Cobra 2000 GTL 2000 CB Radio 3D model

Cobra 2000 GTL 2000 CB Radio

Process:All parts are built with combined 3d tools like Bryce, Vue and Daz Studio. Then I transferred all parts in OBJ and put the model together in Daz Studio. The textures are made in Photoshop and then transferred to all parts in Daz Studio.

Please note: The model is not suitable for 3D printing!

About:Many people ask why this radio is so popular and one of the big reasons has to be the plethora of features. Yes – I said plethora,…..this radio is overflowing with cool knobs and switches.

It has all the standards – Dynamike Plus, Volume, Squelch, RF Gain, SWR Control, Voice Lock (Fine/Coarse), Mode Switch (LSB, USB, AM), Channel Selector, ANL, NB, PA.

But it’s the extras on this radio that really make it stand out. It has a tone control adjustment so that you can lower or raise the pitch of the incoming signal, this is a great feature if someone you are talking to has a high scratchy voice or even if the incoming signals have a lot of high pitch static in the background.

This radio also has a speaker switch – it allows you to use one speaker, two speakers, or the 2nd speaker. In most cases if you only have one speaker this feature isn’t real handy, but I do know a number of people that have both a stock Cobra 2000 GTL speaker and a special noise canceling speaker hooked up at the same time to their radios. In this manner you could use both speakers or use just the noise canceling speaker on days where you need to cut out some of the high pitch fuzz.

The Cobra 2000 GTL also has a SWR/SWR CAL/ MOD switch which makes use of the right most meter (did I mention this radio has two meters…another great feature!). This switch allows you to either check your SWR or see your modulation %. The left meter is a signal / RF output power meter.

And the last big feature I’d like to mention is also one of the reasons this radio is so sought after: the frequency counter/clock.

The Cobra 2000 GTL unlike so many other base stations produced around the same period came standard with a 6 digital frequency counter / clock combo. The frequency counter on this radio really adds a nice touch both in looks and function.

In addition to the clock / frequency counter – the clock function also allowed for an Alarm function as well as a radio power on function that allows you to set a time upon which the radio will power on.

The three buttons on the right side of the clock display are for setting the time.

The Cobra 2000 GTL isn’t known to be a powerhouse, but it is famous for its amazing receive. These radios have a super quiet receive that can picks out those far off stations. Until you’ve tried one it’s really hard to understand how nice they are to listen to. In my area we have a lot of ambient static and with the ANL and NB on this radio is very quiet. I can adjust the tone control down a bit and the background static becomes nothing more than a mellow buzz. Very easy on the ears. This radio has a dual conversion receiver in it.

On AM this radio will deadkey around 4 watts and swing upwards to 8 -10 watts (this is with the limiter intact and no mods). Once modded many people will see these radios swinging 15-18 watts on AM and 20 watts on SSB. These radios match up very well with a solid desk mike such as a D-104 or Turner +3.

Audio is loud and clear without being overmodulated and you don’t need to do much to make these radios talk well.

As far as setting up these radio for talking, if you have a mint untuned radio I’d just turn up the modulation pot a bit and set the ALC for some good SSB swing. Add the desk mike and you’ll have a fine talking radio. If you need more watts – don’t try to squeeze it out of the radio, just lower the AM deadkey of the radio to around 2 watts and add a small amplifier.

Now that being said….if you have a Cobra 2000 GTL in less than stellar condition and you’re going to be doing some mods to it – there is some fun stuff you can do. Removing the limiter (while not recommended with most radios) can be done in this radio (much like on the Uniden Madison) without any serious problems as long as you keep the modulation level in check with the mic gain control. There are a whole string of mods you can do – I’ll list some links at the end of this article.

To put the performance of this radio in perspective – lately I had been running a RCI-2950DX and a General Longstreet as my SSB radios on the base using my Turner +3 microphone on both. I hooked up the Cobra 2000 with the Turner +3 and got a radio check from my good friend about 45 miles away and he said that although I dropped from 3 S units to 1 S unit, the radio sounded just like my two exports (both of which sound very good on SSB!). He really couldn’t tell much difference.

With some of the modulation mods this radio can be loud and proud on AM as well but in most cases it still won’t have the same AM sound as a Galaxy, General Lee or other audio monsters, although I have heard one or two that were set up by techs in the know and they could definitely hold their own.