VHF radio

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captain tomas

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Hi, I wonder if anyone can advise on my Vhf problem.

My four year old Simrad RD68 fixed DSC radio has decided to play up, it is giving 25watts on transmit , however it doesn't receive , e.g. nothing when people try to respond.
I'm not good on electrics but assume that as it's fine when transmitting the aerial isn't at fault.
Perhaps a good repair shop, phone number if anyone has one.
Thanks :)
 
Have you checked the 'Receive' light? This should come on if: 1) you turn the squelch right down or 2) if it receives a signal. Is there any noise from the speaker with squelch turned down?
 
I assume you've tried adjusting the squelch.

Check the power supply connections. Ensure the voltage at the radio is correct. Check the antenna lead thoroughly. Ensure conductivity all the way along, for the core as will as braid, and check there isn't a short between the two.
 
Have checked all the usual connections etc, the squelch appears to be working as normal e.g lots of buzzing when backed off.
The voltage into radio is 12.7 and as I understand transmit takes more power than receive.
 
OK. I don't know, then. Sounds like a receive circuit fault. If other stations can hear you then the antenna is most likely OK. Clearly the speaker is working (I have come across several dead speakers over the years). If the receive lamp is indicating correctly, then I would suspect the audio amp in the first case. Good luck.
 
Ahhhh

That is exactly what happened to mine last summer.

I removed the set (black box) and sent it back to Simrad.
Spoke to a guy first who gave me the address but he wasn't really interested until he actually received the unit

This is the top of the covering letter that I sent him:-

Navico UK Ltd
Simrad
Premier Way
Abbey Park Road Industrial Estate
Romsey
SO51 9DH

For the attention of Customer Services

Dear Sir or Madam

Please find enclosed my RS80 transeiver, serial number XI XXXXXXX. Recently, the set developed a fault. It seems to transmit but not receive any voice transmissions. However, it does seem to receive DSC digital transmissions. For example "All Station Calls" are received digitally but no voice follows the call.


I suggest that you also ensure that your MMSI and that you have any special channel are left intact after the repair.

They charged me about £75 for the repair.

I haven't been back to the boat since the repair was returned so I can't say if they were successful but I'm confident that they found the problem and fixed it.
I'm out on the boat in a week's time - I could report back then with a definitive "fixed" - if you like.
 
Hy, i'm curious with the results, but did you check the aerial? have you put an SWR meter to see what the power do(transmitted power vs reflected power)?

Kind regards!
 
captain tomas said:
Hi, I wonder if anyone can advise on my Vhf problem.

My four year old Simrad RD68 fixed DSC radio has decided to play up, it is giving 25watts on transmit , however it doesn't receive , e.g. nothing when people try to respond.
I'm not good on electrics but assume that as it's fine when transmitting the aerial isn't at fault.
Perhaps a good repair shop, phone number if anyone has one.
Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Stating the obvious, but have you a setting in the radio that determines which speaker is used - on mine you can have radio, cockpit or both. And if it is set to cockpit, but you have a switch in the cockpit which is turned off then nothing comes out.

My Silva radio loses the settings if it hasn't been switched on for a while ( squelch / volume / speaker etc )

Guess how I found out - and yes I had taken apart the cockpit speaker and switch before I found it

Kevin
 
Bearing in mind you can buy a decent new VHF set for little more than £100 I would be wary of spending too much throwing good money after bad.

The Furuno Radio Ocean range are excellent, and just £200 for the RO4800 with built in AIS engine.

But of you do want to try a repair then Ebay seller PRS Comms re assigned the MMSI on my last boat's Simrad RD68 for about £35, and checked it for full functionality and re-assigned it from its German set up to international at no extra cost.

This nonsense that you cannot re-assign an MMSI gets right up my nose, after all it is likely just a sequence of button presses they don't want you to know.

I would like a set that can pick up Channel 0, but for now I can simply use my scanner to listen to the Coastguard comms they don't want you to hear.
 
captain tomas said:
Thank you for the address of Simrad, it would be of interest to know if the repair has been successful.
Click to expand...

All fine now
The repair definitely fixed tge problem.
Only checked with a handheld across the marina but it definitely didn't work before the repair and doex now.

Also, the reoair didn't change my MMSI or any of my stored friend's MMSI (contacts etc)
Also channel M and M2 are still working as before.

Hope that is helpful
 
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