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

Sun Aug 2 18:18:06 EDT 2009

I was concerned about always feeding the PAs. 
Especially since I have a ICOM 746, 207 and 756P3 connected to the same 
35 Amp Linear Pwr Supply.
I installed Three 30 amp auto type relays to individually switch the 13.8v to each radio.
Now, all are totally powered off unless I want to operate a specific radio.

73

Joe O, KI5FJ

NNNN

--- On Sun, 8/2/09, Larry Young <k4lxv at bellsouth.net> wrote:

From: Larry Young <k4lxv at bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re: [ICOM] Fw: ESD and Surge, was( Pro3 Fan Questions)
To: "ICOM Reflector" <icom at mailman.qth.net>
Date: Sunday, August 2, 2009, 9:35 PM

Bob: It is possible had my driver transistors failed for no apparent reason I too would be upset at a high repair cost. Please be mindful when the power switch on the pro transceivers is turned off, that voltage is still applied to the PA, if the external power supply is also not turned off. If the power supply has other devices connected to a common DC Buss, depending on what is connected and how, it is often possible to have voltage spikes appear on the DC buss. I am not trying to excuse, just offering a logical possible reason.

--- On Sun, 8/2/09, Robert Chudek - K0RC <k0rc at citlink.net> wrote:

From: Robert Chudek - K0RC <k0rc at citlink.net>
Subject: [ICOM] Fw:  ESD and Surge, was( Pro3 Fan Questions)
To: "ICOM Reflector" <icom at mailman.qth.net>
Date: Sunday, August 2, 2009, 4:45 PM

Resending my message now that my registered email address has been 
corrected. Thanks Dick!

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Chudek - K0RC" <k0rc at citlink.net>
To: "ICOM Reflector" <icom at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 02, 2009 2:45 PM
Subject: Re: [ICOM] ESD and Surge, was( Pro3 Fan Questions)

> Larry,
>
> I'm certain most everyone will agree with you regarding failures by ESD 
> events like you described. Twenty years ago I had a Ringo Ranger vaporized 
> by a direct strike to my tower.
>
> There are just too many PRO III driver failures for this to be "blown off" 
> by Icom as ESD events. Especially all the reports of "I turned it off last 
> night, turned it on this morning and it's toast". That was my exact 
> scenario a day before SS two years ago. There were no ESD events, my 
> antennas were disconnected. The only thing I did was push the power switch 
> on and I was instantly QRP after that. It was a $300 to repair on a radio 
> hardly 18 months old.
>
> Without sending the blown parts through a thorough "fault analysis", it's 
> their word against your word. As Phil mentioned, Icom could do a major 
> recall campaign just like the auto manufacturers when something is 
> determined to be a personal safety issue. Unfortunately, blown IC's 
> doesn't seem to fall into a personal safety hazard category.
>
> 73 de Bob - KØRC in MN
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Larry Young" <k4lxv at bellsouth.net>
> To: "ICOM Reflector" <icom at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Sunday, August 02, 2009 11:45 AM
> Subject: Re: [ICOM] ESD and Surge, was( Pro3 Fan Questions)
>
>
> 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
> ----
> 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
----
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