The Defpom Forum, for RadioMods, S&M Software and Music by The Defpom

Sorry to make my 1st post a silly question & hello to all !

I have just received the above radio from a well know UK dealer. Prior to shipment I was told it is was with his tech having the FM audio fixed (which I understand to be changing R1 & C4 on the echo board or bypassing the board completely ?).

When I received the radio I noticed that there was no echo at all, regardless of the dial positions. I raised this with the dealer who advised that his tech did say if the echo board was the latest revision he would have to bypass it. Now I'm not too bothered about echo as the reason I bought this rig was to use mobile on 10 metres, but curiosity has the better of me..I whipped the covers off & the echo board appears to me the old style (non SMD). The tech had obviously replaced R1 & C4 as the soldering was pretty poor (so I re-flowed these) & the board hasn't been bypassed.
Before I get into diagnosing this fault is there a common fault that could result in no echo ? Or has the 'tech' knackered the board ?

BTW. Talkback, Roger bleep & everything else appears to be fine & dandy.

Cheers, Peter.....

I would send it back to the dealer, if you are not happy with it and get them to sort it out if you do know what you are doing.
I have SS158EDX which I obtained from Truck King some five months and it has been just fine.
Four guys I know obtained theirs from Truck King and have been very happy.

You may just have a bad one.

Chevin.

Chevin wrote:I would send it back to the dealer, if you are not happy with it and get them to sort it out if you do know what you are doing.
IChevin.

Chevin,
As I said in the original post Im not really bothered enough about the echo to send it back (even though of course i'm entitled to) & i'm reasonably sure I have enough experience to fix it myself

My post was just to find out any possible causes before diving in & repairing it.

Cheers,
Peter.....

I will be repairing a 158EDX later today, I will see if I can offer some useful advice.

timrim wrote:I will be repairing a 158EDX later today, I will see if I can offer some useful advice.

Tnx Timrim. Any advice/observations greatfully received.

Peter.....

pgCam,

If your Echo Board number is EPT0SSB50I then,

Check for bad solder connections in the J-6 & Q-6 area, also make sure that J6 is plugged in all the way, this is the on/off switch connection. You can also remove the plug and short the terminals together and see if the echo comes on, if it does, then the on/off switch or the cable is bad.

I noticed that R1 and C4 are on the input from the mic jack, it has me curious as to why these values were changed, they allow more or less audio in from the mic to the echo board, depending on what values they are using. I was not aware of an FM audio problem, I will have to look into that further.

I have been at my good old friend Rick’s workshop when I have seen him fix this problem a few times.
Some of the radios have a bad solder joints on the front PCB where the twin pot are solder to and some have a bad connecter plug to the PCB.
In most cases its usually just a cold solder joint.

Its not just the 158 which has this problem some Galaxy have this problem with the mike gain. You can always trust ranger to have a good build quality LOL.

James.

timrim wrote:pgCam,

If your Echo Board number is EPT0SSB50I then,

Check for bad solder connections in the J-6 & Q-6 area, also make sure that J6 is plugged in all the way, this is the on/off switch connection. You can also remove the plug and short the terminals together and see if the echo comes on, if it does, then the on/off switch or the cable is bad.

I noticed that R1 and C4 are on the input from the mic jack, it has me curious as to why these values were changed, they allow more or less audio in from the mic to the echo board, depending on what values they are using. I was not aware of an FM audio problem, I will have to look into that further.

Thanks for the excellent advice, it turns out that my problem was a break in the 2 wires terminating at j6. The wires were overly long & had been doubled back & cable tied, remaking the lead cured the issue

FYI, there is a post on this board re: the FM audio. Link below:
http://www.radiomods.co.nz/forum/viewto ... ss158+echo

Cheers Peter.....

James Unit 198 wrote:I have been at my good old friend Rick’s workshop when I have seen him fix this problem a few times.
Some of the radios have a bad solder joints on the front PCB where the twin pot are solder to and some have a bad connecter plug to the PCB.
In most cases its usually just a cold solder joint.

Its not just the 158 which has this problem some Galaxy have this problem with the mike gain. You can always trust ranger to have a good build quality LOL.

James.

James thanks for the info. I have now cured my problem.But will keep you ideas in the KB for future use.

Peter.....