1. FT-857
  2. Теми

blinking display on power up

wh6eau@gmail.com
 

I've had variants of this problem where on power-up, the panel either does not come up, or flashes on and off.  Today the computer was up before the radio, but that may or may not be a factor. The power button may not even work and I need to disconnect the power supply.  I can always recover full operation by disconnecting  antennas, digital cable, and CAT cable.  Seems like all must be disconnected but there might be some combination that also works.  After disconnection and reconnecting the power supply,  press of the power on button and the radio comes on normally and works normally for hours afterwards.


Any ideas?
 

On 17 Dec 2013 21:46:48 -0800 wh6eau@... wrote:

I've had variants of this problem where on power-up, the panel either does not come up, or flashes on and off.
Today the computer was up before the radio, but that may or may not be a factor. The power button may not even
work and I need to disconnect the power supply. I can always recover full operation by disconnecting antennas,
digital cable, and CAT cable. Seems like all must be disconnected but there might be some combination that also
works. After disconnection and reconnecting the power supply, press of the power on button and the radio comes on
normally and works normally for hours afterwards.
My first thought is an earthing (grounding) problem. You don't say what's at the end of the digital and CAT cables (I can guess the other one! :-)

Assuming there's a PC there, it could be that its ground-reference is floating, not connected through the power supply (if it's a two-wire power connection, this is a
racing certainty!).

I've had situations where you can feel a tingle if you contact the radio and the connecting cable before they're connected, so there will be a mains-frequency
curent - albeit a small one - in the cable, and this may be enough to upset the radio.

Instead of unplugging the digital and CAT cables, unplug whatever they are connected to (PC?) from the mains. This will go to showing if my guess is in the right
area.

I'd say try connecting the radio chassis and anything else involved that has exposed metalwork to a good single-point earth (ground) connection. It may not cure it
but it's worth a try. Incidentally, it seems unlikely that the antenna cable is contributing to the problem, unless it has connections to anything other than the radio.

Good Luck!

73,

-- Howard Winter, G1BYY
Mid-Herts RAYNET IO91tr
Peter Matsunaga
 

Thanks for the response and suggestions.  Since my post there's been a new development.
Yesterday for the first time, the Func key failed - a long press woul fail to transfer control to the system menu selection. Then a press would even power off the system!  Or, the front panel locked up, power button failed to work.  Big indicator of something really wrong and time for more drastic action, ie, a master reset per manual pg 117 and THAT fixed the Func key issue. The first partial reset didn't fix this and didn't try the second.  In retrospect it would be no surprise if the problem of blinking display is not also software related. We'll see.
The master reset blows all memories back to factory default.  Interesting how different the factory setting is from the usual settings, although 90%+ of the settigs are defaults. I used CHiRP (latest daily builds have good FT 857 support) to reload the memory config from a saved CHiRP config file for this radio using  the CAT cable, and the system is restored and back to normal for now.
 
This current hardware setup has been up and working for about six months - so why now?
I haven't ruled out grounding - the computer chassis is grounded to the station ground but maybe the 3 foot run of #12 wire is too long. RFI in the shack is possible too. I don't feel anything "hot" but doesn't mean its not there. 
 
Again thanks for taking the time to respond. Happy Holidays! Pete - WH6EDK (FKA wh6eau)



On Thu, Dec 19, 2013 at 5:09 AM, Howard Winter <hdrw@...> wrote:
 

On 17 Dec 2013 21:46:48 -0800 wh6eau@... wrote:
>
> I've had variants of this problem where on power-up, the panel either does not come up, or flashes on and off.
> Today the computer was up before the radio, but that may or may not be a factor. The power button may not even
> work and I need to disconnect the power supply. I can always recover full operation by disconnecting antennas,
> digital cable, and CAT cable. Seems like all must be disconnected but there might be some combination that also
> works. After disconnection and reconnecting the power supply, press of the power on button and the radio comes on
> normally and works normally for hours afterwards.

My first thought is an earthing (grounding) problem. You don't say what's at the end of the digital and CAT cables (I can guess the other one! :-)

Assuming there's a PC there, it could be that its ground-reference is floating, not connected through the power supply (if it's a two-wire power connection, this is a
racing certainty!).

I've had situations where you can feel a tingle if you contact the radio and the connecting cable before they're connected, so there will be a mains-frequency
curent - albeit a small one - in the cable, and this may be enough to upset the radio.

Instead of unplugging the digital and CAT cables, unplug whatever they are connected to (PC?) from the mains. This will go to showing if my guess is in the right
area.

I'd say try connecting the radio chassis and anything else involved that has exposed metalwork to a good single-point earth (ground) connection. It may not cure it
but it's worth a try. Incidentally, it seems unlikely that the antenna cable is contributing to the problem, unless it has connections to anything other than the radio.

Good Luck!

73,

-- Howard Winter, G1BYY
Mid-Herts RAYNET IO91tr
 

I realize this is an old post , but...
Here is my version of the problem:
1. power on button shows RED
2. display flashes "TOT"
3. pressing power button  clears everything
4. pressing power button resumes normal opertion
5. display  reads  13.6V  += .1 V
 
Suspect - lousy / lossy power connector - not surprising.
 
Main question
what the heck is flashing "TOT" telling ?
 

Maybe your MENU 084 is not at OFF but as a value ?

Le 17/12/2024 à 16:36, Anne Ranch via groups.io a écrit :

Main question
what the heck is flashing "TOT" telling

 

Time-out Timer

Menu 84.

73,
Kent
K9ZTV


On 12/17/2024 9:36 AM, Anne Ranch via groups.io wrote:

I realize this is an old post , but...
Here is my version of the problem:
1. power on button shows RED
2. display flashes "TOT"
3. pressing power button  clears everything
4. pressing power button resumes normal opertion
5. display  reads  13.6V  += .1 V
 
Suspect - lousy / lossy power connector - not surprising.
 
Main question
what the heck is flashing "TOT" telling ?

Virus-free.www.avg.com

1 - 6 з 6