Marine Radio Trouble

[Mark Bleau]

Hey guys was out on the weekend and had a buddy call me on the radio and I thought i was answering him back but he said he couldn't here me.The tx light turns on when I push the button to talk but obviously it is not going through.Any ideas??????

[Terry]

did you have the radio on high power if it has a switch

you can check the antenna/coax, it takes a better connection to transmit then receive

the mic cable could have a break in it or the mike speaker might have got wet ...

if you have an swr bridge you can check output to the antenna

[Canuck]

Try two things.

 

VHF radios draw a lot more power on transmit and not much on receive. You need to make sure your power wire feeding the radio is big enough to carry the current, especially if you have a long run from power to the radio.

 

Next check the coaxial cable to the antenna to make sure it is not corroded or the connection soldering poorly done. Most marine VHF radios will receive even without an antenna connected, but they need a clean connection to an antenna to transmit. You can get an antenna tester that checks for transmit power, but its tough to buy one when you will only use it once every 5 years or so.

[Carp]

Take the radio out and connect it to someone else's antenna to see if the problem persists.

This will at least eliminate the bad antenna theory.

[Mark Bleau]

Thanks guys I am going to get on it right away.I will try all those things, process of elimination I guess.Thanks again...