[TenTec] Eagle minor woes

[Bob McGraw K4TAX]

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 at verizon.net>
> To: tentec <tentec at 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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