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M/A Com M-RK-II issue

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KD2DXF

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I bought a M/A Com Branded M-RK-II System for 800 Mhz. Got it in March, and have had no issues until last month. I noticed that the radio will drop calls on EDACS. About every 2 seconds the group call will drop out and come back after about half a second. Quite annoying. So I though it was in the programming like a priority channel check, but I cannot find it in the software. What else would cause this?
Also on a side note, I thought it was maybe location issue, but I will go outside with both the radio and a scanner, and the scanner will keep going, but the MRK will drop the calls, and pick them back up and drop out.
 

KD2DXF

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I've narrowed the issue down to 2 of the frequencies being the issue. Only when one of these 2 frequencies are being used as the talk channel, will the radio drop out.
 

ElroyJetson

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DO NOT ASK ME FOR HELP PROGRAMMING YOUR RADIO. NO.
That might actually be a symptom of a marginal condition in the system, and a marginal condition in the radio, which, when the two are combined, causes dropouts.

It's quite possible that the two channels you determined to be the culprit are slightly out of alignment, and the system radio techs need to realign those repeaters.

It might be something as simple as the deviation of the 75 Hz keep-alive tone that is transmitted on all channels in an EDACS system being a bit too low and your radio may be a bit deaf to it.

If it were happening on all system channels, I'd say it's an alignment problem with your radio. But since it happens only on specific frequencies. that tends to point at a repeater alignment issue.

Got any "insiders" in the system? You might consider having them submit a trouble ticket to the local system maintenance organization and maybe they'll give the repeaters a tune-up.

I suspect that if I'm right about this issue, then some system users are experiencing the same problem.

My county has recently started to convert the whole system over to an EDACS Simulcast system, which involves precision tuning every repeater at every site. Even in areas where they have not yet implemented simulcasting, I can say that the system sounds and works better than it ever has before, and it's been a good system to begin with.
 

KD2DXF

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I am 90% sure its just the M-RK. I have a P7100ip that is on the same network, and listens just fine.
What i believe to be the problem is the tx/and or rx is out of alignment. a few months ago, I noticed the radio was self/dead keyed on a conventional frequency we use. It was raining that day, so some water probably got inside. I did not have TOT activated, so I assume it was dead keyed for about 10 to 15 minutes. Radio was quite hot afterwards. I now have a 120 second time out programmed.
 

ElroyJetson

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I restate my previous comments. If a system repeater or two is slightly out of alignment, it may not be noticeable to a properly aligned radio. But if a radio is out of alignment and in the right direction, then the misalignment of the repeater can be enough to cause the radio to misbehave.

It's a matter of what is called "stacked tolerances" in the machinist's trade.

The fact that another of your radios doesn't misbehave on the same system does nothing at all to convince me that there may not be a misalignment issue with some of the repeaters.

I spent seven of the last eight years of my life fixing radios on a daily basis, and a certain percentage of those repairs consisted of realigning the repeaters and base stations that they talked to, with no problem being present in the original radio.

And, occasionally, the problem was half in the user's radio and half in the repeater or base station. Both had drifted out of alignment, one in each direction, causing a problem that you would not notice in a properly aligned radio. This may be your issue.
 

KD2DXF

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I do know the radio shop that maintains the system. Ill give them a heads of on which repeaters/pairs are having the issue. However they wont touch the M-RK, because its not supported anymore. Thanks for the insight, and will keep posted
 

ElroyJetson

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Just because a radio isn't supported, doesn't mean they won't work on it. Being out of support usually means "We'll try but we do not guarantee that parts are available or that we can get any firmware or software support for it." Most likely, if they COULD align an M-RK previously, they still can. Doesn't hurt to ask.
 

W5JG

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We are still using quite a few 800 MHz MRK II radios. Yes, you can't get parts any more, but we still service our old radios with what we have on hand and parts from dead radios.

The guy who mentioned things possibly being off in frequency may be correct. Every one of the older model handhelds (not just MRK) that I have had across my bench in the past four years has been low in frequency. It seems that the TCXO that Harris used in these radios drifts low as it ages.

On those MRK radios, it isn't hard to tweak the TCXO, provided you have the proper cables and adapters from Harris. You have to split the radio in two and lay it out on the bench to adjust the TXCO.

I much prefer the software adjustable reference in newer radios.
 
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