The latest repair project an Elenos ETG 105 DR from 2003

+5V = OK
+12V = OK
-12V = OK
+ 48V = OK (on 30V Standby)

At turn on the screen flickers and looks like it's gonna start as normal then goes as picture.
If I look closely you can see some slight vertical line movement but that's it. I if I scope some of the connections going to the screen from the mother board around the
two 74HC245s I get varying logic signals at 5V so it seems the mother board is putting out a signal.

Any suggestion
.

Very surprising to see it's only as little as 100w output with two of these beefy (double) transistors in it. Did they mean 1,000w?
(the thickness of the LPF coils is also a clue it has to be way more than just hundred watts)



....I repair laptops for a living and although that is obviously nothing like a laptop I've seen similar issues to yours with broken screens so maybe the unit has been dropped. As for replacing it though I wouldn't even know where to start!

There is corrosion as seen on the photo of the back side of the LCD. See it on the top left near capacitor CP3 the Toshiba IC and the cable header and screw. It seems some PCB tracks are cut, and vias don't look good.

Krakatoa wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2024 7:28 am There is corrosion as seen on the photo of the back side of the LCD. See it on the top left near capacitor CP3 the Toshiba IC and the cable header and screw. It seems some PCB tracks are cut, and vias don't look good.

Yeah I seen that rust as well

My next job was to take apart the LCD assembly for an inspect and a clean anyway,
I will report my findings in my next posting

Disassembled the Display and Keyboard
Suspect the Display Faulty.... it's a AMPIRE 24064B1 Found a good looking 5V P-P logic signal on what I work out to be Pin 11 *Note* and the signal changes when I press the Menu Key .

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001130118447.html

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... 58728.html


Seems to be possible to buy spare one.

EFR wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2024 10:04 pm https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001130118447.html
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... 58728.html
Seems to be possible to buy spare one.

However they are
Original LCD Module for AMPIRE 24064b1 rev.c

As you can see mine is a REV.B

+ It's not worth spending that sort of money on a 20+ year old 100W Transmitter

that I got for Free

Looks like the same LCD that was in the other Elenos you fixed recently. If you still have it could try swapping in the known good one, would prove if fault is on LCD or main board

jvok wrote: ↑Thu Sep 26, 2024 1:02 pm Looks like the same LCD that was in the other Elenos you fixed recently. If you still have it could try swapping in the known good one,
would prove if fault is on LCD or main board.

That is a good Idea which of coarse I have already thought about
However - my other Elenos is ''ON AIR'' every day
Also... I have scoped pins 11 > 18 and I get a solid Data signal on each.
That is why I am assuming it's the Display Module that's Faulty.

There seem to be many 240x64 LCD Displays available on ebay and Aliexpress
However mostly look different and are 22Pin whereas mine is only a 20Pin.


.

Maybe the extra pins are for LED backlight?
Don't know how yours is lit, but for typical hd44780 chip based LCDs the interface was 14 pin on early types without backlight, and then newer versions came along and the header was 16 pin to include the LED.

Cheapest I can find

Krakatoa wrote: ↑Thu Sep 26, 2024 11:43 pm Maybe the extra pins are for LED backlight?

Looks like it yeah .

If pinout is different you could probably make up a cable to adapt it. Bigger issue will be finding one with the right control IC, register set will probably be different between different ICs

jvok wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2024 12:09 pm If pinout is different you could probably make up a cable to adapt it.

That would be no problem.

jvok wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2024 12:09 pm Bigger issue will be finding one with the right control IC, register set will probably be different between different ICs

OK............ how do I do that I wonder

jvok wrote: ↑Thu Sep 26, 2024 1:02 pm Looks like the same LCD that was in the other Elenos you fixed recently. If you still have it could try swapping in the known good one, would prove if fault is on LCD or main board

OK........ Lugged the 22Kg 1000W Elenos down of the TX rack
My ''Radio Brian'' is now running of the NRG with a 300W Enigma Linear

Then..... I borrowed the LCD display from the 1KW and Bingo - got the ETG 105DR working
.

jvok wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2024 12:09 pm Bigger issue will be finding one with the right control IC, register set will probably be different between different ICs

OK.......... according to the AMPIRE 24064 Specs pdf
And according to the 25.99€ one I can get from Aliexpress
The same Controler IC

I'm gonna take the risk and order one I think

.

Such an overly engineered 100w transmitter, never seen anything like it. Those two transistors look like they must be at least 300w or more (EACH). Never seen anything like it. Maybe they use two massive (and expensive) high power transistors turned right down to 50w each for maximum efficiency.

.....Anyway apologies for my lack of help, I just find things like this very facinating especially when it's SO MUCH lower in power than it looks like it should be.

teckniqs wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 7:42 am Such an overly engineered 100w transmitter, never seen anything like it. Those two transistors look like they must be at least 300w or more (EACH). Never seen anything like it. Maybe they use two massive (and expensive) high power transistors turned right down to 50w each for maximum efficiency.

.....Anyway apologies for my lack of help, I just find things like this very facinating especially when it's SO MUCH lower in power than it looks like it should be.

After looking inside for the first time I was also surprised at the size of everything for a 100W transmitter.
So - after replacing a Tactile Switch as the other one was intermittent I gave it a power test.
It in fact maxes out @ 540W on the front display

The BIRD measurement when the front panel said 460W .

There will be a calibration pot to correct the power reading.

Albert H wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 12:25 am There will be a calibration pot to correct the power reading.

Yeah I know where that is

The meter might be correct and the transmitter may not. I'd check it on other meters FIRST as it might be fine.

....Just wondering though, what would you use to ACCURATELY calibrate it??