Bewildered...

[TwentyTwo-Zero]

Okay, just received a (used) RCI 2980WX radio, and I'm having a few issues with it that I'm hoping to find some answers for:

When I power up the radio the TX/RX light constantly blinks off and on. A friend of mine also has this same type of radio (2980WX) and his light stays on solid green during receive mode and turns red during transmit. I was told by the person I purchased the radio from that they all do it (reminiscent of the old time tube radios) and that this is normal. Since my friend's doesn't blink, I know that they all don't do it. Anyone ever run into this before? Should I be concerned?

I cannot calibrate the SWR meter to take a reading on the radio's meter or my external (dosy) meter. I follow the instructions in the manual, but the needle only goes about half way to the calibrate line when the calibrate knob is fully clockwise. Same thing on my external meter. I put my 2995DX inline and it dials right in and shows an acceptable reading. I put my Cobra 200GTL inline and it also dials right in and shows an acceptable reading. Anyone have an explanation for this?

With the RF power adjustment in the minimum position the radio keys .5 watt (on the dosy - the meter on the radio doesn't move) and has approx. 5 watts PEP (on the dosy - radio shows about 2). With the RF knob in the max position it keys 2.5 watts (on the dosy - about a needle width movement on radio) and has approx. 7 watts PEP (dost - with mic gain on maximum - radio shows about 4 watts). I was told by the person I purchased it from that the radio was set up this way (SWP/SR), and they saw 40-50 watts PEP when they used a D104. The radio came with the stock microphone, so I can understand not seeing as much PEP as I would with an amplified mic, but do those (low) DK figures sound right? If I plug the mic into my 200GTL (on low) it keys 2 watts and has 30 watts PEP...

When I got a response from the person I purchased the radio from he said that maybe I had a switch or knob out of place, but I've checked and double checked everything and still come up with the same results...

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions?

[225/Greg]

Okay, just received a (used) RCI 2980WX radio, and I'm having a few issues with it that I'm hoping to find some answers for:

When I power up the radio the TX/RX light constantly blinks off and on. A friend of mine also has this same type of radio (2980WX) and his light stays on solid green during receive mode and turns red during transmit. I was told by the person I purchased the radio from that they all do it (reminiscent of the old time tube radios) and that this is normal. Since my friend's doesn't blink, I know that they all don't do it. Anyone ever run into this before? Should I be concerned?

I cannot calibrate the SWR meter to take a reading on the radio's meter or my external (dosy) meter. I follow the instructions in the manual, but the needle only goes about half way to the calibrate line when the calibrate knob is fully clockwise. Same thing on my external meter. I put my 2995DX inline and it dials right in and shows an acceptable reading. I put my Cobra 200GTL inline and it also dials right in and shows an acceptable reading. Anyone have an explanation for this?

With the RF power adjustment in the minimum position the radio keys .5 watt (on the dosy - the meter on the radio doesn't move) and has approx. 5 watts PEP (on the dosy - radio shows about 2). With the RF knob in the max position it keys 2.5 watts (on the dosy - about a needle width movement on radio) and has approx. 7 watts PEP (dost - with mic gain on maximum - radio shows about 4 watts). I was told by the person I purchased it from that the radio was set up this way (SWP/SR), and they saw 40-50 watts PEP when they used a D104. The radio came with the stock microphone, so I can understand not seeing as much PEP as I would with an amplified mic, but do those (low) DK figures sound right? If I plug the mic into my 200GTL (on low) it keys 2 watts and has 30 watts PEP...

When I got a response from the person I purchased the radio from he said that maybe I had a switch or knob out of place, but I've checked and double checked everything and still come up with the same results...

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions?

I would have the radio checked out by a good technician! It sounds like it has been turned down to low or, has weak finals.

225/Greg

[busman]

220, first off, my green receive light blinks on and off. then sometimes it stays on. others have told me this is normal. my 2995dx dosnt blink.???? your rf power on low probably dont have enough power to set the swr. turn i twide open/ mic gain off. mine on low only dead keys 1 watt. wide open it dead key 5 on the meter, 7 watts on the radio. ive tried all different mics. right now im useing a astatic 575 m6. all have the same results on every meter ive tried. my 2980wx swings to 40 to 42 watts pep. has the swp/sr. THE ONLY GRIP I GOT IS THAT I DONT GET NOTHIN ON MY WEATHER CHANNELS. ??? IS THIS BECAUSE OF THE CONVERSION ???? i got a uniden pc78 or 76 or something in my ol work truck and it gets 3 out of the 7 weather channels. on a 5 foot fire stick.it cost 80$. i cant get not a one on my 2980wx. w.t.f. anybody elses weather channels work.

[Mr RadioActive]

Hello-
Knowing only alittle about the actual transaction, heres a thought. I send many RCI bases out across the USA all the time. When shipping a large item such as a base, sometimes if UPS plays "lets toss the big box around" game, the radio can get knocked out of alignment. That may acct for the low keys, and not calibrating the swr meter.
The seller of that unit, is a very good member here, someone Ive conducted business with many times. Im sure the unit was working 100%, may need to get realigned for some reason. It happens to the best of us from time to time!

[Mr RadioActive]

In order to receive weather busman, sometimes you may need a 160 mhz vhf antenna!
Some of us are blessed with huge weather signals blasting in, and can be heard on any antenna. But for the rest of us (I included!) only can hear weather when hooking up a weather band (or) vhf antenna.
27 mhz is far away from the 160s!

[busman]

howdy mike, ya thats what i kinda figured about the weather channels. the only reason i gripped is i got a 80$ uniden in my ol ford and it picks up 3 out of 7 of them . LOL i got a fire stick on the truck and its probably better for the weather stations than the imax2000. that one dudes 2980wx ill bet did get knocked around or something cause i know them guys can be harsh. ive been lucky so far. and if you read this. what is with the blinkin receive light on the 2980wx and not on the 2995dx.??? the receive on the 2980wx and my 2995dx is awesome. ( i use my uniden grant xl for comparison ). so the light really dont hurt anything, others have told me theres blink. normal ? not normal ?? ok, keep up the good work there and im out.

[crazytruker]

Hey busman, I would venture to say that your Imax is a long enough antenna that it just is not letting the NOAA frequencies be received effectively as with your Firestick that is a more suitable length for 160 mhz. What Mike said LOL

[busman]

hey trucker, hows it goin ?? thats kinda what i was figuring. its just funny a guy has a 650 $ radio that wont pick up stations a 80$ radio does ya know.lol :D but once i really got to lookin at the situation i figuered the imax 2000 didnt look like a good weather channel antenna. plus the stations are 70 miles away.

[crazytruker]

Right there is the proof that it's all about the antenna. Mud ducks, take note. Here's the proof

[Mr RadioActive]

The green blinking light 2980DX. They hired a new tech, he must of worked on blinking traffic lights before he started working for RCI! LOL!