Midland 38 / 78 / 98

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Tech12
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Midland 38 / 78 / 98

Post by Tech12 »

Hi Guys: Spoken to 4 different people today with sound problems on Midland radio's. 1 X 38, 1 X 78 & 2 with 98's all complaining of crackling on incoming audio, if the squelch is adjusted to cut the crackling then there's no receive audio. Is this a common fault with them ?.

In the 20 minutes since posting the above query, I've had a text from a friend 30 odd miles away. He has a 38 and a 98 & both have developed the same fault as above. He's tried swapping Mics, aerials and even vehicles with no luck. All his other radio's are ok.
I tried a quick Google but can't seem to find anything about this.
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Tech12
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Re: Midland 38 / 78 / 98

Post by Tech12 »

An update on this, spoken to the friend with the 38 & 98 and he tells me that neither radio has had problems until this & both still transmit ok with perfect audio.
Had another friend turn up a short while ago with his 98, with yet another incoming audio problem. This one apparently has no incoming audio just a loud hiss & buzz that can be squelched out but only at the very top of the control range.

Got any spare Valium anyone ? Think I might be needing it :? :crazy:
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Re: Midland 38 / 78 / 98

Post by Dragonfly »

One common fault with those radios is the earth on the board breaks away from the back of the PL plug , waggle the PL plug during receive to check if that is the problem .
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Re: Midland 38 / 78 / 98

Post by Tech12 »

Hi Dragonfly: Cheers for the reply buddy, will certainly check that. Only ever had a couple of these in & already hate them. They're rubbish in use & even worse to work on.
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Re: Midland 38 / 78 / 98

Post by ChrisMagpie »

Tech12 wrote:Only ever had a couple of these in & already hate them. They're rubbish in use & even worse to work on.
I bought a Midland 78 multi when they first came out (it was such a novelty at the time to have a legal radio with AM built in . . . ) and it is absolutely the worst radio I own.
Mine has the bizarre fault (sorry, "characteristic") of the squelch control not working until the rig has been on for about thirty seconds or so. Maybe the valves need to warm up, or something :roll: When the squelch does work, it has a horrible thump to it :x

Then there's the cheap and nasty channel change encoder. Turn it one click, and it often jumps three channels. The channel change works flawlessly on the mic, but the buttons rattle, and the buttons seem the wrong way round for up / down (counterintuitive).
The rig is a real talker on AM, but the FM TX audio is so pitifully quiet, it's pathetic.
The receive audio seems to have some sort of "processor noise" accompanying it.
The three bulbs that light up the LCD display get disconcertingly hot! :wtf:
It's an expensive doorstop :thumbdown:
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Re: Midland 38 / 78 / 98

Post by Tech12 »

;) Hi Chris: I'm honestly starting to hate these things with a passion, had a 98 here yesterday and put it at the side of a NATO 2000 that I'd just repaired.
Bet you can't guess which one won hands down on all counts ? ;) My mate is now nagging me to sell him the NATO, his idea of a pot sweetener was that I could have the 98 as well as money :evil: :D
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Re: Midland 38 / 78 / 98

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Tech12 wrote: ;) Hi Chris: I'm honestly starting to hate these things with a passion, had a 98 here yesterday and put it at the side of a NATO 2000 that I'd just repaired.
Bet you can't guess which one won hands down on all counts ? ;) My mate is now nagging me to sell him the NATO, his idea of a pot sweetener was that I could have the 98 as well as money :evil: :D
You could have the money, and the Midland 98 *and* charge additional money to dispose of the 98, under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment regulations ;) :mrgreen:
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Re: Midland 38 / 78 / 98

Post by Mudslinger »

A lot of Maxon boarded radios from that Era suffered bad solder joints.
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Re: Midland 38 / 78 / 98

Post by Tech12 »

Hey guys: Sorry for the delay in replying, Chris: Think I'll pass on that ;) they're not my cup of tea :D

@ mudslinger: Thanks buddy there may well be more dry joints that I haven't cured yet, the processor was full of them. Will have another look when I've got time, thankfully he's in no rush.
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Re: Midland 38 / 78 / 98

Post by ChrisMagpie »

If the reflow work doesn't do the trick, you could always try alchemy :D
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Re: Midland 38 / 78 / 98

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Alchemy hmm, was thinking more of my mates truck wheels ;)
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Re: Midland 38 / 78 / 98

Post by Tech12 »

Talking of radio's, anyone know where I can get the board photos for a 78 plus multi ? Have the schematic.
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Re: Midland 38 / 78 / 98

Post by Tech12 »

Just a quick update: Have checked both 38's & the crackling noise on both appears to have been caused by cracked print on the Auto volt sensing PCB.
Repaired both boards with solid links & no more crackling.

Will update again when I get around to the 78 & 98.
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