Two TDH3’s no output wattage !

[GrouserPad]

Purchased a two pack of h3’s. Checked their power output when I opened them both were about 4.4 watts. Connected them to the antennas, and programmed them with chirp for local repeaters. Radios Wouldn’t connect to repeaters, I checked the power output and nothing. Tried the other h3 from the same pack. Nothing. 
 

wow. I’m scratching my head trying to figure out if something I did fried them or if this just happens with these cheaper ht’s? Can keying an ht next to another one fry both of them? I have 3 other cheap ht’s that work perfectly yet these two died instantly after the initial power meter test. I try not to ever key a radio when it’s within a couple feet of another one but if I’m being honest I did do this on these by accident but I’ve done this to my other ht’s a time or two and they all work fine to this day. 
 

sent them back. Hope these h3’s aren’t super fragile and pop their finals if they get any sort of rx overload from a close transmitter but that’s the only thing I can think of that might cause this?!? I would think this could damage a RX section of a radio not the transmitter section no?

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, GrouserPad said:

Purchased a two pack of h3’s. Checked their power output when I opened them both were about 4.4 watts. Connected them to the antennas, and programmed them with chirp for local repeaters. Radios Wouldn’t connect to repeaters, I checked the power output and nothing. Tried the other h3 from the same pack. Nothing. 
 

wow. I’m scratching my head trying to figure out if something I did fried them or if this just happens with these cheaper ht’s? Can keying an ht next to another one fry both of them? I have 3 other cheap ht’s that work perfectly yet these two died instantly after the initial power meter test. I try not to ever key a radio when it’s within a couple feet of another one but if I’m being honest I did do this on these by accident but I’ve done this to my other ht’s a time or two and they all work fine to this day. 
 

sent them back. Hope these h3’s aren’t super fragile and pop their finals if they get any sort of rx overload from a close transmitter but that’s the only thing I can think of that might cause this?!? I would think this could damage a RX section of a radio not the transmitter section no?

Being within a couple feet of another should have no effect on the finals.  I bet that something with the programming resulted in inhibited transmit.

[Socalgmrs]

Umm.  As much as a can’t stand h3 radios I’d bet something else is going on.  Normally I see a 50% fail rate not 100%.   I agree they may have gone into ham mode some how so they won’t tx on gmrs or something similar in the programming.    I’d reset everything and make sure they are both in gmrs mode then try again with programming.  Maybe just dial up a simplex in vfo mode and see if they can communicate.   
 

I’ve never had any radio blow anything when tx,ing very close to one another.  

[WRUE951]

I think Steve nailed it..   Programing error.  Factory reset try again.  

[GrouserPad]

Thanks guys I did multiple factory resets. Switched to gmrs mode with factory programming and no output wattage. Did the same with ham mode as well no output wattage there either. Kinda at a loss at that point and just sent them back. Super weird. They worked good out of the box. But subsequent resets did not fix them.  
 

(tested into a dummy load) 

[amaff]

They have had some spotty quality control, unfortunately. I really like mine, I have 4 of them. All tested good. But there are some that seem to just show up broken.
A programming error where you couldn't transmit would get you the "YOU CAN'T DO THAT DUMMY" beep when you key up.
If it's not doing that, and it's just outputting 0W, then yeah, they're probably NFG.

[GrouserPad]

23 minutes ago, amaff said:

They have had some spotty quality control, unfortunately. I really like mine, I have 4 of them. All tested good. But there are some that seem to just show up broken.
A programming error where you couldn't transmit would get you the "YOU CAN'T DO THAT DUMMY" beep when you key up.
If it's not doing that, and it's just outputting 0W, then yeah, they're probably NFG.

I really like the h3 as well. It’s a  Fantastic “beater” ht and one of of mine has been a beast taking all kinds of drops and falls and still working great. Loud speake and significantly Better RX than baofengs and easy menu editing. 

[LeoG]

Love mine too.  I'm up to buying 14 of them.  Had 2 bad ones that were replaced without issue.  I have 6 of them that I can use and the rest given away to family and friends.

[RIPPER238]

6 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

Being within a couple feet of another should have no effect on the finals.  I bet that something with the programming resulted in inhibited transmit.

I have had my H3's trigger my GFI in my bathroom. 

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, RIPPER238 said:

I have had my H3's trigger my GFI in my bathroom. 

I can definitely believe that.
But transmitting on one H3 while receiving on the other H3 doesn’t affect the final transistor(s) (the output transistor) on the receiving radio. 

[LeoG]

My KGXS20 will set off my neighbors motion detector light on a certain repeater channel.  My H3 can activate my headlamp, my Fein Vacuum with the tool activation.  It has turned on my stove when I am very close to it, but you need to push the 2nd button to make it turn on.

RF energy can do strange things to unshielded equipment.  I've never had my set off a GFCI though.

[GrouserPad]

And….now the two tdh3’s that took the place of the prior two that didn’t transmit now have the exact same problem. I think Chirp is bricking them somehow. They worked great for about 2 weeks and now zero output wattage. I’ve done nothing to them other than fiddle around chirp programming channels and repeaters. Resetting the radios did nothing. Wow. Stumped beyond belief. I’ve got two uv5g’s, 1 uv5g plus, and had 5 tdh3’s and out of 5 tdh3’s 4 of them have went to zero output wattage on my surecom meter after previously showing 3.7 watts. Gosh I hope I can sort this out. It’s not the meter because none of these tdh3’s will open local repeaters and they used to. 

[GrouserPad]

23 minutes ago, Socalgmrs said:

And people tell me I’m nuts when I say h3s stink.   Every one I know that has fell for them has a 50-75% fail rate.  Vote me down all you want guys. This is just more evidence h3 radios are total junk.  

I’m beginning to think so too

[LeoG]

39 minutes ago, Socalgmrs said:

And people tell me I’m nuts when I say h3s stink.   Every one I know that has fell for them has a 50-75% fail rate.  Vote me down all you want guys. This is just more evidence h3 radios are total junk.  

I have received 16 TD H3s.  I bought 14 and 2 were bad and they sent me 2 more.  I don't use chirp.  The TD H3 has it's own CPS that works well and is similar to the way chirp works.  So use the H3 CPS.

Have you tried to update the firmware to revitalize the "broken" H3s?  You can even install the same firmware and overwrite the existing.

[CoffeeTime]

I have been here myself with a new H3.

 

Please troubleshoot /check the radio's antenna port pin for visible damage/broken off. Please also examine the cable and the inline SMA adapters used during testing.  Poor antenna port connection problems might affect your Finals, Output, and Reliable Repeater Connections. I have history here. 

I think the current CP is corrupted and not actually writing to the radio what you think.  

If you have a reliable H3 available, you can easily upload this good CP from this reliable HT >into Chirp> and then write that reliable CP to the non-working unit. 

Loading a reliable code plug is better than a Reset in my experience with multiple brands. 

In Chirp, always confirm that the Vendor and the Model are correct. 

Best Regards!

[SteveShannon]

11 hours ago, GrouserPad said:

And….now the two tdh3’s that took the place of the prior two that didn’t transmit now have the exact same problem. I think Chirp is bricking them somehow. They worked great for about 2 weeks and now zero output wattage. I’ve done nothing to them other than fiddle around chirp programming channels and repeaters. Resetting the radios did nothing. Wow. Stumped beyond belief. I’ve got two uv5g’s, 1 uv5g plus, and had 5 tdh3’s and out of 5 tdh3’s 4 of them have went to zero output wattage on my surecom meter after previously showing 3.7 watts. Gosh I hope I can sort this out. It’s not the meter because none of these tdh3’s will open local repeaters and they used to. 

Although I don’t have TDH3 radios, I agree that it sounds like whatever you’re doing with Chirp is causing them to cease transmitting. I assume you looked at the column in chirp that enables transmitting and it’s set appropriately.

And you say that a full factory reset does not return the radios to being able to transmit?  I would recommend returning them for a refund and getting something else.

[GrouserPad]

3 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

Although I don’t have TDH3 radios, I agree that it sounds like whatever you’re doing with Chirp is causing them to cease transmitting. I assume you looked at the column in chirp that enables transmitting and it’s set appropriately.

And you say that a full factory reset does not return the radios to being able to transmit?  I would recommend returning them for a refund and getting something else.

I have 1 working tdh3 that has the same version as the 4 non working tdh3’s. I have opened that radio in chirp and then downloaded that file into the other tdh3’s and still no joy. I have programmed multiple radios through chirp and have never had an issue. I appreciate everyone reaching out. I will try downloading new firmware or updating the firmware. Reset on the menu and ptt + star + power on resets have not helped. 

[LeoG]

9 minutes ago, GrouserPad said:

I have 1 working tdh3 that has the same version as the 4 non working tdh3’s. I have opened that radio in chirp and then downloaded that file into the other tdh3’s and still no joy. I have programmed multiple radios through chirp and have never had an issue. I appreciate everyone reaching out. I will try downloading new firmware or updating the firmware. Reset on the menu and ptt + star + power on resets have not helped. 

You can't use chirp to update the firmware.  You need their IAP program.

[SteveShannon]

7 minutes ago, GrouserPad said:

I have opened that radio in chirp and then downloaded that file into the other tdh3’s and still no joy.

Have you tried it the other way, writing the file that bricked the first three into the fourth to see if it bricks it as well?  If it does then you know it’s that file, but at the cost of yet another radio.  If it doesn’t then you know you got three bad radios from the dealer.

I admire persistence.

[LeoG]

Not sure if this link will let you in.  You are suppose to sign in to get there.

 

https://walkietalkiesoftware.com/portal/index/software_detail/id/68.html

[GrouserPad]

22 minutes ago, LeoG said:

You can't use chirp to update the firmware.  You need their IAP program.

I understand that. Thank you. 

[GrouserPad]

3 hours ago, CoffeeTime said:

I have been here myself with a new H3.

 

Please troubleshoot /check the radio's antenna port pin for visible damage/broken off. Please also examine the cable and the inline SMA adapters used during testing.  Poor antenna port connection problems might affect your Finals, Output, and Reliable Repeater Connections. I have history here. 

I think the current CP is corrupted and not actually writing to the radio what you think.  

If you have a reliable H3 available, you can easily upload this good CP from this reliable HT >into Chirp> and then write that reliable CP to the non-working unit. 

Loading a reliable code plug is better than a Reset in my experience with multiple brands. 

In Chirp, always confirm that the Vendor and the Model are correct. 

Best Regards!

Thanks! I will dive into your suggestions. 

[WRCR724]

I cannot help you with your specific issue with your radio. The only advice I can offer is to purchase another set of radios.

 

As if any of us here actually need a reason to buy more radios. 

[Socalgmrs]

16 minutes ago, GrouserPad said:

And….now the two tdh3’s that took the place of the prior two that didn’t transmit now have the exact same problem. I think Chirp is bricking them somehow. They worked great for about 2 weeks and now zero output wattage. I’ve done nothing to them other than fiddle around chirp programming channels and repeaters. Resetting the radios did nothing. Wow. Stumped beyond belief. I’ve got two uv5g’s, 1 uv5g plus, and had 5 tdh3’s and out of 5 tdh3’s 4 of them have went to zero output wattage on my surecom meter after previously showing 3.7 watts. Gosh I hope I can sort this out. It’s not the meter because none of these tdh3’s will open local repeaters and they used to. 

And people tell me I’m nuts when I say h3s stink.   Every one I know that has fell for them has a 50-75% fail rate.  Vote me down all you want guys. This is just more evidence h3 radios are total junk.