# Radio repair?



## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

Does anyone have any recommendations for a repair service? I have an ICOM 706 MKII G that won't transmit on vhf/uhf or hf. I have a couple of options now, what I'm really hoping for is a very strong recommendation for someone with a great record and reasonable costs.

Thanks!


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## Starcreek (Feb 4, 2015)

Milton Lord's website. He's in Georgia, and we have experience with his repair work. Sounds like a final problem.

http://www.qsl.net/kd4ozi/DEC/ham_radio_repair__n4da__milton.htm

Probably gonna cost you a couple hundred bucks to repair, but a Mark II G is worth it.


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## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

I don't have a local contact. I have sent any radios I had issues with back for factory repair. I've never had a problem with my 706, but had great results from Kenwood.


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

Starcreek said:


> Milton Lord's website. He's in Georgia, and we have experience with his repair work. Sounds like a final problem.
> 
> http://www.qsl.net/kd4ozi/DEC/ham_radio_repair__n4da__milton.htm
> 
> Probably gonna cost you a couple hundred bucks to repair, but a Mark II G is worth it.


Thanks for the info!


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

bacpacker said:


> I don't have a local contact. I have sent any radios I had issues with back for factory repair. I've never had a problem with my 706, but had great results from Kenwood.


Thank you, the dealer is a safe bet.


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## forluvofsmoke (Jan 27, 2012)

*Switch-check*

Sgtusmc98, have you checked your Mic/TX switch with a meter to make sure it has continuity (circuit is closing)? Sometimes the simplest of things can bite you when you least expect it. It would kinda suck to send your radio off for repairs and not get it back for a month or 2 to find that it was just the TX switch broken or dirty, or a broken wire in the cord.

I've never worked on 2-ways, but lots of other electronics, and anything with a cord on it can cause issues over time...and the problem is usually not hard to find, either, and definitely worth looking into before calling it a day.


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

forluvofsmoke said:


> Sgtusmc98, have you checked your Mic/TX switch with a meter to make sure it has continuity (circuit is closing)? Sometimes the simplest of things can bite you when you least expect it. It would kinda suck to send your radio off for repairs and not get it back for a month or 2 to find that it was just the TX switch broken or dirty, or a broken wire in the cord.
> 
> I've never worked on 2-ways, but lots of other electronics, and anything with a cord on it can cause issues over time...and the problem is usually not hard to find, either, and definitely worth looking into before calling it a day.


Thanks for the advice, the mic was working as far as I could tell the radio appeared to work but the power meter attached to it wouldn't show a reading. I'm sure no expert in radios so it very well could be something simple but it's out of my hands now anyway (shipped). I have another radio I thought was dead and it turned out to be the antenna (or coax), weather has been a bit rough so I haven't messed with it yet and will be upgrading the cable soon anyway hoping it isn't actually the antenna.

My big problem with electronics is that I always have many coincidences at the same time and finding the problem can be challenging with multiple seemingly unrelated problems.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

sgtusmc98 said:


> Thanks for the advice, the mic was working as far as I could tell the radio appeared to work but the power meter attached to it wouldn't show a reading. ...


Mike was keyed too long or numerous times with the antenna disconnected resulting in the Transmit side of being fried?


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

TheLazyL said:


> Mike was keyed too long or numerous times with the antenna disconnected resulting in the Transmit side of being fried?


I'm not sure what happened! It worked perfectly fine, didn't use it for a month and when I went to use it it wouldn't transmit.

My best guess is that for the HF side I have a borrowed antenna tuner that takes a lot of playing with to work, you can't know the position of the dials for a certain frequency and set it there before transmitting. I knew some generalities for 20 and 40m but getting the antenna tuner dialed in was guess work. If it wasn't something like a power surge, lightning or old age I think it was from too much swr from the antenna because of a crappy tuner. I'll get a new tuner before it gets used again.

The UHF/VHF side is another story, I bought the radio on eBay, when I got it everything seemed fine but I didn't really use it because I was in the process of getting my general license. I decided to put it in my daily driver for 2m/70cm and sometimes it would open up the repeater and sometimes it wouldn't. Talked to a local tech and he said that the 706 series had a very narrow variation on the tone frequency for repeaters which worked fine in the "old" days when people used the right repeaters but now with people buying used commercial repeaters and modifying them there needed to be a wider tone transmission. So I didn't do anything with it for awhile. He may have been full of it I don't know. Later I was trying it simplex and discovered it only transmitted for about half a second. Now I don't think the VHF/UHF side ever worked since I had it.


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## Bob_Hayles (Jan 13, 2017)

I buy things off Ebay, but never radio gear. For inexpensive radio equipment I use the classifieds at QTH.com. For the most part you are dealing with other Hams and the chance of getting scammed by a shyster is pretty low.


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## forluvofsmoke (Jan 27, 2012)

Sgtusmc98, I'm now leaning towards you may have gotten burned on the radio purchase...I think the seller dumped it, and it's probably way too late in the game for seeking recourse.

Not to change the subject or open a debate, as I'm sure there are plenty of satisfied users, but, eBay...that says a lot. PayPal and eBay are separated, now, but I doubt that will change any of the problems with customer service, returns, refunds, etc. I've heard little positive and plenty of negative from eBay buyers in my area. The biggest complaints being sellers refusing returns/refunds when the product sold didn't meet expectations or was received damaged, sometimes even blaming the buyer for damages. On occasion, buyers getting bad rep or being blocked (I don't know specifically how their system works) by those sellers when there were conflicts, dealing with PayPal as the moderator for disputes...it goes on. My bank is my online/phone purchase/payment dispute moderator, and they take care of business.

None of the eBay/PayPal issues effect me, personally, as I don't use any site that requires PayPal (I thought that was a pretty darn brassy policy...downright arrogant, IMO), and I don't use bidding sites...period...just me. Trust is a big selling-point to me. When you're dealing with an individual seller instead of a reputable company things can get complicated (or downright difficult) if you're not satisfied with your purchase. A company wants to build and maintain a good reputation while an individual may or may not care about it one way or the other. Not to say that everyone should quit using eBay/PayPal, just saying it's not for everyone...exercise due caution.


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

forluvofsmoke said:


> Sgtusmc98, I'm now leaning towards you may have gotten burned on the radio purchase...I think the seller dumped it, and it's probably way too late in the game for seeking recourse.
> 
> Not to change the subject or open a debate, as I'm sure there are plenty of satisfied users, but, eBay...that says a lot. PayPal and eBay are separated, now, but I doubt that will change any of the problems with customer service, returns, refunds, etc. I've heard little positive and plenty of negative from eBay buyers in my area. The biggest complaints being sellers refusing returns/refunds when the product sold didn't meet expectations or was received damaged, sometimes even blaming the buyer for damages. On occasion, buyers getting bad rep or being blocked (I don't know specifically how their system works) by those sellers when there were conflicts, dealing with PayPal as the moderator for disputes...it goes on. My bank is my online/phone purchase/payment dispute moderator, and they take care of business.
> 
> None of the eBay/PayPal issues effect me, personally, as I don't use any site that requires PayPal (I thought that was a pretty darn brassy policy...downright arrogant, IMO), and I don't use bidding sites...period...just me. Trust is a big selling-point to me. When you're dealing with an individual seller instead of a reputable company things can get complicated (or downright difficult) if you're not satisfied with your purchase. A company wants to build and maintain a good reputation while an individual may or may not care about it one way or the other. Not to say that everyone should quit using eBay/PayPal, just saying it's not for everyone...exercise due caution.


The radio worked fine with HF for several years. The radio happens to be on the way back from getting fixed now, I tried to get in touch with some small scale techs including ones mentioned earlier in this thread but all contact numbers were dead. It ended up going to ICOM in Michigan. Tech there said it just needed some adjustments so we will see.


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