Sudden attenuation of receive

Paul M

I put a trouble ticket in last night but I thought I should reach out and see if I am missing anything in troubleshooting this issue.  

The radio was off for a few days and when I turned it back on I noticed that the noise floor was significantly reduced.  I normally run around a -110 and now it is indicating -135.     Last night I went to talk to a group that meets on one of the local 6M repeaters and it took a +20dB pre-amp to hear the repeater.    I switched to another radio that is connected to the same antenna system through input 2 on the amp and everything is working normally.  

I did a factory reset without change.   Any suggestion are appreciated. I am leaving the country for three weeks so if it needs to go in I would like to send it before I leave.

Paul - W4PGM

AH0U

Do you have the ANT see correctly??? Sounds like no ant is conndcted

Bill -VA3WTB

you did not mention what radio your on.
try connecting to a another antenna port on your radio,,so if you are connected to antenna 1 change to antenna 2 input and see what happens, remember in the flag change the antenna port to match the port

Chris DL5NAM

and compare with a 2. TRX - for me it sounds (if you not have a thunderstorm/lightning) a coax or antenna get "wet"

Bill -VA3WTB

As soon as you change antenna ports you will know...

Ria

I think he said he compared with another TRX. I suspect that the ESD diodes are blown and needs a trip to service. 

Paul M

Good points, 6500 and yes I did move the antenna and did check that the antenna was properly selected.

Bill -VA3WTB

Re reading, I'm sure that's what he said Ria,,but it does sound like damage. Interesting both ports would be damaged?

Paul M

Yes, that was my initial thought but I was hoping, now without hope, that there was another reason.   

The other transmitter is working fine in both port 1 and port 2 of the amp and directly into an antenna.  The 6500 is deaf on any antenna and in either ANT 1 or 2.  Now to wait for an RMA.

Ken - NM9P

If he had a 6700 or 6600, I can imagine that one SCU's input might be damaged, but the other could be fine if it wasn't connected to an antenna that got a voltage overload.  

But for a 6500/6300 I believe that the ESD's are connected AFTER the antenna port switches.  So both antenna ports, and even the RXA port, would be dead if the ESD's or SCU itself were damaged.

If one port worked and the other didn't, then it would probably be a relay or switching logic problem.

Sounds like a help desk call was the correct move to sort it out.

Ken - NM9P

ctate243

I would open a support case on this.

Paul M

Thanks to all, I opened a ticket last night and Dudley replied. It looks like it will be returning to the Mother Ship for repair. I guess that is why we never sell all our old radios.

Ken - NM9P

I had to have ESD's replaced in my 6500 in September 2016 after a sudden, unexpected lightning strike here.  FRS Service was fast, and reasonable.  FRS had the best customer service in the business,,,Though dealing with "Flex WIthdraw Syndrome" was a real pain in the neck!

Good luck!