Zookeeper 2280
Recruit
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2014
- Messages
- 4
Hello iboats members! This being my first post, I want to say that this site has been a great source of information that has helped me keep my 25+ year old boat going strong.
I have an older Apelco VHF radio (model 5160 I believe) that has been giving me some problems lately. This radio is connected to an 8' Shakespeare VHF antenna, and all was working fine for the first two years that I owned the boat. Now when I first turn it on for the day, it seems to work fine. Once it has been on for a little while (10-30 minutes), it starts to play static from the speaker. It sounds as if the squelch needs to be adjusted, but turning the squelch knob has no effect on the static. I can still hear other people's broadcasts, but can't get rid of the constant static. The static sound continues across all channels.
I also have a Uniden handheld VHF radio that I keep on board as a backup and have verified that the Apelco transmits and receives (at least at a very short range), and also that the static issue is confined to the Apelco unit.
My question is whether the Apelco VHF radio itself is likely bad, or if I should look for a possible issue with the antenna or wiring before I go buy a new radio? I'm thinking that there is a solder joint or something inside the radio that is opening up once it gets warmed up that is taking the squelch knob out of commission, but wanted to see if anyone else had any ideas. I'd hate to buy a new radio and then find out I really needed an antenna or had a problem with the antenna wiring. Is there a way to test the antenna/wiring to verify that it is good aside from connecting it to a known good radio? I don't have a way to connect the handheld to the 8' antenna or I'd have tried that already.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
-Eric
I have an older Apelco VHF radio (model 5160 I believe) that has been giving me some problems lately. This radio is connected to an 8' Shakespeare VHF antenna, and all was working fine for the first two years that I owned the boat. Now when I first turn it on for the day, it seems to work fine. Once it has been on for a little while (10-30 minutes), it starts to play static from the speaker. It sounds as if the squelch needs to be adjusted, but turning the squelch knob has no effect on the static. I can still hear other people's broadcasts, but can't get rid of the constant static. The static sound continues across all channels.
I also have a Uniden handheld VHF radio that I keep on board as a backup and have verified that the Apelco transmits and receives (at least at a very short range), and also that the static issue is confined to the Apelco unit.
My question is whether the Apelco VHF radio itself is likely bad, or if I should look for a possible issue with the antenna or wiring before I go buy a new radio? I'm thinking that there is a solder joint or something inside the radio that is opening up once it gets warmed up that is taking the squelch knob out of commission, but wanted to see if anyone else had any ideas. I'd hate to buy a new radio and then find out I really needed an antenna or had a problem with the antenna wiring. Is there a way to test the antenna/wiring to verify that it is good aside from connecting it to a known good radio? I don't have a way to connect the handheld to the 8' antenna or I'd have tried that already.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
-Eric