When I first turn the radio the display blinks for about 30 seconds before and sound comes from the radio or any of the control knobs will do anything. Is this normal?
12v TO THE RADIO. I'm a retired service tech. I've cured many similar problems by just tightening the power supply contact screws, cleaning the fuse holders, or replacing the power cord. You would be surprised how much could have been saved on a service call if the customer would have just checked a few simple things. And never use automotive type fuses!
yeah, stuff i trusted over the years just aint working! some very nice power blocks i made with strong tight fuse clips and round auto fuses ,#12 stranded wire are getting .5 to 1v drops! my 7300 drops apx 20 watts with the first 1 v drop,14 to 13 volts. i have a factory made cord with flat spade 30 amp fuses. fuses get hot!. what to do, hate to waste all my nice stuff...?
Those flat spade fuses are your problem. Change them, clean them every day or so or replace them with 2AG or 3AB type fuses.
the world has gone to flat spade fuses and some guys will have nothing to do with "round" fuses. trillions of spades in millions of cars are ok. its just "some" connectors get loose, gotta test and fix... my black,icom connectors are ok, the white i will look at.
My FT891 had a power cable that was loose at the fusebox. It would flicker on and off like that, until I positioned it "just so." Fixing the loose cable would be the trick, in this case.