[Pro2006] What to do!

[Len G. Carpenter]

There is a place in the UK that sold an identical radio, not sure what it was called
now, so you should be able to source it locally.

Wessuk at aol.com wrote:

>
> HI Bob and thanks for your interesting input. I was one of those guys that
> even though being careful i still managed to crack the LCD display on 2006
> which  absolutely gutted me. Bob would you know of any one that may have an LCD
> display  that would suit my 2006, or maybe a broken scanner that i could use the
> LCD  panel from? I have tried radio shack but they will not ship to me here
> in  England UK. Any help or advise would be warmly appreciated as i so much
> want to  revive my beloved 2006.
>
> Regards to all at QTH
>
> Wess....England UK
>
>
>
> In a message dated 17/06/2004 14:22:25 GMT Daylight Time,
> bwhiston at baldwinfarm.org writes:
>
> At 21:32  15-06-04, you wrote:
> >Hello Laird and other fans of these great Radio  Shack scanners,
> >
> >1.  I have a couple of Pro-2004s that  don't work, and display some weird
> >symptoms.  When he was alive,  Bill Cheek emailed me that many of the
> >problems were related to bad  soldering on the motherboard.  I got the
> >scanners used, and it  looks like someone has tried some repair or
> >modification of the  radios.
>
> OK...  The PRO-2004s  suffered from a bit more than *just* `poor'
> solder jobs.  They also  have poor through plated holes on the assorted
> circuit boards.  (I've  got a pair of them myself and have `fought with'
> them quite a bit over the  years.  I also finally just through in the towel
> a couple years ago  and basically let both of them `die' and went and dug
> out a pair of 2006s  I had stashed away.  I figured that until I could
> actually get a  *real* `repair bench' back up and running, having children
> and needing  that `spare bedroom' that was originally one's `lab' is *where*
> my `lab'  went, I could `get by' for a while.  {WAN GRIN!})  Anyway...   What
> you will need to be able to do is first get youself both a good  schematic
> *and* board layouts.  Next...  You will have to  *CAREFULLY* go through
> *each* board, starting with the power supply  section then proceding to the
> audio section, and then the digital section,  and finally the RF section,
> *CAREFULLY* wiggling all the wires followed by  all the `wired' components
> noting the results.  Put a marker on those  points where you find a
> problem.  After you've got a board full of  markers the next thing will be
> to carefully touch-up the solder joints on  those points taking care to keep
> from overheating whatever it is you are  resoldering.  This phase will
> probably entail several passes through  before one can be halfway assured
> they have gotten all those bad  spots.  Be especially careful about getting
> *both* sides of each  connection!  (Remember I mentioned problems with
> through plated  holes!)
>
> OK...  Now that you've  pretty much taken care of *most* of the
> `problems' it is time to go after  the next set, `sour traces'.  For these
> this is where having access  to *both* a schematic and board layouts come in
> handy.  The main  places *I* found `sour traces' were between
> interconnection `cables' and  components.  IE: A ribbon cable is attached to
> the board in one place  but it doesn't go directly to the components it
> shows on the schematic and  instead goes to a set of `pads' that then have
> traces that *do* go to the  components.  (One of my 2004s actually has about
> 1 & 1/2 dozen  jumper wires with `micro-clips' running from either cable to
> component or  bypassing the cable and going directly from component on one
> board to  component on another board!  Amazingly enough I actually managed
> to  get quite a few years of use out of it this way and the only reason it
> was  `retired' along with it's `mate' was that I was going to use it as an
> example to fix the `mate'. [Just as soon as I could get a `bench' back up.
> {WAN GRIN!}])  Anyway...  I figure that *if* one *takes their  time* and
> *carefully* goes through with just the resoldering and  installing jumpers
> as needed one can get a 2004 pretty much back up and  running in a few
> weeks.  (I say `few weeks' because, as I keep  emphasizing, *careful* is the
> `trick'!  You *have* to check out  *everything* and not just stop when it
> first flickers back to life because  you've gotten the ones that have
> already `gone' and not the ones getting  ready to go.)
>
> After that you can then  address the display backlight problem.  In
> both of mine I didn't  replace the backlights with new EL panels even though
> I could have done so  at the time.  Bill and I had discussed the basic
> problems of the EL  panels and it was decided that I would try to see if
> there might be a way  to use LEDs instead.  I managed to locate some `milk
> white' plastic  that was thin enough to fit where the EL panel was mounted,
> trimmed a  couple pieces to fit with some extra sticking out to provide a
> place to  mount some LEDs, then I carefully *inset* the LEDs into the
> plastic so  that the majority of the light from the LEDs would be difused
> through the  plastic.  (One *has* to be *very* careful about getting the
> original  panel out from behind the readout *and* also careful that the
> plastic is  thin enough to fit back behind because those readouts are
> irreplaceable  and one doesn't want to crack them or in any other way damage
> it!)   My first attempt didn't quite fully illuminate the whole display and
> I had  to eventually carefully glue some thin foil to the backside to
> reflect  back the light that was escaping out the backside.  {GRIN!}  (I
> also tried several different colours of LEDs eventually settling on yellow
> ones because they were the brightest I could find at the time that were
> also small enough.  Today I suppose that one could pretty much choose  most
> any colour since they have made some pretty serious advances in LED
> `tech-no-golly' and one can get some very small and bright ones in just
> about every colour.)  The other `route' that one can also take now is
> replacing the EL panel with another one since EL panel `tech-no-golly'
> these days has also made some decent advances and one can get  `experimenter
> kits' that one can pretty much cut out whatever size one may  need.  Either
> way, just like going through the boards and cables, the  operative `word' is
> *still* *carefully*.  As much as you'd like to  get that `old friend' back
> up and running as quickly as possible it isn't  something to rush.
>
> Having said all  that I've said I think that if one just takes
> one's time and doesn't rush  most anyone can repair and get running their
> 2004 *unless* one actually is  one of those very few that are absolute
> `ditzes' when it comes to basic  electronics and soldering.  (If one *is*
> worried about their  soldering abilities there actually are still some DIY
> kits out there that  one can build first to get some soldering experience
> `under their belts'  before attacking something like a 2004!  They, like the
> 2004, call  for something around a 25 or so watt soldering iron with a
> fairly `small'  / `fine' tip along with being patient and not
> rushing.)  Personally I  would suggest that one acquire a `soldering
> station' that has the ability  to use assorted different sized tips and use
> the smallest tip possible to  do the job.  In my case I am used to using an
> UNGAR adjustable temp  soldering station but since it's not something that
> one can just go out  and buy any old place I'd recommend that one try and
> find something along  the lines of a WELLER WLC100 soldering station or
> WES51 `Electronic'  soldering station and adjusting either one such that the
> tip you've  selected will easily melt the solder without spattering and
> burning.   (These `stations' can effectively give one an iron that can be as
> `light'  as 10 watts and as `heavy' as approximately 50 watts depending upon
> both  the adjustment and `job' without having to have a whole `collection'
> of  irons!  All one has to do is just pick a tip and and then adjust for
> proper solder melting.)  As for solder...  Again, *personally*,  I use ERSIN
> `Multicore' solder but, any *quality* .040" dia. *rosin* core  solder should
> work.  (It shouldn't take all that much, just a  `smiddgen', solder to fix
> most of the joint problems and *maybe* a tiny  bit more for some of the
> `heavier' joints.)
>
> >2.  I have  some Pro-2006s that have the dim display problem, and need to
> >have the  EL panel replaced.  That is a lot of expense and work to do.  I
> >don't have the time to attempt this repair myself.  I was  wondering if
> >there is a way to use a couple of LEDs to light the  display.
>
> The 2006s shouldn't be any  harder to fix than the 2004s and
> actually could be the first ones you  *might* want to `attack'.  All you
> have to do is remember that  operative word *carefully* when you go in to
> `diddle' with that  backlight.  {GRIN!}  I'd sure hate to hear that you've
> cracked  the readout and are now looking for a replacement because you
> resorted to  `brute force' to free the EL panel from behind the
> display!  (By now  *both* the 2004s and the 2006s `glue' has hardened and
> you *will* have to  pick it away, slowly, piece by piece.)
>
> I'm *not* trying to scare you!  I just want to let you know  that
> it *can* be done but, you *do* have to exercise some reasonable  caution and
> *not* try and `hurry' things along.  Like Bill used to  say...  "Most anyone
> can do this stuff as long as they realize this  *isn't* an old `hotrod' one
> is `cobbling together' out under the old shade  tree in the backyard using
> the `cowboy', if it doesn't go get a bigger  hammer, method."  {VBSE
> GRIN!}  I really wish that I had a bench  back up so that I could try and
> help you by working on mine and talking  you through the steps as we got to
> them!
>
> ---
> Doleo ergo sum,
> Bob  Whiston
>
> _______________________________________________
> Pro2006 mailing list
> Pro2006 at mailman.qth.net
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/pro2006

--
Thought for the day....

"Never hold your farts in, they travel up your spine, into your brain
and that's where you get crappy ideas from".