BC780XLT: BC780XLT Screen Fix?

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letarotor

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I purchased a used BC780XLT at a ham event today. I knew the guy I was buying it from and it looked like it was in great condition. But he did tell me that the screen quit working on it. I only paid $5 for it and I figured it might be something like a screen contrast or mask screen features being used. But it does appear that all of the text / icons on it do not appear anymore. The light for the screen seems to be working fine but no text. See the picture below.

I did a factory reset using the 2, 9, and Manual key press and then turning the radio on. But no joy there either and getting any frequencies or information to show did not happen.

The radio definitely still receives fine and it seems to work fine other than the display is useless. I thought I'd get this radio as another millair radio since my old 780 I've had since way back when has worked great on military aviation frequencies for almost two decades.

I'm wondering if anybody has ever had this problem before and if there is a fix to it? I'm not going to spend $80 or whatever the cost is now to send it into Uniden for repair. I'm not even sure they would be able to repair it? I'm just wondering if there might be anything I can do or if anybody has any information that might be of help in getting the screen functional again? Maybe even a part number that I can keep a lookout for if it is an easy part to replace inside of the radio.

I haven't opened the radio up to look inside of it and I am legally blind so if the repair involved soldering and working with tiny parts, well, I wouldn't be able to do it but maybe one of my ham friends could.

What I'm really hoping for is some information that might get the LCD screen working again, but at the same time, I'm not holding my breath on that one haha.

If anyone has any info they could share or even if this has happened to you and you did find a way to fix things, I sure would appreciate any shared info. Is it difficult to replace the screen on this old radio? Thanks for any help or advice...

Brian
COMMSCAN
 

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kruser

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I purchased a used BC780XLT at a ham event today. I knew the guy I was buying it from and it looked like it was in great condition. But he did tell me that the screen quit working on it. I only paid $5 for it and I figured it might be something like a screen contrast or mask screen features being used. But it does appear that all of the text / icons on it do not appear anymore. The light for the screen seems to be working fine but no text. See the picture below.

Brian
COMMSCAN

There was some type of contrast issue with the 780.
I forget the specifics but someone had posted info on how to wire in a potentiometer that usually brought back enough contrast to see the screen.

Definitely try what @tvengr said first however.
I also don't recall if I'd read about that on a group or in one of the Uniden forums here. I do know several users said it worked though.
 

pro92b

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Looks like kruser participated in the old thread but doesn't remember. It was only ten years ago :)
 

hiegtx

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I purchased a used BC780XLT at a ham event today. I knew the guy I was buying it from and it looked like it was in great condition. But he did tell me that the screen quit working on it. I only paid $5 for it and I figured it might be something like a screen contrast or mask screen features being used. But it does appear that all of the text / icons on it do not appear anymore. The light for the screen seems to be working fine but no text. See the picture below.

I did a factory reset using the 2, 9, and Manual key press and then turning the radio on. But no joy there either and getting any frequencies or information to show did not happen.

The radio definitely still receives fine and it seems to work fine other than the display is useless. I thought I'd get this radio as another millair radio since my old 780 I've had since way back when has worked great on military aviation frequencies for almost two decades.

I'm wondering if anybody has ever had this problem before and if there is a fix to it? I'm not going to spend $80 or whatever the cost is now to send it into Uniden for repair. I'm not even sure they would be able to repair it? I'm just wondering if there might be anything I can do or if anybody has any information that might be of help in getting the screen functional again? Maybe even a part number that I can keep a lookout for if it is an easy part to replace inside of the radio.

I haven't opened the radio up to look inside of it and I am legally blind so if the repair involved soldering and working with tiny parts, well, I wouldn't be able to do it but maybe one of my ham friends could.

What I'm really hoping for is some information that might get the LCD screen working again, but at the same time, I'm not holding my breath on that one haha.

If anyone has any info they could share or even if this has happened to you and you did find a way to fix things, I sure would appreciate any shared info. Is it difficult to replace the screen on this old radio? Thanks for any help or advice...

Brian
COMMSCAN
Brian,

If reseating the cables, as well as any other component that might be in a socket, does not cure the problem, then you'd likely need to send it in for a display repair. However, if you are using ProScan, just create another instance of it on your PC, and use the virtual control & display on screen via the software.
 

kruser

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Looks like kruser participated in the old thread but doesn't remember. It was only ten years ago :)

Ha!

My old brain is not what it used to be!!

I knew I'd done the mod and did use a pot mounted on the rear of my 780.
I remembered that much but I sure didn't remember where I'd read it or how long ago it was that I'd done the mod.

Thanks for finding and linking that old thread as I sure don't remember being as active as I was in the thread when I read it again.
Today, I still use my 780 for aircraft and some railroad monitoring although my Icom R8600 is doing more of the railroad stuff these days.
The mod I'd made on my 780 has never needed to be adjusted again since I'd added the external pot and extra resistance in series with the pot I'd used and set it to my liking. Until today that is.
I had to reach behind my 780 just now to make sure the added pot was still there and it was! I did turn it and could see the display contrast changing so it's also still hooked up.
I also discovered I'd used a 3 turn pot (not a 10 turn, but a 3 turn I had for some other project)
The 3 turn pot was not needed in my case and was probably all I had laying around back then. As stable as my 780's contrast has been, I'm confident any pot of the correct value would have been fine. Had I known I'd never need to adjust it again after all these years, I'd have probably just used a small PCB mounted control and set it and forgot it without needing to drill the new hole in my then precious 780.
Oh well, live and learn. At least that's one project I must have done well as I never needed to go back to it.
Now that I mucked with it today though, my contrast will probably be out or way off the next time I use the 780!

I used my 780 just today to monitor the Blue Angels on the military air band frequencies they talk on in and out of the show box.
That old 780 still works just fine minus the contrast issue I'd had I guess a bit more than 10 years ago!

I'll also still use the old 780 yet today to find PL and DPL squelch tones or codes. It's slow as heck for finding PL as it must search and sit on each PL tone for a short while and see if the tone matches but it finds digital (DPL) tones instantly as long as it's not running through the PL tone search loop which takes forever. Most radio transmissions are long over before it had a chance to check all the possible PL type tones.
I just let it run and log it with ProScan and check it a few hours later to see if it matched any tones.

The old 780 is still one of my favorites for just sitting on some of the old analog stuff still in use around here.
It works well for watching the 5 MURS freqs also. I gave up on FRS with all the kids using those things around here.
 
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