As some of you are by now aware, Geoff 2E0BTR and I were involved in a car accident this morning, en route to SW-015 Mynydd Llangorse. We were tail-ended on the A4078 near Three Cocks by a lady who had apparently not seen us. Geoff is unharmed and I merely have an aching back/neck. The driver of the other car was shaken but unharmed. The car however took substantial damage (broken rear windscreen and rear window, lights, panels - the full works!) as well as the contents of Geoff’s rucsac, including his FT-817.
Initial inspection showed that the plastic cover over the LCD has been fractured, however, the LCD its self is intact. Switching on, the unit acted as though it had suffered some kind of reset and VFOb would only tune in 10Hz steps in FM mode. Resetting the CPU seems to have cured this and a thorough fiddle with as many features as I can think of seems to check out OK. Alignment is no worse than my own FT-817.
Does anybody have any pearls of wisdom regarding replacing the plastic screen? Can the screen its self be replaced, or is a new fascia in order? If so, how difficult is it to fit?
Ring Yaesu UK and speak to Sam Ruddy. He’s the man that gets thing done. e.g. After the briefest of conversations at a rally once he organised a replacement part to be sent to me FOC for a 10 year old Yaesu rig.
I can suggest something to avoid (did it myself on a handheld). That is to replace the screen with a piece of perspex held in place with superglue. The glue causes lines to form along the stressed areas of the perspex. Perhaps that is why cyanoacrylate is useful in crime-scene investigation?
I would call Yaesu UK for advice - they are generally helpful.
In the RC model world we use 3M Blenderm tape for hinges and canopy repairs. It is also good to protect LCD screens etc, is waterproof and almost invisible. Model shops sometimes sell it as “magic tape”, I have seen it on Ebay too.
In the RC model world we use 3M Blenderm tape for hinges and canopy repairs. It is also good to protect LCD screens etc, is waterproof and almost invisible. Model shops sometimes sell it as “magic tape”, I have seen it on Ebay too.
It looks like an insurance job one way or the other. If the car is written off (which it inevitably will be), then a sum will be issued to the value of a 2y/o FT-817. If the car is repaired (and its very much BER) then the insurance pays for the radio to be repaired.
Although the unit checks out OK on the bench, I am concerned that there may be some internal fault lurking and waiting to surface on a cold hill, e.g. fractured solder joints and the like.
As always in this sort of situation, time will tell.