CBS-1000 REVIEW

Cherokee made a name for itself by offering multi-featured radios at a low price and the CBS-1000 is no exception. If you compare this to the Cobra 2010 you will find little difference in either cosmetics, or features - but a much lower price!

FEATURES:

Large dual meters (analog)

AM-SSB modes (LSB/USB)

Channel No. Display AND Digital Frequency readout

Volume

Squelch

Coarse and fine clarifier

Mic and RF gain controls

PA

SWR metering

Out-of-the-box

I got the radio hooked up immediately and had no problems with it out of the box. Transmit audio reports were "Fair" with several folks mentioning "Muddled" audio. I fixed this with an after market microphone.

Reception was clear, but I couldn't take the tinny sound of the small internal speaker (Many mobile rigs sound better) - so I added an after market external speaker. Sounded great afterwards.

Adjacent channel rejection was on par with many of today's radios (fair), so if you're in a very congested CB population, expect bleedover and front-end overload. If you don't live near the highway, or have any close CB neighbors, don't worry about it.

I like the idea of a coarse and fine clarifier, and these worked just fine.

Expect about 3.5-4 watts on AM and about 12watts SSB (normal) but don't try to "peak" it up too much or you'll have it in the shop.

FINAL WORDS:

I'm not a big fan of small base station radios, but if I had a choice between the 2010 and the CBS-1000, I'd go with the Cherokee. I may be wrong, but they seem to be made by the same factory overseas, and you can save money by buying the CBS-1000. Copper Electronics sells a knock-off of this called the "Tomahawk", which sells for even less. I haven't had a first hand look at this one though.

The Frequency readout is nice, especially if you illegally do the extra channel modification (you'll know where the heck you're at), but if I had a couple hundred bux to spend on a base station, I think I'd look for a used Uniden Madison, or new Uniden Washington. They are a little older technology but solid as a rock. IMHO, there isn't much else on the market that can compare to their reliability.

Happy Radioing, whatever you buy -

Woody