Logan airport

[Citywide173]

How big is the coax? It is possible that I've been looking at it backwards and you're getting a better signal during the day that degrades at night. The 996T is an old radio and if it's a heavy coax, years of connection could have separated the antenna's connection to the board just enough that the daytime signal get through. NOAA on GBH is a flamethrower, so that might not be a good indicator. Try some of the other NOAA channels at various times to see how they do.

"I turned the radio off then back on and the commo returned. "

Anybody think the scanner might have a problem?

Nope, never crossed my mind.

 

[spanky15805]

Well crack the lid, breakout the magnifying glass and check the rf connection at the board.

 

[Citywide173]

Well crack the lid, breakout the magnifying glass and check the rf connection at the board.

You do realize that I'm not the one having the problem with reception..... /s

 

[ATCTech]

"I turned the radio off then back on and the commo returned. "

Anybody think the scanner might have a problem?

Not when the O/P seemed certain the fault was time of day related.

 

[zerg901]

sun hits something in the afternoon and heats it up?

 

[Algod]

Well twice today I've lost the comms. Turned the radio off/on and the comms return. The last time I did this, it lasted 2 1/2 hours. How would I determine if it's an RF connection on the board? The only thing that goes silent is FL3 which is my air frequencies. Is their a connection for each frequency range on the board. Never popped the cover on a radio before.

 

[Citywide173]

Start on the outside. With the antenna and power disconnected, try moving the BNC. If it is loose, it's most likely your problem. If it isn't loose, you're going to have to look deeper. either way, when you open the case, look at the other side of the BNC connector. You may want to use a magnifying glass as was suggested earlier. Look at the connections where it is attached to the chassis and where it is attached to the board. Try moving the BNC from the back of the radio while looking for any solder joints that may have cracked or are visibly loose.

 

[Algod]

If loose, would it only effect the air band?

 

[Citywide173]

If loose, would it only effect the air band?

Given the lower transmit power of the air band, I'm thinking it's a hairline crack on a solder joint. BAPERN/Metrofire coverage is significantly better and local PD/FD can almost be received without an antenna connected on a good receiver, so there might not be much other than air band noticed by the OP.

 

[ecps92]

Isn't remote diagnostics fun

Given the lower transmit power of the air band, I'm thinking it's a hairline crack on a solder joint. BAPERN/Metrofire coverage is significantly better and local PD/FD can almost be received without an antenna connected on a good receiver, so there might not be much other than air band noticed by the OP.

 

[majoco]

Is their a connection for each frequency range on the board. Never popped the cover on a radio before.

No, not separate for particular frequency, but airband is probably the only AM user so the problem may be in the AM demodulator portion of the board - there may be a dodgy solder joint in that area. With the radio going, prod around gently with a wooden stick - I use a sharpened chop stick even on high voltages. There may be internal plugs and sockets too which may wriggle loose.

 

[Algod]

I'll pop the cover tomorrow and see what I can find.

 

[Algod]

Busy day yesterday. Today I had time to go to the cave and turn on the radio. I brought my 895xlt, and hooked it up to coax from the attic antenna to see if the issue was that cable. I've had the air band for 7 hours. While that was receiving I got bold and popped the cover of my 996T. All the solder looked good, so I pushed on all the connecters, and capacitors and put it back together. I plugged in a back of the set BNC antenna, and low and behold I've been hearing the air band for 4 1/2 hours so far without powering off/on. I had been losing audio of the air band randomly within 10 mins to 2 hours. Hopefully I knocked the dust off something and I won't have that problem again.
Thanks to all that offered their help.

 

[spanky15805]

Algod...I've had the same problem with an old BC950xlt, mobile mounted that got really hot many times. Never actually pinpointing the problem, just that it would work correctly for another year.

Citywide...Got carried away when I saw your post, thinking why doesn't he/she have the lid off yet?

Majoco...I do now have a sharpened chop stick!

 

[Algod]

Well whatever I touched helped greatly. It'll run now about 5 to 6 hours before I have to power cycle. Much better than the 10 mins to 2 hours that I was dealing with. I think I can live with this.

 

[Citywide173]

Well whatever I touched helped greatly. It'll run now about 5 to 6 hours before I have to power cycle. Much better than the 10 mins to 2 hours that I was dealing with. I think I can live with this.

I did mention that it was an older radio in an earlier post. Did you previously power cycle it regularly or just leave it on? It is possible that it's just elderly and is starting the process of just fading away.

 

[Algod]

I've been away from the hobby for several years. I never noticed the problem before. If I turned the radio on as I was working in the basement it was more back ground noise. I would tune my ear to listen for my city, so this condition may have occurred years ago and I never noticed.