Dave wrote:
My VHF began displaying some peculiar behavior at the end of the season.
When it's turned on, it seems to work for about a second, and then goes
silent. Don't know whether the problem is in the radio, or someplace in the
electric or antenna connections. I'm reluctant to buy a new radio if that
won't solve the problem. The easy way to tell would, of course, be to plug
it into an existing setup, but I don't have anyone around to do that, and
can't find any vhf repair places locally. Anyone had similar experience?

Dave
You should have an emergency VHF antenna anyway so hook it up to that
(Its always nice to know you have the right connectors) and tie the
emergency antenna as high as you can easily fix it and powered using a
temporary power lead (mains flex would be suitable wire) fused at 10
amps using an inline fuseholder within 6" of the +ve battery clip and
fitted with two clips of the type used on cheap battery chargers. At
the radio end, fit a screw terminal block so you can easily hook it up
to the existing connector. Please mark the positive and negative wires
clearly or goodbye radio. I suggest you test it using your car battery
to eliminate all possible causes except the radio. *DONT* press the
transmit button if you are not afloat, as you dont want the coasties
really mad at you :-) Just listen to a popular channel you know you used
to get. When you've finished testing it, stow the emergency antenna and
the power lead you made up on board, they could save your life.

If you do find its faulty, seek professional advice. If it works Ok,
hook it back to the boat power and try again still on the emergency
antennae. Chances are, if the fault isnt in the radio itself and it
fades on RX, you've got bad power connections to it. Finally, if that
works OK hook the antennae back up and try again. If all is well,
suspect slightly corroded contacts so unplug everything again, spray all
the plugs with contact cleaner and plug them back in.

It could also be the mike. A faulty TX switch *might* cause these
symptoms. After its faded out, check the display carefully to see if
the TX indicator is on. If it is, unplug the mike and see if it goes
out. It shouldnt be on at all if you aren't pressing the switch.

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk [at]=@, [dash]=- &
[dot]=.
*Warning* SPAM TRAP set in header, Use email address in sig. if you must.
'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Uffa Fox designed, All varnished hot
moulded wooden racing dinghy circa. 1961

Hello Dave,

Ian has made some good suggestions. It might help to know a little more
of your problem. For example, when you say the radio "seems to work" do
you hear hiss or can you actually hear stations? Or do you simply see
the dial lights? When it goes silent, do you mean power is switched off
or the hiss disappears? Or do you mean the stations you were listening
to suddenly become silent. Depending on your answers to these questions,
you could simply need to adjust the squelch! I'm sure you have tried
that, though.

Anyway, we might be better able to help if you give us some more
detailed information.

Good luck!

Chuck

Dave wrote:
My VHF began displaying some peculiar behavior at the end of the season.
When it's turned on, it seems to work for about a second, and then goes
silent. Don't know whether the problem is in the radio, or someplace in the
electric or antenna connections. I'm reluctant to buy a new radio if that
won't solve the problem. The easy way to tell would, of course, be to plug
it into an existing setup, but I don't have anyone around to do that, and
can't find any vhf repair places locally. Anyone had similar experience?

Dave

My VHF began displaying some peculiar behavior at the end of the season.
When it's turned on, it seems to work for about a second, and then goes
silent. Don't know whether the problem is in the radio, or someplace in
the
electric or antenna connections. I'm reluctant to buy a new radio if that
won't solve the problem.


What do you mean by silent? If there were a problem with the antenna and it's
connector there would still be audio and you would get some static noise. If
you have no sound but the display panel lights up you probably have power to
the radio. You could check that with a volt meter to make sure. So, if you have
power and no sound that would probably put it in the radio. If you have a
external speaker connector you could try to connect an external speaker.

Dick

I agree. If you can't bring up any hiss by adjusting the squelch, then
there is an internal problem. What make/model is the radio?

Chuck

Dave wrote:
On 24 Nov 2004 18:22:31 GMT, ake (Dick) said:


If there were a problem with the antenna and it's
connector there would still be audio and you would get some static noise.


Thanks. Good point.

Chuck wrote:

I agree. If you can't bring up any hiss by adjusting the squelch, then
there is an internal problem. What make/model is the radio?

Chuck

Dave wrote:

On 24 Nov 2004 18:22:31 GMT, ake (Dick) said:


If there were a problem with the antenna and it's
connector there would still be audio and you would get some static
noise.



Thanks. Good point.
It could still be a bad connection in the power feed to it as the
display backlight may well not be an ordinary 12V bulb on a modern radio
and if its a LED or EL backlight is probably running off a regulated
supply. The audio amp and the PA stage typically run of raw 12V. The
giveaway would be that it would probably blank out if you key the TX
switch owing to it failing to get the extra juice needed.

As to why its cutting out, well it *could* be the bad connection heats
up under load and its resistance increases.

Chances are its f***ed though. as its probably an audio fault, not
totally dead and they'd have no need to key TX, any competant tech in a
TV/radio shop could probably fix it though that wouldn't be 'kosher' as
they are probably not licenced to work on comms gear. In the back door
and offer cash and I'd take a look myself if it was a quiet day and you
were in my town.

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk [at]=@, [dash]=- &
[dot]=.
*Warning* SPAM TRAP set in header, Use email address in sig. if you must.
'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Uffa Fox designed, All varnished hot
moulded wooden racing dinghy circa. 1961

Dave: My first thought would be that it is in the antenna; anywhere from the
connection on the radio, to the co-ax has corroded, etc. I'd work on that
first.

After that, take it to a radio shop.