Need some advice

I wouldn't. Was it stored indoors in a climate controlled area ()like a closet in your house? Without drastic temperature changes there should be no problem. Sometimes electrolytic caps can "dry out" since they may have an amount of oil in them, but for the most part if it was kept in a fairly constant and moderate temperature you should be good to go.

The only other concern would be was it dropped or banged around a lot? Even the new PLL rigs will have a crystal to oscillate the frequencies. They can crack and/or cause you to go off frequency if they are substantially dropped or knocked around. But most require a pretty hefty bang to fail.

For a quick test... Hook the radio up to a cigarette lighter (aka auxiliary) plug. Then giver her a test. No outlet in your vehicle? (some newer models may not) Go on over to your local .99 cent store and see if you can find some alligator clips or even better some battery clips. Radio Shack will have em but will cost more. Use 12 gauge or thicker wire to hookup to battery and get a radio check.

The 29's are a pretty good radio, especially the older ones.

 

And to add to what's been said, get a mag mount antenna like a Wilson 1000, put it on the roof of your car, sit by the interstate and holler for radio checks....if you get a "it's ah werkin thar drivah"....then you know you're good.

Or have a CB shop check it out, if you don't mind paying them

 

There's a good chance the CB is still good as long as it's been kept in storage. I say then hook it up and let it go, and if it fails then spring for another radio

 

Install the old one and pray it works.

 

Oh God really guys?

To the OP, take the radio and use it. nothing goes bad in 15 years unless it was on the bottom of the ocean, if it was 40 years old, maybe but I wouldn't worry about it.

If you just want to test it to see if it receives, then take it out to your car with a length of wire with an exposed end on it (any wire will work just strip one end of it) and hook the radio up to the battery (remember make sure it is fused and the red goes to the positive and black to negative), turn it on, switch to channel 19 and stick the stripped end into the center of the antenna socket, if you hear people speaking, it is receiving.

Transmit testing you will need an antenna.

 

Not true with electronics. Values drift over time, and the radio will go out of alignment over time even if it's sitting in its original unopened box. However, it's not like a CB will explode or anything; it just won't work as well.

My guess is that it could use a professional realignment; not a "tweak and peak" hatchet job.

 

It's somewhere in between what's been said. Kept in a climate controlled environment, all should be well. Electrolytic capacitors might dry out, or leak if faulty. That could cause drift or other problems. However an alignment alone will NOT fix this for good. You will at minimum need to identify and replace the bad capacitors. Many opt to "re-cap" the whole radio. This can solve a bunch of problems.

Disc capacitors, resistors, transistors and diodes are pretty much unaffected by storage. Most solid state rigs do generate heat anywhere near what the old tube rigs did. In my experience, the old tube equipment was more prone to electrolytic capacitor failure. I believe this is due to the heat they generate while operating.

Of course temperature extremes while store can cause problems. Distortion of transistors, cracking of glass diodes and more electrolytic capacitor failures are common. Crystal can crack. You would be surprised at the number of radios I have seen stored in unheated sheds that worked anyway.

The point is radios don't just go off frequency. There has to be a reason. If you avoid theses causes your radio shouls be fine.

Hey Goatman, be sure to l;et us know how you make out.

 

I bought my Cobra 29 LTD in 1997, had it Modded (2 Watt dead key, 8 Watt swing), and I run it with Palomar Elite 250. It still works great. Lookin' to get a better antenna though (Wilson 5000 preferably).