Is My AS3 possessed?

[fogster]

Sorry if I'm posting excessively about my AS3. But I have a new problem: now that I've reprogrammed it for my frequencies, it's often going into fits where it beeps incessantly and sometimes flashes the backlight on and off. (This is a conventional-only radio with no ASTRO options enabled.)

The radio does seem to transmit and receive during these fits, but the other side buttons (monitor, backlight, and direct/talkaround) don't. I can change channels fine, but doing so doesn't make the problem go away. It happens often when I pick the radio up, but it also happens very frequently sitting untouched on a desk. (No adapters plugged in or anything.) The other night the backlight was going on and off very rapidly, as if it were trying to say something in Morse code.

Any ideas what I should be looking at? It never seemed to happen with the codeplug the radio shipped with (it's a used radio), and all I did was read it in and change the frequencies, so I'm thinking that it's something weird in the codeplug.

(And there are no advanced options supported in this codeplug, so it's not like it's responding to MDC traffic/trunking/OTAR stuff.)

[Tom in D.C.]

Suggestions:

1. Put the original codeplug back into the radio and see if
the craziness continues. Be guided accordingly, of course.

2. Try another case to see if the flex cable is bad.

Others will have more suggestions. These are my two just
for starters. If I had to bet right now I'd put my money on
no. 2 above.

Regards,

[fogster]

Huh... I think I accidentally fixed it.

I don't have another case (this is my only ASTRO rig), but you seemed relatively confident that it was a hardware problem, not a codeplug issue, so I decided to first open things up and see if the flex cable was damaged. It looked to be in good shape, but I figured that, while I had things open, I'd tweak the contrast on the LCD, since it looked washed out.

I adjusted the contrast, put everything back together, and decided to make sure it still worked before I went to put the old codeplug back in... But it's been running a good 10 minutes with no phantom beeps or backlight issues. So I'm thinking that the radio just wasn't in the case quite right the first time around.

Thanks, yet again, Batboard: you've saved yet another radio.

[jmr061]

Sounds like to me that one or or more of the side buttons were being activated without you touching them. I have had this happen when things were not lined up correct.

Jason

[compuman81]

it had to be the side buttons. he had one set to backlight, which if you tap a button with backlight assigned, the first time it will beep and turn on the light. the second, it will beep and turn the light off. so the button isn't or wasn't seated or the flex is bad somewhere.

[fogster]

Sounds like to me that one or or more of the side buttons were being activated without you touching them. I have had this happen when things were not lined up correct.

I apologize for bringing this topic up again, but I figured it was better to do that than to start a whole new thread...

I'm still having problems with the side buttons (below PTT) not working. Usually they don't work if pressed, sometimes the radio acts like they're being pushed rapidly when they're not. I'm pretty sure that KB9KST/compuman81 are right and it's an issue with the side buttons.

But what I can't figure out is... How do I fix it? I'm putting it back in the case and tightening everything nice and tight; it usually works for a couple days and then comes loose.

And, while I have it apart, the top of the front shield was never held down in any way. It just kind of flops down. (The bottom tabs hold it in but nothing on the top.) Could this be the problem, or is this normal behavior?

Thanks for all your help!