parnass@ihu1h.UUCP (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) (07/07/85)
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MEMORY BACKUP TROUBLE IN YAESU FRG8800 RECEIVER
A few months ago, I posted an article revealing that criti-
cal information is stored in the ICOM R71A's RAM, requiring
factory reprogramming after the lithium backup battery runs
down.1
Readers may be interested in the memory backup anomalies of
other receivers. From Geoff Halligey's "Below 30 MHz"
column in the July 1985 issue of the RCMA Newsletter:
"A friend in the U.K. exchanged his R2000 [Kenwood SWL
receiver] for the new [Yaesu] FRG8800. He was
delighted at first, but after 3 or 4 weeks the readout
went blank and no signals. He found the backup bat-
teries fully discharged. Hastily returning the
receiver to the dealer, a new replacement was sent out
- three weeks later the same thing again."
"The dealers have now told him that they have had a
number of similar complaints and they point out that
the manual states that continual switching on and off
the receiver will considerably shorten the life of the
backup batteries."
"But three weeks in normal use is ridiculous."
It's not clear just what is stored in the FRG8800 RAM: user
memory channels, critical operating parameters used by the
microprocessor controller (as in the ICOM R71A), or both.
Does the FRG8800 use rechargeable NiCd batteries for backup?
Are they charged only when the receiver is "on"?
__________
1. Parnass, Bob, "ICOM Backup Batteries", QST, June 1985,
p. 41.
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Bob Parnass, Bell Telephone Laboratories - ihnp4!ihu1h!parnass - (312)979-5414