The good folks at "Movin On" Electronics (Exit 99) I-75 sell Cobra radios, but they don't recommend the Night Watch.
They have seen an increase in drivers stopping by who are experiencing problems with that radio.
A tuned Uniden is a less expensive, and I believe it to be a more durable radio. Years ago, Uniden manufactured the Cobra line.
REPRINT:
Back in the late 1980s, rumors were floating around that Uniden told Cobra that they would have to find a new manufacturer for their CB radio line. First came the Plus line of CBs. They were all Korean made low cost AM radios and sold through mass merchants as well as dealers. These radios performed OK but meter & channel display burnouts were common. I was waiting for a replacement sideband unit, but it never happened. I assume the Korean manufacturer wouldn't or couldn't design a SSB radio.
After a few years I gave up looking for new Cobras to emerge. I figured that Cobra and Uniden came to a new agreement. If they did, it didn't last. Suddenly without warning dealers across the country were receiving Cobra 148 GTL radios that were imprinted Made In The Malaysia.
They even copied the label Made In The Philippines replacing Philippines with Malaysia. It shows they were in clone mode by not omitting the word "The" before Malaysia.
Uniden no longer makes Cobra CBs. Cobra has Ranger Communications Inc. (RCI) cloning the GTL mobiles and have dropped the 142 GTL base. The radios look exactly as the Uniden made originals on the outside but as with any clone there is something lost in the translation.
Inside the component layout is identical but the Uniden made parts such as the filters and ICs are replaced with RCI or 3rd party replacements. The transmitters put out about the same as the originals but the receivers seem a little noisier and less selective.
