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Lectrosonics UCR211 problem!


Lin Chang

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Hello hive mind, seems like I´m going through a rough patch with my gear lately :/ (i recently had problems with my 633 too ... ) One of my UCR211 has non responsive up/down buttons, I can´t select a new frequency and/or change any setup settings. Strangely enough it will go into freq scan mode but instead of all three i can get into it only pressing one of the up/down and the menu button.. Any ideas how to fix this? Thanks!

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Ok, Im here with the weirdest update .... I removed the metallic sleeve of the 211 to try just some compressed air to see if it was just some dust issue ... Did it, then threw some 9v in it (still without sleeve) to check and buttons worked!! Thinking I solved it with some air I got the sleeve back on and tried it again with the 9v... un/down buttons not working again, tried with dc power, not working ... I then removed the sleeve once again and without doing anything at all they worked again : Sleeve on - problem /// Sleeve off - no problem. So my deduction (even though it could make no sense at all) was "static is the problem" - I got the sleeve back on ( it didn´t work once again) left it in contact with the sink handle for a while and 10 minutes later ... voilá ... it works ... at least for the time being... Even though I have a slight idea of electronics this is still close to magic to me. Does anyone have a proper explanation for what happened, and maybe a more solid solution? I think this kind of proves that the buttons themselves are fine, doesn´t it? I´m happy but puzzled ...

 

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1 hour ago, John Blankenship said:

From your original description it sounded like sticking buttons to me. Having the sleeve on may be torqueing the case just enough that the buttons are pressing against the sides of their openings.  

 

The unit may have taken a physical hit or some other diagonal pressure that skewed the case a bit.

Hi Lin,

John's explanation sounds as good as any and better than my guess of too much toadsbreath in the incense. I'm going to email your text to Dean at Lectrosonics to see if he has run into this in his many years of weird things happening whilst he repaired Lectro units.

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

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Hi Lin,

 

Dean's reply is that he hasn't seen it before.

"Hello Larry,

Can't say I've run into this issue previously; however, it could be that the pins of the interconnect jack on the RF PCB are not trimmed and are shorting to the housing.

Seems odd that this would fail after so many years...

Best,

Dean"

 

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

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22 hours ago, RPSharman said:

The 211 is a very old receiver...

 

Now, now, those can't qualify as "very old." (steps away to check something)   Why, the user manual is dated 2004 - only 14 years ago.  That's hardly "old" for Lectrosonics gear, let alone "very old"  :)

 

Now, I'll grant you that our R185's are "very old" - but we still use them when we have to.

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14 years is an eternity for most electronics.

 

That said, I still have 200 series, and they still work. That's what makes Lectro so great! I have 411s of similar vintage, and first run SMs that are getting long in the tooth. Given the abuse these things take, it's nothing short of a miracle they work as long as they do.

 

My "very old" comment was simply to say that at some point, everything fails.

 

 

 

Based on the latest description, I'd say perhaps there's dirt build up on/around the white plastic part of the switch cover that is perhaps misaligning the connection. With the cover off, a little deoxit gold applied with a q-tip to clean the sleeve and button might help, as it also contains a lubricant.

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Hi Larry, thanks for going through the trouble of forwarding my message to Dean, and please thanks him too for his input.

 

Thanks John, Matthew and RPSharman for your input!

 

RPSharman, english is my second language and my knowledge of electronics is quite limited, so I might have very likely not explained myself properly.

 

What John said may makes quite a lot of sense to me if that short could be causing that exact problem, if it comes up again i´ll try insulating that area of the sleeve or maybe undo the bend if I can see it, but for the time being , i´ll just let it be if it keeps on working. I will also try the deoxit gold approach if it stops working again.

 

Matthew, I´m a lectro fanboy too, I love this unit and I use two 211s among my 411s almost on a daily basis, even though RPSharman is right saying everything fails at a certain point, I hope this babies have still a long run ahead.

 

Bless you all for your comments! I am truly very grateful.

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