Topband: Beverage Taxes and radio survey

[Tom Rauch]

> ...And I'm afraid that I simply MUST take issue with your
statement
> (above) --- a schematic diagram is absolutely, positively,
IMPERATIVE in ANY
> trouble-shooting exercise!

I was addressing advice to most people, not you Eddy.

I was also addessing the advice if someone doesn't see
something the "grounds the antenna line" they need to do
something. That isn't accurate advice. One has to be able to
understand what the switching system does, and that can be
very complicated.

> In my situation with the 751A & the feedback from my
Beverage, I would have
> been deluding myself were I to transmit & wait for
feedback from others ---
> the scope pattern & service manual schematic told me
otherwise, and told me
> PRONTO!

Sadly, most people probably don't have a scope. I'll bet
even less would be able to follow the schematic of a modern
radio with diode switches and determine if a switching
system is adequate or not.

This leaves us three solutions...

1.) We depend on reports and observations

2.) We all just assume we have a problem and use something
will know will correct and never add a problem. Sort of a
"Beverage Tax".

3.) We compile data on radios and determine which radios are
susceptable.

I think we should do numbers 1 and 3 and help those who
don't pay their Beverage Tax.

The Beverage Tax is a good idea, but people might not want
to pay for something they don't need. My only concern about
number 2 is being sure whatever we stick in the system
doesn't slow amplifier transfer relays down and does its
job. My FT1000's have been absolutely no problem at all. My
751A was a problem. My 775DSP was a MAJOR problem, so much
that I kicked it out the door. My Orion was initially a
problem, but they quickly changed the firmware and fixed it
for every user!! (Try to get that service from Yaesu, ICOM,
or Kenwood.)  As a matter of fact if the Japanese
manufacturers behaved like TenTec did with the Orion, we
would not even be having this discussion! No one would have
a problem like this.

I think we need a list of good an bad combinations. Sort of
a "I had this problem" survey.

Many buzzes are not antenna related, by the way. Many of
them are equipment problems that have nothing to do with the
antenna port.

73 Tom