Need a good clean, powerful radio

You got one. Check the antenna system first and then see what it does.

 

What kind of antenna do you use? I put a Wilson center loaded whip on mine and made a huge difference from the magnet mount I had.

 

Yep, when you say "Legal" you have the most powerful legal CB radio available... If you want more power, then you can't think "Legal"...

If you want more out of what you have, get a better antenna, or a linear...(linear won't be legal tho)

 

First, if you get good reports on how your mic sounds now, I wouldn't change it. I would buy the astatic noise canceling mic if I needed a new mic. There are a few others that get good reviews but their name escapes me and I haven't used them. Now I'm not sure what you mean by gaudy. But, it doesn't matter what radio you have, if you don't have a good antenna system, you will not be operating at 100%. Unfortunately the optimal antenna for the CB band is a 102" steel whip, or something close to that length. Anything less is a compromise, but there are some excellent "compromises" out there. The Siro antennas are getting good reviews by folks that should know. The Wilson is a good choice, at least the older ones were. I take it you don't think those look gaudy. Your best antenna choice may be dictated by what truck you drive and where you intend to mount your antenna. You currently have a near bullet proof radio that I would hang onto if it was me. A good Cobra mated up to at least a 4.5 long antenna or longer, with a good rf ground and a decent SWR, will do well for you.

A little story: I ran a Cobra 25 on a 88 Pete/grain bucket rig for about 9 years. Two co-phased 4.5 antennas. (co-phased only because the harness was there and it checked out O.K.) I was very pleased with that set up. My brother ran a 29 Cobra with one 4.5ft Francis on a CFI KW and later on a Volvo for Tyson and then a International. Always got lots of compliments and was often accused of running a amp or one of those "big radios." Now I will confess his Cobra was not stock. When he started trucking I took the 29 to my buddy, the radio tech, and said let's fix it up right. So he tuned it up and installed a Toshiba 2SC 1969 final and the appropriate driver. Later little bro ran across a Galaxy 88 cheap and bought it. I took it to my good friend again and he went through it and tuned it all up and aligned it. The 88 has two of the above mentioned finals in it for twice the power. So my brother ran it for awhile and compared the two. He says he couldn't tell any difference in performance and got better reports on the Cobra. Everything the same except the radio. Moral of the story, if you really want to get out and don't need the "extra channels" put your money in a amp and antenna and use the good ol' Cobra!!

Now if you get a good antenna system and everything is operating as it should, and still aren't satisfied, here are a few options: If you know a good tech (and I do as I said above) you can have the 29 modified just a little like I did and it will improve it's performance. If you can run a amp, a little 150 watt amp, or bigger, will give the most bang for your buck, but it will require a little work to install it where it will run safely. Plus you need to have a good tech fix you a Hi/Lo power switch on your radio so you can turn the power down when driving the amp. The only reason to buy one of the export, or illegal CB radios, which are way over priced for what you get, IMHO, is for the extra channels (which aren't legal for CBers to talk on) or for a few other doodads/toys that won't make you talk any better but may annoy the #$%^ out of everybody else. I got more opinions if you want to hear them!

Discloser: I own one Cobra and 3 of those export radios, all the dual final variety. I bought the exports dirt cheap on the used market. Plus, I have a good tech to take them to when something breaks, if I can't fix it myself. And they do seem to break way more often than any Cobra I've ever owned. Usually it is not serious, more often than not just a bad solder joint. But they will fail on you more than the Cobra or Uniden in my experience.

 

Be very careful who you let take the coves off your radio. Many out there make big promises of what they can do. Some will really make the output meter swing far to the right when tested. Trouble is, those "hot" tunes will shorten the life of your radio, plus you will probably be over-modulated and bleeding over on everybody. Sounds like a powerful radio up close, but really isn't. A good, well tuned antenna, as long in length as you can get by with, is your best bet. On today's trucks, that is also a big challenge to achieve and may take some experimentation. You can look at other trucks like yours for ideas. But, I know from talking to the driver's I work with, most don't accurately check their SWR. They slap on the latest antenna, get a radio check a mile away maybe and claim their radio works good when you ask them about it. Don't misunderstand, everyone of my radios has been peaked and tuned for peak performance. Why settle for less? But it must be done by a competent technician, or you can end up with a piece of junk!

 

For me the Ranger mic does way better than the New Astatic or the RK-56..
Road king is no longer owned by Turner and Astatic was bought out a few years ago..
Thy quality has went way down.

I have this mic and use it on 2 different Galaxy radios and a Cobra 29.
It has a cleaner,deeper less tinny sound than the others.

This thing is heavy duty and well made.
CB shops want about 50 around here for them..

Amazon is half price! Look up Ranger SRA 198.

That and a little tuning and maybe a RFX 75 added to the radio it will talk.

ALWAYs new coax in any truck! Most are old or junk!