Just bought a second-hand cobra 29 LX for $20. It came with a stock mic and an Astatic 636. Radio manufactured July 2011. Stock radio. This is the first stock cobra mic I have that actually works. Sounds good, too. Did some radio checks. Generally very good reports, except one guy who followed up with "checks in the mail…a little scratchy." I was using my Ranger sra mic for that. Put in an Astatic and it sounded warmer through my talkback (I know that's only part of the equation.) My main complaint is the main channel/setting knob. It occasionally gets stuck in the "push" setting and I need to rotate it to get it out. Not a big deal, but it's annoying if I'm doing a lot of the setting adjustments on it. Much cheaper feeling than old-school cobra knobs. All in all an awesome radio!