[ICOM] My letter to Icom

[Tony Hwang]

Bruce wrote:

> I am sure it is VERY frustrating for the tech at Icom too! They 
> usually cycle the radio in Tx/Rx for days on end until either the 
> problem pops up or they have exhausted all they
> can do to get the rig to fail. As it has been said before "you can't 
> fix what isn't broke" or
> in other words if they can't get it to fail what in heavens name 
> should they fix?
> If your that unhappy with what is going on it's time to talk to the 
> shop supervisor Dan miles (if you get some one by the name of Dave 
> Stoppel insist you speak to Dan, Stoppel knows NOTHING about HF 
> rigs!). If Dan can't satisfy you then go to the shop manager Dwayne 
> Black..if he doesn't help go for the MOD (manager on deck).
> Bruce W7BCW
> At 07:17 AM 10/28/2006, you wrote:
>
>> The following is a letter I sent to Icom---They have had the rig in
>> Washington since the middle of September and can NOT duplicate the 
>> problem..WOW I am
>> very frustrated!
>>
>>
>>
>> To Whom It May Concern:
>>
>> The following is a description of the problem my Icom 706 mk2g, serial
>> number 10276, that I am sending for service.
>>
>> The problems began more than a year ago, I was able to deal with it 
>> but the
>> problem has gotten progressively worse. Let me say the rig has never 
>> been used
>> in the car­It’s always been used as my one and only HF radiio for 
>> home use.
>>
>> On transmit, on all bands,( I don’t use 2 meters or 440) using single
>> sideband, the rf power output drops almost to zero. Thinking this 
>> just may be a “
>> meter” problem I checked the current draw. The current from an 
>> Astron RS 35 M,
>> also falls. I have tried switching power supplies to another Astron, but
>> the problem persists..
>> When the rf output falls­I sometimes find that unkeying the mike annd 
>> keying
>> it again—rf is back to full output. The radio after a few minutes 
>> lloses power
>> again. At times when first using the radio, from a cold start, there is
>> little rf.
>>
>> I have disconnected the companion Icom automatic antenna tuner, AT 
>> 180, and
>> ran the radio into a manual tuner. The problem does not go away. I have
>> swapped out the coax between the tuner and rig­but the problem 
>> reapppears. The
>> swr on all bands is acceptable.
>> I have tried several mikes, the hand mike that comes with the radio, 
>> an Icom
>> rs15, and an Icom sm 20 thinking this was rf getting into the 
>> shack—the
>> problem persists.
>>
>> One day in frustration I followed the manuals direction for 
>> “resetting” the
>> radio to factory settings. Surprisingly the rig worked flawlessly for 
>> several
>> hours­and the old problem came back.
>> Finally thinking there may be other issues in the shack I had a 
>> friend bring
>> in his Icom 706 and hooked it up. IT WORKS!!! That indicates to me the
>> problem is not shack related, but radio related.
>>
>> I have enjoyed the radio many years prior to this problem.. I also 
>> have an
>> Icom handheld and duel band rig mobile. I am sold on Icom and will 
>> continue
>> to share with fellow hams my belief, especially if you can fix 706 
>> mk2g’s
>> problem.
>>
>> 73'
>> Bob Reynolds-WB3DYE
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----
>> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC, icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
>> Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
>> Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
>
>
>
>
>
Hi,
Mu gut feeling is the radio's main logic board is intermittent. Tried 
spraying the radio logic board or
freezing it in the fridge or freezer for couple hours and try. Unless it 
fails for some length of time,
this kind of intermittent problem is very difficult to nail down.
73,
Tony, VE6CGX