ISO VHF Radio

[BettyB]

Have a pretty old VHF radio and it doesn't talk (or even squelch) anymore. Do they have built in speakers that die after a few decades ? Anyone have a used one they want to sell ? Mine is an I Com I think... be nice to get the same mounting width.
Also. my antenna broke about a foot off the top last year, but the radio still worked after that.. I assume a shorter antenna will just result in less range ?

 

[Foxsea]

Have a pretty old VHF radio and it doesn't talk (or even squelch) anymore. Do they have built in speakers that die after a few decades ? Anyone have a used one they want to sell ? Mine is an I Com I think... be nice to get the same mounting width.
Also. my antenna broke about a foot off the top last year, but the radio still worked after that.. I assume a shorter antenna will just result in less range ?

A functioning VHF radio is a vital piece of safety equipment. If yours is old and not working, definitely buy a new one. New models have some great features that old ones did not have.

As for the antenna, get a new one. The radio is only as good as the antenna. The length of the wire in the antenna is crucial to its tuning and performance in each frequency band. Even though it seems to work, the signal is most likely degraded. I do not see this as repairable, and new antennas are pretty reasonable. I would replace it.

 

[Kildonan]

A broken antenna can result in a broken transmitter. As mentioned, the antenna is tuned at the factory for the frequency your transmitter transmits on. There’s what’s called a “final amplifier” stage in your transmitter. If the antenna is badly out of tune, the transistors in the final amplifier can blow. Resulting in no transmit output.

 

[BettyB]

That is probably what has happened... So if anyone is upgrading, would sure like to grab a used VHF with matching antenna.
Kind of an important piece of equipment... but just can't afford a new one right now.

 

[Skucy]

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