Spectra Transmit issue

[ffemt1764]

Ok I have searched until my eyes went crossed so I decided to post this question and let people reply to it.

I have a VHF T83GXA Spectra in my suburban. The radio transmitted and received fine until here in the past few days...The radio powers up and receives fine, but it will not transmit at power. I tested it with a handheld about 10 feet away and it would transmit that far clearly, but it will not key up a nearby repeater, nor does it draw the same amount of power as my T84GXA UHF Spectra in the same vehicle. When you key the VHF radio up it shows its transmitting on the control head, but the voltage doesnt fluctuate more than .5 volts on the main power wire to the radio. On my UHF when I key it up the power main drops about 1.5-2.0 volts. Any ideas???

[Will]

Sounds like the leaking caps have "gotten" the power control stages. This is common in many Spectras passing thru the shop.

[ffemt1764]

I have looked at all the boards on the radio but i dont see any leaking caps anywhere...I would assume that the ones that were leaking would be quite obvious.

[kc7gr]

Not at all. I've seen radios where capacitor leakage has been almost completely invisible to a surface inspection. It becomes revealed, in all its ugly glory, once you start removing the bad caps. I nearly lost my own UHF radio to this issue, and it looked perfectly all right from the top.

Either Will or I can fix it for you. The choice between us seems to come down to who's busier, and where you are in a geographic sense (I'm southeast of Seattle, he's in southern California).

Drop either of us a PM if interested.

Thanks.