FA 50 not trasmitting

[luke343]

Hi All,
I have had my FA50 working with no issues for 4-5 years. I believe It if not transmitting as I can not see it on Marine traffic. I receive other class a and b targets from 5-6 nm. I cant say I have seen the blue light on a lot when I have looked . How often are the blue tx and orange rcv light meant to blink?


I have looked at the test setting and it thinks it is working fine. I have plugged the gps antenna into my GP30 and it worked( the antenna is inside the cabin hoop 3 ish) not ideal but it has worked that way for years.

I have re terminated the tnc end as It looked a bit average. I was going to put a t on the gp30 antenna and send it that signal as it comes from the vessel roof. The only other thing that has changed is the mount broke on the whip antenna and the base was replaced.

Logically if I can receive the whip antenna should transmit?

thanks Luke

 

[Johnny Electron]

Yes, It is possible to receive but not transmit. It sounds like you have done a good job in troubleshooting. If you see the blue light at all, then it is working/transmitting. You also want to make sure the error light, isn't lit. Sitting at the dock it will take about three mins to see the blue transmit light flash. You need to stare at it for a bit. You can't lay too much faith in Marine traffic. The boat next to you showing up online might be a class A and have range to reach the volunteer station but your Class B doesn't. It could also be where you have the antenna mounted. If next to a mast, and the volunteer site is on the opposite side of the mast, your signal will be blocked. Sometimes you will find the guy with the volunteer site has old software that picks up class B but doesn't show the boat names except for class A, so look for not only the name but your MMSI when searching. Based on what you have done in your testing, I don't think the receiver has any problem. You might have an antenna placement issue but the receiver sounds like it might be fine.

 

[luke343]

Thanks for the reply Johnny,
Some how after recrimping the join on the whip antenna terminal at the antenna it has started to work. While I am happy I find it interesting that I could receive from 5-7nm but not send.

thanks Luke

 

[Johnny Electron]

Sending is always more difficult than receiving transmissions. For example if someone made a mistake and used a normal VHF antenna whip; the unit can normally receive AIS but will typically get a transmission error because the impedance is too great on the antenna for the AIS frequency.