RCI 2990 issues.

[romakdaddy]

just purchased a friends RCI 2990 base and i need some pointers to straighten a few issues.
first: the display resets when you cycle the power on the radio.does it have a battery that can be replaced?
second: the lights dont work on the meters,display or buttons so a tutorial on upgrading to LEDS would be nice.
third: the S meter dosnt move on ssb but it moves on AM,any advise?
fourth: the channel selector is obviously bad cause it goes everywhere instead of up on clockwise rotation and down on counter rotation.could it just need cleaning or replacement?

it talks great and the main stuff works fine like the extra oompf in the back.

i did search but came up with nothing but my search-fu is weak.

 

[KE3W]

Until someone pipes in - I searched the net and found...RCI-2990 Base Station Transceiver Owner's Manual and RCI-2990 ALIGNMENT PROCEDURES and more...

1. BATTERY: The original "Galaxy Saturn Turbo" radio made before 1995 had a 3-Volt Lithium coin cell soldered to the CPU board. This allowed it to remember the last frequency you were on before the radio was turned off, as well as the ten memory channels.

After 1995, various brand/model radios based on the "2950"-style chassis were sold with a single combined CPU/display board. That one has no battery, and uses an electrolytic capacitor for the memory power. The original claim was that it would hold memory for a week. Your mileage may vary.

I don't remember the "RCI-2990" version of this radio being made before 1995. Odds are that your radio has the newer style CPU and display on one pc board, and without the battery.

2. LIGHTS: Take a look at Display lights (the bulbs) will not light up!

 

[romakdaddy]

so i found R&R communications site and found some parts. ordered a new channel switch,button board(channel buttons worn out) and a new keypad.the light problem is solved,theres 2 resistors on the CPU board a 82 ohm and a 102 ohm that were toasted.i ordered some from jameco and currently await delivery of my goodies.in the mean time its back to the 2510 uniden for me.

oh and i can find no battery,ill call R&R and ask the tech that was nice enough to tell me about the resistors about it.

 

[ExitThirteen]

Pull the cover off the back of the CPU board (should be a metal case with 4 screws you have to remove) and look for a lithium battery about the size of a quarter. If you see one in there, you have the older version with the battery backup. What I have done with my Galaxy Saturn Turbo is remove the battery and got a battery holder that uses (2) AAA batteries and soldered the leads from the holder to where the lithium battery was mounted. I then mounted the battery holder nearby with a ziptie. Put in a couple AAA batteries of your choice in the holder, and you're good to go!

You can use LED's on the radio, but they don't look right in the display, at least from the ones I have installed in the past. I find the "frosted" LED's work better at diffusing the light and spreading it out more than the clear ones. Perhaps someone else can shed some light on this. (no pun intended.)

As far as the meter not reading on SSB, there are seperate adjustments on the board for AM and SSB on Rx. I believe VR1 is AM S-meter adjust, VR2 is SSB S-meter adjust, so check VR2 and make sure it's properly adjusted and is not dirty.

The channel selector... try cleaning it good first, if that does not work, you'll need to replace it. It's a pretty easy swap if you have to replace it, so it shouldn't be too bad. Let us know how you get on. Good luck!

 

[Kornbread]

I've got LED's in the meter on my 2985. They are the clear ones, but to solve the light diffusing issue I covered the inside of the "bucket" the lights mount in with chrome vinyl. It gives the meters a very bright crisp light with no dim spots. The dimmer still works right too.

 

[mackmobile43]

Pull the cover off the back of the CPU board (should be a metal case with 4 screws you have to remove) and look for a lithium battery about the size of a quarter. If you see one in there, you have the older version with the battery backup. What I have done with my Galaxy Saturn Turbo is remove the battery and got a battery holder that uses (2) AAA batteries and soldered the leads from the holder to where the lithium battery was mounted. I then mounted the battery holder nearby with a ziptie. Put in a couple AAA batteries of your choice in the holder, and you're good to go!

You can use LED's on the radio, but they don't look right in the display, at least from the ones I have installed in the past. I find the "frosted" LED's work better at diffusing the light and spreading it out more than the clear ones. Perhaps someone else can shed some light on this. (no pun intended.)

As far as the meter not reading on SSB, there are seperate adjustments on the board for AM and SSB on Rx. I believe VR1 is AM S-meter adjust, VR2 is SSB S-meter adjust, so check VR2 and make sure it's properly adjusted and is not dirty.

The channel selector... try cleaning it good first, if that does not work, you'll need to replace it. It's a pretty easy swap if you have to replace it, so it shouldn't be too bad. Let us know how you get on. Good luck!

A guy should make sure that battery holder is configured in series to have the original 3 volts and not parallel which would only give the user 1.5 volts

 

[romakdaddy]

no battery or holder on this puppy.it has the DPT295040Z PC board.someone mentioned a capacitor that holds memory for like a week but nothing specific.