Problem with "Sailor" VHF Radio.

saltydave

saltydave

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Problem with \"Sailor\" VHF Radio.

Hi all,
I have been benchmarking and familiarising myself with my recently purchased sailboat.
It has an old "Sailor" VHF as can be seen in the bottom RHS of the photograph. (the rest is highly intersting radio stuff)
My question is "Why will it not transmit?"
I have tried two different handsets, and yes, I have been pushing the transmit button.... and it seems to have an effect because it blocks incoming traffic at that time.... I have tried changing from 1 watt to full transmit but nothing gets through.
Reception is good and clear and on the correctly indicated channels. (P.S. I do have a valid VHF licence)
My colleague says that it must be OK because if it receives well the aerial must be properly connected.
Any checklist will help... what should I look at first...

Dsc00020b.jpg
 
Re: Problem with \"Sailor\" VHF Radio.

Does it draw more more amps when transmitting ?, i usually take a glance at the ampmeter whilst talking and on 25 watts it draws 2 amps ish.

Sorry no other helpfull ideas

steve
 
Re: Problem with \"Sailor\" VHF Radio.

I would still start by thoroughly checking the integrity of the aerial.
Transmitting places a far higher stress on the electrical integrity of the aerial installation. What may well be good enough for reasonable reception may well be breaking down under load. Check all connections carefully for ingress of water/damp etc. Clean everything thoroughly and reconnect. Make sure no damage to cables where water may have leaked into the cable itself.
A radio engineer will be able to test the power output for you if this doesnt clear the problem.
 
Re: Problem with \"Sailor\" VHF Radio.

Unfortunately I can't help with your problem. I have one of these radios myself and know it worked on one particular occassion in the last five years however the thing appears to have seized up all of its own accord shortly after, and is now stuck on Channel 8 and no amount of twisting the knob will change it - the knob just comes off in your hand!!
However I notice yours appears to be the two green box arrangement which sounds similar to someone I know who bought a Cat from a Frenchman, which contains one of these radios. The Frenchman apparently said it works as a radio, an RDF and something else which clearly got lost in translation..... do you (or does anyone) perhaps know what it may have been? It apparently is not just a radio?
Ta
 
Re: Problem with \"Sailor\" VHF Radio.

i have the same radio and the same problem. if u find a solution pls let me know. likewise on my side. cheers.
 
Re: Problem with \"Sailor\" VHF Radio.

I say this very tentativly... It is a VHF radio isn't it? From the picutre it looks like the hand written figures in the BANDS column might be MF frequencies (is the very bottom one 2182?); it seems to have RF gain; and what might be (not too clear in pic) a clarifier. I have no personal knowlege of this radio, but the evidence above seems to point to MF to me.

Regards
Peter
 
Re: Problem with \"Sailor\" VHF Radio.

Your radio is made up of two different circuits, transmit and receive, there will be some shared components, but in general you should consider as two separate pieces of equipment. Because the receiver circuit is functioning is no indication that the transmitter should be also serviceable.

When you press the PTT (Push to talk) the receiver is shut down, this is to stop the transmitter frying the receiver circuits. Again, because the radio does not receive during this time is no indication that the transmitter is working, it does however show that the protection circuits work and that to all intents and purpose, the radio is attempting to transmit (lights on, no one home).

It seems that one of the transmitter stages is dead and from here it is neigh on impossible to diagnose any kind of fault. You are going to have to take it to a comms engineer or as this is PBO go to college for a few years and learn the trade to fix it yourself. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Sorry to be of no real help.
 
Re: Problem with \"Sailor\" VHF Radio.

As you say, `other interesting radio stuff` . Just a thought,but is all this stuff using a common antenna? and if so there should be a changeover switch somewhere so that you can only transmit on one unit at a time.
Cheers
Pete
 
Re: Problem with \"Sailor\" VHF Radio.

[ QUOTE ]
As you say, `other interesting radio stuff` . Just a thought,but is all this stuff using a common antenna? and if so there should be a changeover switch somewhere so that you can only transmit on one unit at a time.
Cheers
Pete

[/ QUOTE ]
Now that's an interesting point..... There is a small aerial switch box that can be seen just below the "Sailor" I believe it is for switching between aerials for the separate pieces of radio equipment, and it is "set" on the aerial that receives the VHF channel broadcasts.
I can only find one path for the cabling, via the handset, through the "Sailor" front panel and out to the aerial switch box.
Thanks everyone.. I shall start with "boatone"s advice and thoroughly check out the connections and any corrosion/ water ingress.
If that does not solve it, I will carefully disconnect everything and make just one simple path from "Sailor" to a jerry rigged aerial and see if anything gets through.... Otherwise I think shipswoofy is right and I will have to take a four year electrical course. (and use a portable VHF in the meantime) /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Re: Problem with \"Sailor\" VHF Radio.

Radios transmit by sending a carrier wave. That carrier wave is modulated by the voice. The presence of a carrier wave on another radio receiving on the channel is very obvious if the receiver is close. If the squelch control is opened so that you hear the background noise (hiss) on the receiver then when a carrier is received there is a quieting effect. When up close you might describe it as a loud quietning. It of course blots out any other signal being received. From your symptoms that it does blot out other stations it sounds like the carrier is being radiated. If there is no voice when you speak into the mic then that small part of the transmitter is dud. Usually that means handset or attached cord or plug. If your radio set up is designed to share one handset then there must be a changeover switch to connect the handset to the VHF this could be the problem. However usually that system would transfer the push to talk wiring also and that seems to be ok.
The radiation of a carrier at close quarters is obvious with a bad aerial often with aerial plug disconnected. Many old sets had a circuit which throttled back the transmit power when it senses a bad aerial because a lack of aerial can damage the transmitter. I think in some cases nowdays this is not so important because transmitter transistors are more rugged. Either way if you can hear a carrier wave on a receiver but no voice then your problem is in the microphone circuit. If you can hear the signal with voice OK at close range then it is most likely an aerial problem or low transmitter power. regards olewill
PS maybe a weight reduction campaign on the boat unless of course you are proud of your museum.
 
Re: Problem with \"Sailor\" VHF Radio.

[ QUOTE ]
I can only find one path for the cabling, via the handset, through the "Sailor" front panel and out to the aerial switch box

[/ QUOTE ]

Looks like an old super-heterodyne system to me!

Back to basics before taking everything apart.

Connect the radio direct to an emergency antenna and see if you can transmit.
If not then the radio is suspect -be it microphone or transmitter circuit related.

If yes then connect the emergency antenna to the output side of the aerial switch - and so on.

If the switch is OK then look to bad connections further along the line as advised by others.

BTW, if the radio proves to be OK then a radio engineer will be able to use test kit and set up a standing wave down your coax cable and spot exactly where the problem(s) lies saving you possible hours of fruitless examination.


Steve
 
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