My R-8 unit has started acting up.?ÿ I was having some intermittent issues with it powering on.?ÿ It was obvious that the power switch was a little temperamental.?ÿ Now, when I place a new battery in the unit, the power, beacon, and satellite indicator LEDs illuminate for a short while then turn off.?ÿ Followed by a quick "3 blink" from the battery LED.?ÿ ?ÿI've called 2 repair shops and they've told me that they cannot get parts because the unit has been discontinued.?ÿ ?ÿFair enough.?ÿ Right now, I don't have the funds to put 5 - 10K towards another unit.?ÿ However, both times the techs told me that it could be the membrane switch (which are notorious for failing) or the Mother Board.?ÿ
In and effort to search for parts, I came across a site that actually sells both.?ÿ The membrane switch is roughly $40 and a new Mother Board is a little more than $1,500.?ÿ Here's the catch ... They're based out of China.?ÿ The name of the company is Kargo-Tech.?ÿ Has anyone ever heard of them??ÿ ?ÿIf so, are they legit??ÿ https://kargo-tech.com/
Any helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated.?ÿ?ÿ
You'd be $ ahead by putting that money towards a new purchase.?ÿ Trying to repair GPS equipment with off brand parts from China is just asking for trouble.?ÿ
No offense, but if you can't afford 5-10k for new equipment in today's economic survey climate you should triple your rates.?ÿ Not sure what you would get to replace an R8 for 5-10k.?ÿ ?ÿWe just received quotes for an additional R12i setups and we're looking at well North of 60k.
We still have our R8s and only keep them around for backup.?ÿ Once they die, they are going in the trash or a bookshelf.
I understand what you're saying.?ÿ But it's just me and my son working in the evenings and weekends.?ÿ Plus, survey prices in WA-ID are probably a fair bit different than in rural NC.?ÿ (Not that they should be, but the "low ballers" are prolific here.)?ÿ ?ÿI appreciate your input and acknowledge your points.?ÿ However, unless I can pay cash for equipment, I usually don't purchase it.... and I'm fresh out of 60k lying around.
So,
I bought the $40 part ... spent like $30 for expedited shipping...(got here in 2 days) ... Downloaded the Trimble R8 service manual ... bought some $15 non-corrosive RTV.?ÿ ?ÿHad everything fixed in 30 minutes for a total of $85.?ÿ ?ÿWIN!
My R8-3 seems to work fine except that I can't turn it off from the keypad. No matter how long I press the power button, nothing happens. I have to pull the battery to turn it off. The power button does work to turn it on though, which seems odd.
Still, I'm going to try the keypad replacement. I have the repair manual, and it seems like an awful lot of pieces have to come off to get to the keypad. Did you run into any trouble when you tore yours down, or does the manual lay out the procedure adequately?
I am looking to try the same thing. Do you know where I can get a copy of the service manual or are you able to share it with me??
I can vouch for Kargo-Tech, I bought a keypad from them. They're in Hong Kong, and my order was handled promptly. Shipping via mail took about 2 weeks -- the package seemed to get stuck in L.A. for almost a week before it started moving again.
I'm attaching the R6 service manual to this post (ignore the filename). The procedure described for the keypad replacement pertains to the R8 as well.
The trickiest part of the operation, in my experience, is disconnecting and reconnecting the two antenna tubes. There's not much room to work, and I found the push-on connectors very fussy. It took me a couple of tries before I was able to get them both to seat properly and not get disturbed during reassembly. The way I made sure I got them right was to collect a file, convert it to RINEX, and inspect the RINEX file to make sure I was recording both frequencies.
The other operation requiring special attention is making sure to extend the keypad ribbon cable enough. It comes out of the package with the cable lying flat, you need to bend it 90° so it can route through the slot in the housing. There's virtually no excess length, so check to make sure you can get the end into the board connector before committing to sticking the keypad to the housing. (I recommend wiping the housing with acetone before sticking the keypad to it.) And make sure you don't pinch the ribbon cable when reinstalling the endoskeleton.
Another useful note: if you're just replacing the keypad, you don't need to remove the motherboard from the endoskeleton, they can come out together.
I've done a lot of work inside the old 4000 receivers (mostly replacing internal batteries), and I think most people reasonably handy with a screwdriver and soldering iron would feel comfortable doing the same. But the R series is a different animal. I was much less comfortable fighting all the miniaturization, and will be happy if I never have to open mine again.
