I-com antenna tuner

[schubvet]

I am getting very poor reception if any on my I-com m710 connected to the i-com at-130 tuner. Since I am getting some reception I believe it to be the tuner. How can I confirm my suspicions? and can an I-com at-140 replace the at-130?

[S/V Illusion]

The obvious way to determine if the tuner works is to try it - can you transmit effectively?

It's unlikely your problem is a tuner. They have only minimal effect on receive signal strength. Disconnect it and see what, if any, effect directly connecting feed line to the Icom has.

Have you inspected, opened and cleaned all connections in the coax/feed line?

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

The obvious way to determine if the tuner works is to try it - can you transmit effectively?

It's unlikely your problem is a tuner. They have only minimal effect on receive signal strength. Disconnect it and see what, if any, effect directly connecting feed line to the Icom has.

Have you inspected, opened and cleaned all connections in the coax/feed line?

^Good comment. The M-710 and AT130 are very robust equipment. Your issue is more likely a poor connection between the Tuner and the Antenna. I would carefully clean, inspect and remake the connections with clean wire and then seal them well against moisture penetration. I have found that using a bit of NoOx on the wire and connector surfaces is helpful in preventing corrosion.

FWIW...

[belizesailor]

The tuner only passes the signal thru on receive, it does not tune except on transmit. If you suspect its intefering some how you could just by pass the tuner (for receive only).

I can attest to this being a robust rig, my 710 (RT version, but basically the same radio) and AT-130 are over 20 years old and still working just fine.

[schubvet]

First off thanks for telling me what a robust system I have. It's old but has been working just fine.
Your suggestions were spot on, I guess the heavy weather we've been in recently loosened a connection in the back. Better now.
Thanks to all.