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AB7IF

Discussion in 'CB Radio Forum' started by Rat, Dec 15, 2011.

  1. Dec 15, 2011 #1
    Rat

    Rat Road Train Member

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    Aug 31, 2008
    Rats nest Grafton North Dakota
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    Hey I was wondering if you know anything about the connex 4600 turbo radios.

    I have been running mine for awhile now and it has developed an issue.

    The RF power control doesn't seem to do anything. I used to beable to dial the RF power back to about 6 watts or less but the radio started acting up. It would go from a low power dead key to well over a 50 watt deadkey on its own. Now it is stuck at what looks like about 100 watt deadkey.

    Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the extra juice when I am playing on skip land. Been talking all over the country with this thing and no box behind it. It is just that when I am working local, I like to dial back the juice all the way so that I don't step on too many toes.

    Are there any known issues with this radio that might cause this? Something I can look for next time I am sitting here at home with nothing to do?

    There is really nothing special done to this radio. I bought it from Sparky about a year ago. I did not having anything extra done to it. I did have to replace the external speaker jack a while ago but that is it.
     
    Rat, Dec 15, 2011
    Rat, Dec 15, 2011
    #1
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  3. Dec 15, 2011 #2
    WA4GCH

    WA4GCH Road Train Member

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    Hummmm :biggrin_2556:

    Have you checked your antenna ?
    The other thing that comes to mind id a bad ground on the PA board ...
     
    WA4GCH, Dec 15, 2011
    WA4GCH, Dec 15, 2011
    #2
  4. Dec 15, 2011 #3
    AB7IF

    AB7IF Light Load Member

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    Jun 11, 2011
    Somewhere, Ar
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    This is a question which can only be answered on the bench as too many possible variables exist. If you had owned it longer and chain smoke I would wonder about nicotine buildup in the carrier control. Also not having a clue what Sparky does further clouds the issue. Does he lift R228 and add a diode in series or put one underneath. If there is one in series with R228 is it a 914 or 4001 (current here can harm a 50 Ma diode and indefinite resistance in this area can yield strange carrier levels which you may or may not be able to control). Mods like this produce serious current spikes in other areas. Does he volt the final (single final in your case - they remove the 2nd when there is an amplifier after this point such as in your Turbo), does he do the NPC or PPE mods. Not being a tech even if you watched him work on it you do not really know what he did and I cannot see it. If I had to guess I would say the pass regulator-modulator (754, 817 or whatever) is going leaky but as I said too many variables to diagnose without close up inspection and measurements. By the way when are the super techs out there going to realize the TIP36C is the part to use for the pass regulator? We could be dealing with cheap parts and carbon track-wiper problems on the carrier control or associated trimmers. The radio really needs to be investigated before something is over stressed and fails and diagnosing blind online leaves too many questions to properly answer yours.
     
    AB7IF, Dec 15, 2011
    AB7IF, Dec 15, 2011
    #3
  5. Dec 16, 2011 #4
    Rat

    Rat Road Train Member

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    Aug 31, 2008
    Rats nest Grafton North Dakota
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    Well that saddens me. I am down to one radio and this is it. Don't have a shop in my area so that is out and don't really want to send it away and be without a radio for weeks.

    As far as my antenna setup, all is good. Running a single wilson 5000 with flat SWR. I get out very well with the setup and it has good ears also.


    As far as Sparky, all I know is that the radio was setup to run 11 meter and was run across his bench to make sure it was working the way it is suppose to.

    When I first got the radio it deadkeyed less then 5 watts with the rf power turned all the way down and it keyed up about 40-50 watts with the rf power cranked all the way up. Peak watts when talking has been right around 200 ish.

    I will bring it home next time I am going to be off for a day or two and check for possible solder joint issues along with the chassis grounding. My 4300 HP used to have issues with the chassis grounds if you tightened up the mounting screws too much.

    Also does this radio have to VR pots for the deadkey power? One for the low end and one for the high end. Possible I have a bad VR pot or soldered connection for one of the VR pots????
     
    Rat, Dec 16, 2011
    Rat, Dec 16, 2011
    #4
  7. Dec 16, 2011 #5
    AB7IF

    AB7IF Light Load Member

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    Jun 11, 2011
    Somewhere, Ar
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    There are two trimmers in yours, low and high. I did not mention solders since I have seen many bad joint symptoms but not that one. However it is possible so a good idea to investigate. Logic dictates a bad connection to your carrier control or somewhere in that circuit can produce your troubles. What I have seen often is a wire to a front face control poorly soldered and even some not soldered at all. Surely your control not functioning could be due to a wire falling off as well as an open circuit anywhere else in that circuit. So when checking for bad solders carefully inspect the wires going to the control to be sure they are connected as well.
     
    AB7IF, Dec 16, 2011
    AB7IF, Dec 16, 2011
    #5
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