"Midlant" wrote in news:9nlgi.146786$vE1.69978
@newsfe24.lga:

Any easy way to check if it's the mic instead of the radio itself?


Just find someone with a VHF marine walkie talkie. Don't use Ch 16.

I keep one of these inexpensive meters in the antenna line of each VHF so
I can SEE it's putting out that distress call, RF wise.

http://www.walcottcb.com/valor-v6050...-watt-meter-p-
920.html

PWR tells you its transmitting. Switch to FWD and turn the knob until
it's full scale "SET", switch to REF and read the SWR, telling you what
the antenna and coax condition is. No reflected power 1:1 is perfect but
rarely attainable. Any SWR below 2:1 is fine.... The meter is self
powered from the RF, itself. Just feed the RF power through it on its
way to the antenna. This is 90% of radio troubles...No RF or bad
antenna.

Larry
--
Marine radios have "Icom" printed right there on the front of them.