Internally the Eagle has 2 fans which blow across the PA heat sink.
However, there is a cross member about midway of the radio which has 3
regulators attached. This cross member serves as a heat sink for those
regulators and it gets hot. While we all acknowledge that the Vcc from
the supply should be 13.8 volts, +/-15%, per the manual. That is a
low of 11.73 volts to a high of 15.87 volts. The facts are, the higher
the voltage the more heat these regulator devices passively dissipate
into the cross member heat sink. And there is no real cooling
internally other than the PA devices and fans. The operating
temperature of the radio is stated as 0º C or 32º F to 50º C or 122º
F. Not saying the radio needs additional cooling, but a combination of
the device radiation of heat and ambient temperature over extended
operation may have approached the temperature limit. Not so as to
damage the radio but.......some things just quit working. We all know
that computer memory typically slows down, after a point, as the
temperature of the device rises
Although the fans for the PA are wired parallel and both should run at
the same time, it would be worth checking by transmitting key down {or
close the PTT} CW at 100 watts into a dummy load and observe that both
fans do run. Also, depending on the SWR presented to the PA, under
some conditions it will encounter more watts to dissipate in terms of
heat. The PA does have a High Temp protection circuit.
Still none of this explains why things shut down. I'm more inclined to
think the USB port went to sleep and that left the radio hung up waiting
on a command from the application controlling the radio. i.e. logging
program, or other control application. Perhaps the application
continued to run as far as the computer was concerned. Otherwise no
comm error reported, but the USB port went to sleep.
Once the radio shut down on a seemingly heat related issue, then
rebooting the computer, reloading the application, swapping ports,
unplugging cables, and such, is no more than allowing a cooling down
period. After which things started working. In likelihood, these have
nothing to do with the application, ports, cables, and such. In other
words, if was working with the hardware configuration, then it should
continue to work as long at something didn't get unplugged
accidentally. This leads to the speculation of a communication issue
between the radio and computer.
Realizing one is fatigued thus having worked 16 hrs of a contest and is
now frustrated because the "system" stopped responding, the lack of
logical trouble shooting is a little like the game of pick-up-sticks.
They are stacked randomly and pointing in many directions.
I'm by running multiple software applications much like a
helicopter........too dang many moving parts to be reliable. Although I
run a computer logging program, I only use one application to run the
radio and it does nothing but run the radio. Logging and rotor and
antenna control is totally separate. Yes it does require a bit more
personal attention and involvement but it sure saves the frustration in
the sudden need for debugging a "system".
And thank you Microsoft for changing things and not telling us what or
when they were changed. That April Update was a b.......... ! Well I
won't say it here. Oh, from what I read, Linux and Apple do much the
same thing. No one system seems immune.
73
Bob, K4TAX
On 7/15/2018 4:56 PM, John Bescher via TenTec wrote:
Mike,
I'm no expert but I have an Eagle and it has never let me down. Then again, 16
hours straight, I'd be malfunctioning, not only the transceiver.
Were you using a digital mode that has long duty cycles? As a preventative
measure, why not direct an external fan on the transceiver? Noisy, yes, but
maybe that will eliminate the timeouts. I'd also check the vents on the Eagle
are clear and non-blocked by any external gear. Yes, I know, obvious, but a lot
of problems are due to obvious reasons.
Lastly, yes, the behavior you mentioned could be caused by excessive heat to
the Eagle's boards but it could also happen due to RF entering the transceiver.
If this continues, not a good sign, as you know, excessive heat can damage
your transceiver. When is the next 16 plus hour contest for you?
Good luck. The Eagle is a fine transceiver. I'm sad Tentec is no longer
producing Amateur Radio products.
73....John Bescher, N4DXI
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Tortorella <w2iy@verizon.net>
To: tentec <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Sun, Jul 15, 2018 4:27 pm
Subject: [TenTec] Eagle minor woes
Folks, I ran my Eagle for about 16 hours straight in the IARU contest
yesterday and as the hours wore on it got warmer with the fan coming on more
often. Of course here it is doing exactly what it is supposed to. What I
did notice is that towards the end, it began to lock up (tuning dial had no
effect, would not transmit). I was able in each case to bring it back to
life by power cycling with a brief off period, but of course that sends the
COM port in the laptop into never never land and it took several gyrations
with enabling/disabling/enabling the port, pulling an reinserting cables,
more power cycling, etc., to get the radio to talk to he PC again (N1MM+
logger, about which I can't say enough nice things). Anyway, sort of under
the heading of first world problems, what's the list wisdom on why the Eagle
is going kind of brain dead now and then, apparently when warm? Is this
"normal" behavior, "to be expected" of a complex hardware/software system,
or is there really a cause we should be looking for? Thanks for your
thoughts and 73, Mike W2IY
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