Homepatrol 1 GPS plug

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batrastard

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Is the plug for the gps unit on the homepatrol 1 soldered in or is it just plugged in? I only ask because I had the plug inside of the homepatrol 1 fell out when the cord was accidently pulled out. I put it back in and amazingly the gps still works. I only ask to figure out if I need to send it in to be repaired. Unfortunaltly the warranty is up. Any idea on how much a fix for that is?
 

kennyblues

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I had the same thing happen to mine, wound up sending in under warranty. No big deal, until it happened a second time, now it is not under warranty.
 

batrastard

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I don't know how mine is working since it fell out of the scanner it's self. I don't know if I should send it in to be properly repaired or do I consider myself lucky that it is still working. Has anyone else experienced this problem and how they handled it.
 

dksac2

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I don't have one, wish I did and am not sure how the plug is attched, but anyone who does not have some "JB Weld" epoxy (the two part with one part gray, the other a very drk brown, be sure to get the right stuff, Hardware store etc) is missing out on some great stuff. If it's possible to just put a little JB on it, that plug will still be there long after the radio is dead.

Don't know if that helped any, but if so, you have a fix that will be timeless.

John
 

dkf435

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The GPS plug is a 4 pin USB type plug used on many digital cameras, when my plug broke, I called Uniden up and tried to get a plug. They replied that they did not sell internal componets for their radios??? So screw Uniden parts, found jacks on EBAY the one I found were better quality and are surface mounted with 2 plastic index pins.

Hirose Elec. MQ172X-4PA(66) 4POS SMT Conn

Ebay auction (3) Hirose Elec. MQ172X-4PA(66) 4POS SMT Conn., Recept. | eBay

You will need to be able to solder pretty good and not get too much solder that you short the pins together, they are not putting enough paste on these at manufacture for this many to be popping off. Some adhesive over the jack bonding it to the board helps also.

David Kb7uns

UNIDEN PARTS STILL SUCKS
 

batrastard

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Sorry, I have not had the time to respond to you're answer. That is good to know that uniden doesn't carry a replacement part for the gps plug in. I have not tried to glue the part back in, but plugging it back in has worked wonderfully. I just wonder how common this problem is with the homepatrol.
 

del1964

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My GPS plug pulled out of the Home Patrol also. I disassembled the unit and found out it has 4 tabs that are suppose to be soldered down. All 4 tabs broke from this solder connection. I attempted to resolved them down but it's like micro soldering that's required. Tiny tiny tiny and extremely close together. Very very easy to short between these tabs. Just can't see what you're doing. Need a microscope. I tried using magnifying app on my Iphone 5 but ..... Hard to see. I "thought" maybe I had fixed it but after reassembly, everything worked fine except for the GPS. so apparently either shorted across or an incomplete solder joint on one or more of the 4 tabs
 

ST-Bob

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You probably should have edited your post, not posted a correction. This is not a text-message...

It's a real-estate problem on the board. There's simply not enough room for a full-sized DB-9 connector in the HomePatrol's design. Unfortunately, you're stuck with the design and the microscopic repair needed to fix it once broken off the board.

The connector's contacts are soldered like surface-mounted devices using solder paste and a hot air source, not a soldering iron. The connector shell is further soldered to the board but should really have glue holding it to the printed circuit board in addition to the solder-paste in my opinion.

Best bet is probably to send it back to Uniden for repair or replacement of the main board, unfortunately.
 

ST-Bob

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As you can see from this thread (and over on homepatrol.com) it's a fairly common problem with the design. The socket is hot-air soldered to the top of the board and has a fairly weak physical connection to it as a result.

The 4 pins are on 0.5mm spacing which requires a really fine-tipped soldering iron, a steady hand and a strong magnifier to work on it with any success. Unless you have the skills and tools for the job I'd suggest sending in to Uniden for repair rather than screwing it up further yourself.

Bob - KB1VUA
 

del1964

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Really the only reason I sold my Home Patrol. Major design flaw for it to break connection so easily. And that's THE major reason IMO to have the Home patrol.....GPS location and automatic downloading of frequencies you're driving into
 
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