Not being able to handle having something that isn't working as it should, last night I began my journey into the insides of my maverick et-73 wireless thermometer.
My problem was not having reception in my bedroom (only 25-30ft away from WSM, but many walls in between).
So I pulled out my trusty screwdriver and pulled the reciever apart. Just as I hoped for I spotted the antenna inside, looped around the whole inside of the unit. My plan at this point was to just unwravle (sp?) the antenna and have it just come out of the case (thinking if it was in a straight line I would get better reception). I carved a little notch in the case at the bottom for the antenna to pass through. Now off to fix the on/off switch I broke during disassembly (what a POS switch, not very strong, no suprise there have been a few folks breaking these). I didn't have a switch to use, so I just have two wires coming out for now (connect the wires and it's "on", disconnect them to turn it "off", a hack, but it works for now). Got everything back together, turned it all on and went for a stroll through the house. A nice suprise, it gets reception in the bedroom now
Wooo Hoooo!
For anyone with a similar problem, it's a pretty easy mod and may just fix your problem.
1) take off the battery cover.
2) take out the 6 screws.
3) pull the back cover off, be careful to pull it straight out as to not break the on/off switch. (it sticks straight up from the circuit board and is realy flimsy)
4) you'll see a black wire coming out of the top center of the circuit board and wrap around the whole unit, follow it to the end thats not connected to anything and start pulling on it, its glued in a couple of spots.
5) cut a little notch in the bottom of the case (I just used a small knife, it was easy) and pass the antenna wire through the notch and out of the case.
5) reassemble
If anyone is interested, I can post some pictures, just let me know.
Anton
My problem was not having reception in my bedroom (only 25-30ft away from WSM, but many walls in between).
So I pulled out my trusty screwdriver and pulled the reciever apart. Just as I hoped for I spotted the antenna inside, looped around the whole inside of the unit. My plan at this point was to just unwravle (sp?) the antenna and have it just come out of the case (thinking if it was in a straight line I would get better reception). I carved a little notch in the case at the bottom for the antenna to pass through. Now off to fix the on/off switch I broke during disassembly (what a POS switch, not very strong, no suprise there have been a few folks breaking these). I didn't have a switch to use, so I just have two wires coming out for now (connect the wires and it's "on", disconnect them to turn it "off", a hack, but it works for now). Got everything back together, turned it all on and went for a stroll through the house. A nice suprise, it gets reception in the bedroom now

For anyone with a similar problem, it's a pretty easy mod and may just fix your problem.
1) take off the battery cover.
2) take out the 6 screws.
3) pull the back cover off, be careful to pull it straight out as to not break the on/off switch. (it sticks straight up from the circuit board and is realy flimsy)
4) you'll see a black wire coming out of the top center of the circuit board and wrap around the whole unit, follow it to the end thats not connected to anything and start pulling on it, its glued in a couple of spots.
5) cut a little notch in the bottom of the case (I just used a small knife, it was easy) and pass the antenna wire through the notch and out of the case.
5) reassemble
If anyone is interested, I can post some pictures, just let me know.
Anton