In article ,
RangerDaleXp wrote:

according to the responses from
radio reference is that the radio would need to go through a complete
re-cap due to the age of the radio as well as a new ram battery
replacement.

Dale-

Re-capping applies to antique radios. Since about the 1960s, capacitors
have been made using dielectrics that hold up much better over time.
That doesn't mean a capacitor isn't bad, but you would NOT want to
replace them all. Such a cure could be worse than the disease!

According to RigPix.com, the Icom IC-R71a was manufactured in the 1984
timeframe. Radios of that vintage may have developed dirty contacts in
their controls and switches, and the RAM battery is quite old. If yours
has the original battery, it is probably time to replace it, but total
repair cost should not be as high as you are thinking. At least not
with a reputable service center.

The problem you describe does not sound serious to me. I think you
would be able to sell the radio on eBay for a fair price, even on a
"parts or repair" basis.

I would look at a new Icom or Kenwood receiver as a replacement, but I'm
not up-to-date on shortwave receivers. Perhaps someone in the
rec.radio.shortwave newsgroup would be better able to recommend a
replacement. However that group seems to be overrun with nonsense and
spam, so I can understand why you might come here instead!

Fred
K4DII

Fred McKenzie wrote:
Re-capping applies to antique radios. Since about the 1960s, capacitors
have been made using dielectrics that hold up much better over time.
That doesn't mean a capacitor isn't bad, but you would NOT want to
replace them all. Such a cure could be worse than the disease!

There is a hidden "gotcha" in the ICOM R-70, R-71 and R-71a, and several
tranceivers of the era.

Instead of a ROM chip holding the operating software, it was placed in battery
backed-up RAM. The idea being that it would be easy to upgrade the radio
at almost no cost.

It turned out to be a bad idea and left many of those radios "brain dead"
when the battery died and the programing was lost.

Someone used to sell a replacement ROM chip board that would go in instead
of the RAM chip board. I have no idea if they still do.

So not only would the radio need a new battery, it would need to have the
RAM reloaded if the battery has already died, or replacement with a ROM
chip.

If the battery is still good, there is a way of replacing it without
losing the contents of the RAM.

In defense of ICOM for something that seems insane by modern standards,
the battery lasted for almost 25 years. It may be planned obsolesence,
but they were awfully patient. :-)

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

On 2/24/2011 12:14 AM, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
Fred McKenzie wrote:
Re-capping applies to antique radios. Since about the 1960s, capacitors
have been made using dielectrics that hold up much better over time.
That doesn't mean a capacitor isn't bad, but you would NOT want to
replace them all. Such a cure could be worse than the disease!

There is a hidden "gotcha" in the ICOM R-70, R-71 and R-71a, and several
tranceivers of the era.

Instead of a ROM chip holding the operating software, it was placed in battery
backed-up RAM. The idea being that it would be easy to upgrade the radio
at almost no cost.

It turned out to be a bad idea and left many of those radios "brain dead"
when the battery died and the programing was lost.

Someone used to sell a replacement ROM chip board that would go in instead
of the RAM chip board. I have no idea if they still do.

So not only would the radio need a new battery, it would need to have the
RAM reloaded if the battery has already died, or replacement with a ROM
chip.

If the battery is still good, there is a way of replacing it without
losing the contents of the RAM.

In defense of ICOM for something that seems insane by modern standards,
the battery lasted for almost 25 years. It may be planned obsolesence,
but they were awfully patient. :-)

Geoff.


Great call there Geoff. I believe there is a group for this receiver on
Yahoo. Or maybe an Icom group, where he could get this fixed/ up to
date. It was an above average radio in it's day, and I hate to see
a receiver die. Lots of Ham and techs who fix radios just for fun.

Drifter...

The ICOM R-70 is not a transceiver nor does it have the factory reset memory
board.

In "Geoffrey S. Mendelson"
wrote:

Someone used to sell a replacement ROM chip board that would go in
instead of the RAM chip board. I have no idea if they still do.

http://www.piexx.com/index.php?main_...products_id=26

--
Bert Hyman W0RSB St. Paul, MN