[ICOM] ESD and Surge, was( Pro3 Fan Questions)

[Larry Young]

Since the introduction of solid state devices, we have had problems caused by ESD and lightning surge issues. This is a matter of physics. All radios no matter the brand are subject to these issues. Last week in my local area, we had several days of severe thunderstorms. Three local hams lost transceivers.Can you believe none were connected to antennas at the time? One who lost his Icom transceiver said a tree supporting his doublet was directly struck leaving a bark trail down the tree into the ground and then  under ground into his buried phone lines taking out his phones. His doublet wire vanished ,leaving his DC conductive balun up on its support pole, and the end insulators hanging in the air..His radio power supply still works but his radio front end is gone. Two other locals reported the same, BTW they had the latest brand "Y" near the top of the line transceivers.
    It is not a design defect when a transceiver cannot with stand surges and induced spikes when millions of volts and thousands of amperes of current pass through the atmosphere. What it says to me, is that many in the ham community could be better informed about this and its potential for harm to solid state equipment. There is a little bit written about this in the 2009 ARRL handbook.
Larry K4LXV

--- On Sun, 8/2/09, Phil Krichbaum <vailphil at sopris.net> wrote:

From: Phil Krichbaum <vailphil at sopris.net>
Subject: Re: [ICOM] Pro3 Fan Questions
To: "ICOM Reflector" <icom at mailman.qth.net>
Date: Sunday, August 2, 2009, 12:37 AM

    A friend who is a RF engineer stated if they admitted they blew the 
design, they should come up with a recall or modification and fix every 
one made that got sent in for repair for free. Probably why they 
continue to replace the blown parts with ones of the same rating. At 
least the repair guys can probably do this one with their eyes closed by 
now. It is a shame they don't take better care of their customers with a 
very popular rig like this. I wonder if it has been fixed in the next 
version?
    Phil N0KE

KD7JYK DM09 wrote:
> Clearly the radio is of a flawed design and unable to handle average
> conditions on this planet.
>
> I suggest returning the radio and sending Icom a bill for the original cost,
> the cost of sending it to them repeatedly, the cost of a functional
> replacement plus your "annoyance" fee.
>
> You can bet they have their "terms" of business, no doubt you have yours as
> a customer.
>
> Enjoy your new rig.
>
> Kurt
>
> ----
> 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/
> To support QSL/QTH.net: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
>   
----
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/
To support QSL/QTH.net: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html