The Murphy Builders Site

Thought another Rebel owner might have the same radio and be able to help.

My ICOM A210 (less than 5 hours on it, but out of warranty) started having issues this week. After it is on for a few minutes and I try to flip frequencies, the display starts to act up. Display either does not switch or displays half numbers, gibberish... then after trying a couple of more buttons, the display goes black. The transmit and receive seems to work fine and the frequency switches, but the display acts up. After power down for a while, then it seems OK for a while. Really frustrating. Anyone else experience this and know how to fix it?

I have an email into ICOM but am sure they will want to charge me $$$ to fix this.

Roland

Does that one have the tiny little toggle switch to flip up / down on two saved channels? Try snapping it back and forth quickly, if so... and see if it clears up. The older ICOM had issues like this and a spray of contact cleaner through the toggle switch arm oval cleaned it up.

I have that radio, and while I have not had those symptoms specifically, I have had other issues with the radio. It has a delicate little ribbon cable connecting the head to the radio, and easy to damage when unplugging and plugging it back in. If it gets kinked or damaged in any way, weird things happen. Mine got damaged, and I now keep a spare (only a couple bucks).

Mine is only a couple of years old... same as the one on the website. Walter, where did you get the ribbon cable. Mine looks fine but you never know. I would also like to have a spare on hand.

I got my ribbons here directly from Icom Canada in Delta. Send them an email. I am sure they can help you out. Maybe a local dealer in your area has them, too.

Walter, one last question. When the face of the radio comes off, is there a connector at the end of the ribbon that plugs into the back of the unit? My ribbon came right out of the unit.. there was no connector, just a flat ribbon. Seemed strange.

Yeah, the ribbon connects at both ends. Pull the radio from the tray, and remove the top plate. You'll see then where the ribbon plugs into the radio unit.

Edit: I may have misunderstood your question. The ribbon itself doesn't have a separate connector. One end just plugs into the face plate, and the other into the radio unit.

Hi Roland
We had similar problems with ours initially also just out of warranty. Turned out to be swarf bouncing around on top of circuit board. Cleaned it out and going great now. Must take care with the ribbon on installation.
Good luck.
Cheers Rob 578E

I don't know if this is part of the issue or not, but I was cautioned to use only shealded wireing, So Far, So good.

Roland
I had similar problems with my ICOM. The problem I think is caused by having to remove and re-assemble the front panel from the main unit too many times. The flat cable that electrically connects the front panel to the main unit is a very pore design. If you aren’t careful while trying to connect or disconnect it to the main unit you will kink the cable and break one or more of the wires.
I called Icom America. Inc. Parts and Technical Support at 800-346-0495 told them what I thought about their design then ordered 5 new cables #8900019430 @ $2.00 each. That fixed my problem. Good lick.
Charlie E. 802R