Cobra Marine Radio Troubleshooting & Support Print

General Information

• Antenna Choice
  • What kind of antenna do I need?
  • Can I connect an external antenna to my handheld radio?
    • Connecting an External Antenna to Your Handheld Marine Radio
  • Range of Cobra Marine Radios
  • Can I use a repeater?
• Radio Transmission and Reception Support
  • How to check Marine SWR
  • Eliminating Noise
  • I cannot access one or more marine channels
  • I am not able to communicate
  • I hear excessive noise from the radio
  • Why am I getting a "check plotter" alarm?
  • Performing a Marine Radio Check
• EU / UK / International
  • How do I get warranty support outside of the US? 
  • Regulatory Papers and Declarations of Conformity 
  • International Distributors 
    • NOTE Not all of our distributors handle marine radio. Please check carefully before reaching out to a local distributor for marine radio assistance.

• Antenna Setup
  • Mounting Location
  • Cabling
  • Ground Cable
  • Attaching to the radio
  • Marine SWR
• External GPS
  • What to consider
  • How to connect

GPS-enabled Radios

• MMSI
  • MMSI explained (Maritime Mobile Service Identity)
  • Why should I register my VHF radio and obtain an MMSI number?
  • Why is it so important to have a DSC radio with built-in GPS and/or the option to connect to an external GPS?
  • How do I check if my DSC DISTRESS Button is working?
    • Press the button one time and you should be presented with the DSC menu.
      • If you do not have an MMSI number programmed into the radio, you may enter it here.
      • If you do have an MMSI number programmed into the radio, DO NOT proceed to send a distress call unless you are in need of serious emergency assistance.
    • To check if your DSC system is functioning correctly, please see our article about Performing a Marine Radio Check
  • Why join BoatuS?
• DSC
  • What is DSC (Digital Selective Calling)?
• ATIS
  • ATIS
• NMEA
  • What NMEA standards are Cobra BlueBound radios compatible with?
    • All GPS-enabled Cobra Marine radios support the NMEA 0183 standard.
    • If the output sentence is selectable, please choose either GGA, GLL, GNS, or RMC.
    • Make sure that the NMEA output is configured to send standard NMEA sentences (not some kind of proprietary format)
    • Our radios do not support NMEA 2000.
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