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rci 2980wx help

You obviously have a lot on your plate...

Hoo, boy... Ok where do you start?

Right where I left off.

Did you Test PA?

Were you able to control its volume?

Does Mic Gain control work?

Display works but does the "S-meter" ?

Tried listening for another radio close by to see if it can be heard, how cleanly?
Weather band works and you can control its volume,and yes if it's a very strong signal it will pick it up and sound ok,just like it's way off in the distance,the s meter works if I key up another radio next to it,the meters works properly on key up.
 
Try to use the MIC gain control - PA to be fully on - might be a symptom of another problem that is hiding underneath of a screaming audio system.

Is your main PCB board? Got a number on it? By the Audio chip - EPT number - or to help is the parts Discrete or SMD?

It helps to establish a type of board so the years it was made, and difficulty of the repair can be determined.
 
Ok, the reason why this is coming up is there are several variants of the board used. The 10D, 10Z and even the 11 series - each one modifying the parts not necessarily the layouts - just the parts used.

The conversion from Thru Hole to SMD robotics was extensive thru the years and took on quite an investment - plus conversion principle - to even keep "Galaxy" a viable means when "Ranger" took over. Both have the same roots, just the consolidation after separation thru the years makes this a mess more for the repair than the production side.

So, the reason this all comes up - is due to age.

Discrete were phasing out - SMD was converting in, so the technology and "freshness" of the parts changed and discrete lost the war on age-related failures - due to End Of Life Amortization.

To me, this failure might me a simple fix, but requires several "tests" to find out the issue.

Right now, the next step would be to look and utilize the S-meter function and see if signals received how they get processed then view - their impact on the S-meter.

Then if the S-meter seems to have some control over the signal's strength - the job then focuses on the detectors, conversions and audio pre-amp stage to the volume control.

We're working backwards, yes, but each step takes us closer to resolving the receive problems - we have to make sure the parts in the audio chain are working.

If there is any known history, was the radio ever "Hi-Fi'd" - any audio "expansion" mods done? These show up as the injection point problems and the reasons for the failure later in its life. They are easy to fix but cause some pretty complex problems and the range of symptoms can make you chase down the wrong section when it's really somewhere else further back in the chain.

You got this far - keep going.
 
AWESOME!

This means you don't have to find a hot air station to fix SMD - good job on finding a radio like this to fix - it's far easier as you'll find out...
 

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  • dxBot:
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  • @ BJ radionut:
    EVAN/Crawdad :love: ...runna pile-up on 6m SSB(y) W4AXW in the air
    +1
  • @ Crawdad:
    One of the few times my tiny station gets heard on 6m!:D
  • @ Galanary:
    anyone out here familiar with the Icom IC-7300 mods