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Old 04-06-2014, 03:15 PM   #5
NN5I
Carl, nn5i
 
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Tallahassee, FL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ke0me View Post
Starting to worry it might be the radio, any suggestions???

Dick
More seriously, if you are hearing atmospherics (static crashes, etc.) the radio is likely OK. If it weren't hearing, you wouldn't hear the noise. When a radio is dead, all you get is steady white noise generated within the radio itself. This is a steady, gentle hiss with no static crashes. It will never be S9, either.

You can test this yourself by simply disconnecting the antenna. If the noise changes to a gentle hiss, you were hearing atmospherics with the antenna connected. If disconnecting the antenna makes no difference, then suspect a dead receiver. It takes a working receiver to hear atmospheric noise.

This test is simple, and should be done on 40 or 80 meters for best discrimination. When 10 meters, for example, is dead, sometimes all you'll hear is locally generated hiss even with a good working receiver.

Ummm, by the way, be sure the RF gain is up all the way. If it's down, the radio will be dead even if nothing is wrong.
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