gme gx 600 vhf issues

[tyrion]

Having some problems with my vhf radio on the last trip out i was able to receive a strong clear signal from the seaway tower to brisbane coast guard and beyond however a a transmission was only heard 1km from vmr viccy point. Ive made some phone calls today to gme support and they told me to put a multimeter on the inner and outer cable on the ariel where it unplugs from the unit if there is a connection here according to your multi meter the aerial wire or aerial are faulty. I did this and there and no problems here but while stuffing around behind the dash i found that when i moved the aerial wire to certain spots while hold ptt button both of the alarms for the etec would sound.

I checked all the wiring circuits and there are no faults or leaks all is connected properly is it possible that when i try to transmit the power of the transmition is being drawn on by these alarms or other electronics near the cable?

If so is there a quality insulated aerial wire you could suggest for the gme radio?

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated as well.

[mick fillet]

hmm intresting.

so te etec alarm commes on when you hit th button on the mic.

does any interferance high pitch sound come through the radio and can you control it using the sqelch. or does a gurgling noise come from the radio speaker when motor is running?

so does this mean that the ignition runs through the house wiring and not run seperate.

You know when you have your sounder on and then you turn the key and start the engine does the sounder turn off then back on briefly from the voltage draw or any other elec equipment do anything wierd or just the radio interferance making the etec alarm sound?

if you can identify what the alarm is. eg theres a start up alarm

low oil alarm

over heating alarm

and a voltage alarm.

it could be a voltage alarm and when you press the botton conecting the signal it is earthing out some where in the radio and the etec computer recognises this earth problem and would sound a low voltage alarm esspecially if ignition is wired through the house.

you might have to undo the coax conections and redo them I reckon. i reckon one little bit of wire from the outer sheath is touching the inner conection where the solid core goes in on the coax connection.

disconect the antanna from the unit does the alarm sound still. if it doesnt then the problem is in the cable and most likly in the connection.

hope we can help ya sort it out mate

mick

[tyrion]

Mick fillet,

there is no interference on the radio speaker with engine running or not the squelch also works fine. The sounder does sometimes turn off when the engine is started but im not sure if this is because the ignition is wired through the house or if its voltage drop causing this as it only happens towards the end of a big trip i get around this by putting my isolator on 1&2 (running both batteries) So i think the cause of the sounder outage is more to do with voltage drop.

As for which alarm im beginning to think its more of a current draw due to insufficient insulation on the coax because depending where i move the wire one or both alarm speakers? sound the closer they get together the louder the alarm gets. like when you hold a micro phone to close to speakers but with the cable intstead.

I have also run my multi meter across the inner and outer of the coax and there seems to be no connection between them so it should be all good. also tried tightening the aerial plug in the unit to no avail. when the aerial is removed from the unit and the ptt button is pressed there is no sound coming from the alarms.

Im considering a complete up grade to a raymarine vhf and top quality whip and cable if i cant get this sorted.

[mick fillet]

yeah that sounds weird hey.

sounds like the ariel is stuffed

[mattza13]

Firstly how old is the unit? and where did you get it.

as mick said there is a good chance that is your arial is the problem. What areial are you running? a GME one? independent or ground dependent? if it is a ground dependant arerial that could be the problem there.

Possibly try a new arial or send it too GME warrenty (if its still in warrenty)

If you were looking at a new vhf why not go to a ICOM, they are a great unit and you will get change from $400 for the unit.

[tyrion]

Problem solved a 3 dollar solder on end cut the spare 4mtrs of cable outa the boat cause they obviously were to lazy to cut the factory crimped ends off to shorten it threw a ferrite ring on the cable and bang radio check from home "loud and clear from Brisbane coast guard" on 81