Realistic PRO-2005/2006 Repair/Teardown (pic heavy)
May 22, 2017 0:45:31 GMT 1
Beemer, viscount, and 3 more like this
Post by radiostationx on May 22, 2017 0:45:31 GMT 1
Realistic Pro-2005/2006 Scanner Repair (Unit : A)
One of the great scanners of the 1990s,Manufactured by GRE communications Japan for Tandy/Radio Shack. The Pro-2005 and Pro-2006 are essentially the same radio with some very minor differences. They were known to be particularly good on airband, nice tone from the top mounted speaker. Much loved by its owners This receiver had a huge following in its day. One of the all time greats.
Unfortunately GRE Japan went out of the market some years ago leaving behind GRE America which sadly is nothing like the older company for qulaity.
So when I seen a Pro-2005 selling quite cheap around a year ago I couldnt resist buying it. When it eventually arrived, It was self evident that the previous owner had not looked after it very well but it as I turned it on (tentatively..more on this later..), it worked...well sort of.
When I received it, it had an intermittent issue with the signal, it would randomly disappear and re -appear,sometimes after a few mins,sometimes after an hour or so. I traced the fault down to several dry joints around some of the trimmers and audio circuit. Took ages to find the issue with magnifying glass and cocktail stick poking around in there, anyway the joints resoldered I soak tested it for several days, satisfied I had cured the issue 100%, I put the unit away "in storage"and promised myself that I would find time to refurb this scanner. That was 12 months or so ago.
Anyway, with a spare weekend on my hands this week I decided to tidy her up a bit. Here goes...
The display was very dim and faded, not the nice light "timex indiglo" blue that it used to have.
That wasnt all,I said "turned it on tentatively"...The cable grommet/clamp was missing from the metal chassis and someone had made a "nice" 240vac junction using a connector block and some tape inside.
The owner evidently did not care for their own safety as there was no protection to prevent the cable chaffing on the hole edge of the metal chassis or to prevent a child pulling the cable free from the scanner and having a live 240vac bare end to play with.
To top it all, a 13amp fuse was placed in the plugtop...hmmmm, interesting !
I dont fancy half a day out with the undertaker, so this has to be put right as well.
First we will attend to the backlight, lets get the front panel off and let the dog see the rabbit.
Remove top and bottom lids of scanner (4 screws total) and unplug the speaker connector from the main pcb, easy.
Now to business,
Undo the 4 bezel screws (marked A) , a pair of screws holding two ground straps (marked B),unplug 3 multi connectors (marked C).
The front of the unit has 2 circut boards sandwiched together,keypad and display pcbs, these have to be seperated to gain access to the display LCD glass side of the pcb.
Remove 6 small panel screws (marked D) use forceps or tweezers to retrieve these little beggars ! Or my trick, a tiny blob of bluetac on the end of a screwdriver works a treat to get them out, or back in.
De-solder the ground connection from the volume control (marked E) from the pool of solder on the metal shield, pry up with pliers while applying heat to free it.
If you have trouble here, some lateral thinking..put more solder on it, this will create better heat transfer and the wire comes off easy.
Referring to the fixings/connector map photo I posted above earlier, Pull up on connector (marked F) and at the same time pull up gently on the EL backlight transformer (part marked E5N75) with care coax the 2 boards (LCD module pcb & keypad unit pcb) apart.
The LCD Module will now come away from the bezel as a single board seen here on the right.
De-solder the EL backlight terminals with a pump or solder mop.
Use a knife blade to gently cut the 25yr old everlasting japanese yellow glue gunk seal located on the bracket under the lcd. Careful with the knife here, dont put pressure on the LCD glass or the black plastic bracket..take your time, you will work the glue free eventually. Then pull out the old EL panel away from its slot in the LCD.
Withdraw the whole panel carefully, dont force it. If it wont move,keep working on the glue seals around the brackets and try again.
Compare the original and new panel (supplied by EL Wirecraft, see link at foot of post), "sharpie markie" and cut to size with sharp scissors.
While we are here, lets have a look at the keyboard by removing the small pcb panel held into the bezel by 4 small screws.
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Careful not to bend that row of male pins in the corner , Underneath the small keyboard pcb is the keypad itself.
Oh dear, essence of Marlboro or is it Players Number 6 ? Distilled to perfection !
One key is coming away from the silicone pad, a quick "precision" repair with clear silicone sealant applied with cocktail stick repair made good again. A few hours later after the sealant dries, Pop it all back in and refit keypad pcb.
Back to the backlight,
Clean up the reverse side of the perspex window with soft tissue paper, it looked clear enough but amazing how much sooty crud gets in there over the years.
Replace old EL panel with new one , slide her into the slot. Hook over the ends of the EL panel supply ribbons into the other side of the holes to stop the panel moving around.
Solder up the new panel.
Apply square of tape to bare prong ends on reverse of board.
Secure the other end of the backlight with some black insulating tape cut to size. Press into slot with cocktail stick , this stops any movement.
Re-assemble front panel assembly and refit to scanner. Refer to mapped component/connector photo earlier.
Now to the mains 220/240vac bit,
I obtained a new mains cable, a branded volex one 2 x 0.75mm for a cd player etc with figure 8 connector (I cut this off to leave a free end), and 3 amp fused bonded plugtop...horray !
I also bought a correct type gripping grommet, hard to find, but works a treat.
With grommet secure in the chassis, I terminated the new parallel twin mains cable to the scanner main AC transformer red cables.
Then inside a lighting type terminal chocbox with integral cable grips for additional security.
It fits just nice inside a recess in the radios metal chassis.
Safe at last ,looks a lot tidier round the back too !
Now the moment of truth...Lets switch on and see how it looks,
Not at all bad !
Night view, The timex indiglo is back, Awesome !
Im very happy with this scanner now, its a world away from the condition I received it in and it has a very pleasing tone. Fab receive on airband which is what I bought it for. I have already put it into service spending a few hours this afternoon scanning around the bands.
Up against my Icom IC-TC7E dualbander ,on airband receive, no contest the pro-2006 wins by a country mile with its excellent sensitivity and beautifully rounded tone.
Hope someone finds this write up useful.
Thanks to David the boss @ EL Wirecraft for sending the EL backlight panel so quickly, great service.
The item used is linked below, for this job I used the light blue (tron blue) variant.
elwirecraft.co.uk/product/replacement-el-backlight-25mm-x-120mm-for-realistic-scanner/
Hope someone out there finds this write up useful.
Mike.
One of the great scanners of the 1990s,Manufactured by GRE communications Japan for Tandy/Radio Shack. The Pro-2005 and Pro-2006 are essentially the same radio with some very minor differences. They were known to be particularly good on airband, nice tone from the top mounted speaker. Much loved by its owners This receiver had a huge following in its day. One of the all time greats.
Unfortunately GRE Japan went out of the market some years ago leaving behind GRE America which sadly is nothing like the older company for qulaity.
So when I seen a Pro-2005 selling quite cheap around a year ago I couldnt resist buying it. When it eventually arrived, It was self evident that the previous owner had not looked after it very well but it as I turned it on (tentatively..more on this later..), it worked...well sort of.
When I received it, it had an intermittent issue with the signal, it would randomly disappear and re -appear,sometimes after a few mins,sometimes after an hour or so. I traced the fault down to several dry joints around some of the trimmers and audio circuit. Took ages to find the issue with magnifying glass and cocktail stick poking around in there, anyway the joints resoldered I soak tested it for several days, satisfied I had cured the issue 100%, I put the unit away "in storage"and promised myself that I would find time to refurb this scanner. That was 12 months or so ago.
Anyway, with a spare weekend on my hands this week I decided to tidy her up a bit. Here goes...
The display was very dim and faded, not the nice light "timex indiglo" blue that it used to have.
That wasnt all,I said "turned it on tentatively"...The cable grommet/clamp was missing from the metal chassis and someone had made a "nice" 240vac junction using a connector block and some tape inside.
The owner evidently did not care for their own safety as there was no protection to prevent the cable chaffing on the hole edge of the metal chassis or to prevent a child pulling the cable free from the scanner and having a live 240vac bare end to play with.
To top it all, a 13amp fuse was placed in the plugtop...hmmmm, interesting !
I dont fancy half a day out with the undertaker, so this has to be put right as well.
First we will attend to the backlight, lets get the front panel off and let the dog see the rabbit.
Remove top and bottom lids of scanner (4 screws total) and unplug the speaker connector from the main pcb, easy.
Now to business,
Undo the 4 bezel screws (marked A) , a pair of screws holding two ground straps (marked B),unplug 3 multi connectors (marked C).
The front of the unit has 2 circut boards sandwiched together,keypad and display pcbs, these have to be seperated to gain access to the display LCD glass side of the pcb.
Remove 6 small panel screws (marked D) use forceps or tweezers to retrieve these little beggars ! Or my trick, a tiny blob of bluetac on the end of a screwdriver works a treat to get them out, or back in.
De-solder the ground connection from the volume control (marked E) from the pool of solder on the metal shield, pry up with pliers while applying heat to free it.
If you have trouble here, some lateral thinking..put more solder on it, this will create better heat transfer and the wire comes off easy.
Referring to the fixings/connector map photo I posted above earlier, Pull up on connector (marked F) and at the same time pull up gently on the EL backlight transformer (part marked E5N75) with care coax the 2 boards (LCD module pcb & keypad unit pcb) apart.
The LCD Module will now come away from the bezel as a single board seen here on the right.
De-solder the EL backlight terminals with a pump or solder mop.
Use a knife blade to gently cut the 25yr old everlasting japanese yellow glue gunk seal located on the bracket under the lcd. Careful with the knife here, dont put pressure on the LCD glass or the black plastic bracket..take your time, you will work the glue free eventually. Then pull out the old EL panel away from its slot in the LCD.
Withdraw the whole panel carefully, dont force it. If it wont move,keep working on the glue seals around the brackets and try again.
Compare the original and new panel (supplied by EL Wirecraft, see link at foot of post), "sharpie markie" and cut to size with sharp scissors.
While we are here, lets have a look at the keyboard by removing the small pcb panel held into the bezel by 4 small screws.
Careful not to bend that row of male pins in the corner , Underneath the small keyboard pcb is the keypad itself.
Oh dear, essence of Marlboro or is it Players Number 6 ? Distilled to perfection !
One key is coming away from the silicone pad, a quick "precision" repair with clear silicone sealant applied with cocktail stick repair made good again. A few hours later after the sealant dries, Pop it all back in and refit keypad pcb.
Back to the backlight,
Clean up the reverse side of the perspex window with soft tissue paper, it looked clear enough but amazing how much sooty crud gets in there over the years.
Replace old EL panel with new one , slide her into the slot. Hook over the ends of the EL panel supply ribbons into the other side of the holes to stop the panel moving around.
Solder up the new panel.
Apply square of tape to bare prong ends on reverse of board.
Secure the other end of the backlight with some black insulating tape cut to size. Press into slot with cocktail stick , this stops any movement.
Re-assemble front panel assembly and refit to scanner. Refer to mapped component/connector photo earlier.
Now to the mains 220/240vac bit,
I obtained a new mains cable, a branded volex one 2 x 0.75mm for a cd player etc with figure 8 connector (I cut this off to leave a free end), and 3 amp fused bonded plugtop...horray !
I also bought a correct type gripping grommet, hard to find, but works a treat.
With grommet secure in the chassis, I terminated the new parallel twin mains cable to the scanner main AC transformer red cables.
Then inside a lighting type terminal chocbox with integral cable grips for additional security.
It fits just nice inside a recess in the radios metal chassis.
Safe at last ,looks a lot tidier round the back too !
Now the moment of truth...Lets switch on and see how it looks,
Not at all bad !
Night view, The timex indiglo is back, Awesome !
Im very happy with this scanner now, its a world away from the condition I received it in and it has a very pleasing tone. Fab receive on airband which is what I bought it for. I have already put it into service spending a few hours this afternoon scanning around the bands.
Up against my Icom IC-TC7E dualbander ,on airband receive, no contest the pro-2006 wins by a country mile with its excellent sensitivity and beautifully rounded tone.
Hope someone finds this write up useful.
Thanks to David the boss @ EL Wirecraft for sending the EL backlight panel so quickly, great service.
The item used is linked below, for this job I used the light blue (tron blue) variant.
elwirecraft.co.uk/product/replacement-el-backlight-25mm-x-120mm-for-realistic-scanner/
Hope someone out there finds this write up useful.
Mike.
