Friends, family,and random people always ask me, "Why?" when I tell them about my interest in ham radio. For some, the whole concept of ham radio just doesn't make sense in the cell phone and internet age. Tonight, I was able to demonstrate to my family how some simple ham radio skills can be put to practical use and also save you money at the same time.
This is a simple problem; the solution would not be complicated for the vast majority of radio operators. My Motorola Bluetooth ear piece stopped charging two days ago after working reliably for almost a year. My first assumption was that the internal battery had reached its end of life. Before I tossed in in the trash, I decided to take it apart to see if I could spot anything obvious.
My first test was the earpiece charging dock using my DMM on the DC power setting. I found that it was delivering about 5 volts, just as it should (standard USB power). Then I looked at the inside of the earpiece and saw that two power wires connected from the charging terminals to the main board, and then from the main board to the battery. A careful inspection of these tiny wires showed that the negative wire had broken from the main board terminal. A quick soldering job solved that problem, after which a simple test showed that the earpiece was now charging again.
This was the simplest of problems to solve, but I doubt I would have had the skills to think through this issue and solve it if it wasn't for the basic electronics and electrical skills I've learned from the ham radio hobby. I am in no way an electronics expert but I've learned how to deal with these basic problems.
The average consumer would have tossed this earpiece in the trash and bought a new one. Tonight I fixed mine and saved myself $100
Even my kids thought that was cool.
This is a simple problem; the solution would not be complicated for the vast majority of radio operators. My Motorola Bluetooth ear piece stopped charging two days ago after working reliably for almost a year. My first assumption was that the internal battery had reached its end of life. Before I tossed in in the trash, I decided to take it apart to see if I could spot anything obvious.
My first test was the earpiece charging dock using my DMM on the DC power setting. I found that it was delivering about 5 volts, just as it should (standard USB power). Then I looked at the inside of the earpiece and saw that two power wires connected from the charging terminals to the main board, and then from the main board to the battery. A careful inspection of these tiny wires showed that the negative wire had broken from the main board terminal. A quick soldering job solved that problem, after which a simple test showed that the earpiece was now charging again.
This was the simplest of problems to solve, but I doubt I would have had the skills to think through this issue and solve it if it wasn't for the basic electronics and electrical skills I've learned from the ham radio hobby. I am in no way an electronics expert but I've learned how to deal with these basic problems.
The average consumer would have tossed this earpiece in the trash and bought a new one. Tonight I fixed mine and saved myself $100
Even my kids thought that was cool. 
