Systems Saber 3 no longer powers on

[mbnv992]

True while these are almost 40 year old radios at this point - they still work great for GMRS / local scanning.
Was using it today and all of a sudden I noticed the radio got SUPER HOT and th display went out. I also noticed that a green light on the top where the TX busy light is was flashing. I thought that was odd. Immediately turned off the radio and took the battery off to inspect the terminals. All looked good - put the battery back on and it wouldn’t power on at all. Odd.
Tried another batter that I know for a fact is good and - no dice. Then - it would power on again but the display would be stuck on one channel when moving the channel knob and I would get nothing when the top “monitor” button is pressed.
Other times I’d turn the radio on and the display would be completely blank, I’d hit the “scan” button and it would come to life only to stall out again.
I’d assume this radio finally took a dirt nap ? Hate to see this one go since it’s a 440-470MHZ model that I do use quite a bit still and is in mint shape.

 

[prcguy]

Line a shoe box with soft cloth, lay the radio inside, put the lid on and bury it with dignity. Its had a good long life.

Leave the battery off so you don't get in trouble for improper disposal of E-waste.

 

[prcguy]

BTW I have a 440-470MHz System Saber R around here somewhere, maybe we can get your loved one cloned.

 

[mbnv992]

BTW I have a 440-470MHz System Saber R around here somewhere, maybe we can get your loved one cloned.

Check your messages when you get a chance !

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

True while these are almost 40 year old radios at this point - they still work great for GMRS / local scanning.
Was using it today and all of a sudden I noticed the radio got SUPER HOT and th display went out. I also noticed that a green light on the top where the TX busy light is was flashing. I thought that was odd. Immediately turned off the radio and took the battery off to inspect the terminals. All looked good - put the battery back on and it wouldn’t power on at all. Odd.
Tried another batter that I know for a fact is good and - no dice. Then - it would power on again but the display would be stuck on one channel when moving the channel knob and I would get nothing when the top “monitor” button is pressed.
Other times I’d turn the radio on and the display would be completely blank, I’d hit the “scan” button and it would come to life only to stall out again.
I’d assume this radio finally took a dirt nap ? Hate to see this one go since it’s a 440-470MHZ model that I do use quite a bit still and is in mint shape.

Save the RF modules inside when you bury it. Chances are good you can convert a 403-420 MHz Systems Saber 3 to 440-470. If it was getting hot on the side where the PA module resides, that PA module could be toasted.

 

[mbnv992]

Now it’s saying “Error 08” when I power it up and it won’t do anything. So yep I think this radio is toast haha
I’ll save the RF module out of it if that isn’t shot as well that is.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Now it’s saying “Error 08” when I power it up and it won’t do anything. So yep I think this radio is toast haha
I’ll save the RF module out of it if that isn’t shot as well that is.

I wonder what the failure is. The mother board CPU is a BGA which on one of my radios may have started to fail as I was getting low a false battery alert. a circuit that is pretty simple. The problem went away as soon as it appeared. The other concern are the EPROM's in the front shield. I think they may be UV erasable. And getting old.

 

[ElroyJetson]

Does this model have any tantalum capacitors in it? The failure mode of tantalum caps is usually that they become hard shorts. If it has tants, shotgun replace ALL of them. This will require surface mount rework skills.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Does this model have any tantalum capacitors in it? The failure mode of tantalum caps is usually that they become hard shorts. If it has tants, shotgun replace ALL of them. This will require surface mount rework skills.

There are a few tantalums surface mounted for DC bypassing and such. Motorola used high reliability parts in these, unlike the Spectra.

 

[Falcon9h]

I have a UHF systems saber in great condition and recased. Willing to sell, I no longer have programming capability. No battery though, all of mine went duff. Let me know if you might be interested.

 

[kv5e]

I keep a secure Saber 3 with extended NiMH battery hung with the tools. If the head flies off of my claw hammer, I will have a spare hammer.