VHF not sending...

[reelapeelin]

Realized at Sunset my radio's not gettin' out...WX and all channels recieving wall to wall...any ideas??... ???...

[lucky_strike]

I had the same problem in my V-20. Turned out to be a problem in the 12 volt wiring to the radio. It could supply enough power for the radio to receive, but not enough for the radio to transmit (its takes more power to transmit than to receive). Never did find the wiring problem, just ran new wires from the battery to the radio and problem solved.

[reelapeelin]

Thanks, Lucky Strike...wouldn't have figured on that...good place to start... ;) ;D...

[msbhammer]

Do you need to run the wires from the radio directly to the battery ??. I just planned on running the wires from the radio directly to the fuse box.

[reelapeelin]

My wires are to the fuse box and until this little problem cropped up it's been workin' great...which has been about 6 years now...This particular radio's been in there for about 4 yrs... ;)...so probably is time for some connection clean-up... ;)...

[Airslot]

From the fuse box normally works fine. I'd suspect a ground problem second. First thing I would look at is the ant. connector. That's my bet...

Airslot

[reelapeelin]

Thanks Airslot...I'm gonna go thru all power and antenna wires and connections this weekend and clean or replace all...hopefully, that'll solve this problem...thanks for all the replies... ;)...

[macojoe]

6 Years!! Hell I am happy if I get 3 years out of mine!

I don't know if its the Att or what, but after 2 or 3 seasons my radios are all junk??

I use to be a huige CB'er and I know how to do att, and all but this boat has been hard on radios!!

I bought a Handheld, so I never deal with this again, Then My dad came down and bought me a hard wired radio, so I sold the Handheld to CB for his small tin boat.

[msbhammer]

Guy at the boat yard was telling me to replace my antenna as well. I dont know why...it looks fine to me. So what the cost for a new antenna ???

[macojoe]

Depends what you want?? $40 and up...

[reelapeelin]

MJ, I guess mine doesn't get the salt exposure yours does...it ain't cause I'm lucky... ::)...

[Airslot]

RAP, I'd cut the ant. wire back 6" and put on a new connector just for kicks. Needs done after 6 years. MHammer, a new ant. is gonna set you back 1 C-note. The cheaper models won't take the abuse.

Airslot

[reelapeelin]

Air, that's a good idea about cuttin' the coax back and re-attaching connector...

And I've also gotta agree w/ antenna comment...the $ spent on cheaper antennas go better toward a higher $80- $100 unit...will definately last longer and give better service ;) :)...

[macojoe]

I hate radios!! they are just noise makers!! I just -------------- CB and he yells so loud they can hear him 20 miles away!!


Money, its all about spending money thats it $$$$$$$

[Blu_Lunch]

I don't know if anybody else is a ham radio operator here or not. I hold a advanced class operator licencse and have had for 15 years. A few things first from what I see is that most rigs run about 25w out at about 6 amps draw that can be easlily handled by the fuse box or lighter outlet but don't aways run straight from the battery and besure the plus is fused, you get to much crap from the engine mixed in your audio. Most important is ALWAYS use the best co-ax for the MHZ it make a huge differance. Connectors. save yourself the headaches don't go to Radio Shack to get your co-ax connectors, look for silver-teflon connnectors they are very low loss and easy to solder to and they will not corrode. Why no TX? Have you checked with a VHF power meter/ swr meter your out-put? Got out put but the power TX is only fraction of what it should be? SWR probley is high over 2:1 as soon as the SWR goes high it will cut back out put to save the TX finals the reflected RF goes back to to your rig and is disapated as heat in the finals not good. Most fiberglass attennas are pre-tuned there is no way to tune the attennna for the best SWR, the factories do it by the lenth of the co-ax: always use the same lenth co-ax. I dont recall the exact formula but it goes like the length of the driven element{ boat attennas are a single driven element} by the operation freqency will give you the lenght of the co-ax . *May be you can narrow down your problem but find a ham in your area most of use have the test meters to find and fix your trouble, we are glad to help..........Ted

[macojoe]

And there is the problem!! The att is tuned from the factory and there is no way to fix it!! I thought the forumla was every 6 ft bnut it has been a log time.

Also the radios out put is always changing and that will throw of the match also.

I just buy cheap radios now every 3 years or so and go.

[JeffXJ]

I'm w/ Blu on this one. While I don't hold a ham license (never got into it that much) I have played with CB radios quite a bit in the past. SWRs always something to check. Rap, I have a meter (checks power output and SWR) and if I end up coming down that way ::) I'll bring it. ;D

[reelapeelin]

WHAT ???...did Blu say?? All I said was my radio didn't work...is all that Latin or what ???... ;) ;D...

Jeff, haven't heard back, but I'm sure I will...if you come, it'd be great if you bring that tester :D...

[willy]

I think Blu is a Wind Talker too :o ;D :o

[reelapeelin]

OK, Blu...pulled all connections (and fuse), sprayed w/ contact cleaner and replaced...have not taken Airslot's advise yet and cut back co-ax...anyway, TX is comin' up on screen and you can hear a faint high-pitch(sounds distant) from speakers which is unaffected by volume knob...went back and read your post...sorry I'm so stoopid, I don't understand it, not your fault, got most of it, but what is SWR?...Thanks for your help... ;)...

And are you sayin' I should not have cut my co-ax to length?

[phester]

swr....., short wave radio.....?? just guessing, I know NOTHING of radios

[macojoe]

For the best performance of your radio & Att they have to be tuned toghter.

SWR it the reading you get when you put a meter in att line and key the mike.

Anything over a 2 is considered BAD and will not only effect how you get out and receive but will make your radio die long before its time!!

Marine att are pre tuned but the cheaper the att ... well you no the story you get what you pay for.

Now you have 3 options,

1 Buy a good att.

2 Buy a meter and try retuning it by cutting the att wire (there is a formula for this) till you get a good signal.

3 they have a tuner that you can buy and put in line and adjust the match till good and leave this in line all the time.

Eaither way if your radio is dead you will need a new one before doing the above, and yours sounds like it has seen better days.

Who said I didn't know anything??? ;)

[Airslot]

Been outa town for three days and all runs amuck. SWR stands for "Standing Wave Ratio." I think you'll find interpretation where the "s" is signal or sign, but it's all the same for us. As for the length of ant. wire, it doesn't matter for VHF radios as we use them. Now if you need to go longer than 25' there can be signal loss problems. The minimum reccomended lenght is either 3' or 6'.

Can I cut the coax on my VHF antenna? Yes, if you need to. However, you should leave at least three feet of coax. Note that this is not true for all antennas. CB antennas' coax should not be cut.

I copyied that last phrase from the Shakspeare website.

Airslot

[reelapeelin]

Radio seems to be doin' its thing as all channels recieving AND TX is coming up on display w/ mike keyed...think I have co-ax or antenna prob... ::)...could be worse...coulda woke up w/Hilary Clinton this morning :P ...

[Pipe_Dream]

Reel, forgive me for asking but I just have to -- is it set to US? (not international) :-X

[reelapeelin]

Pipe, I'll check that, but if it were set on int., would it pick up all the local and WX channels it's now gettin'?...

Watchin' some of the Heritage past weekend...paid close attention to all televised shots of the water...fully expected to see "Pipe Dream" go cruisin' by...w/ dogs hangin' out the gunwales!! ;D ;D

[Pipe_Dream]

I'm not certain about all channels, but my handheld (I have a fixed mount and a handheld) accidentally got switched to INT, and I still received weather stations and Channel 16. Probably because 16 is the hailing frequency. Might not receive the others. hmmmmmm

Heritage -- we thought about it (we've been there and done that many times), but instead turned up a creek, dropped the hook, pulled down a cap and . . . <snoorr>

Much more relaxing. 8)

[Blu_Lunch]

You need to get your hands on a swr/tuner that handles 157 MHZ A ham 2 meter will. *This will do ya I have one myself * * http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-921 * http://www.mfjenterprises.com/man/pdf/MFJ-921.pdf

[Blu_Lunch]

I have a hard time with links *those tuner/swr meters work great you can track problems quickly and leave it in line no more quessing. I use one on HF bands {High Frequceny skip radio world wide} I can tune and tramsit on the chain link fence in the back yard no lie... they are worth there weight in gold....

[Blu_Lunch]

You can try to locate a ham operator near you most of us have this eqiupment on hand and most will help. The link I posted here is for QRZ {Who's calling me from the ham radio's Q- signal list} it is most complete and up to date list of hams in the US type your towns name and state and hit search it will come back with a list of area hams.....Ted http://www.qrz.com/i/names.html

[reelapeelin]

Thanks, Blu...checked it out ...lotta HAMS in my zip code...I'm pretty sure my antenna is bad...surprised it lasted this long...plannin' to upgrade to a Digital...hear they're pretty good...