Hello,
Perhaps not a DIY repair but a "it's broken, how do I fix it" question.
My old Nokia phone is playing up. It keeps saying there is no signal in areas where this is a very good signal on everyone else's phones. The mobile company have said to change from automatic to manual network selection but this doesn't solve the problem.
Do phones fail with age? Why should it suddenly stop receiving now? Is it a matter of buying a new phone or can anything be done about it?
Thanks.
I have seen that happen - often seems to be a result of a loose/broken connection inside the phone. Simplest solution is to get a new handset and move the SIM over.
I had a similar problem with an old Nokia phone we had, Opening it up showed the patch antenna connection was via a simple pressure connector onto the PCB, held in place by the case. Cleaning up around this contact provided a fix until it eventually got replaced "because it was too hard to read". My own phone is still an old, DIY repaired 6110...
WHAt Nokia phone? I have several MK502 banana phones in partial states of disrepair..
Mine is a 5210 I think. Its the one that's supposed to be indestructible. IIRC the internals are enclosed in a metal box, so I don't know whether I will be able to get to the contacts easily. How will I recognise the antenna?
It's an old sim that isn't available anymore. It is the best bits of pay as you go and pay monthly combined, I.e. I pay monthly rather than having to top up, but there is no monthly line rental. The calls are very cheap and I get inclusive minutes, except to other networks when I am stung 40ppm!
I did try it in a Nokia 6600 but the 6600 kept asking for a gprs access point and the sim is so old it does not support gprs. I got tired of the endless "select access point" prompts.
So I guess I will have to keep using old phones as long as I use this old sim.
You would be surprised at how little old phones go for on Ebay.
I am keeping the 502's going because they do exactly what I want, offer a bombproof phone that will send and receive calls, can be answered in pitch blackness by just sliding the case open, are large enough not to get lost, and can be operated in low light by someone with normal sized fingers and normal over 50 sort of eyesight.
The very lack of features is a huge advantage to me.
I suggest you try and pick up another one on Fleabay.
With difficulty :-) In the one I did, it was like a ceramic-looking moulding at the top, having a strange PC trace pattern on it and no obvious components. It was simply clamped to the main PCB by the case. The whole phone, after removing the tiny Torx screws, was parts simply clamped together, communicating via pads on the PCBs.
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