Hate to be the bringer of bad news, but it sounds like you might have to take the antenna down.  It is possible--if nothing physical has changed--to believe that corrosion or some other non-obvious changes have taken place.  You may have to disassemble, clean and reassemble the entire antenna to clear up the problems.  On the other hand, if one connection has come loose it may throw off all the measurements.  The only way to tell is take it down and see.

You may be getting a mismatch because of the absence of a viable ground plane as well.  If you're using the mount on a side rail and grounded the outer shield to the bed of the truck, the ground plane is almost a quarter wave below the antenna--a situation that invites troublesome readings with inexpensive SWR meters.

If you get it down to a half wavelength, you may have a better time of it.  Also, Alan is right--you need an analyzer if the mount is as I described it to be.  Good luck!

Dan,  

Unless you plan on working UHF and SHF bands, I wouldn't worry about it a bit.  A club I belong to has a cell phone tower in its yard--its rent is the main money source coming into the club.  There is no interference to the 2 meter and 70 cm repeaters at all, the antennas are on the top of the tower in fact.  As far as HF, the club has an extensive radio room, and has no problems at all with the cell phone installation.  The distance is about 150 to 200 feet away.

Questions?  Well, why not if you can use the tower as support for one end of a long wire antenna!  Yes, I know, but its a thought!!

 

You probably have a bad connection or part in the memory circuitry of the rig, but the most likely thing to check is the memory battery.  It may be at the edge of failure--not quite enough power left to retain the memory and load it when switching the rig on from a 'cold start' but enough to do so when 'resetting' the rig.  It may also have a weak connection and nothing more.  

I had something similar happen to me on a Bearcat scanner--no memory loaded when I turned it on, but switch it off and on again and presto, the programmed channels were back.  I went nuts tearing into causes--then I replaced the memory battery and the problem cleared right up.

Good luck!

You may want something that lasts forever, but nothing does.  Even though you may have the antenna perfectly mounted, no leaks and strong as it can be, it is still a good idea to check it every once in a while to make sure nothing accidently happened to the connections.

I've been installing antennas and rigs for a long time now, and I always tell the people who bring their cars to me to check the installation occassionally.  Check the antenna connections, the wiring at the rig (antenna connector, power and speaker if you have one) and the power wiring at the battery.  Check and clean the fuses and fuse holders if needed as well as the wires at the battery terminals.  Preventative maintenance will extend the life of the rig, not to mention the life of the battery--and the vehicle--as well.

It could also be that the unit switches the fan on when it is switched to transmit.  With 100 watts out and such a compact size, it either has to be switched thermally or on transmit.

The message 'look for help elsewhere' most of the time means that the battery is permanently connected to the circuit board.  It would be beyond the scope of most people to do the replacement.  If you're comfortable with working on the radio and are willing to take the chance, the battery is most likely mounted to the front circuit board behind the front panel of the rig.

If you're not sure of yourself or just don't want to take the chance, may I suggest bringing the rig to a local club--someone there may be willing to do the job for you.  It would be cheaper than sending the rig out, that's for sure!  

Even if you cannot 'mount' an outdoor antenna on your balcony, you can put a temporary one out there--mounted to something you own--a chair, a small table, etc.  Most of the time the building owners don't want anything attached to the structure of the building.

You might start on 2 meters, or on HF if you pass all three tests for your general ticket.  If on 2 mtrs, a factory made quarter-wave ground plane antenna is about 24" tall and 36" around the radials. If you attached that to a heavy stand you could just place it out on the balcony, and people would have to look hard to actually see it and recognize it for what it is.

There are many different ways to put up 'stealth' antennas.  As someone sugggested, get a couple of books--or look on the internet, on ham radio sites, not forgetting the big one-- www.arrl.org

The 'P' does indeed indicate the 'priority' channel.  If you have one frequency that you want to monitor and hear anything that comes on it, put it in the first memory location.  There should be a menu switch that activates the priority feature--turn it on, and when a signal comes over the priority freq. it will override anything else on any other channel the rig may be on.

What kind of a mount are you using?  If it is an original NMO antenna mount and it is installed properly, it should be waterproof.  There would be no need to 'seal' the co-ax connecting point if it is inside the truck.  A touch of grease will prevent corrosion.

I have been installing connectors and mounts for over twenty years,  The most I've ever done is to use a product called LPS 3--a heavy spray type lubricant that leaves a waxy residue.  However, the last few years I've found the NMO mounts, if installed properly, do not need any protection.  The trick is to use silicone grease on the o-ring that seals the mount, allowing it to slide while the mount is being tightened.  No leaks, no corrosion, no problems.

As someone said, calling CQ on a repeater isn't usually done.  Plain english is usually the rule on most repeaters, but listening to the repeater frequency and seeing what other hams do is probably best--if you can hear others on the machine.

Bravo to you--trying out the VHF bands and welcome.  You'll find a different type and style of operating here, and not necessarily carryover lingo from the 11 meter band.  VHF is not as bad as some make it out to be.

One thing I would do differently, however is either make sure your handheld has at least 5 watts output or go with a mobile radio--you'll have more repeaters in reach that way (greater range) and the cost of the mobile may not be that much greater than a good handheld.  But, to each his own.  The important thing is to go ahead and do it--and have fun!!

73!

The turnaround time will depend on the amount of repairs coming into the shop--any shop--at the time.  Most repair centers will purposely quote a longer time just to stop customers calling to ask when their rigs will be ready or to complain.

From what I've heard about Icom America, the turnaround time shouldn't be longer than a couple of weeks--again depending on their workload, or if a part is needed that has to be specially ordered or prepared.

Call or e-mail the repair center, GIVE THEM THE MODEL AND SERIAL NUMBERS, explain your problem to them as well as you can and see what the reply is.  Go by that--not by what you see here.  

Oh, yes, a couple of things I forgot to mention:  Make sure the case surfaces of each battery are clean and dry, that the individual batteries cases don't touch, and finally, put a piece of electrical tape or other insulating material over at least one terminal of each battery so anything accidently falling on them has no chance of shorting out any battery.

If you store those packs for that long without refresher charging them, the packs may well be no good for any practical uses.  Rechargable batteries require recharging at least every 90 days to maintain their usefulness and their useful life.

I can't point to any official studies or sites, just what I've been taught.  The reason for the refresher recharge is to keep the chemical reaction 'going', the electrolyte from 'drying out' and to restore a minimal charge level to the cells.

The best storage is in a cool, dry area.  A basement shelf is good for this, or you can store them in a refrigerator.  The cool temperatures keep the chemical reactions down to a low level.  I don't know the real reason, possibly fast discharging if they get moist, but do NOT store them on a concrete or metal surface, a piece of wood or cardboard should be placed between the battery and either surface.  If either the wood or cardboard 'insulator' get wet, replace them.

If the batteries are kept this way it will extend their life.  If they are just stored without recharging, it is extremely doubtful if they will even have OR take a charge when needed.

After reading the comments and your additional explanation, you really have little choice in the matter.  Call the police.  Tell them the facts of the case and show them the proof by the engineer that her complaints against you aren't valid.  Ask them to visit her and tell her your next step is filing a complaint against her, then legal action.

From the sound of things, even if you do that, I don't think it will do any good.  She sounds like a person who is convinced that you are the sole source of the problems she is experiencing and NOBODY is going to tell her otherwise.  Even if you get a restraining order or go as far as suing her to get her to stop, she will still gripe and complain to anyone who will listen.  She'll try to trash your reputation no matter what.

Before going to the police and the courts,  I would try getting together with your neighbors and getting them in on the problem--the entire problem (the steps you feel you have to take to get her to leave you alone too)--not to harass her, but just to get them on your side.  The only thing that will even slow her down is if the entire neighborhood starts shunning her as a troublemaker.  Unfortunately, even that may not work.  You'll just have to live with her as your neighbor until one of you moves.