Copper Talk » Modifications » Radios » Older 2950 face plate back lights. « Previous Next »

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Panamared
Junior Member
Username: Panamared

Post Number: 10
Registered: 1-2005
Posted on Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 8:53 am:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I want to change the back lights to l.e.d's
will 3mm l.e.d's work or 5mm?

Has anyone tried this? is it a pain in the neck to do?

Thanks,


Justin cef-481
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Sonoma
Intermediate Member
Username: Sonoma

Post Number: 158
Registered: 11-2001
Posted on Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 11:50 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

the backlight for the control buttons already uses leds which are yellow and they are 3mm bulbs about 2.5 volts.now the back lighting for the led read outs are about 8volt bulbs.5 mm leds will work but it is alot of work to modify the front board to work.I put blue leds in mine .the problem is the 2 meter bulbs are in series so you have to modify the circuit to make them work parralel.you have to redoce the voltage to stop the leds from blowing out.

to do this you will have to cut the trace that goes from the rt bulb to the left and jumper it to hot to feed the lt bulb.put a 500 ohm resister on each trace to reduce the voltage to the led and run a ground wire from the rt side to the left to ground the rt led since you cut the trace in the 1st step to make the led run in parralel.
as you can see it is alot of work.
this will give you a idea of what to do .also my leds were 4 volt at 5900mcd this gives great illumination.
sonoma
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Panamared
Junior Member
Username: Panamared

Post Number: 13
Registered: 1-2005
Posted on Monday, January 31, 2005 - 7:29 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sonoma thanks for the input..
I'll have a look into it now I have feed back.

Justin CEF-481
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Kd4amg
Intermediate Member
Username: Kd4amg

Post Number: 161
Registered: 6-2003
Posted on Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - 5:01 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I once had a ranger 2950 that the two bulbs ( one on each end ) burnt out...so I tried replacing them myself. It was way too EASY !!It took about 45 minutes from the time I took the covers off till I finished puting them back on, and I am sure if / when I get to do it again, I will be a lot faster...plus I wasted a lot of time just looking ( gawking ) at the display connections ( all those pins ), and so on.

If I can do it, almost any one else can, I am such a sorry soldering operator.

I was amazed at the simplicity of the whole operation.

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Inspector
Intermediate Member
Username: Inspector

Post Number: 130
Registered: 12-2001
Posted on Saturday, February 19, 2005 - 2:58 am:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Just use two 6Vdc blue LEDs. add a current-limmiting resistor (500ohm-1K) to each anode (+) leg of each LED. Make note of the polarity of each LED as they will fail if installed backwards. The light circuit is a continuous 12V circuit...so if just one bulb blows, the other one goes dark. My blue LEDs have been in my 2950 for over 4 years and work fine.
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Therealporkchop
Intermediate Member
Username: Therealporkchop

Post Number: 152
Registered: 11-2002
Posted on Sunday, February 20, 2005 - 10:34 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I have one of the older 2970's with the amber or red display, which ever color you want to call it. Can I change it over to blue also? Can I use the method discribed by Inspector?

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