[ICOM] The IC-471A Service Mystery

[Rich Dailey (Gmail)]

Well, it's a mystery to me, at least.

I've done repair on various models of Icom rigs on and
off for the last 20 years - mostly 735's, 751(a), 761, and 765's.
Not a business, mind you, although I did have an electronic repair
business up until 2005. I repair my own rigs when I can, and help out others
when asked.

So I buy a 471A for a good price, my first Icom 70cm multimode. 
Knowing it has issues, I purchase intending to investigate the problems
on my own.  Little did I realize that it would be so difficult, if not impossible,
to find service data for this rig.  I've been told that a service manual was never
published for this radio. I do have a schematic, a block diagram, and the owners
manual, but no technical description, no alignment procedures, none of the 
information that I need to carry out a decent diagnosis and repair.

So I ask:

* Does Icom repair this radio?
* Any outside repair shop? How do they do this without the service data?

If there is a shop that can do the repairs (I suspect vco trimmer problems, not
unlike the 765 issue), please contact me off-list if you can help.

Thanks,
Rich, N8UX
http://home.windstream.net/ferncity/icom.htm