Advice on VHF repairs

[Angla]

I have a GME GX600 which has been a good radio but now has no sound and no beeps. Could this be a easy repair and where would I take it?

I can get a new one for around $230.00. Is this the easiest or simplest solution?

What would you do?

Cheers
Chris

[finga]

New one is the easiest solution matey.
But....
Do the lights come on??
Not a simple voltage problem is it?
Have you tried plugging an external speaker in it to see if it's just a crook speaker??

[Kero]

G'day Chris,
Not wanting to "trash" the gear you have, but is it worth fixing?
For around the same money I can buy a STANDARD HORIZON GX1000S. I put one in my boat and can't fualt the quality of it. Has all the usual features plus DSC. I buy these from one of my work suppliers, hence the discounted price. From memory I paid $234 + GST.:smiley:
If they interest you, I'm happy to get you one at my cost price! Here's a link with a specs download at the bottom of the page.
http://www.vxstd.com.au/marine/gx_1000s.html

[finga]

Yeah, have to agree with Leigh here.
GME is not my favourite brand in the world mainly due to lack of after sales service.

[Noelm]

as sad as it may be, most "things" are not worth repairing these days (and this comes from an ex radio technician) even my own stuff (and I am a tight ar$e) I just pull the cover off, and if something really obvious does not jump out at me, I just toss it and buy a new one, this only applies to certain things of course, big ticket items and not dealt with this way!! so that being the case, after the usual home tests, like is there power and so on, in the bin it goes and you go shopping for another one.

[Kero]

Very true Noelm, being a tech myself it's easy to see when it's just not worth fault finding. Sadly with these sort of items, it's more often than not, but on the upside they are cheaper to buy due to mass production.
$230 wouldn't get far with fault finding and repairs these days!

[dreemon]

Angla, has it been exposed to the wet as in rain or where it can get wet? only asking cause last week my radio '27meg' showed power but wouldn't change channels, no squelch, it was just wrong, I took it out pulled the mic lead out and went to look at the rear and thats when the water spilled out, not that much about 2 tablespoons, . . . . well at least it wasn't full,

anyway took it appart and got as much water out as I could then let it dry out for 3 days , part of the time in the sun then sprayed a light coat of inox, went outside today through seaway and it works again :cheesy: , have a look inside for anything burnt and any suss areas have a sniff, theres an obvious foul smell if its gone wrong, it's cheap to try,

good luck and ps I caught my first spanish mac today @ one metre :cheesy: good fun !! ! ! time to start cookin

[Angla]

Angla, has it been exposed to the wet as in rain or where it can get wet? only asking cause last week my radio '27meg' showed power but wouldn't change channels, no squelch, it was just wrong, I took it out pulled the mic lead out and went to look at the rear and thats when the water spilled out, not that much about 2 tablespoons, . . . . well at least it wasn't full,

anyway took it appart and got as much water out as I could then let it dry out for 3 days , part of the time in the sun then sprayed a light coat of inox, went outside today through seaway and it works again :cheesy: , have a look inside for anything burnt and any suss areas have a sniff, theres an obvious foul smell if its gone wrong, it's cheap to try,

good luck and ps I caught my first spanish mac today @ one metre :cheesy: good fun !! ! ! time to start cookin

All the lights work and the Dual watch and Triple watch still work as well as the light and the up/down features on the mic. DX and TX change as expected when the mic is pulled on.
I pulled it apart and could not smell anything out of the ordinary and wet weather is not an issue where it sits.

I might just try an external speaker kit and see if that will give any sounds or noises as a last test before it is tossed.

Cheers
Chris

[Angla]

as sad as it may be, most "things" are not worth repairing these days (and this comes from an ex radio technician) even my own stuff (and I am a tight ar$e) I just pull the cover off, and if something really obvious does not jump out at me, I just toss it and buy a new one, this only applies to certain things of course, big ticket items and not dealt with this way!! so that being the case, after the usual home tests, like is there power and so on, in the bin it goes and you go shopping for another one.

That's the way I was leaning.

I'll give the speaker one more shot and then it's out of here.

Cheers
Chris

[Captain Seaweed]

I have one sitting in my draw which wont turn on, I compared price of new and swore at GME called them a few names and bought another one. Not good enough, I only checked by accident if it turned on just before an offshore trip, lucky I did. If only you could buy radios's ( which could save your life) that were built tough enough to have a 10 year warranty , is that asking too much????

Marty

[trueblue]

good idea the external speaker. we use external speakers commercially, and they are much better sound quality. Even if you buy an external speaker and then end up buying a new radio, the external speaker won't go to waste.

could also try calling Comex at Newmarket and asking their advice.

cheers

Mick

[trueblue]

Hey Chris

if you end up replacing the radio, can you hang on to the old microphone hang off clip? Mine is broken...............

cheers

Mick

[Angla]

Hey Chris

if you end up replacing the radio, can you hang on to the old microphone hang off clip? Mine is broken...............

cheers

Mick

YEP, NO WORRIES THERE

[GBC]

I have one sitting in my draw which wont turn on, I compared price of new and swore at GME called them a few names and bought another one. Not good enough, I only checked by accident if it turned on just before an offshore trip, lucky I did. If only you could buy radios's ( which could save your life) that were built tough enough to have a 10 year warranty , is that asking too much????

Marty

Mate,

When your new marine radio is guaranteed to work under water for 30 minutes, and comes with a way of using it's own speaker to blow the water off itself (ultrasonic clearing or some bloody thing) - you're getting close.

ICOM.

[Angla]

All fixed now. Fitted a 25 dollar external speaker and disconnected the old speaker. All resealed and the new speaker mounted in the cabin.

TX and DX are better than ever and clearer too

Thanks to all for their assistance

Cheers
Chris