Hi, thank you all for all the suggestions. After having a Zoom meeting with Steve N8AR, it was determined to be poor solder joints on pins 9, 10 and 11 on the SA818 radio module. The solder didn't flow into the castellated hole wall properly and therefore the ground was insufficient. After wicking the solder out and and reapplying solder the node worked better than ever. Steve did a wonderful job in troubleshooting this for me and he really stands by his product. Rightfully so. I look forward to many years of using my Pi3U and again thank Steve and everyone else with the issue, albeit caused by me as this was a kit purchase. Please check those joints carefully when assembling your kit and it should work like a charm.
Sincerely,
Scott VA4SMC
