Radioddity DB25-G: Stopped receiving from repeaters suddenly

[TrikeRadio]

I have had and used a Radioddity DB25-G for over a year now and in general been very happy with it
(except a few quirks that I wish were different, but that is another topic.) 

In the past day or two I noticed that the repeaters which I usually listen to were unusually quiet, and after turning on one of my HTs, I realized that the DB25G was not letting me hear the repeaters. I could transmit with the DB25G no problem. People could hear me and I could hear them via my HT, but not from the DB25G. It also seems that this affects ALL repeaters not just one or two, so it is not a repeater changing tones. And yet...  I can still hear and transmit on simplex!

I have:

1. set my squelch down to 1 - even tried off (0) and monitor button (and I think sometimes on monitor I can JUST BARELY hear transmissions from the repeater above the background static
2. turned off my RX CTCSS & DCS (only using the TX to activte the repeaters)
3. checked my TX and RX tones/dts - they are correct
4. confirmed that the +5 offset is correct
5. factory reset the radio and reloaded my saved set of channels from a working copy
6. factory reset the radio and manually entered tones for my most used repeater instead of uploading a data set of channels
7. tested my antenna with a different radio (and it works fine)
8. been through the user manual settings multiple times and even tried every setting I was unsure about
9. changed out the fuse in the fuse line just in case

but still it is failing to let me hear anything from repeaters. 

Is it possible that the RX of the radio has failed only for repeaters not Simplex?

Is there some setting I have accidentally set that is causing this issue?

Any suggestions or ideas I might try that I have not already listed above? 

 

frustrated that a radio which has worked fin for a year just suddenly doesn't! 
 

[TrikeRadio]

1 hour ago, WRUU653 said:

Do you have an SWR meter like the Surecom that shows the frequency being transmitted? I realize you said the issue is the RX but I wonder if it’s putting out the right frequency and if there is a correlation to receiving the correct frequency or incorrect frequency?

I don't have a meter unfortunately. 

[LeoG]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D86IKIQ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

[SteveShannon]

30 minutes ago, TrikeRadio said:

It was only ever a GMRS radio (never "unlocked" in any way) but it can do "receive only" on other bands outside of GMRS frequencies... since I have done the reset from menu # 58, and reloaded an old good code plug I would be surprised if it was a configuration issue... unless it was some corruption of firmware or a hardware issue? 

 

I will have to actually test the proximity thing with simplex. The ONLY antenna I have for it is this is a Nagoya UT-72G mag mount with the attached coax. I attached it to my HT using a pigtail adapter so

Yeah the DB25G will transmit just fine to the local repeater and people there in our club said they hear me great just like usual. but I don't hear their reply on the DB25G only on my HT. 

The repeater is 24 miles away on a mountain peak installation and tower at about 5,500 feet in altitude. so I can easily hit it with my HT from indoors even. 

 

More and more it sounds like the receiver side, maybe the TX/RX relay is hung up. I’m guessing completely. Is it in warranty?

[TrikeRadio]

6 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

More and more it sounds like the receiver side, maybe the TX/RX relay is hung up. I’m guessing completely. Is it in warranty?

i bought it back at the end of January last year... so ... 9 months ish... i have emailed Radioddity ... waiting to hear if this is something they have encounter before or if they will offer a replacement. otherwise I may just be buying a new radio if I cna't resolve this. 

[SteveShannon]

11 minutes ago, TrikeRadio said:

i bought it back at the end of January last year... so ... 9 months ish... i have emailed Radioddity ... waiting to hear if this is something they have encounter before or if they will offer a replacement. otherwise I may just be buying a new radio if I cna't resolve this. 

The warranty is 18 months, so maybe there’s hope.

[TrikeRadio]

2 hours ago, LeoG said:

Is the reverse frequency activated?  You know, talkaround.

I don't think the DB25G has a real talkaround function... other than changing the channe settings in the menu to make it a simplex channel with no offset. but it does have the reverse feather to listen to the 467. instead of the 462... and I have tried that and when i tranmit from my HT I do hear it on the DB25G .... but that is basically simplex just on 467 instead of 462... 

 

[LeoG]

Just throwing it against the wall to see if something sticks.

[WRUU653]

Check out your screen for these indicators 

one other thought I have is if it’s not unlocked the offset I believe would be automatically set for +5 and won’t require any additional settings on your part. 

[amaff]

9 minutes ago, WRUU653 said:

Check out your screen for these indicators 

one other thought I have is if it’s not unlocked the offset I believe would be automatically set for +5 and won’t require any additional settings on your part. 

[TrikeRadio]

1 hour ago, WRUU653 said:

Check out your screen for these indicators 

one other thought I have is if it’s not unlocked the offset I believe would be automatically set for +5 and won’t require any additional settings on your part. 

 

[WRUU653]

1 hour ago, amaff said:

Yeah I know. Wild right?

I didn't write it and I couldn't find what you're suppose to do if it shows it isn't working either. 

[WRUU653]

49 minutes ago, TrikeRadio said:

 

I think we may have the problem right here. This should be plus only if I’m reading this correctly.

I could be wrong though, I don’t have this radio to test it out. 

[TrikeRadio]

14 minutes ago, WRUU653 said:

I think we may have the problem right here. This should be plus only if I’m reading this correctly.

I could be wrong though, I don’t have this radio to test it out. 

From day one it only ever showed that plus with the line under it... and was working fine. is the line under the plus the negative offset indicator or just an underline? 

 

and it is a GMRS only radio... why would it ever show negative offset? 

[TrikeRadio]

24 minutes ago, WRUU653 said:

I think we may have the problem right here. This should be plus only if I’m reading this correctly.

I could be wrong though, I don’t have this radio to test it out. 

 

This seems wrong in the manual... would not be surprised.. the manual is littered with badly composed English. 
In CHIRP it shows + 5 for TX... and this is what it shows on the screen to indicate it is +5 duplex. 

[WRUU653]

1 minute ago, TrikeRadio said:

the manual is littered with badly composed English

No doubt about that. Reductive transmit seems to be their way of saying negative offset, you will see this on some ham repeaters.