Bad VHF radio OR antenna???

C

C-Pelican

New member
Hello all,

Last time I was out I was told my vhf radio transmitted poorly. I 'thought' it received well, but maybe not????

Can anyone share how to troubleshoot the system at home? So I can correctly surmise whether the radio or antenna is bad?

Thanks,
Jeff
 
A SWR meter with cable will arrive at C Pelican on Wednessday.--The boat has a Metz 3' antenna, with loaded base and a relitatively new radio--it could have some corrosion on the connection--and go ahead and clean the connection. See PM.
 
Jim,

Personally, I think that both you and Bob have been great additions to the site in the past year or so. It's great to have some more really knowledgeable boaters on the board. The nice guy aspect is icing on the cake!
 
Thanks Bob. I already asked you so many questions today on the phone I did not want to bother you with another (radio).
I look forward to your arrival Wednesday.

Jeff
 
For what its worth, It may not be either the radio or the antenna.

While in the Broughtons last year we experienced intermittent problems with our VHF. Sometimes it was great, sometimes we came across very faintly....

Afeter we got home, I took both the radio and antenna into a local marine electronics shop here in Portland, only to be told there was nothing wrong with the radio, and that my solder job on the antenna connector was fine, and the antenna was functioning as advertised. The technician then asked me to show him how I was holding the mike...... When I wrapped my ham hand around the mike, he said that he saw the problem... When you have your hand over the little tiny hole that is the orifice for the microphone, it tends to damp the voice a bit (or a lot, as I discovered). You have plenty of carrier, but no voice. As Homer Simpson so eloquently said, "doh"!

So the cat's out of the bag. I failed VHF 101. On the good side, it's nice to know I still know how to solder coax, and that the radio's OK.

Steve
 
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