[Icom] ICOM ic756 screensaver?

[WA2BPE]

Thank you for your experience as to LCD failure history.  From your post, I
am not sure, however, if you are referring to LCD displays in general or to
the Icom displays specifically and not all displays are created equal.
There have (in the recent past) been posts relative to failures of the
original '756 display though I *believe* this is a failure of the active
display, not the backlighting source.  I fully concur that cycling a
fluorescent tube on/off can indeed be more damaging than leaving it on but
these tubes still have a finite lifetime.  Since the Icom displays do have
a menu settable brightness level, the hardware exists to allow the display
to be "backed off" without literally shutting it down.  I would be
interested as to any data that shows how the life of a fluorescent display
(or backlight source) is affected by intensity reduction (and method of
same); we know that an incandescent lamp's can be strongly extended by
reducing the current to same.

My intent here is not to raise issues about a nonexistent problem but a
proposal to (perhaps) enhance these superb radios.  I know of no
(published) data on the MTBF for the Icom displays (or backlights) and we
all have experienced how "Murphy" can rule when it comes to timing and the
use of equipment.  Fixes may indeed be easy (though not necessarily cheap),
but downtime can be a killer; not everyone has the good fortune to have
spares sitting on the shelf.

If something can/could be done to improve reliability of equipment,
especially if it is low cost, IMO, it should be considered or at least
discussed.

Thank you,

Tom - WA2BPE


"Mel Martin (VE2DC)" wrote:

> The life expectancy for LCD VDUs is pretty good based on our experience
> at work for about 4 years... One failure out of about 35 in service...
> Much better than the CRTs.
>
> I think it's debatable if a screen saver would actually be a good
> thing... Turning the fluorescent tube on and off might be harder on the
> hardware than leaving it on...
>
> And it should be fairly easy to fix...
>
> I would suggest that everyone stop worrying and just enjoy the radio
> unless there is a demonstrable problem...
>
> Mel...
> VE2DC
>
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