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I didn't remove the front pcb, but the rest of the stripdown is straight forward, just need a small pozi screwdriver for the 4 screws in the back of the case and a tiny allen key for the rest of the screwsand a bigger one for the two heatsink screws.
Remove both side plates with the feet on ( 4 screws, one in? each corner)., leave the feet screws alone as they are not holding anything except the foot.
Remove the metal plates beneath these side plates, again 4 screws one in each corner, the screws are very short in length and remove the big nut on the antenna connector.
Remove the two big screws in the heatsink, (bigger allen key) and the two small screws, these two are slightly longer than those in the side plates, make sure to keep the seperate for re-assembly,
Remove the two small screws on the opposite side to the heatsink, again tiny hex head screws.
I think that was it, the base then comes off with the battery pack attached, it is connected by a 3 wire cable which simply unplugs from the PCB.
One the base is off, unplug the 3 wire speaker /? microphone plug from the pcb, then the inside 2 pcbs lift out, be careful of the two ribbon cables, the pcb connectors have small black catches on that flip down to release the ribbons.
Then, there are several mini-coax cables that connect the two pcb's together, I took a picture of them with my camera phone before removing one end of them as I needed to get to the inner side of the board, you may not need to as the whole lot will then come away once you have disconnected the ribbons and you only need to get to the front pcb.
I'm not sure how the display pcbs is attached as I didn't ned to remove it and left it in place, but suspect it will be held by 4 screws one in each corner.
I would suggest that when you reomve the two pcb's I mentioned, that you wipe the heatsink with a tissue and some Isopropanol to get rid of the old heatsink grease, if you don't it will probably get everywhere!, don't forget to replace it when you put the unit back together.
Tony
G1HMO
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Hi Tony, ? I need to strip my X5105 to change the rotary encoder.? Is the stripdown complex? ? ?
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Just a further update, the radio is still working fine, so the regulator swap was a total success.
One other thing I did whilst it was all in pieces was to route audio from the external speaker socket to the RJ45 Microphone socket so I can make up a headset that plugs in via a single plug.
Totally crazy that they haven't done this from the factory, why you would want the mic / ptt on one side of the radio and the earpiece on a seperate plu on the other side of the radio is beyond me
There is a spare unused pin on the socket (Pin 2 I would call it, it is between the pin which carries +8v and the pin labelled? MSVSW).
I simply routed a piece of thin Wire Wrap wire from pin 2 of the RJ45 across the PCB to the center pin of the 3.5mm LS jack socket on the same PCB, I tacked it down to the PCB with wire-Tak, taking the audio from this point allows me to plug a empty 3.5mm jack into the socket to defeat the internal loudspeaker when using the headset.
The only issue I had was getting the external PTT on the RJ45 to work, it simply refused to key the radio, I fiddled about with the settings in the menu's but could not get it to work.
I ended up taking the original microphone apart which worked fine to key the radio and measuring the voltages on the pins.
It turns out that the RJ45 pin 3 (MSVSW) needs to be grounded to make the external mic / ptt work.
So, knowing this I then made up a RJ45 lead using some 8 core screened cable making sure the screen was connected to the ground pin on the RJ45, the other end of the cable goes into a small box with a PTT switch and headset socket.
It all works perfectly there is no RF pickup on the headset (Senheizer call center type with twin earpieces and boom mic), I can either run it with the internal LS enabled, or plugging a blank 3.5mm jack plug into the LS socket kills the internal speaker but allows the headset to carry on working.
Tony?
G1HMO
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Thank you Tony for documenting your journey here for others to use in the future. A great contribution to the community!
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Try to contact , they are official distributors for Europe, maybe they can offer you a solution for your problem. I bought my X 5105 from them and they was very kind. Perheps they would contact the producer for you.
I have no idea¡ maybe we need to find someone that can send a Chinese language email to the company asking for schematics.
--
Tom
AE5NF
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I have no idea¡ maybe we need to find someone that can send a Chinese language email to the company asking for schematics.
--
Tom
AE5NF
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Have they ever done that before?
It seems very unlikely to me that they would be allowed to do that.? If they do have schematics, which seems unlikely to me, the drawings would still be intellectual property of Xiegu.
--
Doug, K8RFT
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I wholeheartedly agree.? My 5105 is now dead.? No recourse for repair.? I will never buy a Chinese radio again at these prices.?
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Do you think there is a time period when the FCC releases the schematics provided by the manufacturer when the device was certified?
--
Tom
AE5NF
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Hello Tony,
In your opinion are we ever going to see a finalized firmware version for the X5105? I know that there¡¯s a lot of hype and activity surrounding the ¡®6100¡ have 5105 owners been forsaken?
Thank you Howie WA3MCK
On Thu, Mar 24, 2022 at 12:03 PM Tony G1HMO < tonyg1hmo@...> wrote: Ok, update on the X5105, the modules from Ebay, whilst very nice, the IC looks the same but doesn't work when just the IC is fitted into the Xiegu.
It has a very similar type number stamped onm top, but there is no volts out of it whatsoever.
I was about to remove all the SMD bits around the old regulator in the radio and fit one of the entire PCB's in its place, which would have worked I am sure, but I noticed a tiny white spot on the? X5105 silkscreen, I hadn't noticed it before and as a result, I had assumed the incorrect placement of Pin 1 on the original regulator.
Now having spotted the pin 1 mark, I have also found out teh regulator type, it is an MP 1496S made by Monolithic Power systems, called a 2A 16v 500KHz synchronous step down converter.
The package is an 8 pin TSOT-23, even better Farnell UK have them in stock, the part number is 3357935 and they cost ?1.11 each, shame there is a minimum order of ?30 but I bought several of them plus some other bits i'll probably never use
Here is the datasheet for the regulator if anyone is interested.
So I fitted the IC, and re-assembled the radio, it works perfectly, has been on JS8 call all afternoon.
Interesting that the device has an absolute maximum input voltage of 17v, inside the X5105, it is fed via a big Shottky diode from the power socket but that will only drop 0.2v or so.
I now need to figure out a way to prevent it happening again, possibly some kind of crowbar circuit inside the radio using an SCR and zener to blow the line power fuse if more than 14v goes into the regulators, but that is a project for another day..
Tony
G1HMO
-- "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"
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Roy, that is exactly the way I think, certainly I doubt that I will now buy another Chinese radio that schematics are not avialable for.
I did email Xiegu tech support twice requesting the part number for the regulator that had died, they never even replied to my emails, thinking back, I also emailed them when I had an X107G, they never replied to that email either!
Tony?
G1HMO
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Giovanni, I have to agree with you and at times I'm ashamed of myself for having boughten the radio and been apart of the support of that mentality. The elephant in the room is the fact that the Chinese are so willing to steal intellectual property that their mindset is that they won't provide any information about their own products, for fear someone will do the same thing to them.
Roy WA0YMH
On Thu, Mar 24, 2022 at 12:18 PM Giovanni D < gda@...> wrote: Dear Friends
As a dedicated technician who has been repairing radios of many brands
for years, I find it a shame that in 2022 there are manufacturers who
refuse to publish technical documentation on their equipment.? Sooner or
later the transceivers will need repair and some will end up in the
trash without documentation.? We should send a strong signal and no
longer consider the products of these manufacturers. I know this is a
small consolation for the colleagues who already have this problem.
Nevertheless, we should spread this problem as far as possible, so that
perhaps a certain pressure arises with the manufacturers.
Best 73, Giovanni, HB9EKH
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Dear Friends
As a dedicated technician who has been repairing radios of many brands for years, I find it a shame that in 2022 there are manufacturers who refuse to publish technical documentation on their equipment. Sooner or later the transceivers will need repair and some will end up in the trash without documentation. We should send a strong signal and no longer consider the products of these manufacturers. I know this is a small consolation for the colleagues who already have this problem. Nevertheless, we should spread this problem as far as possible, so that perhaps a certain pressure arises with the manufacturers.
Best 73, Giovanni, HB9EKH
|
Congratulations on your success fixing the radio.! ??? I've been following your progress! I own a X5105 also and it's always in the back of my mind that it's going to fail and it'll be a throw away!
Roy WA0YMH
Ok, update on the X5105, the modules from Ebay, whilst very nice, the IC looks the same but doesn't work when just the IC is fitted into the Xiegu.
It has a very similar type number stamped onm top, but there is no volts out of it whatsoever.
I was about to remove all the SMD bits around the old regulator in the radio and fit one of the entire PCB's in its place, which would have worked I am sure, but I noticed a tiny white spot on the? X5105 silkscreen, I hadn't noticed it before and as a result, I had assumed the incorrect placement of Pin 1 on the original regulator.
Now having spotted the pin 1 mark, I have also found out teh regulator type, it is an MP 1496S made by Monolithic Power systems, called a 2A 16v 500KHz synchronous step down converter.
The package is an 8 pin TSOT-23, even better Farnell UK have them in stock, the part number is 3357935 and they cost ?1.11 each, shame there is a minimum order of ?30 but I bought several of them plus some other bits i'll probably never use
Here is the datasheet for the regulator if anyone is interested.
So I fitted the IC, and re-assembled the radio, it works perfectly, has been on JS8 call all afternoon.
Interesting that the device has an absolute maximum input voltage of 17v, inside the X5105, it is fed via a big Shottky diode from the power socket but that will only drop 0.2v or so.
I now need to figure out a way to prevent it happening again, possibly some kind of crowbar circuit inside the radio using an SCR and zener to blow the line power fuse if more than 14v goes into the regulators, but that is a project for another day..
Tony
G1HMO
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Good news Tony, glad you figured it out.
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Mar 24, 2022, at 9:03 AM, Tony G1HMO <tonyg1hmo@...> wrote:
?Ok, update on the X5105, the modules from Ebay, whilst very nice, the IC looks the same but doesn't work when just the IC is fitted into the Xiegu.
It has a very similar type number stamped onm top, but there is no volts out of it whatsoever.
I was about to remove all the SMD bits around the old regulator in the radio and fit one of the entire PCB's in its place, which would have worked I am sure, but I noticed a tiny white spot on the? X5105 silkscreen, I hadn't noticed it before and as a result, I had assumed the incorrect placement of Pin 1 on the original regulator.
Now having spotted the pin 1 mark, I have also found out teh regulator type, it is an MP 1496S made by Monolithic Power systems, called a 2A 16v 500KHz synchronous step down converter.
The package is an 8 pin TSOT-23, even better Farnell UK have them in stock, the part number is 3357935 and they cost ?1.11 each, shame there is a minimum order of ?30 but I bought several of them plus some other bits i'll probably never use
Here is the datasheet for the regulator if anyone is interested.
So I fitted the IC, and re-assembled the radio, it works perfectly, has been on JS8 call all afternoon.
Interesting that the device has an absolute maximum input voltage of 17v, inside the X5105, it is fed via a big Shottky diode from the power socket but that will only drop 0.2v or so.
I now need to figure out a way to prevent it happening again, possibly some kind of crowbar circuit inside the radio using an SCR and zener to blow the line power fuse if more than 14v goes into the regulators, but that is a project for another day..
Tony
G1HMO
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Tony, Good diagnostic work.? One tool I often use on the bench, is a dissecting microscope.? It helps in inspection of circuit boards, as you describe. Now there are all sorts of USB microscopes that can do similar work.? You do not need a lot of magnification for this purpose.?
--
- Stuart VE3SMF
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Ok, update on the X5105, the modules from Ebay, whilst very nice, the IC looks the same but doesn't work when just the IC is fitted into the Xiegu.
It has a very similar type number stamped onm top, but there is no volts out of it whatsoever.
I was about to remove all the SMD bits around the old regulator in the radio and fit one of the entire PCB's in its place, which would have worked I am sure, but I noticed a tiny white spot on the? X5105 silkscreen, I hadn't noticed it before and as a result, I had assumed the incorrect placement of Pin 1 on the original regulator.
Now having spotted the pin 1 mark, I have also found out teh regulator type, it is an MP 1496S made by Monolithic Power systems, called a 2A 16v 500KHz synchronous step down converter.
The package is an 8 pin TSOT-23, even better Farnell UK have them in stock, the part number is 3357935 and they cost ?1.11 each, shame there is a minimum order of ?30 but I bought several of them plus some other bits i'll probably never use
Here is the datasheet for the regulator if anyone is interested.
So I fitted the IC, and re-assembled the radio, it works perfectly, has been on JS8 call all afternoon.
Interesting that the device has an absolute maximum input voltage of 17v, inside the X5105, it is fed via a big Shottky diode from the power socket but that will only drop 0.2v or so.
I now need to figure out a way to prevent it happening again, possibly some kind of crowbar circuit inside the radio using an SCR and zener to blow the line power fuse if more than 14v goes into the regulators, but that is a project for another day..
Tony
G1HMO
|
The G90 is completely different unfortunately, I checked that initially as I have a G90 and the schematics!
But.....
I have made progress, having removed the duff regulator, confirmed that there was no short on it's output, I soldered a thin wire onto the output pad where the Ic came from, then fed this with 3.3v from my variable supply.
With 12v on the main radio, everything works fine,? the radio powered up and tx / rx no issue, for info, the 3.3v rail draws about 400mA.
Knowing the radio was ok apart from the regulator, I gave up trying to find out what the regulator was, and decided it may be quicker to just fit a dedicated 12v to 3.3v buck regulator, I looked at the Pololu modules, which I have used before, they are great, but cannot get a 3.3v one in the UK for love nor money.
So, I looked on Ebay UK for a 3.3v regulator module, there are loads of linear ones using an LM117, but some swicth mode ones too, then I saw this?
Which unbelieveably I think uses the same device that the X5105 uses, certainly has the same package type, zooming in on the pcb, the SMD type number is also 1A, and more importantly, the pinouts 'look' very similar, if not identical, it has the enable pin on the board too.
So I have ordered a few, when they arrive, i'll check the layout iof the PCB to confirm Vin Vout and EN are on the same pins, then I plan to remove the IC from one, and try it in the X5105, I am 100% convinced it is the same IC.
If it works, brilliant, I have a few spares, if not i'll remove all the SMD bits around the regulator in the X5105 and fit the new module in place of them.
Expect a further update later in the week when the modules arrive.?
Tony G1HMO
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Try this:
Also :
YO3HJV has more info on his website.
It appears the VRs are different. Worth a stab anyway.?
Nils / W8IJN?
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Just a hunch: The G90 has a similar voltage regulation system. The schemos are ¡°out there,¡± maybe in the G90 group files area. You might want to check. There¡¯s a fellow in Romania ¡ªwhose call I can¡¯t remember ¡ªhas replaced the G90 VRs with better devices. So that¡¯s another take.?
Too bad Xiegu has (a) no outside repair facility & (b) a typical Maoist secretive view of providing documentation & help. I figure my two Xiegu boxes die, I¡¯ll still have the cheapo varios clones of the DL2MAN (tr)uSDX boxes toQRP with.?
Nils / W8IJN ?
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Larry
Howie WA3MCK
Joel Caulkins/N6ALT
Nils R. Bull Young