GME 600D Not Receiving Transmissions

[VictorOscar]

Hey fellow Ausfishers,

My GME 600D radio is only 18 months old and is appearing to be 'selective' with which transmissions it is receiving.

This morning before heading over the bar I tried twice to contact the Coast Guard on channel 81 and didn't get a response.

I then tried again when I was outside and still nothing.

Later on in the morning I tried them again (channel 81) and this time I did get a response and could log on with no problems.

However, when I was about to cross back through the bar to come home, I tried contacting them and didn't get a response. I tried channels 73 and 81 this time.

Anyhow, I ended up calling them on my mobile and they said they had received both transmissions and radioed back to me (which I didn't hear).

I thought this was odd, and when I stopped for a quick fish in the Rous channel on the way home, I heard several transmissions from the Coast Guard.

Has anyone experienced any similar problems with their GME unit or does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be causing this?

A few details of the installation/setup etc:

1. The radio is flush mounted in my console.
2. I do have a AM/FM splitter installed but that hasn't caused any issues before.
3. I have also recently mounted a compass on top of my console, though this isn't directly on top on the radio.

Cheers,

Tim.

[Crunchy]

I have had issues with water damage on that same unit and had to replace it, it doesn't seem to take much to make them play up, has it been exposed to any water? Sea spray, rain, wash down water? When I had it mounted under the cc it was very reliable but too hard to get to, when I mounted it in the CC started to have issues after a wile.

[John Buoy]

Or maybe as you get closer to port the am/fm signal strengthens only to weaken the UHF signal !
Firstly ditch the splitter and get a designated aerial or at least check the splitters connectors !

[VictorOscar]

Yeah it would have been subjected to a bit of water - nothing major but would get a spray from time to time.

I'll try it without the splitter, and check all connections too.

Does anyone know a way to check the aerials?

[scottar]

Unless you have and can use a SWR meter, the only way to check your antenna is to try another one. The other thing it could be is a broken curly cord in the microphone - if the Coastguard can't hear you they won't reply. You can perform a basic transmit receive check using the repeater channels for your area by setting your radio to a repeater channel and pushing the PTT switch on the microphone. When the switch is released, you should hear a short "squelch" sound for lack of a better description which is the tail end of your own transmission coming back from the repeater. This tests the transmit and receive of the radio to a point but the curly cord can only be checked with another radio within earshot so you can hear if the voice breaks up as the cord is stretched/moved. Where are you located Tim?

[VictorOscar]

Well I don't have a SWR meter so I will rule that out.

I could transmit fine to the Coastguard. They confirmed this when I rang them on my mobile.

The unit was having problems receiving.

Though I will give that repeater channel test a try and see if I have any luck.

I'm located in Brisbane Scottar.

[swof63]

The antenna swr is far more important for transmit than receive. If the coastguard is getting your transmissions but you are not getting their reply, the antenna is most likely fine - there are a number of possibilities:
- the coast guards transmit is compromised. Unlikely as others would have complained.
- the receive circuit in your 600 is rogered.
- you have the squelch turned up too high. It's tricky on those 600's to change squelch, been a while since I dud it but I needed the manual first time (shame).

Out

[scottar]

swof63 is correct about the antenna so if the Coastguard was receiving you, your antenna is ok. He's on the money with the squelch setting as well so check/try that as well. The GME radios - more so since they moved manufacture offshore are definitely not as water resistant as the Aussie made ones were - not sure though but initially the "D" version was still Aussie made but that could have changed. Not sure whether the warranty on those was 1 or 2 years so check into that as well. If you are happy enough to pay someone to check it out, the guy's at Trymax Marine at Capalaba have the gear to give it the once over. Other than that give GME a call but t will probably have to go to Sydney. One thing you could try is manually opening the squelch and trying to make a call. There have in recent times been a few brands of radio that will not receive if the squelch is set but will if the squelch is turned right down so that the set is constantly making that annoying background hash noise until someone transmits. It is a faulty component in the squelch circuit if that is the case.

[VictorOscar]

Cheers for the info gents.

I checked the warranty and it's only 12 months so I am 6 months out of date now

I do have my squelch on the lowest setting, I had adjusted it when I had the problem. I will try turning it off all together next time I use it in case that makes a difference.

I am thinking heavily towards getting a new radio, as being my main source of contact offshore where there is no phone reception, having this problem does not build a lot of trust with the unit!