I decided to make my 8R look new again and ordered parts from Yaesu. The Yaesu parts guy (can’t remember his name) sent me about 16 parts to swap the casing. WARNING: This is not for the faint hearted and it is very easy to make a mistake and screw up something. Unlike the Vx 1,2,3,6 & 7R, the 8R casing comes with nothing installed except the speaker grill. So all of the buttons, the keypad, the speaker, the mic gaskets, the band buttons etc have to be installed. There were many parts they did not send me, and may not even be available, so I had to switch parts from the old case..things the mic covers, the speaker screws – mount – and gasket, these TINY springs on all of the buttons, the power button, the inside backing and springs of the band buttons, the inner band button gasket, the LED lens below the tuning knob, the backing for the rubber strips on both left and right sides, the screw for the right rubber strip, and more. I had asked for a new nut for the GPS connector but they did not have one.
Well I got lucky (and I was very careful and methodical) and pulled the project off but I could have easily messed something up if I did not have the experience with previous models.
I can now understand why Yaesu charges $60 for upgrading the 8R firmware. Installing the A&B band buttons alone took ½ hour. The entire project took me about 4 hours. Part of that time was looking for a couple of parts that went flying which I had to search for. Had a lost a spring that go behind the buttons, I never would have found it since they are so tiny.
It is really quite a complicated, ingenious system, not to mention the electronics. Someone spent a lot of time designing and testing the mechanics. I replaced the speaker..I think I like the sound of the new speaker better, and the new keypad is brighter. While the radio was apart I bent the speaker prongs up a bit for better contact and the AM antenna assembly has a small strip that sits up against the circuit board, so I cleaned those contacts with a contact cleaner before putting it all back together. I also installed a screen protector. The new casing was a bit tighter than the old case and it took a LOT of pressure to put it back in. I probably stretched the case a bit and it will be difficult to get it out of the housing if I needed to.
WATERPROOF? I wouldn’t bet on it. Yaesu claims it is but what they mean is water should not get into the circuits. But there are many entrances for water to enter the case. The speaker has a gasket around the front, but water will enter thru the grill and sit (or stand) on the outside surface of it. The keypad was meant to keep water out, however water will seep through the sides of the buttons and remain on the surface of the entire keypad. It looks like they meant for the pad itself to be waterproof, but I am not so sure of that. Also, the power buttons, and the A&B band buttons don’t appear to be water proofed to my eyes. There is no gasket on the AM antenna on the bottom. If you care about your radio I would keep it out of the rain. BTW there was some dirt and dust on the keypad that had gotten in through the sides of the keys.
abe
W4FTL
Well I got lucky (and I was very careful and methodical) and pulled the project off but I could have easily messed something up if I did not have the experience with previous models.
I can now understand why Yaesu charges $60 for upgrading the 8R firmware. Installing the A&B band buttons alone took ½ hour. The entire project took me about 4 hours. Part of that time was looking for a couple of parts that went flying which I had to search for. Had a lost a spring that go behind the buttons, I never would have found it since they are so tiny.
It is really quite a complicated, ingenious system, not to mention the electronics. Someone spent a lot of time designing and testing the mechanics. I replaced the speaker..I think I like the sound of the new speaker better, and the new keypad is brighter. While the radio was apart I bent the speaker prongs up a bit for better contact and the AM antenna assembly has a small strip that sits up against the circuit board, so I cleaned those contacts with a contact cleaner before putting it all back together. I also installed a screen protector. The new casing was a bit tighter than the old case and it took a LOT of pressure to put it back in. I probably stretched the case a bit and it will be difficult to get it out of the housing if I needed to.
WATERPROOF? I wouldn’t bet on it. Yaesu claims it is but what they mean is water should not get into the circuits. But there are many entrances for water to enter the case. The speaker has a gasket around the front, but water will enter thru the grill and sit (or stand) on the outside surface of it. The keypad was meant to keep water out, however water will seep through the sides of the buttons and remain on the surface of the entire keypad. It looks like they meant for the pad itself to be waterproof, but I am not so sure of that. Also, the power buttons, and the A&B band buttons don’t appear to be water proofed to my eyes. There is no gasket on the AM antenna on the bottom. If you care about your radio I would keep it out of the rain. BTW there was some dirt and dust on the keypad that had gotten in through the sides of the keys.
abe
W4FTL
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