6600 No TX Power

James T. Whitehead

My best to all - my 6600 is not Transmitting in either voice or data - but it will TX 10 watts from the tuning choice. I am running 3.1.12. I, over the last couple days, have followed Suggestions from the Community - radio reset - unchecking all TX settings and rechecking them - my gut is it has to go in for repair - but there are smarter people on the community so thank you and stay well!! Jim - KK4JTW

Neal Pollack, N6YFM

A WHOLE lot more detail is needed for us to help.

+ Using a Maestro, or local to the radio unit?
+ Is TX set to DAX for digital, or MIC, and which mic input?
+ Using SmartSDR to control?  Post a screenshot of the TX menu/panel.
+ Using Maestro or "M" Front Panel to control?  Post a screenshot of the TX Menu/Panel.
+ Is TX set to take mic from the Radio unit chassis, or from Maestro?
+ What is your TX carrier level control set to, because TUNE has a separate one?

and on and on...

Neal

James T. Whitehead

Thank you Neal - 6600 to monitor - using a Radiosport 207 with a hand switch - power set to 50 for TX - when transmitting radio goes into transmit red - but no output - radio is set to Mic - the Radiosport is connected to the back of radio via Flex cabling - I hope that helps you help me!! 73

Neal Pollack, N6YFM

Are you able to try swapping back to the hand-mic that came with the radio, just to identify if we have a new cable or connector fault?   Also, if you switch to CW for a moment, and short the key input (or push the key if you use one), do you get RF output power?   You could also simply set the rig to AM and transmit into a dummy load.   What is your RF output slider (or maestro knob) set to?
Is your frequency set within the band limits?  Is the antenna selector what you expect?

The idea is to momentarily switch to a continuous carrier mode, and adjust the controls to see if you
get output on the meter.   Then, back on SSB mode, to try another mic.   To debug, you are simply trying to knock down variables one at a time to see what you can determine.

Best wishes.

Neal

Neal Pollack, N6YFM

James, if you don't figure this out by tomorrow, contact support (file a ticket).
Support is exellent and will help get you sorted out very quickly.

ref:
https://helpdesk.flexradio.com/hc/en-us/articles/202118688-How-to-Submit-a-Request-for-Technical-Support

73,

Neal

Sergey KN7K

Can you get full power in CW?
It could be you drive level in Digital/Mic level in SSB and many other things like Neal said.
Screenshots would be nice to see.
Sergey, KN7K 

James T. Whitehead

Neal - thank you - I work full time (generator company) outside working - I expect to be back at my radio on Wednesday - I will follow your suggestions and submit a help ticket - 73 Jim - stay well!!

Cal N3CAL

James,

If you have the time here are some steps you can take to check out your 6600 PA.  More than likely these will be one of the first things Flex will ask you to do when you create a trouble ticket.  Flex had me do these troubleshooting steps when my 6600 TX stopped working.  In my case the PA was bad and had to be replaced but here is what you can do:

procedure for testing the PA in order to validate the operation of the PA.

Note: This procedure must be done using SmartSDR for Windows. 
If you are using any third-party programs with your radio, make sure that you shut them off before running this procedure.

To get some of the information, you will need to install the FRstack application.
http://www.mkcmsoftware.com/Flex/Index

NOTE: If you are running SmartSDR v2.5.1 or SmartSDR v3.0.19 or greater, you will need a version 3 of FRstack.  Otherwise, you will need to install version 2 of FRstack if running SmartSDR v2.4.9 or below.

• Install the FRStack applications and then run it. Connect it to your radio.
• From the menu bar, select View -->Meter Window.

This will show the radio's voltage, forward power, reflected power and SWR which is the data I need for each band

Radio Setup

• Before you start, connect the ANT-1 port on the radio to a known good dummy load using a short length of coax. Remove any coax switches or other devices connected to your coax.  It should be just a short run of coax directly into a dummy load.
• This is important so that we have a resistive load on the radio.
• If the radio has an ATU installed, make sure it is in BYPASS mode.

Back up your profiles
Note: If you skip this step, you will delete any saved profiles.  If you have not created any profiles, this step is not necessary.

• Start SmartSDR for Windows and connect to your radio
• Export of your Profiles with the Preferences setting UNSELECTED.
• Close SmartSDR

Perform a cold boot and Factory Reset of your radio

• Power off the radio
• Remove the power cable from the radio for 10-15 seconds and then reconnect it.

• Press and hold the Power button for approximately 5 seconds until the power button or power LED turns white. Release the power button and allow the radio to continue booting normally.

Perform the Power Output testing procedure:

1. Start SmartSDR for Windows and connect to your radio
2. Start off by tuning the transmit slice to 160m
3. Tune to the middle of the band
4. Click the TUNE button
5. Move the TUNE power slider to 100 (far right)
6. From FRStack, record the voltage, forward power, reflected power, and SWR.
7. Click TUNE to stop transmitting
8. Move the TUNE power slider to 10
9. Repeat steps 3-8 for 80m, (skip 60m) 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 12m and 10m. Do 6m too, but tune to 50.200 rather than the middle of the band.

Good luck and 73

Cal/N3CAL