Just go a boat with a Shakesphere SE2001 EX Marine Radio and when I go to use it I hit the push to talk button and the radio turns off. Any have any suggestions??
Most electronic gear has low voltage as well as over voltage protection circuitry which shuts down the device. When you use the PTT button the radio goes into transmit mode with draws much more power than when in the "receive" mode. It may be you have a very weak battery. Connect a voltmeter to the battery and measure voltage with nothing turned on. Then turn the radio on and note the voltage. The use the PTT switch and again note the voltage. If the voltage stays the same throughout these tests there is apparently a radio problem. If the voltage drops below about 11 volts you have a bad or discharged battery. But be aware that the radio does go silent when transmitting because it cannot transmit and receive at the same time. However if the indicator lights go out then there is a radio or power issue.
Well I noticed this afternoon that the radio works when the antenna is down, when I put the antenna up, the radio will shut off when I use the PTT button. It seems like a ground/short issue. I there any type of wireing inside the antenna housing? It seems like if the metal piece on the antenna is touch the metal base on the boat the radio will work.
Also make sure you have seperate dedicated power leads feeding each unit (i.e. not tied to the same buss terminal). Mine was doing the same thing and when I moved the (+) feed to a new terminal, the problem stopped.
I would check the power at the radio input not at the battery.
If the wireing to the radio is too small a guage you can have a big voltage drop between the battery and the radio.
Also any poor connections along the way can have the same effect.
With the antenna up try to tramsmit with 1 watt and see what happends.
If it works then is likely a battery or wireing problem.
The issue with the antenna.
With the antenna down on the metal deck the radio probably does not transmit at all.
Most is not all radios for the last 20 years have a circuit to protect the finals of the radio if the Standing Wave is over 3. to 1.
With the antenna down on the deck the Standing Wave will be way over 3 to 1 and the protect circuit will shut on the transmiter off so it just like you never pushed the button.
