Just Venting

[kc9kow]

Arrrgghhh!
I got my new FT-8900R yesterday, and got it all hokked up to the power supply and the coax, fed to the Comet GP-15.

I was able to transmit once, and then the radio died! I lost sound, and then lost the ability to turn radio off. Finally got the radio to power down, and then it wouldn't turn back on.

Power supply is a MFJ 4035MV adjustable, set at 13.8VDC, per radio power requirements.

Now I have to send it all back to see what the problem is! Arrrggghhh!!! Gonna have them check the coax as well. Maybe it'll work out soon!

Thanks for letting me vent here. Just really mad that I spent good money for something to just die on me!

[KQ9J]

Ain't modern technology great?

[KC5CSG]

Murphy's law buddy.........

[N0IU]

If I may play the devil's advocate...

So you hooked it all up and then it quit so now you are going to pack it all up and send it back, right?

I just gotta ask, did you do anything at all to try and determine the cause of the failure?

Sooner or later your warranty on all this new gear will expire and you will eventually have to pay someone to check it out every time something goes wrong.

It is amazing how by just re-tracing your steps or taking it all apart and hooking at back up again will fix a lot of these problems. With brand new playtoys we sometimes get in a hurry to hook it up and in our haste overlook something pretty simple.

Scott NØIU

[AI4EP]

...right... there are many options / ideas that COULD have made what happened to happen..

bad power supply
bad rig
bad connections from p s to rig

I doubt the antenna was the problem, based on your own words of your own post.

[kc9kow]

I checked everything, and because I don't have the proper equipment to do anything else...testing, or repair, I gotta send it back in. I unhooked everything and did try again, retraced every step. Still not working. The antenna is fine as you guessed.

I think I know what it was (possibly), and so they will have to repair it anyway because I don't have the stuff here to do it.

[AI4EP]

...bad power supply COULD cause his problems...would effect any radio hooked to it.

Try another power supply, or a good car battery for a power source. :rock:

[kc9kow]

Here's the thing. I was able to start the radio up, and program it, but one push of the PTT button on the mic, and there's where it went wrong!

Power supply is brand new, so I doubt it was the supply.

[AG3Y]

I wouldn't be sending the radio back until the power supply was at least checked out for ability to regulate and provide the proper voltage under load, etc. etc. #

Don't you know anyone who could loan you a proven good supply, or at least check your own supply with a meter and/or a good oscilloscope when it was powering a rig? # If your new rig will not do anything with your supply, what about another rig? #Will your rig work on another supply ( as suggested above ) ?# Packing it up without checking the basics is NOT a good idea!

Good luck 73, Jim

[VO1GXG]

Quote[/b] (n0iu @ Sep. 18 2007,14:14)]If I may play the devil's advocate...

So you hooked it all up and then it quit so now you are going to pack it all up and send it back, right?

I just gotta ask, did you do anything at all to try and determine the cause of the failure?

Sooner or later your warranty on all this new gear will expire and you will eventually have to pay someone to check it out every time something goes wrong.

It is amazing how by just re-tracing your steps or taking it all apart and hooking at back up again will fix a lot of these problems. With brand new playtoys we sometimes get in a hurry to hook it up and in our haste overlook something pretty simple.

Scott NØIU

I agree. my VHF rig shut down when i keyed. No clue why . Retraced my steps and the Coax was shorted at the connector!