Circuit Board for a Winegard Antenna...Maybe ?

[leon]

Hi Guys,

Just wondering, I have a Winegard Antenna on my caravan roof, the one that looks like a small Christmas Tree, and I'm sure all the caravan people here know what i mean. ;)

Anyway, Mine has a corroded circuit board which is located inside the Antenna itself, it actually has two, just like the one below.

I have been searching the net, and although many spare parts are available for these units it seems that this part is not really available, well I cant find one. :shrug:

Dose anyone here know if this is actually available or where i might be able to get one. :shrug:

A whole new Antenna is pretty expensive.

Many thanks.:)

Leon :thumbsup:

[LewisM]

Search for the PSB part number - it's the one upside down in your second picture with I think 2700648 RevB, or any similar ones listed there. It is how I have found many obscure PSB's before.

Also, get a toothbrush with some metho, and scrub the corrosion off (gently). Then respray it with clear acrylic varnish (automotive) or at least hairspray (many coats). Might just work for you again for a while

[leon]

Thanks Lewis, talk about the obvious, :rolleyes:

Leon :thumbsup:

[leon]

Well i tried the obvious with no results, I entered all the number sets and the results were not forthcoming.:shrug:

Thanks, Leon :thumbsup:

[PCH]

I see what you mean Leon, those parts are mega expensive hey?

[JA]

Hi Leon,

Corroded as it may be, and it's hard to see the minute detail of it, does the unit operate?

If so, clean and protect the unit as per the advice of Lewis earlier.

If not, with careful inspection with a magnifier, check all the circuit board tracks to see if the corrosion has caused any breaks or cracks etc.. Then if required repair these with a soldering iron, bits of wire, solder bridges (or circuit board foil).

On completion - a light brush with a tooth brush and alcohol or metho as already suggested is also a good idea, as well as a coating/spray of circuit board lacquer for protection. Perhaps also inspect the housing of the printed circuit board for any possible entry points or poor orientation resulting in some minute water / vapour entry which may have (barring some galavanic corrosion) otherwise given rise to the corrosion/damage.

Good luck

Best
JA

[mswhin63]

There is definitely no spares for the mast head amplifier that you have. It looks like a simple 2 stage system, if all else fails you can send it to me and I can have a look at it and see if it is possible to repair.

[leon]

Thanks for your responses.

JA, there is defiantly damage to one of the boards with broken very small wires, soldering this would be impossible IMHO.
the other board dose seen ok, and with a clean like you suggested would come up alright.
The signal was working fine at times and then would just stop, because it could, i used to get up there and wriggle stuff around and it would usually come back until it decided to fail again, however this proved difficuly when traveling and not having an extension ladder.

Also thank you Malcolm for the offer to have the item sent to you and check if a repair is possible, I will see how things pan out first.

Leon

[FlashDrive]

There seems to be a few SMD's ( Surface Mount Devices )on that board ...not really sure how easy that would be to repair.
Malcolm would probably know...

[leon]

Thanks Col, I can see a new antenna happening here, not that I am in a hurry, wont need it for a few months yet.

Leon

[mswhin63]

There are two things to note when repairing electronic components. I repair a lot of SMD PCB's for the Murchison Wide-Field Array and it has some of the most inhospitable environments (acid soil). It is though sometime not worth repairing some due to time and money and one of the factors that make it hard to repair is Electrolysis damage, as this damages the solder as well as the board. But I find for the most part most water damage can be easily repaired even though it may not look good is entirely functional.

The only time I reject automatically is if the damage is burn't as the carbon will change the electrical properties and also the performance. Anyway as I do a lot I am not flustered to give a lot of things try and for the community it is a pleasure as long as it doesn't take to long to do.

[mswhin63]

And I wouldn't mind trying to make a YouTube video as well.

https://youtu.be/svrMh366diw

[FlashDrive]

A steady hand is ' the order of the day ' doing that.

Col...

[leon]

Wow, that is impressive Malcom, I will show the damage to one of the boards shortly and see what you think.

Leon

[leon]

Malcom do you think that this might be repairable.:shrug:

Thanks

Leon :thumbsup:

[mswhin63]

Doesn't look to bad. as long as most of the wires as still there it is possible to get the number of turns in the coil. I saw in the first images a section of the board near the second RF Stage, that looked quite corroded. That would need to be checked under a microscope to check.
The YouTube video I made was mostly an experiment using my mobile phone as a low cost alternative. Microscopes like I use at work are far superior.