Cobra 148 gtl st receive volume is very quiet

I have a 148 GTL Sound Tracker and that's been peaked and tuned out in my car. The stock speaker is very quiet compared to my other radios, so I soldered an external speaker onto the internal speakers terminals, and it is beyond loud. The guy I bought the radio from said the external speaker jack didn't work right, so maybe he experienced the same issue as you? I will look inside mine when I can here later today and see if R131 is cut on mine too, and get back to you.

 

Well, after I went out and installed my new antenna, and went to set my 148 back up and found it has been tampered with and isn't in running condition at the moment. BUT, I did look, and yes my R131 has been clipped. After doing some research, it appears to me that R131 is there to limit modulation, but I find conflicting stories(As with almost everything else CB related) about it being clipped on a radio with sound tracker. Is TR24 clipped as well? It is often removed as well to remove the modulation limit. I made a call to a cb shop, and I was told that unless you're running an amp, R131 shouldn't cause any problems, but if you are having trouble being understood that could be the cause. Back to the volume issue, I would almost bet on it being caused by your volume/squelch knob.

 

It's not "supposed" to be, but many that want to remove the modulation limit remove both R131 and TR24. If you plan on replacing R131, it would make sense to be sure TR24 is in working order as well.