What Happened to the Cobra 29? The Truckers Never Left

The Cobra 29 came out of Dynascan, a Chicago company that started at a television repair bench. Its earliest known listing, in a handbook printed in 1973, was $159.95. On Cobra's website in October 2026, the 29 LTD Classic lists at $149.95. The first 29 was a 23-channel AM mobile with a satin silver face, chrome knobs and one big needle meter. RF gain for the rig parked beside you, Delta Tune for the station slightly off frequency, a noise limiter and a noise blanker for the diesel. Popular Electronics measured a clean 3.5 watts in August 1975. The craze did not take it down. The FCC's forty-channel order of July 1976 turned warehouses of 23-channel radios into old stock, and Dynascan's sales fell 45 percent in three years. It never posted a losing year. The professional drivers kept buying the radio built for their cabs. 73. #hamradio #cbradio #cobra29 #truckers #vintageradio #electronicshistory