[TenTec] trouble shooting OMNI SIX<<<URGENT>>>

[Chuck (Jack) Hawley]

He just copied the email to us and actually sent it to TenTec service I
notice...
But, also I want to say that I have had an SWR board problem and had to
replace an op amp on the 9 MHz board as well. I figure that I had had an
atmospheric charge on the antenna at some time and caused the problems. The
SWR was off value (don't remember the details) and I think the power out
meter went full scale or something when it was broken. Also the current
limit trip was affected. The actual power out was fine though.
I also second the suggestion that you isolate the SWR issue with a good
dummy load and perhaps another meter.
Chuck, KE9UW

> -----Original Message-----
> From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com
> [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]On Behalf Of Tommy
> Sent: Monday, October 25, 2004 21:22 PM
> To: tentec at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] trouble shooting OMNI SIX<<<URGENT>>>
>
>
> Robert,
>
> I'm not with Ten Tec. I also doubt that Ten Tec would respond to your post
> to this reflector. The best thing to do if you wish to talk to them about
> your problem, is to call the Ten Tec repair department and talk
> with a tech
> named Don.
>
> You described your problem quite well. I would suggest until you get the
> Omni 6 repaired that you NOT try to drive your amplifier with it. There is
> always the possibility your Omni 6 could damage your Hercules,
> and I'm sure
> you don't want that to happen.
>
> If  you don't mind, I would like to suggest a few things you
> could do in the
> meantime. First, disconnect your Omni 6 from all of your other
> gear. If you
> can do it, test your dummy load with another radio just to make very sure
> that you dummy load is OK. It would help if you have an external
> SWR bridge,
> but that's not completely necessary.
>
> Next just connect your RF output from your Omni 6 directly into your dummy
> load, if you have an external SWR bridge, connect that between your Omni 6
> and your dummy load. This will give you a separate SWR indicator.
> If you do
> have an extra SWR bridge and it reads an SWR that is OK but your
> Omni 6 SWR
> indicator reads high, then you may just have a diode on the Omni 6 circuit
> board that is bad. The possibility of the Omni 6 having a problem on it's
> SWR circuit board is high because even with a high SWR, your power supply
> over current circuit breaker is not tripping on you. Since you can get a
> full 100 watts  out of the Omni 6, right now your final transistors are
> probably still good (however you really do not want to run at full power
> until you get the SWR problem fixed). If the SWR on the Omni 6
> reads OK into
> a dummy load, then you may have something wrong between the RF output
> connector on the Omni 6, all the way out to your 253 tuner. You can locate
> that by just removing/replacing one thing at a time. Like hook your amp
> directly into the dummy load ant test your system that way. It could be
> something like the coax between your Omni 6 RF out put connector and your
> Hercules, or even the input circuit on your Hercules amp.
>
> The probability of the T/R relay in the Omni 6 being bad is only a small
> one, since you can get RF power output and then your receiver is still
> working OK.
>
> If you narrow your problem down to just a bad SWR reading on your Omni 6,
> then there is high probability that one or both of the diodes on the SWR
> circuit board is bad. But because of the physical location of the SWR
> circuit board, unless your familar with the radio, I would
> suggest you call
> Ten Tec and let them do it for you. But on the other hand I just recently
> sent an Omni 6 Plus to them for some mods and it took about seven weeks to
> get it back.
>
> Good luck with it Robert,
>
> 73,
>
> Tom - W4BQF
>
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.782 / Virus Database: 528 - Release Date: 10/22/2004