Absolutely agree. Many electronics die quietly - no sparks, noise,
or zaps. They just don't work when you want them to.--Matthew Chao, N1IBB.
At 11:18 AM 1/6/2013, you wrote:
>Jim,
>
>All kidding aside, one of the worst nightmares for anyone dealing with
>solid-state equipment today is the lightning hit. I don't mean the kind
>where smoke and flame comes out of the equipment and sets the building on
>fire, but the kind where apparently nothing happens. A friend of mine who's
>the chief engineer at a TV station in Connecticut used to complain
>constantly that about two weeks after even the most minor electrical storm
>some piece of equipment would fail, usually in a manner that was difficult
>to troubleshoot and fix. While I can't say for certain that your speech
>chip is that kind of failure, my point is that it doesn't take much to send
>a chip south, and it may have been something as simple as a static pulse, or
>a voltage spike. One nice thing about tube-type equipment was that you
>could beat on it all day and it wouldn't fail. Unfortunately, solid-state
>stuff is much less forgiving.
>
>Steve
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Jim Gammon" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2013 03:26
>Subject: Re: New Vgs-1 chip installed and working
>
>
> > Hi Steve, of course you are right. It's just plain weird when
> > something like that happens so unexpectedly. I thought it could
> > be because my rig had been subjected to some more temperature
> > extremes than earlier but who knows. I think it has to do with
> > the lunar cycle as others have intimated here. Smile, Jim WA6EKS
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Steve Dresser <[log in to unmask]
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Date sent: Fri, 4 Jan 2013 22:22:09 -0500
> > Subject: Re: New Vgs-1 chip installed and working
> >
> > Of course. We're so used to almost perfectly working electronic
> > components
> > that rarely, if ever, fail. In the days of discrete components,
> > things
> > failed all the time, usually stuff like capacitors (which,
> > incidentally, are
> > still the weakest link in any electronic device), or resistors
> > which had
> > this nasty habit of changing value. And don't forget good old
> > tubes, which
> > had to be replaced on a regular basis. Listen to some of the
> > guys on AM,
> > and you'll know all about component failure.
> >
> > Steve
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Jim Gammon" <[log in to unmask]
> > To: <[log in to unmask]
> > Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 15:16
> > Subject: Re: New Vgs-1 chip installed and working
> >
> >
> > Hi Steve, right you are, but it's pretty disconcerting when it
> > happens.
> > 73,
> > Jim WA6EKS
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Steve Dresser
> > Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 12:05 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: New Vgs-1 chip installed and working
> >
> > Jim,
> >
> > Maybe some stray voltage hit the chip and destroyed it, or maybe
> > it was
> > just
> > defective and failed for some other unexplained reason. We're
> > not used to
> > seeing component failure much these days, but it certainly can
> > still
> > happen,
> > as you discovered.
> >
> > Steve
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Jim Gammon" <[log in to unmask]
> > To: <[log in to unmask]
> > Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 14:54
> > Subject: Re: New Vgs-1 chip installed and working
> >
> >
> > Hi Darren, I called Kenwood this morning and got ahold of Leo
> > who
> > does amateur tech support. He had no idea why the original chip
> > quit after working fine for over two years, and wasn't
> > interested
> > in checking out the old chip to see what might have happened to
> > it. I'm just relieved that the chip fixed the problem and that
> > I
> > didn't have to send the rig in for a check up. At $75 per hour,
> > that could get very eenxpensive in a hurry. Jim WA6EKS
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: KK4AHX Darren Duff <[log in to unmask]
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Date sent: Fri, 4 Jan 2013 13:30:44 -0500
> > Subject: Re: New Vgs-1 chip installed and working
> >
> > Hi.
> >
> > Great to hear you got your rig up and talking again. I would
> > like to know
> > what the folks over at kenwood tell you. I am really enjoying
> > my
> > tmv71a as
> > well.
> >
> >
> >
> > 73.
> > Darren Duff.
> > amateur radio station KK4AHX.
> >
> > Vice President,
> > Cherokee Amateur Radio Society.
> > http://www.cherokeehams.com
> >
> > Cherokee County ARES.
> > http://www.cherokee-ares.org
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: For blind ham radio operators
> > [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> > On Behalf Of Jim Gammon
> > Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 12:38 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: New Vgs-1 chip installed and working
> >
> > Hi list, just wanted to give you a foblow up about the Vgs-1
> > chip. I got a
> > new one from HRO yesterday, installed it and the rig started
> > talking again.
> > Now I think I will take the old chip, dip it some salsa and eat
> > it. No, on
> > second thought if I did that, I may stop talking just like it
> > did! Sorry to
> > Bob who I sent a similar message to last night thinking it would
> > go to the
> > list. I plan to call Kenwood and ask them there thoughts about
> > why a chip
> > would just quit after working fine for more than two years. Jim
> > WA6EKS
> >
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