spectra volume set

[radiocat37]

Good afternoon,

I have a mid power A4 VHF spectra that I am wondering about the volume setting in the RSS. When I got the radio the volume knob acted like it only had one setting. It had audio but the knob, when turned did not raise or lower the volume. When I read the radio I went to radio wide and the MIN Volume was set at midpoint of 8. I lowered it to 2 and now the volume is working. Can someone tell me about the best setting for that? It seems like the volume when turned up could be a bit higher. Radio works great otherwise: Crisp audio, goes into the 2M HAM band and has full power out. Zone capable as well. Ebay for $50. These mid power spectras are almost given away on ebay.

Mike

[kc7gr]

The MIN VOLUME setting in the RSS is typically used only with control heads having a rocker type volume control (A5, A7, A9). I've never tried tweaking it on an A4, so your experiment leaves me a bit puzzled.

Question: Have the 'time-bomb' electrolytic caps been replaced in this radio? If not, it is conceivable that they are causing the problem, or that their failure caused the audio PA chip to fail.

Recommend replacing said caps as soon as possible, even if they look clean from a physical inspection. That corrosive electrolyte can build up under the cap, hidden from casual view, and cause nasty damage later on. I almost lost my own UHF radio to that.

Happy tweaking.

[jackhackett]

The A4 heads have been known to have volume problems caused by the caps leaking, I've had some where a resistor associated with the volume control was damaged causing low volume.