Learn to Repair Cell Phones
Q. Where can I learn to repair cell phones?
A. Tom Farley here. There isn't anywhere to learn since most aren't repaired. Cell phones now use surface mount components, which means parts can't be easily replaced from their circuit boards. The days of discrete components are long gone. Also, since the price of cell phones is so low, they have become disposable, even with the most expensive models. It's cheaper to ship the customer a new phone. What carrier wants to take in an old phone, ship it to the manufacturer, have Samsung or Motorola chase down a defective transistor or diode, replace it, put the phone back together again, and then ship it back? Geoff Fors contributes the final word:
"Well, you are right. Cell phones are disposable. Most are manufactured in China on robot machinery and most of the parts are not available here anyway, nor are the schematics and technical diagrams. There is no provision whatever for repairing them anymore. The last phones that anybody tried to offer repair on were the Motorola 'Flip-Phone' Micro-Tac models of 1987-89, and those had to be shipped to Motorola for service. That's why you'll find trash bins at Office Depot and elsewhere with signs on them saying 'deposit cell phones and empty printer cartridges here.'"
"Two way radio repair is a dying art. That's why so many truly wonderful two way radios are for sale on eBay for $5 to $10. There is no one left in the industry to repair them or understand them. They just change modules or boxes. PG&E in California closed down its radio repair shops back about1992-93 and today just ships the whole thing back to the manufacturer, which is the wave of the future. So many businesses have dropped two way use in favor of Nextel handsets that there isn't much business left for traditional two way. They are now paying the price for that in Louisiana and Mississippi where nothing worked (or works) when it was needed the most."
"I recently saw a job ad on one of the newsgroups I subscribe to, for a radio shop supervisor with Texas D.O.T. in Wichita Falls. They wanted someone to be a one-man-band familiar with everything from computers through microwave multiplex including component level service, preferably with a college degree, yet they wanted to pay 'about' $ 2500 per month. That's another reason nobody wants to get into the radio communications business. Considering that it was a salaried position without overtime, I expect the guy will be working for about 3000 hours a year, which works out to $10 an hour before taxes, less than many unskilled labor jobs. There's no future in civilian radio repair."