Cloud_9,
{Greg, CarinaPDX's, comments on trying the radio without anything connected, expect the 12vdc wiring and speaker is a good idea....but, I still think that if this is in fact a new unit, your Icom dealer will certainly replace it, no questions asked...}
1) First and foremost, if this is in fact a new unit....return it ASAP...
A new unit should not be doing this!!
And, while a call to Icom
service in
Washington is a good idea, I cannot fathom why your Icom dealer would not simply replace this unit??
2) Secondly, if you are in fact in the San Fran area, the good news is that you are near a good Icom HF Maritime dealer, Farallon
Electronics...
Farallon Electronics 415-331-1924
3) Third, if you could give us some idea of what your M-802's display is showing when it "freezes up"???
That would be of help here....
But, in any case, since this is a new unit, your icom dealer will simply replace it....(if they give you any static about it, please let us know here....as well as a call to icom will get you satisfaction, as you will find out icom is fairly responsive and for a big corporation they're quick 'n decisive in helping their customers)
To be clear here...
Assume this "freezing up" is happening on receive???
So, if this is the case, it is almost certainly an internal issue inside the M-802....(while it is possible that on-board voltage instabilities could cause this, it's probable that you'd have other issues/problems with other systems too....also, while wiring / connections are usually 95% of what makes or breaks an electronics install, if what you describe is happening with the radio in receive, it is unlikely that it is an external wiring/connection issue...)
4) You were not clear in "who" installed the radio, tuner, wiring, etc....but, when I read "LMR-400" was used????
I begin to get a sick feeling in my gut that the installer is either totally inexperienced or even worse is just a plug-n-play type tech driven by some
marketing hype...
{to be clear LMR cabling is not what you want on-board....and the difference in "loss" between 20 feet of LMR-400 versus RG-213 is only 0.1db (at 30mhz)...and less than 0.05db at the lower freq bands....and NOBODY, not even the best
HF radio installer, can even test to any accuracy better than 0.5db to 1.0db....and NOBODY on-the-air can ever tell the difference between levels of less than 2 to 3db....and so on, and so on....
Fact is LMR-400 is good for VHF/UHF/SHF/Microwave in long lengths, but for HF use is completely and totally unnecessary and a total waste of
money...
BUT...
But, even worse is the fact that it is stiff, difficult to
work with, fairly frustrating to install in tight places, etc....it is also not to bent, kinked, etc....and while its connectors can be waterproofed, should moisture intrusion occur (highly likely on-board), the cable losses and integrity will be severely compromised, very quickly....
Further, the copper-clad solid
aluminum center conductor is certainly not something that you want to get
salt air or sea
water on...(although LMR-400uf has a copper-stranded center conductor, and is easier to
work with, it is still not recommended on-board...ever!)
Sorry about that rant....but this constant hyping of LMR cables these days is pretty disturbing...
BTW, I've been doing this since the early 1970's, so I've seen fads come-n-go....but this one is just too odd for words...
And, FYI....many of my fellow hams have also bought into this
marketing hype, too....so, don't feel that it's just a "marine" thing!!}
5) Further, if your "boat yard" installed the GTO-15 wire and backstay insulators, etc....that's probably okay.....
But, I'd still want to make sure that they did this correctly....
6) A "loud squack"???
Well, is it possible that this is a
DSC Alarm?? And, you're not familiar with the
DSC functions??
I doubt this is the case...
It's likely an internal M-802 fault and as I wrote above (in #1) Icom will certainly replace your new unit for a defect like this...(but, as I wrote above in #3, we are not there on your
boat and you haven't detailed what the radio displays or is doing when it is "frozen", so we cannot give you a 100% definitive answer...)
Although, if there is a wiring fault, such as some AC on the DC supply line, or AC
shore power ingress into the radio wiring, etc...(both very unlikely)....these could cause some issues in the M-802, including "squacks" and freezing up, etc....
But, these are more zebras than horses!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloud_9
Just got it installed. But, it periodically freezes up while searching channels using the channel knob. I hear a loud squack over the speaker, then all the controls stop working, including the power off button. I have to unplug the DC power from the transceiver box, then plug it back in, which thankfully reboots it back into operation.
Can anyone shed light on this? Google search didn’t come up with much.
Thanks
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloud_9
Thanks tanglewood. All Brand new.
Boatyard installed antenna GTA15 to insulated backstay, bought lmr400 coax with pre-connected terminals between transceiver and tuner from Ham Radio Supply. All other cables from ICOM. Had marine electronics tech connect power leads and extra fuse to power bank to ensure ABYC standards.
I’ll try jiggling cables to see if that will trigger it.
|
Cloud_9, if you read the stickies (and the links there) and watch the videos, you'll learn a lot...
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tc-198305.html
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tc-133496.html
Maritime HF Comms
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...ZDo_Jk3NB_Bt1y
HF-DSC Comms
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...ga2zYuPozhUXZX
Icom M-802 Instruction Videos
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...rC-8QKVyMb4tVr
Offshore Weather
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...zdjTJjHlChruyY
VHF-DSC
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...J6QugtO2epizxF
Offshore Sailing
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...KgTCj15iyl6qoY
Hope this helps..
Fair winds.
John