[Icom] Icom AH4 Quit on me

Fri, 18 Oct 2002 09:16:39 -0400

Very interesting Demetre....

It turned out my relays were doing OK. The problem was in the shack...

I have tried it with the following antennas:

1) A low 40m dipole fed with the coax feeders tied together to the top of the AH4, 
and the ground side on the bottom connected to a good 6 foot copper ground rod. 
So this was a "T" shaped random wire in effect. lead-in was at an angle so mostly 
more vertical than horizontal, and with a large "capacity hat" if you will...

Results excellent on all bands 160 - 10 m

2) Horizontal loop approximately 300 feet - rather a mish-mash of angles and 
heights, anywhere from 15 feet to 40 feet but most of it is around 30 to 35 feet 
above ground. Fed with open wire feeders to the AH4, no ground.

Results: fairly good on all bands, but have not tried it long yet or on all of the 
bands. Tunes fine 160-6m. Seems like it is no better than the 40m flat top so far!!

3) Same antenna as in umber 2 above, but tied the feeders together
and connected them to the top of AH4 and reconnected the ground rod to the 
bottom.

Results seem to be about the same as in #2 configuration interestingly!

On 18 Oct 2002 at 4:23, Demetre Koumanakos wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> Actually cleaning the contacts on the relays is not that easy...
> After my AH4 started to not tune the lower bands I tried locating a
> faulty relay or dirty contacts. It was impossible removing the relay
> cover without damaging the relay or the PCB. Apparently the relays are
> soldered on the board too bloody close. In my case it turned out that
> the coax or the ground were damaged and the tuner worked fine with a
> test random wire I installed. I'm now in the process of building a
> vertical loop to use with the AH-4.
> 
> 73
> Demetre - SV1ENS
> 
> 
> > Hi Brian
> > 
> > I have a AH4, and used it with a 41 mtr LW, I had exactly the same
> > problems as you after 2 - 3 month. The cure is to clean the contacts
> > in the relays in the AH4.
> > 
> > Then it will work flowlesly again
> > 
> > Vy 73  Per OZ1EQC
> > 
> > IC-7400(IC-746Pro), IC-4KL 1 Kw QSK
> > Antenna:  SOMMER XP-808 - up 65 Feet
> > Log: Log Windows 4.03
> > Member of: EDR, ARRL, HSC
> > [email protected]
> > www.oz1eqc.dk
> > 
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Brian Carling" <[email protected]>
> > To: <[email protected]>
> > Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2002 12:30 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Icom] Icom AH4 Quit on me
> > 
> > 
> >> Does anyone know if there is a fuse in the AH4?
> >> 
> >> Any other idea what could cause it to suddenly quit?
> >> 
> >> On 17 Oct 2002 at 5:52, Brian Carling wrote:
> >> 
> >>> Hmmmmm, seems odd though that it worked OK for several weeks on
> >>> two different antennas with the length of coax I am using!
> >>> 
> >>> It makes no sense to have to put the tuner that close to my
> >>> shack.
> >>> 
> >>> On 16 Oct 2002 at 19:23, Van van Bergen wrote:
> >>> 
> >>>> Brian,
> >>>> I had the same problem and found out the AH4 wanted the length of
> >>>> coax that came with it 16' 4" for it to work with the 706 I had
> >>>> it working with. I had a  shorter piece of coax as I did not need
> >>>> the length to reach between the rig and the tuner. It would start
> >>>> to tune and then shut down ( 706 would quit tuning mode).
> >>>> 
> >>>> Hope this helps.
> >>>> 
> >>>> 73
> >>>> Van
> >>>> WD6FGB
> >>>> 
> >>>> ----
> >>>> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan W6OLD, [email protected]
> >>>> Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.315 MHz Icom FAQ:
> >>>> http://www.qsl.net/icom/
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> ----
> >>> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan W6OLD, [email protected]
> >>> Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.315 MHz Icom FAQ:
> >>> http://www.qsl.net/icom/
> >> 
> >> 
> >> ----
> >> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan W6OLD, [email protected]
> >> Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.315 MHz Icom FAQ:
> >> http://www.qsl.net/icom/
> >> 
> > 
> > ----
> > Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan W6OLD, [email protected] Icom
> > Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.315 MHz Icom FAQ:
> > http://www.qsl.net/icom/
> 
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