The Cobra TRANSCEIVER MKV (MK5) was not a Cobra Factory production model. Instead it was a "Concept-Transceiver" literally years ahead of any 10/11 meter radio of it's type. The Transceiver MKV was crafted into creation by a true Genius called John Nugent. John traded under the Business name "JENTEC", short for 'John E. Nugent Technology'. John Nugent lived in a town called Plaistow, located in the east part of London, England. John made only 500* MKV's and today they are VERY rare and good examples almost impossible to find.
The Cobra TRANSCEIVER MKV started out life as a MKII Cobra 148GTL-DX PB010AA/AB chassis.
The Cobra 148 GTL-DX had the PLL stage components removed from the main PB010 PCB. The Channel Selector complete with Channel Indicator LEDs and TX/RX LED were removed. The Channel Indicator LEDs location on the front panel was expanded to house the MKV Frequency Counter PCB see below.
John then designed a 5-Digit Frequency Counter and TX/RX LED PCB and furnished it with a Digital Incremental Encoder for the Channel Selector that has an unrivalled performance and unique feel make it a pleasure to operate. The Digital Incremental Encoder has a very smooth feel to each turn of the control. Unlike the standard 148 Channel Selector with 40 positions the MKV Encoder has 50 thus expanding the tuning range by 25%.
John's next task was making the "Main-Brain" and essentially what made the MKV unique from any other Transceiver. Fully-Digital, several different versions of the "JENTEC COBSCAN PCB" were produced by John Nugent, each PCB was an improvement on the previous version, see below.
The below JENTEC COBSCAN PCB was actually the first PCB made and was only fitted in the Cobra Transceiver MKIIII (MK4), notice the 4Mhz Microprocessor and row of ten variable potentiometers used for alignment.
The next Version of the JENTEC COBSCAN PCB is shown below.
John called this the MKIIII 060489 (MK4) dated 6th April 1989, updated now with an 8Mhz Microprocessor. John also called his Software written into the Microprocessor the "SCAN 50" Series. Several versions of SCAN software were released, SCAN 52, SCAN 58 etc. The below Processor was programmed with the SCAN 58 Software on the 28th Febuary 1991.
Following the success of the two previous versions, John made the final PCB shown below, this is the JENTEC COBSCAN 060393 MKV dated 6th March 1993. This PCB utillised surface mount components SMT, has double-sided print and was a third smaller than the previous designs. The below Processor was programmed on the 10th February 1996.
MKV COBSCAN PCB solder-side below.
The dates written on the Microprocessors were by John Nugent himself. Inside the MKV John also attached an individual Serial number to the Transceivers he modified. The dates and information on the Microprocessors show the development, over time, of the SCAN 5 Series Software. The below 4Mhz Microprocessor is utilising the SCAN 52 version of the software on 11 October 1990.
In only 4 months (October 1990 to Febuary 1991) John had developed the SCAN52 software into the SCAN58 revision and upgraded from a 4Mhz Microprocesor to an 8Mhz Processor. See above & below pics.
SCAN 5 SERIES SOFTWARE
The Holy-Grail of the JENTEC TRANSCEIVER MKV is the SCAN 5 Series Software. The SCAN 5 Series was developed and improved with later revisions 52, 58 etc allowing the Processor to control all the complex tasks associated with the MKV. Below is a screen shot of the actual HEX data from a SCAN 58 MKV 060393 Processor.
FACIAS
The Chrome Bezel from the original 148 was used but John produced a new Transceiver MK4/5 Face Plate and modified the Channel Indicator LED space on the Bezel to incorporate a 5-Digit Frequency Counter with Diffuser in GREEN or RED , (see above/below).
MKV SPEC
The Cobra Transceiver MK5 boasted a host of features, many unavailable to any 10/11 meter Transceiver at the time. Here is the full list of features:
Volume
Squelch
Mic Gain
RF Gain
Variable Power
26-30Mhz using 4 position Band Switch
CW.FM.AM.USB.LSB
1Kc RX/TX Clarifier
Scan Facility, UP/Down, could stop on a busy channel if using squelch
Timed Scan resume
Astatic Teardrop with UP/Down buttons could Scan/Change Frequency UP/Down
10Kc - 1Kc channel steps
Repeater shift
+/- 100Kc Repeater offset
S/RF and Power S-Meter indication
5-Digit Frequency Counter (Red or Green)
TX/RX LED
Big Heatsink on rear panel
Zero-40 watts AM/FM variable
Zero-40 watts SSB
PB010 Cobra Chassis
John Nugent tragically died in 1997, his contribution to CB/Amateur Radio has been incalculable.
*Interestingly, John only modified 148's sent to him personally. John didn't buy 500* MK2 148's and mod them, counter to popular belief. Only operators/148 owners who knew of John and how to contact him, as he didn't advertise, were the lucky few who owned a MKV, purely by word of mouth. Interesting most MKV's we service are the 010AA chassis.
John later sold MKV "JENTEC COBSCAN Kits" so you could 'make your own MKV'.
Cobraworxshopz.com Technicians have Mastered the "JENTEC COBSCAN" Transceivers made by John. We pride ourselves in having the MKV "BluePrinted" and with most parts in stock, we can repair, maintain and service the MKV completely. One example, our famous 21Mhz mod shown below.
Cobraworxshopz.com Technicians offer several Special Mods ONLY available for the MK4/5 Transceivers. We also have the Full Cobra Transceiver MKV operating manual and technical guide, written by John Nugent himself, a must for any owner or Radio collector, avaliable to purchase from Cobraworxshopz now! Please call or email to get yourself a copy.
Cobraworxshopz.com are often asked three questions regarding the MKV. Firstly do we have any for sale, secondly can we 'make' a MKV and thirdly how much money are they worth???
We do on occasions have MKV's for sale, not our own but customers MKV's who are willing to part with their highly sought after Transceiver. These will be advertised on our website under the 'For Sale' tab or in our Ebay shop.
Transforming a COBRA 148 GTL-DX into a COBSCAN TRANSCEIVER MKV is an incredibly time intensive operation and takes many, many hours and requires multiple engineering and electronic skills to complete the conversion. Unfortunately Cobra Transceiver MKV's are not a financially viable product to produce today because of the sheer amount of time involved in the conversion process, hence Cobraworxshopz.com does not currently offer full conversions.
The price today of a Cobscan Transceiver MKV varies greatly depending on it's general condition and functionality. MKV's with faults in non-working states generally fetch £150/$300 on Ebay and in our opinion, mint condition MKV's presented in original condition £400+/$800+
See the recent sale on Ebay of a MKV.
This Transceiver was sold for a bargain £450.01 / $900.02!!!!
With31 Bids..!!!!
Of the 500 MKV's John Nugent converted how many still remain out there ???
Please contact Cobraworxshopz.com for all Cobra Transceiver MKV Services, Parts and Mods.
