After tapping around perimeter with knife and
hammer, the lid starts to come off.
(The heavy rubber gasket that surrounds the unit is for protection only. It's removal would not expose any internal parts.)
Looking at the top of the antenna, still in place. There is a heavy, rubber gasket around antenna and inside of main case.
This is the bottom of the antenna, having
been removed from the case and circuit board. There is a plug-in connector (that goes to the circuit board) visible on
the left.
The small white square in the middle is a piece of foam.
The antenna is held to the circuit board by four screws.
The main part of the antenna is about 3/8"+ thick.
This is what is seen after the antenna is removed. The LEDs can be seen to the right. The shiny rectangle in the middle is a protective metal cover.
This is the same view with the protective
cover removed. Again, the LEDs can be
seen to the right.
The small white rectangle near the LEDs labeled J101 is a cable lock for a small ribbon cable that comes/goes to the off/on switch.
The connector labeled J102, just above the white rectangle, is for the antenna.
The black circular item above the LEDs, labeled B102, is the buzzer (speaker).
This is the reverse side of the circuit board with another protective cover in place.
Remove the cover, and this is what is
seen. The gold circle is the backup
battery covered with gold-colored tape.
This is the same view, in gray scale, with the tape removed from the battery.
Though not a great picture, the battery type
is clearly evident. It tested out at
3.14 volts, so is probably not the reason for the unit to have died.
A close-up view of the LEDs, IR unit, and buzzer (speaker).
The empty case. The small ribbon cable on the right goes to the off/on switch.
Two square patches of foam are seen at the bottom.
The four screw posts hold the battery clips (underneath) in place as well as the circuit board and antenna. Power is provided to the circuit board through these posts.
(Note "over-enthusiastic" use of force on case perimeter in southwest corner.)
The cap, or top fits into a groove as seen in the picture. It has been suggested that the top is "spin-welded" to the case. That may be, but how do they get the spin (and weld) to stop so that one of the raised ridges (see "Y-shaped" design on top of unit) always point straight toward the IR port? Based upon the case and cap material, it would be easier to use a few drops of PVC cement.
The circuit board was taken to a friend familiar with electronics to get his observations and opinions. He tested the battery, and declared it good. He said that these type batteries (common as backup batteries in computers) are generally long-lasting. They don't gain any charge from the D-cells. It isn't unusual for them to last 5, 6, 8 years, or longer. It was his opinion that the unit failure was not due to the lithium battery. He re-soldered the power connections, but was limited to trying anything further.
It was also his opinion that if the lithium battery were removed (replaced), the firmware would have to be reloaded.
When everything was put back together, it was still a dead unit. It has been giving me problems for about six months. It would turn on okay, but it took a long time for it to start tracking satellites. It could be as quick as two minutes, but could take as long as fifteen. One time, it was giving seven red blinks for satellites located. I assumed they would soon turn green, and went on my way. Upon returning a couple hours later, all I had was the seven red blinks. No locked-in satellites. Still, it continued to be useable for many sessions after that. It all came to an end a few days ago when I decided to change the recording interval via the PC. All the lights blinked red for a brief time, then went dead. New batteries did nothing. Trying a reset did nothing. Leaving the batteries out of the unit overnight did nothing.
It was a long-shot on my part (thinking I might be able to just replace the lithium battery or fix a loose wire) and have a working unit again. Still, it was instructional.
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