Cobra 29 Meter Stopped Working

3/29/19 Cobra 29 Meter Stopped Working

 

Check connections, try a different mic, etc.

 

Has the radio been worked on by anyone? There's a few idiots out there that ignore the service manual and calibrate for S9 at -73 dBm or 50.00 uV when the service manual calls for -67 dBm or 100 uV. If the meter was calibrated incorrectly it would cause that needle to Slam against the right side of the meter even when a weak signal is detected and that would cause premature failure of the meter, so replacing the meter won't solve the problem until it's recalibrated correctly according to what the service manual calls for as opposed to what an egotistical technician thinks it should be.

 

I've had 2 29s that had the meter just randomly stop working after a couple months. The meter is junk anyway, just use an external and check it every couple of weeks.

 

The radio has never been worked on. When I pick up the radio and shake it the needle moves a little so it doesn't appear to be physically stuck. It worked off and on for a while, now it's not working. It might start working again.

 

Try this.

 

Chances are good its simply a bad meter. Its easy enough to check for a tech. Just hook up the fluke

 

Wow.

Some of you need to learn how to troubleshoot without being there. exOTR, got some of it right but come on, rabbi ... explaining how it is calibrated?

There were two questions that needed to be asked, but you assume from the op's single line that it is a bad meter.

1 - has anything changed from the last time it was working?

2 - do you hear people and do people hear you?

A broken meter could mean a broken receive.

When the op said it worked on and off, is that just the meter or the entire radio.

 

You need new reading glasses. The OP said the needle does move some when he shakes the radio, so it isn’t stuck. Possibly a bad or cold solder joint could be the problem. I doubt it had anything to do with the radios alignment.

 

Suggesting to hook up a Fluke meter across the existing meter is probably the easy way to test it, Always go with the easiest first. Experience also dictates where to start. Odds are is that it is probably a bad meter maybe not would know as soon as my test leads clip on. Also if it died on tx and rx both tends to indicate the meter itself .

I'm not experienced I was only a tech for Motorola at a National Service Center for 14 years.