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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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help: repair to VHF marine radio
I am attempting to repair a Midland Model 78-100 VHF Marine Radio for
a friend. I have basic radio electronics knowledge, some troubleshooting skills, a 275MHz scope, VHF sig generator, freq meter, RF power meter, etc, but am unable to locate the problem. Symptoms a completely dead on receive and transmit on all channels, but unit powers up good, all power supply circuits and voltages are good, display and frequency display circuitry are good, no detectable cold solder joints nor sal****er corrosion anywhere, power to all chips is good. I first suspected the PLL circuitry (due to its being common to RX and TX), but signals coming out of the PLL, prescaler and VCO chips appear ok. Any suggestions as to where I might start looking would be greatly appreciated. Larry Gagnon |
#2
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"Larry Gagnon" wrote in message ... | I am attempting to repair a Midland Model 78-100 VHF Marine Radio for | a friend. I have basic radio electronics knowledge, some | troubleshooting skills, a 275MHz scope, VHF sig generator, freq | meter, RF power meter, etc, but am unable to locate the problem. Don't you need an FCC license to do that? N |
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On Sun, 12 Dec 2004 19:52:26 +0000, NSM wrote:
"Larry Gagnon" wrote in message ... | I am attempting to repair a Midland Model 78-100 VHF Marine Radio for a | friend. I have basic radio electronics knowledge, some troubleshooting | skills, a 275MHz scope, VHF sig generator, freq meter, RF power meter, | etc, but am unable to locate the problem. Don't you need an FCC license to do that? N Oh please, do get a life you sad little man! And since when did you assume that I live in the USA anyways and that I am subject to FCC regs? Larry |
#4
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Howdy Larry.......You didn't mention having a schematic so I'm assuming
you're troubleshooting blind. Do you have any receive audio noise and/or does the squelch seem to work? If no noise is heard I might start with injection AF at the volume control to see if you have an audio stage (and make notes continuously when troubleshoot unless it's a very familiar radio to you) Does the radio seem to switch from receive to transmit? I'd probably start by looking at the basic transmit chain for activity starting with PTT and looking for some low level on a known frequency....say 156.300 (CH6).....of course make sure you're dumping into a suitable dummy load (good for 25watts at least). Use that fancy scope of yours to look for the TX chain activity.......It wouldn't surprise me if you had something "like" a problem with the basic T/R circuitry if you don't have any activity at all - a typical setup might use a dedicated IC for this purpose. If you have a schematic.........and could attach it via e-mail I'd be glad to walk you through some troubleshooting. Note: Having a second receiver capable of receiving these frequency's (cheap scanner for example) can make quicker work by finding out whether you have any low level activity when placed in the vicinity (same room etc). 73 - Gord VE1AJF |
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"Larry Gagnon" wrote in message news | On Sun, 12 Dec 2004 19:52:26 +0000, NSM wrote: | | | "Larry Gagnon" wrote in message | ... | | I am attempting to repair a Midland Model 78-100 VHF Marine Radio for a | | friend. I have basic radio electronics knowledge, some troubleshooting | | skills, a 275MHz scope, VHF sig generator, freq meter, RF power meter, | | etc, but am unable to locate the problem. | | Don't you need an FCC license to do that? | | N | | | Oh please, do get a life you sad little man! And since when did you assume | that I live in the USA anyways and that I am subject to FCC regs? | | Larry Plonk! |
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Larry Gagnon wrote:
I am attempting to repair a Midland Model 78-100 VHF Marine Radio for a friend. I have basic radio electronics knowledge, some troubleshooting skills, a 275MHz scope, VHF sig generator, freq meter, RF power meter, etc, but am unable to locate the problem. Symptoms a completely dead on receive and transmit on all channels, but unit powers up good, all power supply circuits and voltages are good, display and frequency display circuitry are good, no detectable cold solder joints nor sal****er corrosion anywhere, power to all chips is good. I first suspected the PLL circuitry (due to its being common to RX and TX), but signals coming out of the PLL, prescaler and VCO chips appear ok. Any suggestions as to where I might start looking would be greatly appreciated. Larry Gagnon i assume that you have acknowledge that the unit is actually attempting to RX/TX via the mic button? like for exampl a TX light coming on etc.. in any case, you may have a mixer/IF stage in the frequency section that is common to both RX and TX. |
#7
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Not sure if this is applicable to your situation, but I just repaired a
different brand radio with similar issues that had controls in the mike. There was a small 8 pin connector on the board in the radio from the mike cable that had broken loose from the PCB. I wrapped a small wire around the end of my soldering iron, put a couple pairs of reading glasses on, (bad eyes), resoldered the connector, and have a happy customer. |
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Not sure if this is applicable to your model, but a common problem with
marine rigs is that the antenna or coax opens up. When TX is pressed, the transmitter being unloaded, tends to blow out the pin diodes that switch the front end between Tx/Rx. The Rx front end winds up with 25 watts directly into the input. The transmitter power module might cook as well. bg Larry Gagnon wrote in message ... I am attempting to repair a Midland Model 78-100 VHF Marine Radio for a friend. I have basic radio electronics knowledge, some troubleshooting skills, a 275MHz scope, VHF sig generator, freq meter, RF power meter, etc, but am unable to locate the problem. Symptoms a completely dead on receive and transmit on all channels, but unit powers up good, all power supply circuits and voltages are good, display and frequency display circuitry are good, no detectable cold solder joints nor sal****er corrosion anywhere, power to all chips is good. I first suspected the PLL circuitry (due to its being common to RX and TX), but signals coming out of the PLL, prescaler and VCO chips appear ok. Any suggestions as to where I might start looking would be greatly appreciated. Larry Gagnon |
#9
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On Sun, 12 Dec 2004 09:42:40 -0800, Larry Gagnon wrote:
thanks to all who replied to my query. I found the problem in the VCO. 3 cold solder joints. It meant removing the VCO compartment shields and all the beeswax it was sealed in. Fun that was, but it worked! Larry |
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