aguyindallas wrote:
Upon disassembly of the old one, it appears that maybe the antenna wasn't connected properly.
If you haven't already (I didn't see your 9/21 update until now), I recommend getting more radio checks, hopefully at longer distances. The reason I say this is, if you transmitted for very long with the old antenna not connected right, it's possible that you damaged the final power transistors in the PA section of the transmitter. If you're only getting a couple of miles of range with a new 8' fiberglass antenna
across open water, something's not right.
I agree about your radio being on the same circuit with your lights, and a fixed VHF can (as said) draw up to around 23A depending on the model. But if the antenna doesn't present the correct resistance to the transmitter (as could be the case with a bad antenna connection), the radio
could be trying to draw much more current than normal.