Viper original?

[HaroldILL.]

I was wondering do any of you have the original Viper made by kelly co. ? I notice it is like the Cobra II except it has the intensity meter. What is the function of this meter? And around what year was it made? And is it hotter than the Cobra II? These must be rare as you never see them for sale even less then the Cobra II.And lastly does it have the same modulated audio as the Cobra II. Thanks for any and all reply's.

 

[JB(MS)]

I have a Discovery Electronics built Viper that was sold by Kellyco. The Viper is a Cobra II with a 10 segment LED intensity meter and a toggle switch that allows the choice of lighting only one LED or more than one. According to a Kellyco ad when they were selling the Vipers, one or more of the LED's will supposedly light when some deeper targets give a signal too weak for the electronics to give an audio response. They called it an "added depth component". I wouldn't bet on it adding any depth, but it gives the user a little help in determining how deep a target is. Kellyco started selling the Cobra II in 1995, and the Vipers in 1996 if I remember right, but they only sold the Viper for about three years.. The Viper I have goes an inch or so deeper than the A & S (The A & S is a Cobra II sold by a different company), but that's because I have the A & S ground balance set a little more positive than it should be so hot rocks won't give a response and have the Viper set slightly negative. The negative ground balance results in the Viper giving a double beep on hot rocks, but also added the extra depth.

 

[straker]

I used to have a Kellyco Viper. Nothing more than a Cobra II with an LED intensity bar. No doubt tied into audio. The louder the signal,the more bars that flashed. You had the choice of it being on or off via toggle switch. Here is a picture of one I had. I still own Barons,but they are the modular type and an 'E' class CT baron.

 

[HaroldILL.]

They are very cool looking machines that's for sure!