Spectra Worth Fixing

[KitN1MCC]

i have a 100 watt VHF with possible bad amp/caps should i fix it or just pick up a new unit,

[dbfd588]

caps would be way cheaper. if its caps. if the amp is bad you should be able to pick one up cheaper than you could buy another one. Is the display going bad or what?

[motorola_otaku]

By "amp", I assume you mean the PA board. What's the part number? I may have a clean spare I can part with.

[jackhackett]

Could also mean the audio amp, which is probably more likely if he's asking about it in conjunction with the caps.

KitN1MCC, what symptoms are you seeing?

[KitN1MCC]

no power out of the transmitter. i can have bob KCbobo do the caps but i think it may be more than that

[Will]

no power out of the transmitter. i can have bob KCbobo do the caps but i think it may be more than that

You are correct, way "more than that"

[KitN1MCC]

any one on here want to fix it heheheheh

[Will]

any one on here want to fix it heheheheh

Sure, I will be glad to "fix" it for you.

[KitN1MCC]

send me a pm with the info.. i know bob here local can do the caps but i think he needs more. and my freind carl local is way busy and does not have the stuff to do the spectra

[kc7gr]

Actually, the problem may not be as bad as it sounds.

One failure I've seen with Spectras, particularly the high-power radios, is that one or more of the PIN diodes in the PA section will short out. This can cause greatly-reduced receiver sensitivity or... drumroll... reduced TX power.

There's a simple test you can do. Hook the radio up to a bench power supply that has current metering, hitch the antenna port to your favorite dummy load or service monitor, and key up. If the radio's drawing heavy current (10 or more amps), but no power's coming out, there's a good chance that it's either the PIN diode(s) or a broken center pin in the antenna connector.

If the current drain is less than 10 amps, you do indeed have other problems.

Happy tweaking.