WS1040: 1040 went silent

[Dumbass2]

1040

Ran fine all day then kept stopping on a channel that kept repeating dial tones so I turned it off. Tonight I turned it on and its picking up nothing. Not even NOAA or my CB transmission from the truck 50' away. It statics on no squelch but no audible transmission. I factory reset it. I hate waiting around for things to fix themselves. Still no improvement exactly the same.. help please.

 

[wtp]

complete reboot, take the batteries out !

 

[Dumbass2]

complete reboot, take the batteries out !

Thanks for your reply!!

It was plugged into the wall for the reset. Should it be done with batteries instead?

 

[wtp]

i do not have that radio, it is more of a computer thing.
when doing anything like that, i would use both.
but i figure after a "big update" or change, power down and back up can't hurt.

 

[wtp]

and i hope you have seen this.
i see there is a 0,5 reset that destroys everything...

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1420/2702/files/WS1040_Manual_05A14.pdf?3414410468697135683

control F 0, 5
that is
zero comma space five
looks like it nukes everything.

 

[Dumbass2]

Nuked as you referred it and still cannot pick up NOAA or any transmission whatsoever. I believe something inside on the boards. Suggestions 💡 for trouble shooting? I have worked on circuit boards but not this small.. all of the circuts look fine and no discoloration on resistors or capacitors noted.

I switched antennas
It wasn't dropped
There is no sd card
No signal verification icon appears
Tried it with charger / batteries
Did not update or change settings

 

[tvengr]

Did you recently hit something with the antenna? That particular scanner is notorious for breaking the solder connection between the antenna connector and the circuit board if any stress is put on the BNC connector. I believe the weather frequencies reside in the firmware. They are not affected by programming. Pressing 0 and 5 at the welcome screen does a memory test on the EEPROM. What were the results of the test? Is anything unusual showing on the scanner display? The memory test erases the programming. Did you try reprogramming the scanner? If you are using programming software, please attach your programming file and I will check it for problems. I have ARC500, Win500, and PSREdit500. You will need to right click on the file and Send to Compressed (zipped) folder to be able to attach it. Click on Attach files and Open the zipped folder.

 

[Dumbass2]

Did you recently hit something with the antenna? That particular scanner is notorious for breaking the solder connection between the antenna connector and the circuit board if any stress is put on the BNC connector. I believe the weather frequencies reside in the firmware. They are not affected by programming. Pressing 0 and 5 at the welcome screen does a memory test on the EEPROM. What were the results of the test? Is anything unusual showing on the scanner display? The memory test erases the programming. Did you try reprogramming the scanner? If you are using programming software, please attach your programming file and I will check it for problems. I have ARC500, Win500, and PSREdit500. You will need to right click on the file and Send to Compressed (zipped) folder to be able to attach it. Click on Attach files and Open the zipped folder.

Thank you , It was not smacked, I inspected the solder connection and it appears to be intact. The memory test reads kay :

nothing unusual it just stopped receiving..like the radio rapture occurred, once the NOAA failed to receive I finally figured out how to make an account and seek help.

I'm not computer savvy - I could never figure out the programs or software on here to download it so I hand keyed in every channel.. hundreds of them... it was painful to delete but did it anyways just in hopes of it working again. After the delete I just save one that I know is active and try it for trouble shooting.

 

[tvengr]

Do you see anything such as uP App: NONE on the screen? Is it waiting for update?

 

[Dumbass2]

Do you see anything such as uP App: NONE on the screen? Is it waiting for update?

No it is functioning just as it always did but never stops on a frequency during scan and does not pick up any transmissions. The menu and operations all seem the same. Minus all the data being gone it's still the same scanner menu and controls.

 

[Dumbass2]

Maybe it's a fluke but I saved for a year to buy this scanner and It worked a month.. I don't like buying things that don't last. Guess electronics is just one of those things. Oh maybe whistler is china crap I don't know it was my first scanner to get me into the radio world. I thought I picked good one based on things I read here. Unlucky is absolutely my middle name.

 

[tvengr]

Did you reprogram the scanner? If you did the reset with the EEPROM test, there would be nothing to scan. What do you mean by the data being gone? If the memory is erased, the scanner will not scan. There will be nothing to scan.

 

[Dumbass2]

I hand entered a few known working channels but not all of them. Im not hand entering hundred of channels on a scanner that might be broken. Yes I did the reset as suggested and yes nothing is on it to scan. The weather channels are on the machine already like you mentioned. After the reset I added some channels by hand - None of the few channels I re - entered work and the NOAA also no longer comes through. I completely understand there would be nothing to scan after the delete that's why I added a couple channels. Data was referring to the old channels that I had manually entered when I purchased the unit.

 

[DVINTHEHOUSEMAN]

I'm thinking you might've just got a lemon. I'd try opening it up and reseating all of the boards inside. Also, if you have a GMRS radio or a CB laying around, go into the search mode for the appropriate range and see if it'll pick that up at all.

Other than that, you might be SOL because it sounds like something died.

 

[Dumbass2]

I'm thinking you might've just got a lemon. I'd try opening it up and reseating all of the boards inside. Also, if you have a GMRS radio or a CB laying around, go into the search mode for the appropriate range and see if it'll pick that up at all.

Other than that, you might be SOL because it sounds like something died.

I know I'm SOL, it's my life poem. even before buying a radio.. thanks for the input though.. did you mean re solder on the chips to the board? I can desolder some components but Jesus this is going to be the smallest board I ever worked on.. I also noticed no unusual stress or heat marks on any components when I was in it. I will look very close again for an anomaly.

It does not pick up my CB .. it picks up nothing on any band. Just screams static on zero squelch.

Straw that broke the Camels back.. what a waste of money and time. Thank you community of rich radio people but this doesn't look like a sport I can afford.. It was fun though!!

 

[tvengr]

I could never figure out the programs or software on here to download it so I hand keyed in every channel.. hundreds of them... it was painful to delete but did it anyways just in hopes of it working again. After the delete I just save one that I know is active and try it for trouble shooting.

Maybe it's a fluke but I saved for a year to buy this scanner and It worked a month..

Don't give up quite yet. I use Butel ARC500 Basic software to program my Radio Shack PRO-106, the older brother of your scanner. ARC500 also works for the WS1040. What is your city, county, and state. and which agencies do you want to monitor. It is possible that the radio systems changed since you first programmed the scanner. What do you hear on weather if you turn the squelch fully counterclockwise? It bothers me that you cannot hear weather. That could indicate the antenna connector broken solder connection problem. Check that the global attenuator is not turned on (GA will appear at top of screen). Try pressing in on the BNC connector while set to receive weather. What antennas have you tried? What firmware versions are in the scanner? Hold 3 while turning on scanner to view firmware versions.

 

[Dumbass2]

Don't give up quite yet. I use Butel ARC500 Basic software to program my Radio Shack PRO-106, the older brother of your scanner. ARC500 also works for the WS1040. What is your city, county, and state. and which agencies do you want to monitor. It is possible that the radio systems changed since you first programmed the scanner. What do you hear on weather if you turn the squelch fully counterclockwise? It bothers me that you cannot hear weather. That could indicate the antenna connector broken solder connection problem. Check that the global attenuator is not turned on (GA will appear at top of screen). Try pressing in on the BNC connector while set to receive weather. What antennas have you tried? What firmware versions are in the scanner? Hold 3 while turning on scanner to view firmware versions.

Awesome 👍 thank you for this input I'm joyed to receive such help it's uplifting.

Counterclockwise Squelch only allows static on absolute zero. No weather voice can be heard on any channel.

I wiggled the antennas as suggested. Stock antenna and a cheap extension one from Amazon I bought as a backup.

I had most of central Ohio , railroads AEP police local ham guys I found randomly and would check in on. I guess if I started from scratch I would add Ohio MARCS-IP multi agency channels, Franklin county, Columbus Ohio.

There IS a G in the menu display mode at the top. When Squelch is dropped to near zero static is heard but not transmission static just static constant.
Firmware is below in the photo since I'm not sure what data you're looking for.

 

[tvengr]

You have the latest firmware. Take a close look at the center of the BNC connector on the scanner. Make sure that the center contact is not missing. Also, check that the center pin has not broken off of the antenna. If the connectors look okay, try resoldering the antenna connection to the circuit board. Bad solder connections are not always visible.

 

[Dumbass2]

No BNC damage unit or antenna. Plugging in iron now ..

it seems strange to me that it was not moved from it's location and developed this , this issue. Just turned it off while it was working and unplugged it to use a drill. An hour later I plugged it back in and nothing. I know electronics are finicky so I tried everything with batteries Incase I damaged the 9v charge port. Will update after soldered. Again thank you 👍

 

[Nasby]

I’ve had the exact symptoms on a couple of WS1040’s over the last couple of years.

I tried everything and I’m quite savvy with these units. I inspected the connections at the antenna, board etc. but nothing was unusual.

I had to send the units to Whistler for repair. Both came back repaired and working with the slip reading; “Replaced Antenna Nodule.”