Cobra 19 Ultra 6 CB radio

The Cobra 19 Ultra 6 appears similar to (but has different firmware from) radios like

The importance of the firmware difference is that the Cobra 19 Ultra 6 has a more limited feature set, and jumpering either of the white outlined jumper holes that the Anytone or Albrecht radios use for expansion next to the CPU has no effect on the Cobra 19 Ultra 6. Users should instead consider the Radioddity CS-47 over the Cobra 19 Ultra 6 for expandibility and key features including NRC noise reduction and CTCSS / DCS coded squelch that the Cobra 19 Ultra 6 lacks.

From practical in-vehicle use, the speaker is adequately loud. Both AM and FM mode work well on transmit and receive. There is no “dual watch” channel capability, but this may not be a requirement for many users.

RF Gain is essential on any CB radio and the RF gain adjustment range of the Cobra 19 Ultra 6 is good. Typically RF gain between 24 and 39 is useful.

The radio appears to use audio compandoring, which helps improve apparent audio SNR. The radio has a traditional signal squelch as well as “auto” noise squelch. The general problem with noise squelch across CB radios is that overmodulated AM signals can close the squelch regardless of how strong the signal is.

Setting the RF Gain and Squelch for any AM CB radio is best done by:

  1. open the squelch – static is heard.
  2. set the RF Gain so that faint static and/or skip signals are heard.
  3. set the signal squelch just until closed.

Channel Scan

On firmware version 1.1, entering scan mode is different than the user manual states. To enter channel scan, press and hold the microphone “up” or “down” button until the radio goes once through all 40 channels, then the radio beeps and release the button. The radio then scans all 40 channels repeatedly. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a way to skip channels in scan mode. This means the radio will often stop on channels 6, 11, etc. with high power stations that may not be what the user wants to listen to.