Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Yaesu FT-897 Memory Problem

 This is a Yaesu FT-897 that began to loose memory settings, then quit booting properly, altogether. These use a EEprom to store radio settings, so there's no memory battery to fail. It was booting with everything turned off, most menu settings at 0, even the screen backlight was off. After a bit of searching, I discovered the processor could not access the EEprom memory chip due to open circuits on the PCB. I reflowed the processor and memory chip, with some results. Then, I used a low temp soldering iron with the tip turned down to a needle point, and resoldered a few stubborn pins. Here's a few pics and vid:

Video of problem area around processor and memory chip: https://youtu.be/EMsgt9_ojPg?si=0Wr08l2lrCplcYUw

Video after completion: https://youtu.be/-IsJuM0JImc?si=a1V2xQUU5NuW3_J9