Below are the most common reasons radios do not work or work poorly.
1. Antenna problems, shorted antenna, open antenna or mismatch (high
SWR)
To check for a shorted antenna. Take your antenna
off (mobile) and check the coax for short with a ohm meter. Should show
open.
Reattach antenna, check again. Do note, some base
loaded antennas will show shorted when measured. Base loaded antennas will
have
a base coil. If you have one of these, replace it
with a 1/4 wave ant and measure again. To check for an open antenna, put one
test lead
on the center of the coax and the other on the ant.
This may require to extend one of the test leads. It should show short. To
test for mismatch
you need a Bird or SWR meter, put it inline with the
antenna, check return power should be low.
2. Not enough power to radio. Connect a volt meter at the terminals or
power lead to the radio. Transmit at hi power. Voltage should not drop more
than .5 to .7 volts.
If much more the power wires are too small or there
is a bad connection to the battery or power supply
3. Not on frequency or not the correct tone for the repeater. Some
radios will allow you to set the freq off by .5 Example 146.945. You will
still bring up the machine but have a poor
Signal. The tone needs to be set correctly for the
repeater you are using. Some repeater do not transmit the tone (the 146.940
does ) if it does not do not activate the
Decode on the receiver.
-----Original Message-----
From: BVARC <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Robert Polinski via BVARC
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2020 11:30 AM
To: 'BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB' <[email protected]>
Cc: Robert Polinski <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [BVARC] Looking for a 2-meter
If you cannot hit the 146.94 with 50w from Missouri City, you have a radio
or antenna problem with your mobile rig. Robert
-----Original Message-----
From: BVARC <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Mark Brantana via BVARC
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2020 11:17 AM
To: BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB <[email protected]>
Cc: Mark Brantana <[email protected]>
Subject: [BVARC] Looking for a 2-meter
I have been testing out my equipment against the emergency nets, and find my
reach to be pretty weak from the house (50 W from the Car); Missouri City.
Could not even touch the 146.940 ARES SW repeater or the Red Cross. I want
to be able to confidently reach the local emergency repeaters.
To get out better, I am considering adding a Firestik antenna above my TV
antenna (yes, we are cheap) for the house. This is going to involve about 75
ft of coax unfortunately. These I have found, but I am open to any
thoughts.
Mainly, I am looking for a used 2-m station, and was wondering if anyone has
one they might want to part with.
I may be open to a used (HOA discreet) antenna too.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Mark
N5PRD
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
________________________________________________
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
BVARC mailing list
[email protected]
http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
