Need help diagnosing VHF issue

[Ed]

Hi gents-

I need some help diagnosing an intermittent VHF problem with a Raymarine 210 VHF and a Shakespeare Centennial antenna. The problem is sometimes I can transmit and sometimes I cannot.

I initially thought that it was a bad soldering job on the connector, so I cut it off and bought a crimp on and followed directions to the T. I also checked to make sure that speaker wires are not located near vhf cable....they are not. Now I am thinking it may be a power or ground problem.

The radio is wired to a common ground feed fuse block (along with a GPS and a CD player) which is mounted in the back of the electronics box. Power to the fuse block comes from an accessory switch at the helm.

Any suggestions?

[Capt Chuck]

The problem is sometimes I can transmit and sometimes I cannot

Ed

How do you know it's not transmitting?
Does this model have channel & volume controls on the mic? If it does, that might be the sore spot

[BigLew]

The antenna may have taken a whack or if old enough, it's core components may have come undone in some fashion. Do you have a friend that you can demount the radio itself and hook up to his good antenna for testing? Where was the radio stored over the winter and could it be damp on the inside enough to have condensed humidity for a droplet that is shorting out part of the circuit? Is it receiving? Is the mike working and can you check it out on another radio of the same brand/series; maybe not because a lot of the recent units have a hard wired mike that cannot be removed.
do you have a friend that has an SWR meter to determine if the radio is putting out any sort of signal? (The SWR meters used to be around when CB radios were popular and someone you know may still have one lying around somewhere.)
do you have a friend or family member into ham radio that might give you some help. (Also there are a lot of ham radio clubs around and I'll bet there is a member in your local club that has every radio testing device known to man sitting in his basement. he'd probably jump at the chance to fix yours and show off his technical EXPERTISE!) Just a couple of my free ideas.

Now for those with the price tag.
Your local marine electronics service business,
a new unit (if the radio costs less than $250 and is three or more years old it is probably cheaper to replace it.)

Good luck.

[McGillicuddy]

If you're hearing others but you're not being heard or only occasionally being heard your PTT (push to talk) switch is failing and must be fixed. I got mine fixed for about $80 at a marine electronics shop only cause the guy had switch on hand. Raymarine will fix yours for $149 flat rate. Seems the 210 had a lot of buttons but I really don't know it's caliber. If it is like the 218, fix it. Otherwise you can get a quality radio for under 2 C-notes now so consider that.

It could also be your antenna, or cable. If you're offshore much, I seriously consider a Shakespeare Galaxy series antenna or a Digital model. They have twice the range of a Centennial model.

Not sure how old your VHF is, but if you gotta spend some money consider an ICOM or Standard Horizon Radio (they have $65 flat rate repairs and have some deals if you shop around).

[Ed]

Radio is receiving, no problem.

Antenna is brand new....I am hoping that is not the issue. I wanted a better antenna, but someone ordered this for me from wholesaler and it was kind of a mistake.....did not have the heart to tell them it was not the one I wanted.

I know sometimes I can transmit and sometimes I cannot based upon tests with dockmaster at marina. I think it has something to do with the CD Player being wired on common circuit....I think it is robbing power from VHF. I may look at wiring it on its own.

If I can get it dialed in.....I will replace and upgrade to DSC radio in the offseason. I am partial to Raymarine VHF's....I had one on my old Mako and that thing worked fantastic. At one time, I reached Boston while 28 miles offshore...

-Ed-

[BigLew]

Hey Ed,

Good to hear you are closer to the solution than I originally thought. Personaly I like to put all nav/communication electronics units on a separate power/ground circuit. (keep them isolated from ignition/pump moters, etcetera) The exception to this maybe the radar dome/array motor feed.

I like the comment someone else made regarding the mike being a likely culprit;could well be. I'm not sure, but the more I think about it, it could be loose/shakely connections in the mike. Intermitent problems are the absolute worst to troubleshoot. Good luck.

If you'd like, email me at [email protected] and we can set up a phone call. I'm not far from you. I know a couple of pretty good marine electronics guys.

P.S. I've an older S/H VHF I don't use that you could borrow or buy for short money, if you'd like/need.

[McGillicuddy]

Trident,
Sounds like antenna is fine and from your second description sounds even more like the PTT switch on mic is done, get it fixed or replaced. Lower your squelch and key the mic to see if you can interrupt the squelch noise, that should tell you if your mic switch is making contact. I understand you want to wait for the off-season to replace but VHF is critical, not that you can hear but that you be heard. I know you're partial to Raymarine but here's the best deal on a quality rig I've seen. They're in Jersey or NYC so shipping and delivery will be quick and cheap. $169 is their price.
http://www.turtlemarine.com/standard...gx3000sbk.html
Oh yeah, as someone else suggested, I would definitely give the VHF its own fuse and terminal.Good luck and don't stray far w/o effective comm. Don't want to read about you in the Globe...