HF radio difficulties

[trog]

Does anyone know where i could go to get my radio checked as i travel south from Broome? It has failed to tune for quite some time and a warrantie repair found the antenna water damaged but only saw a bit of drizzle . I would like it going before having to take it to Perth or wherever codan has a shop.

[The ho har's]

sorry prob no help at all..but we have a realy good coden guy here in Bris... maybe send it over...PM me if you want any details;)


Mrs hh:angel:

[bblaze]

Had a couple of business cards from Perth after I had somw coden problems last year, one guy who I ended up getting another second hand set off builds areials on a comercial basis, recomended by a guy in brissie who I purchased my first set off (ebay seller), I also dealt with a coden dealer I found in the yellow pages (2nd hand outo tune), all were exremely helpful. I did a post in this section somewhere with references to the business involved. Shame I cant find the business cards, will keep looking
cheers
blaze

[Bundalene]

If the radio is for emergency use you can easily have a long line made up - just a piece of 50 ohm coax one end with a UHF connector into the back of the radio and the other end connected to a length of cable (say 10 meters long) which is thrown over a tree branch. You also require a good earth (ground plane) such as an earth stake or farmers fence. That is if your radio is tunable and not a relay output unit.

We used this method years ago when our aerial failed.

I now carry a tuned length Di-pole as an emergency spare.


It is surprising how far you can communicate in the right conditions.


Erich

[harry]

drop out to the broome airfield and talk to some of the aircraft engineers there, someone there should be able to help you. most aircraft out that way will have hf, so they may have a radio tech there.

[trog]

what ineed to look at is the antenna in action as it doesnt tune consistantltly therefore receiving and transmitting is sporadic. when last working the contact with alice spings was hampered by a large storm. the codan people have no knowlegde of anyone in broome and so i will be hoping to find some one soonish instead of waiting until i get all the way to perth. at least we made our way through central aus. in the company of others with working hf's and sat phones!

[Bundalene]

Hi, you were saying the radio became erratic after it got wet.

If your aerial is similar to the one in the pic below, there is an O ring seal at the very top of the auro tune section, accssible only from the inside. These rarely give trouble.

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/9383/dscn9834k.jpg (http://img697.imageshack.us/i/dscn9834k.jpg/)



Most ofter moisture or condensation is drawn in through the plugs themselves. I seal mine with self amalgamating tape to minimise this.

Also there is a trick in getting the lower section off the base - one of the plugs hides an aerial fixing screw in behind it.

Erich

[trog]

i have also sealed the antenna connections with the same tape from the beginning . today we found that the raio end of the coax cable wasnt completelt tight and some insulation had worked loose.it now tunes but when transmitting it detunes so more ivestigation and hope a place here in broome can help. it has been a waste of time and money so far as it hasnt worked when off the beaten track and whereever we have stopped there hasnt been anyone that fixes hf. i can see a wait of a few more months until i get to perth and find a codan outlet.

[dullbird]

sounds like ours never been able to get it going since we bought it second hand:(

[trog]

maybe convert the fibreglass antennas into pool cues ? But what to do with the rest other than a paperweight which i favour the computer for!

[trog]

just got word today that there isnt any known outfit between broome and perth that will be able to look at or repair my radio. what a waste of money

[catfishman]

just got word today that there isnt any known outfit between broome and perth that will be able to look at or repair my radio. what a waste of money


That cracks me up it really does. You didn't complain when it was working fine but start bitching when it fails.

You wouldnt think a day of driving on the Gunbarrel and hitting all the overhanging mulga with the heavy fibreglass whip would have something to do with the antenna issues ? - I remember offering to fix it for you at Wiluna but you wouldn't pull it apart for me, but if you don't want it i'll give you $200 dollars for it and you pay the freight.

[justinc]

There is a few tutorials online about dissassembling and servicing/ repairing Codan Autotune antennas, worth a look as it is always best to try and fix these things yourself as mentioned, especially when there is no-one else out there....

JC

[gps-au]

"found the antenna water damaged but only saw a bit of drizzle"

Was it really ?

1) If you are using the fibreglass whip, take it off, saw it into 6 inch lengths and throw it away.

2) Now if you don't have a whip section (due to 1), buy a stainless stell whip top, eith with or without base spring.

99% of problems with these antennas are due to the fibreglass whip section. it can become intermittant, it causes heaps of stress on the base section top either with or without spring. Get rid of it immediately and replace.

If you cant find a replacement locally, buy a low band vkf whip (or even a CB whip) and use it, You might want to keep the base section of the fibreglass whip only to reuse if possible the screw connector. if your really stuffed.

Also, check the model number of the unit, you haven't indicated previously.

[peter5111]

Have a chat with Ivan (http://www.hfradiosolutions.com.au/) and stick it on BusFreght to him. Ivan is one a handful of guys that are authorized by Codan to overhaul the 9350. He is a genius with the tuners.

Or get in touch with Codan (http://www.codanhf.com/) direct. If it really is a water ingress problem then they will be very interested to find out.

The 9350 is so reliable , any antenna that fails in warranty get dissected until they find the true cause of the problem, then find a solution. Funny how there are half a dozen revision numbers that all look the same externally.

I know the bottom line for the user is $$'s. Sorry but I have no idea what they will actually charge. Realistically though, you don't skimp on engine maintenance so why skimp on your communication maintenance? You wouldn't have the HF set if it wasn't a safety critical item, but if it isn't reliable then you may as well carry half a dozen house bricks.