"Carl R. Stevenson" wrote in message ...
"Dustin" wrote in message
...
Hello, I have a Yaesu ft2500m radio. The bulbs for the display have burned
out. I have read that other people with the same radio have had the same
problem and was wondering if anyone has replaced the bulbs with anything
different then the factory bulbs? if so what did they replace them with.
any
part numbers would be great.. also if anyone can give me a part number of
a
bulb through radio shack or an electronics store like that would be great.
I
would like to replace them. Thank you very much.

Dustin

Dustin,

I had several of the panel bulbs burn out on my FT-4700RH - the FT2500M
may/may not use the same configuration.

They were small "grain of wheat" bulbs with wire leads that were enclosed in
orange "rubbery" covers (a bit hard to get off, but doable), were inserted
into
holes in the pcb facing the front of the radio, and had the leads trimmed
short
and soldered to pads on the pcb (not soldered through holes, just bent over
and soldered to pads).

I used RadioShack SKU# 272-1092 their "#7219 Micro Lamp" which is
rated at 12V 60 mA ... since the FT-4700RH runs the lamps from a series
pass transistor from a 9VDC, you don't get full brightness from the bulbs,
but it seems adequate in the brightest setting of the radio's control. The
dim mode is dimmer, of course, but that's what you want in a situation where
you're trying not to ruin your night vision.

Again, these bulbs may/may not fit the FT2500M, but you can remove the dead
bulbs and take them to R/S for a comparison.

As I said, removing/replacing the orange rubber "boots" is a bit tedious ...
I used
a small, almost needle-pointed set of tweezers to get under the edge at the
base of
the old bulb and worked it around the circumference to help relieve the
friction as
I gently pulled on the closed end of the boot. Take care not to
puncture/tear the
boots. Putting them back on was sort of condom-like - basically roll them
on.

Good luck.

73,
Carl - wk3c

One option I didn't think of at the time...White LED's. I think if I
ever have to do this again, I'm going to switch to the white leds.
They last nearly forever according to the hype. My 706mk2g uses white
led's. Or pretty sure anyway...MK