Midland 77-888

[Littlecloud319]

I just dug out an old Midland 77-888 of mine and ots currently not working beyond powering on. Im looking for a service manual and opinions on wether its really worth fixing. Also if there's any mods that can be done with it. I haven't gotten around to opening it up yet but plan on it tomorrow.

 

[FPR1981]

It isn't worth putting a lot of money in, IMHO. But I've encountered more than a few radios in the last four months that didn't work, and it was because internal components were dirty from sitting for years.

More than one Midland base would not transmit or receive due to a dirty tuner/channel switch. The Midland 13-858 and 76-858 are very bad about this. The tuners become so dirty that they lose contact. Spraying them with contact cleaner and working the channel knob back and forth brought them back to life.

I had a Cobra 142 GTL that presented with no RX or TX, only for me to find that the AM/USB/LSB switch was not making contact due to dirt. Contact cleaner brought this radio back to life.

Try easy things like this. Throw it on a meter and key the mic. Does it show RF output? How about modulation?

Be sure that the mic is good, and that it doesnt have a short somewhere. The fix for radio may be easier than you think.

 

[Littlecloud319]

Mine gives a horrible wine noise when on. Ill be opening it up today for a first look. Tbh i dont think it even powered on when i boxed it.

 

[FPR1981]

Factory mic?

 

[press1280]

I just dug out an old Midland 77-888 of mine and ots currently not working beyond powering on. Im looking for a service manual and opinions on wether its really worth fixing. Also if there's any mods that can be done with it. I haven't gotten around to opening it up yet but plan on it tomorrow.

So you just turn it on and it makes a loud noise? Like a loud buzzing? Wild guess power issue, maybe speaker. Does it transmit?

 

[Littlecloud319]

Yes its the original mic. It just makes a whining noise. The mic is fine cause it keys up.

 

[press1280]

I’m thinking it’s a power issue inside the radio.

 

[Littlecloud319]

I’m thinking it’s a power issue inside the radio.

Im thinking either a cap issue or the crystal. Im trying to contact a local cb'er who has more experience to see if he could look at it

 

[FPR1981]

Just tinkered with an old Midland last night that did the exact same thing. The whine appears to be isolated to a bad volume pot. We worked the on/off switch and the volume back and forth and hit it with contact cleaner. We got it to go away, but it returned, only to clear up when you cranked the volume knob.

 

[Littlecloud319]

Just tinkered with an old Midland last night that did the exact same thing. The whine appears to be isolated to a bad volume pot. We worked the on/off switch and the volume back and forth and hit it with contact cleaner. We got it to go away, but it returned, only to clear up when you cranked the volume knob.

Hmm, interesting. Ill have to check.