[1000mp] 1000MP Front Panel Access

[Milt, N5IA]

Steve,

I have had to make the repair of intermittent audio on one half of the 1/8" 
audio jack on the front panel of the MP.  I presume that is what you are 
wanting to do.

Take the top and bottom covers off the MP.

There are three screws along the front topside of the radio which hold the 
top of the front panel to the chassis.  Remove these three screws.

Then there are two screws, one on each lower front side of the radio which 
must be LOOSENED about 1 turn, or as needed, to free the swing open brackets 
holding the front panel to the chassis at the bottom.

Once these two screws are loosened, you may tilt open the front panel 
towards you, being careful to release a couple wires that might be inserted 
in holders.

The 1/8" audio jack is located on a small PCB that is somewhat permanently 
mounted to the front panel.  I never could figure out how to get it out so I 
devised the following method of curing the problem; which is a broken solder 
joint where the jack is soldered to the PCB.

The three solder joints on the PCB where the jack attaches are visible down 
inside a small opening.  Knowing the joints would not require a lot of heat 
to melt the existing solder and add a bit more new solder to the joint, I 
added a long piece of bare, solid # 12  copper wire to the end of my 
soldering station tip point.

I did this by making the # 12 wire long enough to wrap around the body of 
the heating element of the soldering pencil for mechanical stability AND to 
induce more heat more quickly.  The # 12 wire continued to wrap downward 
toward the tip, wrapping around the tip a couple of times before extending 
approximately one inch beyond the tip.  You choose the lenth of extension 
according to your solder tip and how far you perceive you need to lenthen 
the tip to reach the three solder joints.

As the wire heated up the first time, I tinned it well for about 1/4" from 
the tip, to the tip.  I then allowed the tip to hold a small amount of 
solder and carefully lowered the tip into the small opening and touched it 
to the first of the three solder points.  I repeated this procedure for each 
of the two remaining joints.  Job done!  The intermittent audio has NOT 
returned.

Put the radio back together by reversing the procedure of taking all the 
screws out, being careful to NOT pinch any of the wires as you tilt the 
front panel back into place.

I believe you will find this a relatively easy method to repair a common 
failure which is NOT readily accessible.

Good luck, and have a good weekend.

Milt, N5IA


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve GW4BLE" <GW4BLE at btconnect.com>
To: <1000mp at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 3:53 PM
Subject: [1000mp] 1000MP Front Panel Access


>I need to get access to the rear of the front panel of a 1000MP - the
> smaller of the headphone jacks has an intermittent connection - anyone 
> know
> how to do that easily?
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
> 73
>
>
>
> Steve
>
> GW4BLE
>
>
>
>
>
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