[ICOM] R71A Problems

Fri Apr 8 16:08:25 EDT 2011

At 11:15 AM 4/8/2011, you wrote:
>Roger,
>
>In the day these products were designed there were no EEProms, There
>were EPRoms but they cost about $25.00 each and did not hold up well in
>RF environments in the early 1980's. In my 11 years at Icom the majority
>of failures to this ram unit was when people were trying to do
>maintenance on their rigs and changed out the ram battery as part of the
>maintenance. And of course the clipped on leads jumped off and the ram
>lost power.
>I suspect now days that many are getting onto 25 years old we may see
>some failures, but the ram unit draws micro amps and the battery
>supplies milliamps of current.
>I think one time we figured out if all things were ideal, the battery
>should last over 80 years. However there is no such thing as a circuit
>operating under ideal on paper conditions.

Yes there is..I bought my R71A back in 85/86 and haven't replaced the 
battery yet..
so what is that 25/26 years!
My 2 cents..

>Gary K8IZ
>
>On 4/8/2011 10:18 AM, K8RI wrote:
> > It's been a long time since I had a 751 but I knew the back up battery
> > was getting weak (measured it in place) and knew better than to just
> > replace it by pulling the old one out and replacing it.
> >
> > I called Icom and they suggested I get the new memory module from them
> > already programmed with updates. Then all I'd have to do is swap them out.
> >
> > Things have changed. Back then the entire module was relatively
> > inexpensive at well less than half of today's quoted prices.  Too bad
> > they didn't use an EEProm or some form of static memory, rather than one
> > that required a backup battery.
> >
> > Of course with the dead batter and loss of memory as indicated by the
> > readouts there was nothing to lose by pulling the battery, but nothing
> > to gain either.
> >
> > If the second source module is reliable I would think it would be
> > desirable over the Icom module as the present, or future owners would
> > not have to be concerned about a $3 battery replacement turning into a
> > $75 project plus labor.
> >
> > 73
> >
> > Roger (K8RI)
> >
> > On 4/8/2011 12:20 PM, Stephen Budensiek wrote:
> >> Hello,
> >>      Guess the bad new is (if my memory is correct), the R71 has the OS
> >> in RAM, you need to keep voltage on it while you replace the battery.
> >> If you don't, it loses the OS.   You can either send it back to Icom
> >> for reprogram, or buy another memory moudule from them, or go to a 3rd
> >> party vendor who makes a memory replacement module with more memory
> >> locations, and the OS is eeprom.  Any way you go, it will be around
> >> $75 to get it back up.  There use to be one internet site with the OS
> >> code, and if you had a ROM burner, you could reload the RAM module
> >> with it.  Same problem in the 751, 271, 471, etc if the memory battery
> >> failed.
> >>
> >> 73's de Stephen, K0SD in TX
> >>
> >> ******************************************
> >>
> >> On Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 11:08 AM, Gary H. Harmon, Jr.
> >> <gharmon at idworld.net>   wrote:
> >>> I have a friend's R71A on the bench and before I get too crazy 
> I thought I
> >>> would check the list.  I replaced the battery IAW instructions 
> on the web.
> >>> The removed battery measured 0.3 volts.  It comes on with a frequency
> >>> display of either 466.666.6 or 666.666.6.  There is a little hum in the
> >>> speaker but no rushing noise.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Are there any other obvious issues to check?  Is there a service manual
> >>> available online?
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Vr,
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Gary H. Harmon, Jr. - K5JWK
> >>>
> >>> 6003 Archwood
> >>>
> >>> San Antonio, TX 78239-1504
> >>>
> >>> 210.657.1549h / 210.884.6926c
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> "Retirement means every day is a Saturday except Sunday"
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ----
> >>> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC: icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
> >>> Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
> >>> Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
> >>> To support QSL/QTH.net: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> >>>
> >> ----
> >> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC: icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
> >> Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
> >> Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
> >> To support QSL/QTH.net: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> >>
> >
> > ----
> > Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC: icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
> > Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
> > Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
> > To support QSL/QTH.net: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> >
>
>
>--
>Gary P. Fiber K8IZ
>
>General Radio Telephone Operators License PG-19-6691,
>with Shipboard Radar Endorsement.
>Washington State Resident.
>
>Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any 
>attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient (s) and 
>may contain confidential and privileged information.
>Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is 
>prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact 
>the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
>
>
>----
>Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC: icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
>Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
>Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
>To support QSL/QTH.net: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html