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Congratulations on your new purchase!

Everything you need to get set up is below.


TrailBlazer 500


Install the Battery

A Lithium-Ion battery is pre-installed in the radio.

Charge the Radio

It is recommended that you charge the radio prior to your first use.

  • Plug the USB-C cable into the jack on the side, beneath the rubberized flap.
  • Plug the other end of the USB-C cable into a power brick.
  • Any wattage should suffice, but for best results use at least 1 Amp.
  • A red LED on the front of the radio will indicate that it is charging.
  • A green LED will indicate that charging is complete.
Turn on the Radio

The right-most knob with the white stripe is both the power ON/OFF knob and the volume knob. Simply turn this knob from right to left to turn on the radio and increase the volume.

Program the Radio

The TrailBlazer 500 is ready to go out of the box, with all GMRS channels available for immediate use. However, if you want to customize your channel banks, you can do so using the Cobra Programming Software. By default, the radio has the following pre-configured banks:


Bank 122 GMRS/FRS Channels + 8 GMRS repeater channels.
Bank 260 GMRS/FRS Channels, compatible with the Cobra RX series, FRS radios, and Midland 50 channel FRS and GMRS radios.
  • Channels 1-22 (and +8 repeater channels if turned on) are the standard GMRS channels compatible with all FRS and GMRS radios.
  • Channels 23-60 have preset privacy codes.
Bank 322 GMRS/FRS channels with preset privacy codes, compatible with the Cobra PX series FRS radios.
Bank 4Weather 10 NOAA Channels (WX)
Sending Your First Message
  • Turn on the radio.
  • Set all radios to the same channel, using the channel knob on top of the radio in the middle.
  • Press and hold the Push-To-Talk (PTT) button on the side of the radio with the microphone about 2 inches (5 cm) from your mouth, then speak your messge at a conversational level. Release the PTT button when finished to make room for a response.