On Thu, 17 Feb 2011, RangerDaleXp wrote:


I am not sure if this is the best thread for the question but here we
go.

Recently I just revamped my scanner listening area and antenna system
and I also set things up to now include my shortwave listening. I have
an Icom IC-R71a that I bought to replace some none functional radios I
had in the past but really only put around 50hrs on it before putting it
in storage around 1990. I recently pulled it out of storage and found
out it no longer works well. It now has very low audio and barely can
hear any broadcast with it. It tunes to stations but almost no volume.

After lots of research and Q&A, It looks like this like new looking
radio will cost more to fix then it is worth and I can not even find a
service guy to even look at it to find out if it is worth fixing.

Does anyone have any idea who in California and better yet the Los
Angles area around Palmdale that could look at it?

I also am considering a new replacement and since I have been out of
listening or using SW equipment for a while, I was wondering what is
good now days for a replacement radio under $1000 dollars.

Looking for some good input and thanks......

I'm not familiar with the receiver you are talking about but many of the
recent models of radio-ham gear today have on-board computers for
frequency and other control. That includes backup data/clock batteries
which hold more programmable information than most people are aware of.
I learned the hard way that this can get screwed up even if you do
nothing. I've had two pieces of gear that have changed certain behavior
since a prior time of use. Before you consider drastic action, look for a
"reset" button or a "reset hole" (big enough to push in a paper clip bent
to allow one end of the paper clip wire to be pushed into that hole. It
might be in back or under the rig. Even some laptop computers have this.
Check your manual or download a fresh copy if available off a website.
Most of the manuals I have for my gear have --way at the end--a page on
"setting to factory default" which is what you want.

Sometimes the "reset to factory default" involves a very specific "turn
on" instruction (instead of a paper clip insert to push a switch). For
example, it may say to hold down a certain button then push the "power-on
button" to do a reset.

I had a 2 meter FM transceiver that did not do certain things and I ended
up selling it to a friend after explaining the problem, and then he told
me some weeks later about the "reset" trick, and he got everything to work
just fine.

Also, I have a Grundig G5 SWL receiver (all digital) and it has the reset
hole on the front panel. So far I've had to do a reset about three times.
And, interestingly, the problem is like yours; when I turn on the
receiver, the audio volume is very low. After I do the reset, it behaves
normally. Of course, this might blow all of your memory data, too, but I
don't use them.

One rig I have even has levels of reset that you can opt for.

Good luck.

--
RangerDaleXp