Last March, I purchased an Icom IC-706mk2g.  Since I didn’t have a power supply (and modifying my old Ten-Tec power supply is a project that is taking too long), it sat.  For too long for my liking.  So I put it in my truck, temporarily, to make sure it works.  I had some good comments about the sound quality.

During my afternoon drive, however, I hit a few particularly nasty bumps in the road and the rig, which I had sitting on the transmission hump, slid to the side, pulling on the power and antenna connectors.  After that, the comments about the sound quality dwindled to it “sounding staticy, like you’re off frequency”.  I took the covers off, did some quick visual checks and didn’t see anything amiss, so I kinda passed it off.

Fast forward a few very busy months with the HF rig off, and to this past week where the 13 Colonies were on the air.  Try as I might, I had a lot of trouble getting any of them.  In fact, there were times I stuck it out through a pileup (trying every time they said “QRZed?”) to when they were asking “QRZed” twice and even calling CQ.  I was calling out, but they weren’t hearing me.

After being heartwarmed by hearing one of the stations clear a frequency to allow a mobile station through, I thought I’d operate mobile.  So I attached an antenna mount and a 20m mobile antenna to my truck.  The next morning wasn’t particularly good on 20.  In the afternoon, I tried hitting up the local repeater first (it had been dead in the morning, and I do like talking with my repeater friends).  However, I couldn’t get through.  So I tried again in a few miles.  And again, a few miles after that.  Finally, I could get through when I was pretty close to home.  The return ID was staticy, too.

So anyway, I’m concerned for my HF rig.

-73-