Advisor Gold messages are sometimes garbled

[WB2IID]

This is the third Advisor Gold pager I've had in the past 18 months and it has started to act up: When I try to send myself a message via the internet all I get is alphanumberic jumble. However, most times when I am sent an "official" page I get it perfectly.

I have tried various geographic locations (figuring different transmitter sites) and computers to send the messsages, all with the same jumbled message result. It's just a hit and miss deal.

I know that other pagers in the system have had the same problem. These are all refurbished pagers. Not a function of battery charge or paging transmitter since this happens both at work and at home, and these points are 30 miles apart. The system is around the 454 MHz range.

Also, the first pager I had worked great but the display was partially missing. The second one quit entirely and now, this.

By the way, the same message repeated over and over seems to result in the same jumble each time which kind of points to a bit error problem.

Is this a receiver off-frequency problem? Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks,

Joe

[MetroMan]

Joe,

Some common causes of garbled displays are poor receive - check the antenna for cold/broken solder at the connecting point on the RF board and the smd caps next to the connection.

Also check the lcd driver (U004) located on the decoder for broken solder connections usually at pin 14 or pin 1 (the corners). The chip is located directly under the button with the green stripe and I think the constant pressure from hitting the button takes its toll on the solder connections.

One last thing is to check the flex to the lcd for possible broken connections or tears.

[WB2IID]

Thanks Rich for the info. I'm told I'm getting a "new" (refurb) pager tomorrow, so we will see how that one works. If the same thing happens after awhile I will take matters into my own hands and try your suggestions.

I should add that I have babied this pager by keeping it in a padded case instead of the usual plastic holster that catches on everything.

JS

[The Pager Geek]

It's not a hardware problem based on your description... just an fyi

Based on:

By the way, the same message repeated over and over seems to result in the same jumble each time which kind of points to a bit error problem.

I'm guessing it's an Advisor Gold Pocsag (not flex), correct?

[WB2IID]

I believe that is correct. It does not say "Flex" anywhere on it.

Got a new one last night and it appears to work much better. I just want to understand why its predecessors crap out after a while.

[The Pager Geek]

My guess is:
Your last problem was programming. The function bit used by the paging terminal to send messages VIA internet was set as numeric in your pager, not alphanumeric.

The pager assumes that any page it receives for that function SHOULD be numeric, so it displays numerical data (and brackets.)

Your new pager has the correct programming, thus it will work ok.

The time before that was a bad LCD. When half the display is not working, the display driver is ok. If the data were "split looking" (IE the date and time are on the top half, and message indicators were on the bottom) then it would be the display driver.

Other issues with advisor golds:
Recrystaled RF boards have one of the crystal legs break causing intermitant pages,
Power on/off due to loose/dirty battery contacts,

Just for starters...
tpg

[MetroMan]

Good point TPG. I just made the assumption that it was working fine at one time from the first line of his post.

Always glad to pick up any info from someone with experience.

[WB2IID]

MetroMan, your assumption was correct, although now that I think of it I don't recall if the second one was working via internet or not. I just don't remember if I tested that one. Seems to me it would be hit or miss.

Thanks to all for the good information. If this one starts misbehaving I will let you know.