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Old 11-19-2010, 05:42 PM   #14
Marin
Scraping Paint
 
City: -
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 13,745
RE: VHF- can hear but can't talk!

Usually transmitting on a VHF radio that's not connected to an antenna is a pretty sure way to burn out the radio. There should always be a load connected to the antenna connection, either an antenna or a load simulator, before you hit the transmit key, particuarly on high power.

That's the danger of having two radios sharing the same antenna via a selector switch. If someone forgets to change the switch and transmits on the radio that's not connected, permanent damage to the radio can be the result. Our boat was set up this way when we bought it--- the flying bridge and lower helm radios were both connected to the single 8' VHF antenna via a selector switch on the flying bridge. We replaced this 8' antenna with a 24' antenna for the helm radio and added a new 8' antenna for the flying bridge radio. No chance now of accidentally transmitting on an unconnected radio.
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