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Sloppy input usb port on LabRadar?

Widowmaker300

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Minuteman
Mar 12, 2018
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Jackson center Ohio
Anyone else got a sloppy input port on their labradar? Mines very finicky when I plug in my battery back and I have to wiggle and wiggle to get steady input to power on. It seems like it only powers on when half or less of the Male end is inserted.
 
Yeah, I had the same problem. The field fix was remove the rubber flap so it is not putting pressure on the cable. The longer timer fix was to gently adjust the receiver tension and use a longer cable that can be positioned to allow more slack that when positioned properly results in less tension on the jack.

If you pull the flap, you will see the PCB. Be aware of that as you don't really want to get crap in there.
 
Yeah, I had the same problem. The field fix was remove the rubber flap so it is not putting pressure on the cable. The longer timer fix was to gently adjust the receiver tension and use a longer cable that can be positioned to allow more slack that when positioned properly results in less tension on the jack.

If you pull the flap, you will see the PCB. Be aware of that as you don't really want to get crap in there.
How do you adjust tension? and yes I already pulled the flap. Kinda annoyed with this as it keeps going off in between sets. For the price of the unit I shouldn’t have this lingering problem.
 
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Very carefully with a flat blade. Essentially prying between the plastic housing and the metal flange of the receiver. Mine is out of warranty so I did not hesitate to mess with it.
 
Even if labradar is like hey this specific chord will work check it out. Grabbing data and having two sets not read cus oh the wind blew the chord barely and shut off is just killing my patience.
 
Another thing you can try with a longer cord is loop it back to the right (when looking at the display) and use the side slots to fasten it with a velcro tie. But in truth, I would just fix it and then careful about not putting much in the way of tension on the cable after. Mine has been working for months/hundreds of shots since I fixed it. However, it was not a good day when it failed. Probably the same as you shoot and shutdown. Power on, shoot and it shuts down. Repeat.

I guess a final solution would be use the AA batteries, but they burn up pretty quickly. I am not sure if they will act as a backup in case the external gets unplugged.
 
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Get a longer cord and have a couple extra on hand. Mine did that with the cord they sent as well. It is a pretty standard cord. Don't recall the exact terminology of it but someone may chime in.. Take it to office depot or Walmart and match it up. Gets sloppy again change the cord again.
 
I went through the same thing with mine, multiple cables and multiple battery packs. At this point mine won't work off a USB cable at all. I have had to use good old double AA's.
 
I am not advocating that anyone do this. In fact, based on experience doing it with computer stuff, you do it wrong or do it too many times and the port is done.
---------------------------------------------------
In the zoomed in photo you can look at the sleeve beneath the blade and see a reverse "L" in the housing. That L can start to separate under a load. The other thing that can happen is the top and/or bottom get bent. If it is separated, start on the left and right to work it back, then top and bottom to straighten it. Using opposing blades (one to support, one to pry) is the better - they need to be thin.

If you try it go slow. It is easy to throw things to far, which will prevent the cable from making good contact with the post.

lr1.jpg

lr2.jpg
 
I don’t have another cable that’ll fit nor do I know of a specific one to purchase. I guess I will ask a couple buddies to see if they have anything laying around.

It's just USB on one end and Micro USB on the other. You can get one at Walmart (but I wouldn't since they want to trample gun rights now), or any of the places like Best Buy, Target, etc.
 
Labradars response was “ try a brand new usb chord” and if the port goes out itself in the unit to send it in and they will put a new one in for 35$. So guess I’ll get a brand new chord.
 
Any micro-USB port is relatively delicate no matter what device it's in, so it's good to insert the connector carefully. Your "luck" will likely be improved with good cables. Do cheap ones work? Mostly, at least for awhile. Do I bother with them? Not anymore. I haven't had any cable-related issues with any devices since I ditched all the cheap ones.

My son works in [technical field described by Charlie Brown's teacher] and has measured variables such as battery pack charging time, data rates, etc. with cheap cables compared with good ones. Results were surprising to me - seems like copper wire should be copper wire, but the good cables were demonstrably better, fit securely, and we haven't had one fail or show intermittent faults. We use Anker.
 
Guys,

Adding a power socket is a proper fix.
On - Copy.jpg


If you are willing to open up the case, can use a soldering iron, and your radar is out of warranty (1 year) - this works and is pretty easy.

I was getting the same frustrating problem with power dropping out from the sloppy Micro USB socket. For a while I was propping up the plug so it presented to the socket on a downward angle but this should not have to be - these things are expensive.

Instructions
Slave the power socket into the hook-up wires coming off the AA battery compartment.

To do this, open the radar - there are 8 silver hex screws - 7 are obvious but the last one is under the "VOID WARRANTY" warning sticker in the battery compartment.

There is spare space above the Micro SD card slot. I drilled a 12mm hole and inserted a cheap $2.00 11.5mm power socket. Then slaved its leads onto the leads coming from the AA compartment to the motherboard. They've insulated the connectors with white glue goop so rather than scrape that off you can just strip the insulation off the black and red leads and parallel them to your socket. In the photo follow the yellow and purple wires from the socket to where you can splice in. Finish it up with heat shrink and Bingo! Problemo Solvered.


Externals - Copy.jpg8th screw - Copy.jpgInternals - Copy.jpg


Notes.
The AA battery compartment has been split electrically in half so it is actually two inputs of 3xAA's (4.5V) in parallel. This makes sense because the USB power input is very similar at 5V. The power coming in from your new socket therefore cannot be more than the international USB standard of 5V. Just use your existing external USB battery and change the plug. Or, use a Li-ion rechargeable battery with a voltage regulator set to 5V (see Photo 1).

If you want to carefully strip the insulation off the battery compartment leads you won't need to cut them like I did. Note how I had to divide the yellow and purple leads into two forks because there was not enough slack on the compartment leads to scrunch them up as one join.

Note the 12-way flat ribbon connecting the two halves of the Labradar. You can unplug the ribbon and separate the two halves if you want but there is no need. Just have plenty of flat space on the bench so you can work on the motherboard side while the other half is still connected. If you do want to separate the halves the white flat ribbon socket has a small plastic bar that comes out to free the ribbon - don't lose it or it will be an expensive ... up.

I don't use AA's (too expensive) and use the battery compartment to store a kinetic trigger, which is that black thing in one of the battery bays (Photo 3).


Hope this helps.
 
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I just don't EVER again hang the power bank on the unit with the supplied velcro. The power bank coming loose and falling off IS how I messed up the micro-USB connector of the cable and am lucky I didn't hose up the socket in the unit.

I just use a longer...and yes, good quality....cable and lay the power bank on the bench or shooting mat. No stress on the connectors = no problem IME.

Cheers
 
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Guys,

Adding a power socket is a proper fix.
View attachment 7662486

If you are willing to open up the case, can use a soldering iron, and your radar is out of warranty (1 year) - this works and is pretty easy.

I was getting the same frustrating problem with power dropping out from the sloppy Micro USB socket. For a while I was propping up the plug so it presented to the socket on a downward angle but this should not have to be - these things are expensive.

Instructions
Slave the power socket into the hook-up wires coming off the AA battery compartment.

To do this, open the radar - there are 8 silver hex screws - 7 are obvious but the last one is under the "VOID WARRANTY" warning sticker in the battery compartment.

There is spare space above the Micro SD card slot. I drilled a 12mm hole and inserted a cheap $2.00 11.5mm power socket. Then slaved its leads onto the leads coming from the AA compartment to the motherboard. They've insulated the connectors with white glue goop so rather than scrape that off you can just strip the insulation off the black and red leads and parallel them to your socket. In the photo follow the yellow and purple wires from the socket to where you can splice in. Finish it up with heat shrink and Bingo! Problemo Solvered.


View attachment 7662465View attachment 7662546View attachment 7662471


Notes.
The AA battery compartment has been split electrically in half so it is actually two inputs of 3xAA's (4.5V) in parallel. This makes sense because the USB power input is very similar at 5V. The power coming in from your new socket therefore cannot be more than the international USB standard of 5V. Just use your existing external USB battery and change the plug. Or, use a Li-ion rechargeable battery with a voltage regulator set to 5V (see Photo 1).

If you want to carefully strip the insulation off the battery compartment leads you won't need to cut them like I did. Note how I had to divide the yellow and purple leads into two forks because there was not enough slack on the compartment leads to scrunch them up as one join.

Note the 12-way flat ribbon connecting the two halves of the Labradar. You can unplug the ribbon and separate the two halves if you want but there is no need. Just have plenty of flat space on the bench so you can work on the motherboard side while the other half is still connected. If you do want to separate the halves the white flat ribbon socket has a small plastic bar that comes out to free the ribbon - don't lose it or it will be an expensive ... up.

I don't use AA's (too expensive) and use the battery compartment to store a kinetic trigger, which is that black thing in one of the battery bays (Photo 3).


Hope this helps.
Excellent write up man , having the same issue with mine. Can't even get it to turn on via the USB outlet
 
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