I just went to my first hamfest and I am disappointed. I bought a
Alinco dr590 that the guy said worked great. WHen I got it home,
everything in the display lights up, but only sqigially lines where the
numbers go. Pressing all the buttons does nothing. I can not even hear
static. I can power it off and on however.

What could this be and is it repairable? The radio is about 10 years
old. Can I repair this myself? WHat should I do from here?

wrote in message
oups.com...
I just went to my first hamfest and I am disappointed. I bought a
Alinco dr590 that the guy said worked great. WHen I got it home,
everything in the display lights up, but only sqigially lines where the
numbers go. Pressing all the buttons does nothing. I can not even hear
static. I can power it off and on however.

What could this be and is it repairable? The radio is about 10 years
old. Can I repair this myself? WHat should I do from here?


As with anything like this, it's all sold as-is regardless of what people
say and you always want to test before purchasing or if the price is right
buy it assuming it to be defective and take a gamble that you can fix it.

As for whether you can repair it yourself, do you have a multimeter,
soldering iron, and some basic electronics knowledge?

stryped posted, in part:

What could this be and is it repairable? The radio is about 10 years old.
Can I repair this myself? WHat should I do from here?


I downloaded the maintenance documents (PDF - 36 pages) and gave them a brief
lookover. Unless you have a good scope and signal generator, There is very
little you can do. If you turn it on and then shake it real hard and you see a
change in the display, then it might be a loose connector inside you could look
for; otherwise I suggest you look for help.

You might post a request for help, giving your general vicinity without being
too specific, and maybe someone will have the right test equipment and a
willingness to help.

Since the seller said it worked and it doesn't, you could contact him to see if
he will make it right.

Good luck,

Don

James Sweet wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
I just went to my first hamfest and I am disappointed. I bought a
Alinco dr590 that the guy said worked great. WHen I got it home,
everything in the display lights up, but only sqigially lines where
the
numbers go. Pressing all the buttons does nothing. I can not even
hear
static. I can power it off and on however.

What could this be and is it repairable? The radio is about 10
years
old. Can I repair this myself? WHat should I do from here?


As with anything like this, it's all sold as-is regardless of what
people
say and you always want to test before purchasing or if the price is
right
buy it assuming it to be defective and take a gamble that you can fix
it.

As for whether you can repair it yourself, do you have a multimeter,
soldering iron, and some basic electronics knowledge?


I do have all those and some very basic understanding.

As a side note it all of a sudden started working when I went back out
side after posting this email.
What could it be then? An intermittant problem?

Get up with Alinco. My friend has had them do repairs on his radios.
Do you have the remote cable hooked up, or is it just the radio.
Come to think of it.... It could also be a dead battery. There is a
reset command I don't remember what it is , you hold down a button (I
think function) then press the power button to reset the radio. I had
that problem with the radio in my truck, when it got cold, the voltage
on the memory battery went below the threshold voltage, and the display
would go nuts. I had to reset it ( I did this every time I turned it on
until I replaced the battery)


Frank