100. Not bad for just starting out, and I know a lot of you would probably recommend a Cobra 29. Love those radios, but $$$ is a thing.

What's so unique about this radio? How about a form factor of 4" x 4" x 1"? Yep - 16 square inches. Only 16. And you truly can put this in the palm of your hand too, which makes it easy to put anywhere. Cobra was also nice enough to throw in a direct-to-battery DC connector as well as a cigarette lighter connector! Thank you guys and gals at Cobra!

Features

This isn't your average Cobra 19 from decades past. This is PACKED with loads of features - AM/FM mode, instant Channel 9/19, manual and auto squelch, and even several different roger beep options! Oh you should have seen the look on my face when I heard this had roger beep on it. Sorry but I am one of those guys :)

What really stands out about this radio, as I've mentioned before, is the form factor. Only 16 square inches and 4 full watts. How do they do it??? Unfortunately that's the blessing curse of SMD components - no fixing this radio unless you need to repair the driver or final.

This also has an external speaker jack that I will be taking advantage of. I've got a $12 external speaker that will sit under the front bench seat to fill the cabin with all sorts of CB chatter. According to reviews, even just using the stock speaker provides more than enough sound, but who doesn't want the full trucking experience???

Just kidding...I drive a Toyota Avalon. I'm no trucker by any means lol.

Mounting the Radio

Everyone has been telling me that I need to just drill holes in my upholstery and plastic. Luckily I'm not dumb enough to do that. Plus I CRINGE at the thought of destroying my car's interior. Leave that plastic alone. >:(

I tried mounting the KT8900 with everything - double-sided tape, Velcro, anything. It sucked. Whenever the car heated up on a nice crispy 100 degree day, my radio would fall to the floor. I guess this only works on certain surfaces.

Now...for another $12 ($20 if you get premium grade, I guess), you can purchase what are called "sawtooth mounts." These mounts are great and perfect for my vehicle as I have a bench seat in the front. The mounts look a bit like this:

That's it. All there is to it.

The science behind it is that the teeth "grip" into your carpet through the weight of the radio and its equipment. It should stay in place if you take curbs, accelerate, etc. You could use this as a desk mount as well. I bought a pair of these above for the Cobra 19. These will work on radios as large as the Cobra 148GTL or Galaxy series radios all the way down to the Cobra 19 Mini. And you can also put accessories on the top or bottom of the radio such as an external SWR meter or VHF/UHF scanner!

The speaker I had mentioned earlier will be ran facing the rear seats. It's going to be fastened below the front bench seats. How? I don't know. But I'll find a way. The Avalon has a spacious interior with some kick-butt acoustics. Trust me, listening to the radio or your favorite music in my car is insane! I'm sure the warm rich sound of CB chatter would be no less surreal.

I'm also concerned with security, but with my mounting solution this shouldn't be an issue. The Avalon's center dash is set up a bit over the floor, so my CB should be well-hidden, out of sight really if I cover it. I need to get my windows tinted now both for heat and security...

Overall Impression and Review

I'm thoroughly pleased with this radio. I'm glad that I purchased it and I'm sure that it will be out of sight, out of mind. It's not big and gaudy like a Galaxy or Cobra 29, but it functions the exact same, albeit with some perks.

The only issue I have with this radio is that it lacks a built-in NOAA weather radio. Most Chinese CBs that are these size have them built in. It's not much of a big deal but it'd kind of be nice to have. Looks like the Baofeng's going to have to come along for the ride too. Or I'll buy a secondhand Bearcat scanner off of eBay :)

But for the price point of $75 and a fit-anywhere radio, hey...I'm not going to complain.