Vertex 2200

[SCPD]

Hello. I am having a little issue with my Vertex 2200 VHF Mobile. And seeing if anyone on here might know what the issue is and can help me out wiith it and seeing if it's worth while fixing.

The issue I am having now is, all of a sudden my Vertex 2200 is still RX stuff that is close to me, but other stuff that is still in town that I was picking up before with no problem I am no longer able to hear it, even stuff that is a few min out of town.

I also have a Vertex 4204 and I hooked that one up to my base antennae and that one is picking up the stuff perfectly with no issues. Just like what my 2200 was doing before this issue came up.

So at first I thought it was the cable going to the radio from the splitter box, but it isn't, the cable is fine.

The 2200 was working perfectly the day before up until that Sunday, then 2 Sunday's ago, when I woke up and turned it on, is when I noticed it wasn't picking up the stuff it should.

So if anyone on here might know what the issue is I am having and can help me out I would appreciate it.

I will be waiting for any replies to this post.

Thanks.

 

[MBill]

Did you try connecting your antenna directly to the VX-2200 without any splitter box, etc. in between? Does/did that make any difference?
If still the same, take the top cover off and look at where the antenna connector is soldered to the
board, if it is easily accessible. See if either center pin or shell connections have broken loose from
the board.
Did you have any lightening strikes nearby recently? If your radio was connected to your antenna
at the time, you may have got a surge thru the antenna that fried one of the RF amp transistors.

 

[PACNWDude]

Some Vertex 2200/4200 radios left the factory with bad filters for narrowband. If you have narrowbanded the radio, they may have failed over time. This has happened where I work to about 24 VX-4200 radios from the same batch after we went narrowband. They worked for a while and then seem to fail about the same time.

 

[VSTech]

VX-2100/2200 Poor RX Sensitivity

Please view attachment and see if your VX-2200 falls within these parameters. If so, call Vertex Standard Customer Care, but let them know you only want the Tech Bulletin done nothing else. Vertex will replace CF1001/1002, update the firmware (if applicable), and realign the radio to factory specs for free.

As for your VX-4204 if you have the same issues, this tech bulletin does not cover it. VS charges $100 for the replacement of the filters.

For those not covered under warranty or technical bulletin. The narrowband filter can be purchased at mouser.com CFWLB450KGFAB0 for $3.55 ea.

But verify its the ceramic filters first, program the radio to wideband (if possible) If it works normal, then its the narrowband filter.

If it still fails to work then it could possibly D1001 (surge protection diode). To verify this, if it takes more than 2.0uV signal to receive, then its D1001 (located on side B). Removing it from the circuit board will fix the issue, but could damage the radio, if you receive a surge, so replace it. D1001 can be purchased at RLS135 Pin Diode - PIN - Diodes

 

[VSTech]

The VX-4204 does not have the same ceramic filter manufacturer as the VX-2100/2200, but if you had to replace them in the future you can use the CFWLB450KGFA-B0 on this radio too. The wideband filter is CFWLB450KEFA-B0, but is hard to find.

I notice that VX-4204 VHF howls when the volume is turned all the way up in narrowband. There is a easy fix for this if you need to know.

 

[MBill]

Re: Narrow filter issue. Forgot about that one, thanks for the reminder. If his radio is out of
warranty and he has the software to program it for wide band, he may need to reset the clock
in his computer temporarily back to 2012, to allow software to program the wide band setting
without an issue. After check, reprogram for narrow band and set computer clock back to current day/month/year.

 

[VSTech]

That's one way or you can download the wide band recovery tool, which allows your radio to be placed into wide band for testing purposes or in areas where wide band is still used.
Follow technical bulletin TB201311-04 and download the zip file, located at https://businessonline.vertexstandard.com
Resource Center > Resource Center > Technical Information > General Information

 

[SCPD]

Thanks for the replies.

Will check it out.