On the bench: Ranger RCI 2900-Oldie

[Hawkeye351]

Yes, we have an oldie on the desk today, and it's in oldie shape.

Ranger RCI 2900
Came in with complaints of noisy receive, crackly transmit audio and a HI/LO power issue:

Upon evaluation:
Receive hashy.
Transmit audio crackly.
Hi power worked, LO power didnt.
Lights and freq display dimmed upon modulating.

Keyed 6w, swung to 9w peak, 4w back swing in average

Passthrough was weak, got hot
AF looked overheated, got hot
8v reg was unstable, stayed cool

Replaced so far:
All regs (passthrough, af, 8v)
All missing limiters
All missing components
A few dried caps in the passthrough section

Results now:
Hi power keys 5w, swings 14w peak, barely swings forward a hair.
Lo power keys 2.5w, swings 14w peak, swings forward to 4w on average.
SSB - 15w

Transmit audio still crackly, receive audio still hashy.

Lights still dim.

This radio sat in a shop for years. Then the owner attempted to use it again, only to end up sending it to me. It was sent to another shop (truck stop cb shop), but was told it needed recapped which would cost about 300 bucks and it wasn't worth it. I would never charge someone 300 bucks to recap a radio. And I'm in the business of giving life back to these old rigs, not pushing someone off on another used radio that'll possibly be hacked up and crap.

My guess is all the electrolytic caps are dried up, there's a lot of that dried up brown stuff at the bottom of almost all the caps.

Will replace all caps then update on the progress tomorrow.

I want to save this one.

 

[nomadradio]

That's a "rare" one, sure enough. A customer who collects old radios will sometimes get excited when he finds a "rare" unit for sale. I will remind him why that model is rare. Usually because it sucked and people figured it out. Didn't sell many, so now it's "rare" 40-plus years later.

This is the radio that legend says Bill Good was hired to improve. His recommendations became the design for the RCI 2950. No, I wasn't there, so it's just a legend to me.

An old friend had one of these. He was a talented TV/VCR tech. Never did get it to behave the way he wanted it to. No idea where it went when he died. Was never interested, anyway.

Best of luck with it. Recapping may make a world of difference. That radio is at the awkward age when failing caps can become a downhill snowball.

73

 

[Hawkeye351]

Got all caps yanked out, most were shorted, open or dried up.

Passthrough heat insulator was broken in 3 pieces.

Wrong diode in the DC input section.

8v regulator was crooked, 2 legs were almost touching.

Mic amp (op amp) is a different brand than I'm used to. This has a BD4558. I'm used to the NJM4558D chips.

All caps were mix match brands and colors. Going back in with all nichicon caps.

Will post update.

 

[Holydvr]

How did it go?

 

[Hawkeye351]

Put it back on the shelf. Owner said he's in no hurry, so I jumped on a few others that have been waiting. I now got time to do some upgrades on mine.