JamesO
Member
So I have a number of 996XT's and many other Uniden scanners .I usually have 6+ scanners running at a time.
Everything seemed to be working well until the other day when we had a power failure. Noticed one of my 996XT acting strange. Started playing around and most of the keyboard was not responding, only the Function Knob, Volume and Squelch controls.
Connected up my ARC XT and all functions seemed to work fine.
So I figured after reading all about the ribbon cable problems, I would pop the unit apart and inspect and check the connections. Unit had the ribbon cable and connectors hot glued, but I still removed each side of the ribbon cable and reseated the cable and made sure the locking bar was fully pushed down. Still no love!
Tried to do a Factory Reset, but the keyboard would not play nice so all I was able to get is the scanner starting up in Close Call operation.
Used ARC XT to toggle the Keyock and Keysafe and no love.
Although the scanner firmware was up to date, figured I might try to reload the scanner firmware thinking that maybe the power failure caused something funny to happen, no love.
So I was almost resigned that something failed on the display/keyboard module, but figured I would give one more attempt at removing, wiping the ribbon cable off and reseating it. Popped the hot glue off each side of the connector even though it was already loose from the ribbon cable. Popped the main board side of the ribbon cable and wiped the end with a dry lint free towel a few times, made sure the cable was fully seated with the latch in the full up position, them firmly seated the ribbon cable latch bar. Then did the same with the display board side of the ribbon cable. Again really made sure the cable latch was in the full up position so the ribbon cable could be fully seated. Then firmly pushed the cable latch bar down.
I am very familiar with these type of ribbon cables and their connectors and really did not do much more on the 2nd go around other than wiping the ribbon cable connections, but I hoped the 2nd time is a charm.
I did not see any difference from first attempt when I removed and reseated the ribbon cable. Was not expecting any success, plugged the scanner back in and powered it up.
SUCCESS!!!
I was shocked that this time the keypad was working. I assume maybe there is some mild corrosion in on the ribbon cable or for some reason contact alignment is very critical. This radio has also not been moved in a few years, it is in a multi radio rack, so with the exception of the power failure, nothing has really changed. Really do not play with the keypad often as this radio is set on a specific scan group.
So for anyone that has a keyboard that non responsive, best to fully remove and clean the ribbon cable, make sure the cable locks are fully extended when reinserting the cable and then firmly and evenly seat the cable locking bar.
My symptoms were only the Function Knob, Volume and Squelch controls were working. It is possible that in some cases there may be variations of what functions or responds depending on what is going on with the ribbon cable connections.
Be persistent and try more than one time to get the keyboard to work. I was lucky with the 2nd attempt and wiping the ribbon cable connections.
Hope this helps someone that has a stubborn keypad problem.
Everything seemed to be working well until the other day when we had a power failure. Noticed one of my 996XT acting strange. Started playing around and most of the keyboard was not responding, only the Function Knob, Volume and Squelch controls.
Connected up my ARC XT and all functions seemed to work fine.
So I figured after reading all about the ribbon cable problems, I would pop the unit apart and inspect and check the connections. Unit had the ribbon cable and connectors hot glued, but I still removed each side of the ribbon cable and reseated the cable and made sure the locking bar was fully pushed down. Still no love!
Tried to do a Factory Reset, but the keyboard would not play nice so all I was able to get is the scanner starting up in Close Call operation.
Used ARC XT to toggle the Keyock and Keysafe and no love.
Although the scanner firmware was up to date, figured I might try to reload the scanner firmware thinking that maybe the power failure caused something funny to happen, no love.
So I was almost resigned that something failed on the display/keyboard module, but figured I would give one more attempt at removing, wiping the ribbon cable off and reseating it. Popped the hot glue off each side of the connector even though it was already loose from the ribbon cable. Popped the main board side of the ribbon cable and wiped the end with a dry lint free towel a few times, made sure the cable was fully seated with the latch in the full up position, them firmly seated the ribbon cable latch bar. Then did the same with the display board side of the ribbon cable. Again really made sure the cable latch was in the full up position so the ribbon cable could be fully seated. Then firmly pushed the cable latch bar down.
I am very familiar with these type of ribbon cables and their connectors and really did not do much more on the 2nd go around other than wiping the ribbon cable connections, but I hoped the 2nd time is a charm.
I did not see any difference from first attempt when I removed and reseated the ribbon cable. Was not expecting any success, plugged the scanner back in and powered it up.
SUCCESS!!!
I was shocked that this time the keypad was working. I assume maybe there is some mild corrosion in on the ribbon cable or for some reason contact alignment is very critical. This radio has also not been moved in a few years, it is in a multi radio rack, so with the exception of the power failure, nothing has really changed. Really do not play with the keypad often as this radio is set on a specific scan group.
So for anyone that has a keyboard that non responsive, best to fully remove and clean the ribbon cable, make sure the cable locks are fully extended when reinserting the cable and then firmly and evenly seat the cable locking bar.
My symptoms were only the Function Knob, Volume and Squelch controls were working. It is possible that in some cases there may be variations of what functions or responds depending on what is going on with the ribbon cable connections.
Be persistent and try more than one time to get the keyboard to work. I was lucky with the 2nd attempt and wiping the ribbon cable connections.
Hope this helps someone that has a stubborn keypad problem.
