uniden washington channel mod opinions

[zig zag]

ive found a washington in great shape 8719 chip, im ready to pick up,,,,havent had a base in years,,,i also located a expo 100 kit for that radio,,,i have one in a 29 and it works great,,, i only need 15 to 20 channels above 40 and the same below channel one,,so the expo kits seems the way to go ??? i recently read some place where some one said the expo kits dont work on side band,,,doesnt make sense to me,,but im sure othere know way more then i do,,,,any input would be great,,,,thanks

 

[Sideways]

Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I think it depends on the quality of the crystals used. Some were not stable at all on ssb, and would warble badly. If you only use am, it should work ok.
It may be worth a try though, if the kit is cheap enough. Dont get much easier to install x-tras than an expo kit. If it doesn't work just take it out.

 

[zig zag]

Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I think it depends on the quality of the crystals used. Some were not stable at all on ssb, and would warble badly. If you only use am, it should work ok.
It may be worth a try though, if the kit is cheap enough. Dont get much easier to install x-tras than an expo kit. If it doesn't work just take it out.

THANKS ive been searching and reading on all options,,,expo i can handle,,, the less comm L3S seems easy,,,ide perfer doing an 858 but im not sure how to wide band it if it dont come in correctly,,, watching e bay now,, may or may not bite the bullet,,,,thanks

 

[Sideways]

THANKS ive been searching and reading on all options,,,expo i can handle,,, the less comm L3S seems easy,,,ide perfer doing an 858 but im not sure how to wide band it if it dont come in correctly,,, watching e bay now,, may or may not bite the bullet,,,,thanks

The lescomm kits are nice. Good quality parts. Alot better than the expo kits.
Or, you can wire through the pll chip and a couple switches. Works good too.

 

[ExitThirteen]

The MB8719 PLL Washingtons can be modded for extras, but pin 10 has to be isolated from ground to make it work with the factory 11.1125 mhz loop mixer crystal.

Let me know if you'd like the mod to put channels in yours, I can give you my 2 switch method.

~Cheers~

 

[zig zag]

The MB8719 PLL Washingtons can be modded for extras, but pin 10 has to be isolated from ground to make it work with the factory 11.1125 mhz loop mixer crystal.

Let me know if you'd like the mod to put channels in yours, I can give you my 2 switch method.

~Cheers~

hey thanks for the reply,, the channels im looking for seem to be skipped on a normal 8719 mod,,ide perfer to have 26.815 to some where around 27.595,,with out missing 27.415 425 426 445...ive seen a 3 switch method or a 6 position rotary with one toggle,,,that piks up the usually missing 27.415 426 435 445..would i have to wide or broad back the radio fro this freq spread ??? ive contacted a place that shows the crystal in stock,,but they have not replied,,,thanks for the imput,,,don

 

[SLR_65]

If you want to experiment, we could probably get an Arduino to do this for you.

 

[hotrod]

If you want to experiment, we could probably get an Arduino to do this for you.

my washington dont pick up 27415-27445 .way i got it. could,ve been wrong idk
it uses ch.9 and anl/nb switches so it does look stock .but i miss 415-445 talk alot dx there

 

[SLR_65]

The problem isn't really the 8719, it's more about the frequency supplied to the pll and the channel skips/arrangement of the original 23 channels.

hotrod, I just haven't taken the time to figure out reading the channel selector, but if you don't mind mounting a 10K potentiometer and 4x20 lcd display external it's entirely possible to tune the full range of all possible frequencies in sequential order.

 

[ExitThirteen]

You can use 2 switches, one DPDT center off toggle, and a SPDT center off toggle. Using those two switches will get you full coverage from 26.175 to 28.085 and does include 27.415-27.445, minus the skips for the "A" channels. When I get some time, I'll do a quick write-up for wiring the switches in.

~Cheers~

 

[hotrod]

You can use 2 switches, one DPDT center off toggle, and a SPDT center off toggle. Using those two switches will get you full coverage from 26.175 to 28.085 and does include 27.415-27.445, minus the skips for the "A" channels. When I get some time, I'll do a quick write-up for wiring the switches in.

~Cheers~

sweet. i also got a uniden grant xl with the extras . but same deal. extras dont start til 27465.extras on nb /anl and hilow

 

[Radio Tech]

Don't forget it is simple to get the skipped channels (A channels).

1- Locate and cut the trace to pin 16 of PLL chip.
2- Bridge this cut with a 4.7K resistor.
3- Mount a mini SPDT (center-off) toggle switch in a location you prefer.
4- Solder a wire from pin 16 to the center pin of your newly installed switch.
5- Solder a wire from pin 18 to top pin of switch.
6- And last, solder a wire from pin 9 of chip to the bottom pin of the switch.
Pin 18--top
Pin 16--center
Pin 9--bottom
For normal channel use, leave switch in the center position.

 

[zig zag]

Don't forget it is simple to get the skipped channels (A channels).

1- Locate and cut the trace to pin 16 of PLL chip.
2- Bridge this cut with a 4.7K resistor.
3- Mount a mini SPDT (center-off) toggle switch in a location you prefer.
4- Solder a wire from pin 16 to the center pin of your newly installed switch.
5- Solder a wire from pin 18 to top pin of switch.
6- And last, solder a wire from pin 9 of chip to the bottom pin of the switch.
Pin 18--top
Pin 16--center
Pin 9--bottom
For normal channel use, leave switch in the center position.

thanks,,,well i picked up a one owner uniden 8719, washington locally,,said to be never worked on,,, i dont have a base antenna up yet,,,but i have a dipole sorta,,the antenna will come when the weather breaks,,,going t oconvert a 15 meter cush craft squalo to 11 meters, the radio seems to transmit a little low on freq on l s b...and recieves on freq at 3 o clock on the clarifer,,i took a magnet k 40 with me to se if it transmittted,, and a watt meter,, granted the antenna was on top of a metal tool box,inside a garage,,, keys 4 watts swings back wards on AM,,, and looking like it swings to 9 watts on L S B with the stock mic and non peek reading wattt meter,,, black cat meter,,,seem like the shop that he bought it from new may have been in side i dont believe it came from the factory tuned like that ?? but was told by a friend locally in a mobile it was louder on ssb the n AM,,, any imput would be great, thanks

 

[sonoma]

with the radio the age it is may have some caps getting old causing you a problem, the electrolytics. the manufacturer was bad about putting 10 volt caps in the 8 volt locations and they were over taxed for years of use and drying out. the caps going bad will cause the radio to show signs of out of freq and low output in places on the radio. if it was my radio I would change all the caps out and use 16 to 25 volt in the 10 volt cap positions. then have the radio peaked and tuned and it will come back to life. the situation you are discribing is what happens when the caps are getting old. if you look on ebay you will see sellers selling kits to replace the caps.

you have a nice radio here so a little effort on your part will put it back to factory specs. I have 2 cobra 142 radios I had to recap a couple years ago for the same problems you are discribing.

 

[zig zag]

with the radio the age it is may have some caps getting old causing you a problem, the electrolytics. the manufacturer was bad about putting 10 volt caps in the 8 volt locations and they were over taxed for years of use and drying out. the caps going bad will cause the radio to show signs of out of freq and low output in places on the radio. if it was my radio I would change all the caps out and use 16 to 25 volt in the 10 volt cap positions. then have the radio peaked and tuned and it will come back to life. the situation you are discribing is what happens when the caps are getting old. if you look on ebay you will see sellers selling kits to replace the caps.

you have a nice radio here so a little effort on your part will put it back to factory specs. I have 2 cobra 142 radios I had to recap a couple years ago for the same problems you are discribing.

ok thanks for your imput ill look in to the caps on e bay