Abbree AR-F8 "Just went blank..."

[JDKelley]

I just got this radio in today (I wanted a "simple HT with a simple GPS," once I saw there were combination units. In retrospect, perhaps I should have looked for something a bit more "oops proof...") and I'm the one that gets all the weird problems - obviously the manual's no bloody help! (At least, not the one that came with it.)

Anyhow, it's a brand-new AR-F8, never got wet, never got dropped, registered 2/3-charge on the battery when I first turned it on. So, I'm disinclined to thnk it's battery-related. But, while I was trying to access the GPS screen and check that out, I was pressing buttons (one at a time, mind - I wasn't trying to work on menu combos yet - and the screen "just went blank." It still has the backlight all right, there's just nothing for it to light up. I have tried to reset it:
- Turn it off for five minutes, then on ("soft reset.")
- Remove the battery for fifteen minutes, replace battery, then turn on {"Raytheon Reset")
- Remove battery when turned on, leave turned on for fifteen minutes, turn off, reinstall battery, turn on ("Shock reset." I "discovered" this accidentally, and it has worked where other techniques have failed, and saved me cracking a few cases on battery-powered electronics. I've not damaged anything doing it.)
All three strikes.

I can't find a more useful manual from Abbree - so I don't know if such exists (if it does, please! I'll give you my email...) and if there's a "factory reset" procedure (not a "reset to defaults," but a "hard reset" that forces everything back to what it was in the box....) do please tell me of it!

Help! I'd just as sooner not have to go through returning it, since I bought it off of eBay (meaning I'd probably end up chalking it up to a "cheap lesson harshly learned," although its condition visually matched the "NIB" condition given in the description.)

JDK

 

[Henrytm]

With the radio turned on, can you still open the squelch or turn on the Fm radio?

The GPS menu option may not have anything to do with the screen going blank, It probably a bad joint on the board. Best bet is to just return it to the eBay seller and ask for a refund (if they ever respond to your messages)

 

[paulears]

I've never found a proper factory reset for these but it doesn't sound good, does it? Here ebay have a 14 day return without quibble for new stuff, so assuming your system is the same, if it's faulty, they give you the postage label and you send it back. When they receive it they refund. For business sellers, which this probably is if brand new, it's pre-approved. They of course get the chance to check you've not destroyed it and are trying to use the system, but in most cases, you just get the refund once it arrives back with them. I'm not sure about the trend of GPS fitted radios - most just tell you where you are, but I guess the clever folk can maybe do more stuff with them that that?

 

[JDKelley]

Oddly, it came back yesterday, after being shut down for a couple of days, and it seems to have survived a fifteen-minutes "burn test." I'll next burn it in for a couple of hours, see if heat may have been the problem?

EDIT - and telling me where I are is all I want from this GPS - lat/long/alt/az. Put a bit of the challenge back into orienteering, gives me a way to check my work on the map. If I want a road map, I can always use my cellphone (which I do as rarely as possible, I don't want to become dependent on the thing...)

 

[JDKelley]

Well, it didn't stay back. Went to do another burn test today, and it was out from the start. Wups!

The vendor is cool about it - they've refunded me, and aren't even making me send in the defective unit!

I do still want a radio with a GPS in it, since a plain GPS is a pain to find (everybody wants bloody maps with the thing - what happened to the desire to be challenged?) and I have topo maps for ansywere I'm likely to go.

Still, being willing to refund me on the strength of a pic ad not wanting the old unit back?? BZ!