Daiwa 901 meter issue

[Greg T]

Howdy folks! Just another extremely strange anomaly from me and my equipment. My setup is like this. Stryker 955 to DX-500, to meter to antenna. All is seemingly good. BUT, I just noticed that when I disconnect the coax from the radio, my meter light goes out. Yes, I have a 12v source (same power supply as radio) feeding the meter for it's peak hold and lighting capabilities. I checked the 2.5mm plug at the meter and find power there. If I plug it into the meter the light will not power up until I put the coax into the radio. Now, it doesn't matter if I remove the antenna coax (meter output) light still glows. Question: Do these meter work this way, or do you think I lost the ground on the bulb circuit or the power input on the meter jack? The reason I ask is that it's a pain to get it off of my mount and I didn't want to take it down for nothing.

 

[sp5it]

You lose ground somewhere.

 

[Greg T]

You lose ground somewhere.

That's exactly what I thought. But, I have it apart and everything is fine according to the multimeter. The strange thing about this is that, if I simply ground the case to -12v the light goes on. Would it be safe to run a wire from the neg on the input to the case?

 

[nomadradio]

If all it does is power a light, should not be a problem.

73

 

[Ranch55]

You know, a few years ago I had that same issue with the same meter.
At the moment, I can't remember what I did to take care of it.
I'll get that meter out and take a look.

 

[midnight special]

as the joke in the tampa bay area heard when a radio goes south,, ya got a short in it,,,,,

 

[Greg T]

You know, a few years ago I had that same issue with the same meter.
At the moment, I can't remember what I did to take care of it.
I'll get that meter out and take a look.

I don't really know if it affected the peak hold mode. I never tried it. I'm assuming it would affect that as well since there's only one power source input. What I did is solder a short jumper from the negative side of the power source Jack down to the shielded box at the bottom of the case. I'm not a tech, so I don't know what it's called, maybe a bridging Network or something in there where the so239s are located. I soldered a wire from that box to the ground on the power source and everything works just fine. It's just that, I thought it may have an issue running a ground through the shield on the coax. So I figured it was better to have the completed circuit come right from the power source down to the ground.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

The power supply going to the meter has a broken negative lead somewhere. ONLY thing it can be. Try a different cord to the meter.

 

[Greg T]

The power supply going to the meter has a broken negative lead somewhere. ONLY thing it can be. Try a different cord to the meter.

There is 12v inside the meter. The jack is good and the power reaches the board. Only the lights are affected. I ran a piece of wire from the jack neg to the case and it works.

 

[Woody-202]

There is 12v inside the meter. The jack is good and the power reaches the board. Only the lights are affected. I ran a piece of wire from the jack neg to the case and it works.

It still sounds like a funky pwr cord to the meter. What's it connected to (power source)? I use a power pole strip, so every connection is separate, and it's made life much easier when troubleshooting.

 

[Greg T]

It still sounds like a funky pwr cord to the meter. What's it connected to (power source)? I use a power pole strip, so every connection is separate, and it's made life much easier when troubleshooting.

It's connected to the same power supply that powers my radio. The cord is absolutely good, no issues with it at all. There's power inside the meter all over the place, except for the light bulbs. And all I had to do was run the negative from the jack in the back of the meter down to the case. Problem solved

 

[Woody-202]

It's connected to the same power supply that powers my radio. The cord is absolutely good, no issues with it at all. There's power inside the meter all over the place, except for the light bulbs. And all I had to do was run the negative from the jack in the back of the meter down to the case. Problem solved

Well, that's something I'll keep in my notes. I've owned a few 901's and currently use a 501, so if I run into something similar I'll try it - Tnx!

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

There is 12v inside the meter. The jack is good and the power reaches the board. Only the lights are affected. I ran a piece of wire from the jack neg to the case and it works.

OK so the power cord is good but the jack is bad. One normally assumes the jack is good hence my suggestion that the cord was bad.

 

[AudioShockwav]

Can you post a pictures of the inside.
It works but now we are intrigued as to why it did not work without the extra ground.....
Sometimes it's the simple things that drive us insane the most

73
Jeff

 

[Greg T]

OK so the power cord is good but the jack is bad. One normally assumes the jack is good hence my suggestion that the cord was bad.

Nope, jack is good as well cuz the power is making it's way to the circuit board. I traced power all over the board. Just not the light bulbs. I can't get pics now it's all back together and mounted under the shelf. Damn, I wish I'd get into the habit of more pics when I open stuff up.