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......

In article ,
RangerDaleXp wrote:

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.

Dale-

I suspect your IC-R71a is well worth the cost of repair. The problem
could be something very simple, like a dirty contact in an external
speaker or headset jack. Try plugging in a speaker or headset into it a
few times, and see if that clears up the problem.

Check out Eham for reviews of various repair centers,
http://www.eham.net/reviews/products/26.

One with a good reputation for Icom is Scott Malcom in Toledo,
Washington. His website is http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/mts.

I don't know of a specific repair center near Los Angeles. There are
Ham Radio Outlet stores in Anaheim, Burbank, San Diego, Sunnyvale and
Oakland. http://www.hamradio.com/ I don't think they do repairs, but
perhaps they would refer you to a reliable repair center if you called
the closest one.

Fred
K4DII

Ham radio outlet who sold me the radio back in the 80s was of no help. I do thank you for getting back to me but 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. By the time all the money was invested in it, it would cost $200 to $300 hundred which is about what the radio is worth. I am still weighing my options but for $600 to $700 i would be able to buy a better radio that still is supported, I have not been able to find a guy that would even look at the R71 and this is discouraging....

I will look at some of your recommendation as well but at this time $100 to maybe $200 is all I can justify for this radio that has in the past been criticized for poor audio to begin with....

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...

On Thu, 17 Feb 2011 01:02:59 +0000, 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......

It's been a few years, but in the past Icom has kept at their web site
tech sheets that describe problems and solutions for much of their
older equipment.

Try:
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/support/kb/Default.aspx

I see a number of references to various audio problems for the R71.

If it's just a low audio thing you have, it's possibly an easy fix
for you or a decent technician.

Bob
k5qwg

Thanks, I have seen all the information on the Icom site and I have also contacted Kiwa as well on this issue. Kiwa thinks it could be bad caps but money is tight at this time do to me being out of work for two years.

The other day I attempted to change the ram battery and made a big mistake due to the fact I did not put my glasses on. I ended up hooking up the negative wire to the wrong solder point next to the one I was supposed to hook up to and damaged the ram board. I really felt like a real bone head and kick myself in the but for not double checking things.

I have a new board coming from one of the aftermarket companies to at least get the radio back to where it was before the bonehead move. If all is good I will then try to work on the original problem....

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