Oricom PMR1280 Questions & Answers

I suggest, as I keep suggesting to questions about this woeful product, is......find the nearest garbage bin and, thrusting your arms forward, throw this garbage where it belongs. Then, make your way to a reputable business and purchase anything OTHER than ORICOM. You'll be pleased you took this advice. Don't bother trying Oricom, their aftersales is non-existent, and they will advise you to purchase another crap product of theirs. I would usually say "buy Australian", but where Oricom is concerned, I will make the exception to this rule. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the advise. Doesn't really help my question though. 1 works fine, the other is locked. If comes down to it the kids with just have to use the 1 channel it is stuck on. Luckily I dont think I paid anything for them, if I did it was so long ago I have forgotten. Same old story looking for a cord of some description in a box of a million cords and they were sitting in the bottom. No loss if it doesn't unlock.

From memory, it’s about 6 seconds. All the key functions on mine have been rubbed out now, so I’ve got to experiment a bit. I bought my pair, with charger, in 2014; they’ve earned their keep. I upgraded to a 2 watt version about a year ago. It’s great too.

Ok, thanks. Have a feeling the menu button doesn't work at all then.

No....other than to buy anything else but Oricom. Terrible after sales service.

Hi Andy, thanks for getting in touch. We would love to help, so please give our locally based Oricom Support a call on 02 4574 8888 Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEST, as the team will be able to assist. All the best, Oricom.

Certainly not from Oricom. Their aftersales customer service is woeful, albeit, non-existent. They will advise you to upgrade, or buy another pair. You might try Battery world, but that is a long shot.

Oricom's advice to me, buy another pair. I took their advice and went with a different brand. Oricom have lost me forever....never to return.

Hello Graham, I temporarily lost my Oricom cradle battery charger, so just swapped out the unified battery pack in the body of the UHF unit with three AAA battery’s. It works fine, in fact I might just get a few lithium rechargeable battery’s and carry them in the car for next time. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Use another UHF transceiver on the same channel to determine whether the suspect unit is faulty, or not. As these are at least 10 years old, toss the unit if it’s faulty, or play amateur electronics tech, to see if it’s just a loose wire, or something in the circuitry. Cheers.

Nope! I had the same problem, had only used the radios a couple of times, relatively new, but just out of warranty. I wrote and rang Oricom with the issue. Their advice.....just buy another set. That's it. That was their brilliant response/advice. I followed their advice to the letter, and bought another set. It was not Oricom, but one of their competitors. Hence, the lesson to be learnt from this answer....NEVER, EVER buy Oricom again, they're trash and should be treated as such and thrown away.....which I invariably did. I hope this answers your question.

Hi there, would love to help you with this. Please give our locally based Oricom Support a call on 02 4574 8888 Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEST, as the team will be able to assist. All the best, Oricom

Why would this person give you a call? You had one chance to right this wrong and you blew it!

The charging cradle has two sets of contacts, and is very sensitive to being level, and even (especially on carpet). Just fiddle with the one that isn’t getting the red light, and you should make contact. Test with a multimeter for some voltage at the errant contact, if needed. If the “poor contact set” won’t show voltage, just swap them around, so as to charge the other unit. I consistently get three full days out of one charge overnight.

Hi there, if you would like to discuss with our locally based Oricom Support, please give them a call on 02 4574 8888 Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEDT, as they would love to troubleshoot with you and replace if required. Oricom.

There’s two ways to know if your Oricom 1290 is fully charged. 1. Leave it on the charging cradle overnight, and it will be fully charged. 2. Look at the bottom left hand side of the display. There’s a battery icon that shows bars as a percentage of charge. All bars means fully charged. In my experience, the 1290 will run three full days on a charge. Turn off overnight, of course.

Hello Andy, you can purchase a new power adaptor on our website. Here is the link to the power adaptor that will work with this radio. external link . All the best Oricom.

Hi there, thanks for the message. Glad to hear that you sorted the problem. All the best, Oricom.

You’ve got me Dave. It’s beyond my limited knowledge of circuits to determine why both units would develop the same unusual fault. One getting a glitch like you describe, would be odd. Both getting the same glitch at the same time would suggest they’ve both been fried somehow. The only time their physically connected is at the charger.... A local power surge maybe? HV/LV contact around your neighbourhood recently? Just guessing really....

Hi Dave, thanks for the message. We are sorry to hear that and would like to resolve this with you. Please give our locally based Oricom Support a call on 1300 889 785 Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEST, as the team will be able to assist you in this. All the best, Oricom.

Thank you both for your help

Hi Dave, exact same issue just happened to me over last few days. Replaced with disposable batteries and both work fine. I'm going to try individual rechargables next time and see how they go.

Hi Mel, thanks for the message. Please give our locally based Oricom Support a call on 1300 889 785 Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEST, as the team will be able to assist you in this. All the best, Oricom.

G’day Grumpy. Mine is only the 1280 pair with cradle charger, but their probably very similar. The 2 red lights (one for each unit) stay “on” from memory. That would indicate to me that their settled against the extra low voltage contacts properly. If the cradle charger isn’t on a flat surface, one or the other light would go out, as they are just a light contact... I charge them every blue moon, overnight, and their good for three full days of use after that.

ps. Mine are maybe 10 years old now, and still hold their full charge for many months.

Hi there, thanks for the message. We would love to discuss with you. Please give our locally based Oricom Support a call on 1300 889 785 Mon - Fri 8am - 6pm AEST as the team will be able to assist. All the best, Oricom.

Just spoke to oricom. Best customer service seriously. Lights are meant to stay on when radio is on the dock. There is no green light. Honest got straight through on the phone and explained everything to me. Couldn't be happier.

They have a little pack of three AAA batteries. You can remove this and replace with disposable batteries, if you have to.

Hi Terri, thanks for the message. Thanks Sarge for the response. Alkaline batteries will work with this unit. All the best, Oricom Baby Care.

4 x aaa's, just swapped out my battery packs with disposables.

Hi there, thanks for the message. For this one, we would suggest that you give our locally based Oricom Support a call on 1300 889 785 Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEST, as the team will be able to assist in troubleshooting the issue with you and will work to provide you with a solution. All the best, Oricom Baby Care.

Ken, what is your question? I don't understand your sentence mate....

Hi Ken, I do not understand the question. Could you please give us a call on 1300 889 785 Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEST, as we will be able to troubleshoot and sort out this issue for you. All the best, Oricom

Easier to do a reset.....turn units off, hold down menu button while turning units on.

Hi Gary, thanks for the message. We are sorry to hear of your experience and would suggest the following in order to rectify the situation. It could be low battery, so we would recommend that you try new batteries and it is also worth trying a reset. To do this, please turn the radio off, then press and hold menu while turning radio on. If the reset is successful the radio will revert to channel 12. If you continue to experience the issue, please give our locally based Oricom Support a call on 1300 889 785 Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEST, as they will be able to assist in troubleshooting the issue. All the best, Oricom.

external link 

Hi Pamela, Just in case you don't have luck at Super Cheap you can purchase them from us: external link . Oricom UHF CB

Hi Coger,

You can order a 12v charger online at: external link  or call our Customer Support Team for assistance on 1300 889 785.

Kind regards,

Oricom UHF CB

Jaycar or rtm

Hi Sam, Sounds like you may need to replace the batteries. If you want you can call our Customer Support Team, they can diagnose the issue with you over the phone and get it sorted. Call 1300 889 785 (AUS) or 0800 674 266 (NZ). Cheers, Oricom UHF CB Radios

Low voltage from tired batteries cause all sorts of odd things to happen Sam. Have you tried some fresh AAA's in it yet? If this isnt the cause, I'd suspect moisture has gotten into it maybe. Battery would be my first option, though.

Thank you both for answers but these batteries are rechargeable that are wrapped together. Will it work with normal batteries?

Yes, it will Sam.

Yes I just bought some secondhand 1280's and one of the units died as soon as you tried to transmit. The battery condition was showing full but obviously was the problem. When we put some normal triple A batteries in it works fine now.

Had same issue with batteries, replaced with 4 x aaa disposable batteries. Also did the reset for good measure.....turn units off, hold menu down while turning unit back on.

I'm not sure what's the 2190 pack is Andrew, but my Oricom pair charge easily in a few hours, and have lasted three full days when a workmate lost my charging cradle. Triple A's don't last as long as the little blister pack they came with, we found out soon after that.

I'd be asking for my money back mate; there's something wrong with your units.

Hi Andrewlodi, We are sorry that you are having this trouble. It sounds unusual, can you give us a call so we can determine the exact issue and help you out? Phone 1300 889 785 and quote your reference: HL64392. Cheers, Oricom UHF CB

I don't know. Check with Oricom and/or complain re battery life

Hi Chris, That's disappointing. You can use any other 600-800mA batteries but they can't be recharged through the unit. If you would like to talk to someone about this further, please call our Customer Support Team on 1300 889 785. Best regards, Oicom UHF CB Radios

You should be covered under warrantee Chris. Mine have lasted well, with no issues. I just took the back off one of mine, and their three AA's in a heat-shrink pack, and it looks as if any three rechargeable AA's would fit in, according to the stamping behind the fitted battery pack.

Try three disposables, and if that works; get three rechargeable ones. Enloops are the best.

Try the warrantee route first though. Regards.