Icom M802 - Won't recieve...

[sailndoug]

Long story but I'll try to be brief...
Had a fine working M802/AT140, Kiss System and gound strap leading to thru-hulls, then made a huge (and expensive) mistake by laying a HOT battery cable on the ground strap (thought I had turned the battery switch off) which fried the gound/control cable between the AT140 and radio. Replaced that and no luck. Opened the radio and replaced the fuse and no luck. Sent the radio to ICOM who said it was a $688 repair. Declined that choice and bought a new (used) system that was working fine before (I told you it was expensive). It fired up but no reception except static. Can't even get WWV.
Ideas?
I've double checked all connection points, etc.
I've read about possible "ground loop" problems but wouldn't I still be able to get at least WWV? Could it be the remaining cabling; coax ant. wire, KIss, etc.?
Looking forward to some hints to solve the mystery or my next call will be to the repairman.
Thanks in advance!

[exMaggieDrum]

You certainly could have fried the AT140 tuner. I can't remember how to troubleshoot that but you should do that. And with that much current floating around you may have actually melted a wire in the middle somewhere and it may not be obvious. You may need to (tediously) go through and check each wire for continuity - coax, etc. And there may be an internal fuse in the radio (I don't remember about the 802) as some radios would have them there as well as the external fuses. But because you energized the ground part you would have bypassed the fuses so anything is suspect in the whole setup. Good luck.

[DeepFrz]

Connect a long wire directly into the center conductor of the radio coax output connector and bypass the coax and tuner. You should still be able to receive. Try different stations on different frequency bands. I don't know what the propagation of WWV is to S. Florida these days. See if you can get some of the HF nets on the east coast. If you can get hold of a local ham he/she may be able to transmit to you on a known frequency or may be able to take a look at your setup.

By the way, how do you know that the radio you bought had a good receiver?

[sailndoug]

A little more info... I forgot to mention that the tuner will try to tune but only displays "thru" after a second of "tune" displayed.
Deepfrz, I have a factory reconditioned unit but it may have been damaged during shipping (or the guy flat out lied).

[sailndoug]

DeepFrz,
I did as you suggested with the single antenna wire. I could get WWV and others, barely. Thanks. The problem could very well be the coax. More to follow.

[DeepFrz]

Great. Good luck.

[ka4wja]

Sailndoug,
It is NOT the KISS...and not the antenna wire...

Yes, it could be the AT-140 (and if you have not replaced it along with the M-802, then I suspect this..), or it could be the coax, etc...or it could be radio propagation...
But, why not eliminate radio propagation from the equation, and determine if the M-802 itself is receiving well??

Use a local AM broadcast station as your "test"...with that wire stuck in the back of the M-802's main antenna connector...
Not sure exactly where you are at in "S. Florida", but if near Miami, why not use one the high-power AM stations there??
WAQI, 710AM (710khz) is 50,000 watts....and WINZ, 940AM (940khz) is 50,000watts daytime and 25,000 nighttime....
And, if in WPB area, why not try WFTL 850AM (850khz), which is 50,000 day / 24,000 night....

If you receive them LOUD and CLEAR, then the new radio is probably fine....and if you then attempt to use the AT-140 and it refuses to tune, but you still hear them LOUD and CLEAR, then it is probably the AT-140, the coax (or possibly the control cable....I'm not clear if you replaced that???)

Originally Posted by sailndoug

.... bought a new (used) system that was working fine before (I told you it was expensive). It fired up but no reception except static. Can't even get WWV.
Ideas?
I've double checked all connection points, etc.
I've read about possible "ground loop" problems but wouldn't I still be able to get at least WWV? Could it be the remaining cabling; coax ant. wire, KIss, etc.?
Looking forward to some hints to solve the mystery or my next call will be to the repairman.
Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by sailndoug

...I have a factory reconditioned unit but it may have been damaged during shipping (or the guy flat out lied).

Originally Posted by sailndoug

DeepFrz,
I did as you suggested with the single antenna wire. I could get WWV and others, barely. Thanks. The problem could very well be the coax. More to follow.

First step, make sure the radio is working in both receive and transmit....after that, troubleshoot the AT-140, etc...

Before I delve into details:
a) please advise what type of test equipment you have available (a multimeter would be minimum, and a power/SWR meter would be nice, but we can work without that...)
b) also advise how much radio / tech knowledge you have...


Once I know the above, I will be able to help....and I think we'll get you sorted-out quickly (and for free)



Fair winds...

John

[MBWhite]

My suggestion would be to take a local amateur radio license course. Once you are in the class there are going to be a few guys teaching who are not only guru's at troubleshooting radio issues and have the proper equipment to do it, but would love to be able to not only go sailing but operate maritime mobile on occasion.

To be honest, you don't even need to take a class, just show up at a local radio club meeting and tell everyone what the issue is and you'll probably come up with some expert help but getting a license is a good thing to do anyway.

[DeepFrz]

Originally Posted by MBWhite

To be honest, you don't even need to take a class, just show up at a local radio club meeting and tell everyone what the issue is and you'll probably come up with some expert help but getting a license is a good thing to do anyway.

+1 on this.