Uniden Uniace 200 CB27/81 UK FM CB radio - repair 

...though the two models are identical performance! Richard

I knew that. More knobs=better.

"working" on ebay means "lights up"! Some years ago I bought a Yaesu FT290 2M amateur transportable radio to do morse with....off Ebay, sold as 'working'...and from a licenced radio amateur in Guernsey. When it arrived...just like your set....it was stuck in transmit. Looking at the service manual I spotted a likely transistor & replaced it. Fault gone. Now I could hear the receive which was quiet & strangled. I decided the audio IC must be faulty so ordered a replacement (about £7.50) & fitted it. The radio now worked. When I did the feedback, now 4 days after the radio arriving, I wrote "Radio arrived safely. Jammed in TX fault, transistor (whatever number) replaced. Strangled RX audio, replaced IC (whatever number). Many thanks, works great." Now I paid £65 for that radio at a time they were usually around £95. I'd spent £8 & two hours sorting the radio out so I'd still had a good deal. The vendor wrote back "I didn't think there was anything wrong with it". In reality of course he did & was now pi**ed off I sorted it for so little money! Richard, G0OJF, UK

@@ukfmcbradioservicingTango21 Hi, its like the two harrier cbs i bought recently, 1 is doing 4 watts the other one is doing 1 watt, maxed out, could be a capacitor or diode, but as i bought them for doners not realy worth fixing the other properly, atleast i know one has a good driver/output transistor in good shape, not forgetting the green/yellow/white power cams at rear, including the ferrites they have in side them, i have 4 harvard 410t, 1 is main handheld the others doners so i have atleast spares to keep it going,

Now these are 40 years old those four electrolytic caps need changing regardless. The dodgy disc ceramic was an unwelcome surprise though. Richard

It's a Motorola SINAD meter & is automatic. If I adjust the attenuator on the signal generator until the SINAD meter reads 12dB (for examle), then the setting of the attenuator on the signal generator can be read directly. When actually aligning the radio, the signal generator is attenuated as much as possible (usually to aboud 4dB on the SINAD meter) so the receiver isn't being saturated. Bear in mind I'm only ever doing FM. When I move onto gthe IF coil alignment I usually have around 10dB on the SINAD meter. The detector/discriminator coil is always set with a 100uV (S9) signal from the signal generator. The coil is peaked for maximum recovered audio on an oscilloscope. The SINAD meter & osciloscope are simply connected accross the extension speaker socket. When most od these CB radios were made (in 1981-3), SINAD meters weren't common in UK 2-way radio workshops so service manuals show other more complex methods of aligment...which also work fine. When I worked at Nottingham radio, there was a Farnell TTS520/SSG520 test sdet combo unit on my bench & this was the first time I'd seen a SINAD meter which was around 1986. The SINAD meter wasn't hooked up. I got the instruction book out & connected up the SINAD part of the instrument & got on with it straight away. Fast forward to about 1993 & the owner came in with a used Sinadder he'd bought from a radio rally & told me he fancied having a go doing the tuneups using SINAD on his bench & did I know how they connected. I explained to him I'd already been doing sets the SINAD method since 1986....7 years in front of him. Note how I don't work there now! Richard, G0OJF, UK

@@ukfmcbradioservicingTango21 Thank you so much for your kindness in replying and for sharing QUITE A BIT of information in one go! I am setting up for retirement and wanting to get back to my early electronic training in college. With that in mind I am collecting all kinds of test equipment and all kinds of old CB radios in varying conditions and hope one day to set about getting them in working order just for fun. Your use of the SINAD meter intrigued me because I have one of the original Helper Instruments Sinadder (I guess Sinadder 1... since it doesn't say) meters. I have seen some videos where people set AM transceivers using a SINAD meter so I am assuming that there is some value in using them on radios other than strictly FM. In any case, I thank you again for such generous sharing of information. 73, Bob (AI5RR, US)

No, because it's an illegal radio in the UK. Up to about 1995 the DTI (as Offcom was then) allowed illegally imported CB radios to be converted to amateur radios by suitably qualified persons & submitted to the DTI for test verification. They charged a small fee of £15 if I recall correctly & then issued a certiicate of conformity with the radios model & serial number. Calling channel on 10M FM is 29.6Mhz for your information. Richard, G0OJF, UK

Not sure of the lifespan of this particular comment but I beg to differ. 😊

It depends how you use CB radio. I've had CB to talk to specific friends mainly when mobile. Here's an example. I was asked to tune the church organ at a church on the outskirts of Sheffield. From here in Lincolnshire, that's 65 miles away. Mr Chippie was assisting me & coming down from Bradford...45 miles away. I started calling him on a predetermined channel, definitely not 19, when I was 12 miles away. It wasn't long before he came through on the radio.... then we could have a casual chin-wag & also know where each other was. Richard, G0OJF, UK

There is another side to this too. People actually collect them & never use them....just like stamps. Richard

@@ukfmcbradioservicingTango21 Erm i wonder who they are he he.

I’m on the border of Suffolk and Essex and it’s a different experience to what you describe. It’s not ‘83 I admit but there’s some good ol’ boys who ragchew and let you QSK for a rig check and a chat. I’ve had chats with Colchester and Braintree no problem.