Hello,
I got a used LDG AT-7000 autotuner to use with my Icom IC-718.? The previous owner added a manual tune button to it by connecting a button to the pins on the radio port.? Otherwise no obvious modifications other than holes drilled in the case to access the inside expert button and to see the LED.
When I first used it, it did not work with the tune button on my radio, however, the inside expert button did start a tune cycle.? I fixed this problem by adding a jumper wire to connect the tune pin from the radio port to the expert button, essentially making it so when the radio requested a tune (or the added manual button was pushed) it was as though the expert button was pushed.? This works, but does anyone have any idea what might cause tuning to not work without my jumper wire to the expert button or any pointers on where to look for damage on the circuit board (there is nothing obvious).
My second and more important problem is that the tuner does not seem to be utilizing its memory.? Every tune is a long full tune.? From watching the LED, it seems that tune settings are simply not stored, either because it isn't trying to store them or because there are old settings already stored in the memory and it doesn't get a better match.? I have done a full reset to clear the memory, and the LED indicates the tuner performs the reset, however, the problem still persists.? My experience is the same with or without the jumper wire modification I mentioned previously.? Any ideas on how to diagnose and fix this problem?
An inconvenience related to the full tuning cycle is that when the tune is in progress, the radio becomes unresponsive to CAT control.? I have my radio set to tune when transmitting if not already tuned, so when I forget to hit the tune button myself after changing bands and the I start transmitting from my computer my software throws a fit and needs to be reset.? Just something I'd like to stop working around and think will be solved by fixing the memory issue.
Is either of these common issues with this tuner?? Is there a full schematic of the board floating around somewhere?? If I had that I could more easily poke around and try to find the fault without tracing everything on the board and drawing up my own schematic.
Thanks,
Brad N3WCC
