I killed my ICOM-now "Trade Pending"

welp, somehow I inadvertently toasted my IC 730 front end. Or at least that is the concensus of the locals including the East Coast Icom Repair Rep.

Prolly about $150 to repair, and that is what I paid for the rig to begin with.

SO, what would You do?

repair & keep

repair & sell

sell for parts

ETA:

What are it's symptoms?

DEAF, DEAF, DEAF

WHAT?



I'd have it fixed. You likely won't be able to find a new rig for $150.

Ok, was it struck by lightning or did you key a transmitter into it?
The RF pre-amp relay is worth looking at. IIRC they can be dirty and cause deafness, that is if you didn't key a transmitter into it.

tried the pre-amp, worked it a few hundred times to no avail.

I have it connected to an antenna switch. have no recollection to transmitting 'into' it, not sure how'd I do that with a switch, but you never know.

2 rigs share antenna thru the switch

OK, so what did you actually do to cause the damage? I don't mean to sound critical... what I want to do is learn and not do the same thing you did.

If it were mine, I'd fix it myself if I wanted to keep it. Otherwise sell for parts o repair. I you can't fix it yourself, sell it for parts or repair on the big auction site and get lots of dollars. I sold an Icom IC-R71A on there recently for almost what I paid for it before I took a lot of valuable parts out. I described everything that was wrong or missing very accurately. You might get that lucky too.

ETA: Or unlucky.... I see that the buyer left me negative feedback that is completely baseless. It's a total lie. First negative feedback in 10 years there and 100 positives. I'll pursue wiping this from my perfect record with full force. I also know what I'll do if that fails...

Sending this thread back to the Ham discussion!

If you key another transmitter close by on the same freq, can you hear it on the 730? If so then the 1st RF amp is most likely the culprit.

If the front end has failed, why not go here,

http://www.download.n7tgb.net/Icom_Manuals/IC-730_Schematic.pdf

Look for the RF module in upper left corner, replace Q1 and Q2, 2SK125 transistors.

See service manual for location,

http://www.n7tgb.net/pages/radio/icom_manuals.htm

If they check good, check the mixer diodes D7 etc, with a R-S DMM on diode check setting.

That's what you otta be able to do in a SHTF when EMP hits your radio.


ETA, it's prolly more likely the mixer diodes are bad. That would make the radio very deaf.

Yeah that's kinda dangerous.

You're not the one with the homebrew project box and toggle switch deal are you?

negative it's a real coax switch

I don't recommend doing this again, as most switches do not adequately isolate the other rig from RF. If you used a cheap MFJ switch or something similar, RF may have found its way into the other rig's RX circuitry causing damage.

The coax switches designed for one rig using multiple antennas, not the other way around. Check with Array Solutions or DX Engineering and buy a good (expensive) switch.

all of this after QST magazine does a full page "Yes We Can" article a few months back..........so much for listening to them huh?

Hey now! I resemble that remark!

My switch puts one rig on the Antenna and the other on the dummy load/

SC Sorry you are having trouble, I vote to fix it yourself! Might look overwhelming, but with some of the guys on this forum are very good at giving sound advice.

This is correct, but there are switches that have enough isolation to work quite well. The isolation on a Dow Key Relay has a lot less than the switch I am using, now of course they are designed for a hollow state rig and not a solid state.

I used a scope and RF probe and measured less than 1uv on the the opposite side of the switch.

Rule of thumb is you have to be careful, I never have both rigs on at the same time, the near field of my antenna will easily destroy the RX of just about any rig. I also unplug the coax when there is any chance of a electrical storm.

FWIW:

I've got everything the original owner got in the box-plus!

the schematic and all sorts of stuff, thing is, I'm not sure I'm up to the task......

Well, don't be afraid to find out.

You might surprise yourself.

I've heard good things about COMTEK repair

He's an ICOM repair tech

http://www.w7jv.com/

double-tap

must be my new APEX trigger kit.

after some consultation with Local Elmers I believe I'm gonna cut it loose. I'm not partial to this particular radio, and while I was excited to get it for $150, I'll be just as happy to get as much as I can out of it from Ebay as a "Tech Special".

That said, if any ARFCOMMER wants to buy a fixer upper, lemmie know asap. I'll hold on posting to Ebay till this coming Monday, just in case.

ETA: full power out, Nada in

Afrcom trade pending

Let me know if the trades fails...

ETA....it didn't.

I have an IC-730 too. Ok radio, but I wouldn't throw good money into it. Look for something with a general coverage RX and more features.
Repairs may be more than $150, if parts are still available. Plus it may never be the same.

Used stuff is around.

that was the straw for me, it's the feature I least liked from the onset, but as long as it was working it was moot-the moment it quit, the first reason I thought of for dropping

gone...........

Sometimes you just have to consider cost to repair and your time involved, and cut it loose.

Hope you find a good transceiver to replace it.

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