[Icom] IC- 706 MK IIG Antenna Connector Problem

Sat, 5 Oct 2002 16:36:57 -0700

Hi Dennis,

Well, that answers my questions, but doesn't resolve your problem. I meant
to state more clearly that what I was wondering about was if your S/N ratio
improved when you connected the shield, even thought the overall receive
level dropped. As you stated, it did not.

As an aside, I've had pretty good luck with both RG/8 and RG/58 from Radio
Shack, but I do know that it's not the best quality - both in terms of the
coax itself and the cheap crimp connectors. I don't have much faith in it
either, but I use it if it works.

And as for xmit, did you say that you have a low SWR even with the shield
disconnected? If so, then you may have something else going on here, such as
grounding problems. If you have a dummy load, you might put it on the remote
end of the coax and see if you're getting power to the other end. If you
don't have a dummy load, I've often used an incandescent light as a "poor
man's" dummy load. In this case, it would at least tell you if power is
getting to the other end of the coax.

Another idea is to post a message on the rec.radio.amateur.antenna
newsgroup. There's a lot of savvy folks there who may be able to determine
what's going on with your situation.

Good luck and 73,
-- Dave, WA0TTN

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On
> Behalf Of Dennis DeMarco
> Sent: Saturday, October 05, 2002 2:52 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: RE: [Icom] IC- 706 MK IIG Antenna Connector Problem
>
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> Well, I just did an experiment. There was a station reading a
> 5 or 6 signal
> strength and when I turned the shield as far as it can go,
> both the noise
> level and station disappeared. I heard absolutely nothing --
> almost like a
> squelch was on. So the only way I could copy the station is
> to have the
> shield partially connected to the SO-239.
>
> I'm using a homebred 20 meter dipole fed by coax. The
> frequency was 14.240.
>
> Do you think it's safe to transmit with the shield only
> partially connected?
>
> 73,
>
> Dennis KA3QOT
>
>
>
>
> At 02:23 PM 10/5/2002 -0700, you wrote:
> >What happens when you're listing to a station when you do
> your test? The
> >same thing happens on my rig(s), but I find that all that's
> happening is I'm
> >picking up more static without the shield connected. Tune in
> a QSO and see
> >what happens when you disconnect the shield.
> >
> >Also, what frequency and antenna are you using?
> >
> >73,
> >-- Dave, WA0TTN
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On
> > Behalf Of Dennis DeMarco
> > Sent: Saturday, October 05, 2002 2:00 PM
> > To: [email protected]
> > Subject: [Icom] IC- 706 MK IIG Antenna Connector Problem
> >
> >
> > Hello All,
> >
> > I have a new (less than three months old) IC-706 MK IIG. When
> > I attach a
> > new Radio Shack PL-259 cable (with crimped connectors) from
> > my SWR meter to
> > the SO-239 on the back of the rig, as soon as I insert the
> > center piece and
> > start screwing on the shield, the signal drops appreciably
> > and I can barely
> > hear anything at all. As soon as I loosen the shield and
> > barely have it
> > connected to the rig, the signal reappears at the proper
> > volume. The cable
> > has no shorts.
> >
> > When I tried an older cable with soldered-on connectors, the
> > signal stays
> > loud until the very last turn of the shield when the signal
> > drops similarly
> > to the new cable which has crimped connectors. It has no
> > shorts as well.
> >
> > Any ideas on what may be causing this?  One guess is that the
> > center pin of
> > the connectors may not be thick enough when making the
> > connection. Could
> > the SO-239 be bad? Is it safe to operate with the shield not fully
> > connected? I have a low SWR with it < 1.25:1.
> >
> > 73,
> >
> > Dennis KA3QOT
> >
> >
> > ----
> > Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan W6OLD, [email protected]
> > Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
> >
>
>----
>Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan W6OLD, [email protected]
>Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/

----
Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan W6OLD, [email protected]
Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/