Cobra S500 external speaker: talkback...

I first read the headline as:

[h=2]Cobra $500 external speaker: talkback...[/h]

 

Can you solder? If so any number of inexpensive mini amp kits can be put right insid the speaker... I believe Radio Shack still sells them or thy can definitely be had on EBay. Only issue is that you will have to run a power lead to the speaker or add a battery holder to power the amp. Kits are usually based on a small amp IC with a few other components. They are often sold as educational kits. I used this solution on a boat many years ago. Note... This will add volume to any sound going to the speaker. I have seen kits with and without adjustable volume.

 

Maybe you don't really understand what talkback is.... You are simply hearing yourself as you sound going out on thew air. The ONLY increasemin talckback would be volume. Placing an amp in the speaker WOULD not effect the audio that goes out over the air. It would only allow you to hear yourself louder in the speaker.

Possibly you have another issue you were not quite clear on?

Once you install the resistor you have talkback... if you can't get enough volume on the speaker, the only way I see is to replace the speaker with an amplified speaker or alternately add an amplifier to the existing speaker....

 

Not sure there's anything you can do with that speaker to make the talkback louder...Unless you want to try and ad some kind of amplifier board...I had one of those Cobra speakers once, and was also less than happy with the talkback...

Not sure...But I know the RF Limited Xtream 2018 Mic has a talkback adjustment on the back of it, using one of these Mic's "Might" help the talkback out to be a little louder...not sure tho, but if your in the market for a new mic anyway, it maybe worth looking into.

 

http://www.cbtricks.com/radios/cobra/index.htm

 

Actually that's not right. The talkback feature is the audio that is going to the final stages of the rf section which modulates the carrier. If you want to hear yourself properlyon the air, then it is a bit more complicated than picking up the audio before the finals.

OK to the OP, the problem is that you can't do much with it. Many CBs ground the PA jack output and I am thinking that the 148 is one that does just that in order to prevent the PA speakers picking up RF. SO... adding an amp wouldn't work but would is a simple mod to add talkback to the radio and the speaker would. Pretty much the red lead acts like a mini antenna with some radios and picks up RF and it goes through the speaker.

Just like many other marketed things, people don't think when they design these things to work, they just wanted them to sell. By the way, did you get an instruction sheet with the speaker? I never did and was told they don't have them but who knows with Cobra.