This guide will help you in changing the display colors on your radio for both the LCD Display and Button Colors.

First we will go through the LCD Display Color Change and Modification.....

Using this type of lighting is more durable and dependable. This is why alot of people have been wanting to convert the radios from standard incadescent illumination to LED Illumination. Along with the fact that LED's last alot longer than incadescent bulbs.

The best time to change the lighting on your radio is anytime. Most people find it convenient to do it when the stock bulbs burn out. On all of the Ranger RCI 29XX Series radios, the LCD Display is illuminated by two incadescent lamps hooked in series, so if one burns out, the other lamp will not work either. The best example to remind you of is the old miniature christmas lights. These lights were all hooked in series to reduce the 120 volt ac current down to the normal operating voltage of the bulb. If you remember these kinds of christmas lights, you will remember that if one of the bulbs burned out, fell out or wiggled loose, the rest of the bulbs would not burn.

Well the LCD display Illumination in the Ranger RCI 29XX Series radios operates on the same principal. 2 Bulbs hooked in series. These bulbs are nothing more than a standard 6 to 7 volt bulb, but since the illumination operates at 13.8 volts DC, Ranger decided to hook them in series.

In order to use these LED's in the Ranger RCI 29XX Series Radio's, you will need to make a simple modification. The modification consist of one cut trace and two jumper wires. This will supply 13.8 Volts DC at the connection points of both bulbs and cures the problem of a burnt bulb causing both to not work. You need to cut the trace that goes directly from one bulb to the other.


http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i74/cobra269/LEDs/2950LEDConversion.jpg

After you make the trace cut, you will need to determine which bulb still has the ground tied directly to it. Use a Mutli-Meter to check for ground at the solder point of the bulb. The opposite bulb will still be connected to Positive Voltage. So what we need to do now is, Solder a jumper from the ground side of one bulb and connect it to the cut trace going to the other bulb. Solder another jumper from the positive side of the one bulb to the cut trace of the other bulb (DIAG:1). You can now install the LED's in the radio. You can either install them with the full length of the wire leads, or you can shorten the leads to reduce excess wire hanging around. Shorter leads is recommended, but not too short that you have to bend the leads of the LED itself.... Check to make sure that the LED's light up before you put the radio back together or continue to do anything else. If one or both of the LED's do not light, it is most likely because they are hooked up backwards. Rememebr that the Red wire on the LED's is positive, so make sure this lead goes to the positive voltage. Once you have all the LED's functioning, you can go to the next step or reassemble the radio.

Second is changing the color of the Buttons....

This requires the removal of the top cover, bottom cover, all of the knobs and face of the radio. Once you have the face of the radio removed, you will notice that behind the rubber keypad, there is 8 orange or yellow LED's (depending on version). These are the 8 LED's you will need to replace. These LED's are 3mm in size. If the board has mounting screws, remove them. Slowly remove the board with the buttons and LED's by using your fingers and slowly pull it straight out as to unplug it from the board behind it. Pull it straight out so you do not bend the pins. Remove one led and get ready to install one of  the new LED's of your choice. Notice that the leads on the LED's are not even, one is shorter than the other. One is positive (Long) and the other is ground (Short). Insert the new LED (make a note which way the long lead is) and line it up the same as the rest on the board. You want to keep them in perfect alignment, or when you put them back in and reassemble the radio, you could bend or crush one. Once you get one soldered in, plug this board back in and make sure it lights up. If the new LED lights, your on your way to do the rest. If not, then you will need to remove it and flip it around and try it again. When you have the LED lighting, you can now do the remaining LED's. Be sure you hook them all up the same way is the first LED (the long lead will go the same way as the first). Once you have them all installed, plug the board back in and test them to see if they all light before you reassemble the radio to make sure they all work. If they all work, reassemble your radio. Thats it! All done.



Here are a few tips if your LED's are too bright....

1. If the LED's are too bright, you will need to add resistance to the supply voltage. On the button panel, you will see several resistors that lead to each LED. You will need to increase the resistance by removing these resistors and using a higher ohm resistor. Try changing only one of the resistors to a higher ohm until you get the proper illumination. Once you get the right ohm value, proceed to change the rest. For the LED's on the LCD Display, the same rule applies, but you can simply add a resistor inline with the power lead to the LED. Do not add too much, remember you have a dimmer control and if you use too much, the dimmer will not work properly....

2. Blue LED's have a different voltage rating, so if you use blue LED's for the button panel, you are most definately going to have to change the resistors to a higher ohm rating. Same rule applies to the White LED's. No change should be necessary for red, amber, yellow or green LED's.

These LED's can be directly swapped out in the Signal/RF/SWR etc... meters on Base Stations or mobiles that use an analog meter without any modifications to any circuit.

That is all you need to know in order to change the display on your RCI 29XX Series radios.