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Modifying Yaesu FT-817 To Work On 60 Meters

Modifying Yaesu FT-817 To Work On 60 Meters

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Following is a story of how I found a solution to make my very old Yaesu FT-817 work on 60 meters.  If you have the Yaesu FT-817ND there is no need to modify the radio as it is designed to include 60 meters! This process of modifying the older Yaesu FT-817 is quite difficult.  I do NOT recommend you attempting this for a few really good reasons.  I was told by a former Yaesu repair person that this radio has undergone changes and it is likely you will find a solder point solution that pretends to work for your radio as describe on the Internet but it might NOT work for your radio.  Yaesu technical support has a cheat sheet showing them radio serial numbers and how they correspond to the manufactured electronics.  This tells me that there are probably different versions of the FT-817 and possibly different solder point switch solutions.  Also, you really need to know how to solder.  You need the correct tools and know how to use them.  The desoldering and soldering of the switch points is in very tight space making the task rather difficult.  Also, the process of uploading frequencies into the radio is a bit tricky in that you will get RT software error messages and you need to know how to solve each error.

I have had a Yaesu FT-817 ham radio for a very long time and have never seen the need to use it until now.  I participated in a local county Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) Zoom meeting where I had report to our city RACES group what took place during that meeting.  A part of that Zoom meeting covered a ham band I had never heard of before, that being, 60 meters.  I began to research this band and found out that it was created in 2002.  I then found out that there was a weekly check in for operators from each city who would use their 60 meter radios and reply to the county RACES operator when they asked if there were any stations for their city.  I then found out that our city was not on the list for cities that had checked in.  I have a lot of ham radios and I looked around and discovered that the ONLY 60 meter radio I had was a Yaesu FT-817 but it was not expected to work on 60 meters until you found a way to modify it.  I pulled the radio out from storage and tired it out.  This radio is low power, called a QRP, or reduced power radio.  I then went to Ham Radio Outlet and purchased software for the radio so I could program frequencies into it.

www.rtsystemsinc.com

YAESU ADMS-4A-USB, which was labeled as “Advanced Data Management System for the Yaesu FT-817/817D”.  I really like RT system software.  I was really pleased to discover this software was available for the Mac computer.  I then created a list of frequencies for the radio including 60 meters.  There are some important restrictions for using this band.  One restriction is to stick to 5 frequencies:

  • 5.332 MHz. USB
  • 5.348 MHz. USB
  • 5.368 MHz. USB
  • 5.373 MHz. USB
  • 5.405 MHz. USB

I then tried to input the full list of frequencies into the radio including the 60 meter ones and then tried transmitting into my 50 ohm dummy load.  All the 2 meter and 440 frequencies worked but not the 60 meters.  I kept getting a “TX ERR” or transmit error.  The radio would not transmit.  I then started a really long investigation that took weeks using the Internet.  I had a phone conversation with a former Yaesu technical support person who warned me that the Yaesu FT-817 had a number of changes and technical support had a cheat sheet where the serial number of the radio told them which version of radio they were dealing with.  This hinted to me that maybe the solder switches might be different depending on which version of radio I had.  I even sent Yaesu technical support for some help but I was refused with this response “I am sorry but as the manufacturer of the radio we are not permitted to assist in modifying the radio.”  I discovered that there are a LOT of web sites devoted to modifying this radio.  Suddenly I got a bit lucky and found out that there are some solder point switches inside the radio that can change the capabilities of that radio.  I tried one solder point solution but that failed.

NOTE: THE FOLLOWING FAILED FOR MY RADIO. (It is reported that the solder points shown next might work on some FT-817 models.). 

(You just might want to start with this modification first and then progress to the one explained later in this post.  A possible reason for these two solutions is the radio may have gone through changes.)

To extend the HF coverage to 500kHZ per band.
Extend VHF and UHF coverage.

Should be shorted:  JP4006, JP4007, JP4008.
Should be open:  JP4004, JP4005, JP4009.
Leave all other jumpers, 1,2,3, as they are.
After making the solder switch changes and reassemble the whole radio, apply power while pressing F and V/M buttons.

This did not work for me.

A ham radio friend sent me a web site that presented a different solder switch solution, shown next.  https://www.qsl.net/bg9bl/ft817/ft817.htm.  I tried it and it worked.

Should be shorted:  JP4009, JP4008, JP4007,  JP4006.
Should be open:  JP4005, JP4004, JP4003, JP4002, JP4001.

I the image below the solder jumpers are numbered 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. as you see them below in the image.  You only know this by being shown a drawing from the Internet. They are not labeled on the circuit board.

 

FT-817 Solder Point Solution

 

Let me first show you some tips on how to open and close the radio.

  • Remove all the screws holding the case together.
  • When removing the shoulder strap put those 4 screws in a separate place as they are longer.
  • Be really careful lifting the radio cover holding the speaker because there is a speaker wire that needs to be pulled out of the circuit board carefully.
  • The radio cover that has the battery door is a pain to open.  Look carefully and you will see one screw that has a plastic piece under it.  Loosen the screw a bit and then slide that piece away from the battery door.
  • The opposite side from the slider there are door tabs fitting into the case so you need to pull the door out from these holdings.
    The door then can be removed if it is swung out from the latch.  I removed the internal battery.
  • Once both the top and bottom radio covers are removed, you next need to pull the front panel CAREFULLY from the radio.  There are really simple plastic clips holding the front piece but there is a short ribbon cable that is really tricky to deal with so be careful you do not pull on this cable.  I use my finger nails to lift up the two top and two bottom plastic clips to allow me to move the front piece away.
  • The ribbon cable that runs between the front panel and the main radio body is really tricky to disconnect.  I decided to remove the ribbon at the radio head and NOT the body.  The trick is there is a plastic latch, (the brown piece in the image below) that needs to be moved so the ribbon can be withdrawn.

Once the front panel was free, I put it into my Panavise.  I then performed the solder point connection and removal of solder to the solder switches listed below (see image above).

 

Should be shorted:  JP4009, JP4008, JP4007,  JP4006.
Should be open:  JP4005, JP4004, JP4003, JP4002, JP4001.

Once you perform the solder switch changes, put the case back together.  For me, replacing the ribbon cable was a pain.  I had to use thin nose pliers to center the cable and then use my finger nails on both sides to make sure the cable was into the connector all the way.  It really helps to use headband magnifier to see more exactly what you are doing.

Pay particular attention to replace the shoulder strap to the radio so the microphone strap holder is on the same side as the microphone connector.

Connect a 50 ohm dummy load to the radio antenna jack or attach a good working 60 meter antenna.

Connect the power cable to a good source of power.

Connect the microphone to the radio.

GET THE RADIO READY TO RECEIVE THE COMPUTER FILE

Connect the RT Software cables to your computer and the radio.
Launch the software so you can input frequencies.
The RT software also has an important menu (Settings > Radio Menu Settings).  I always connect my dummy load and antennas for 60 meters to the REAR antenna jack.  I choose “Common > Rear HF Antenna”.
Input your frequency list into that software.  I have found two different lists of frequencies.  A ham operator friend sent this explanation to me:

“Yaesu radios typically are programmed to display the center frequencies on 60 meters but actually operate on what are known as dial frequencies on other radios. The USB dial frequencies are 1.5 kHz lower than the center frequencies.”

5.332 MHz.   5.33050 MHz Ch 1

5.348 MHz.   5.34650 MHz Ch 2

5.368 MHz.   5.35700 MHz Ch 3

5.373 MHz.   5.37150 MHz Ch 4

5.405 MHz.   5.40350 MHz Ch 5


Make sure you add the 60 meter frequencies to the RT software.

Now we need to restart the radio and pray it works.

  • Pressing F and V/M at the same time and then press the power switch.
  • Then press HOME and POWER to reset the radio CPU.
  • Turn the radio OFF.

Next get the radio ready to accept the RT Software.

Press the left and right MODE keys at the top of the radio and while those keys are pressed, apply power.
The radio display should show “CLONE MODE”
Press down the C key under the radio display screen.
Using the computer RT Software, go to the menu  and select COMMUNICATIONS > SEND DATA TO RADIO.
Mouse select the SEND DATA TO RADIO to start the file sending  into the radio.
You should then see a computer splash screen showing you the loading of data from the RT software into the radio.  The screen will show a left to right bar moving across revealing the loading into the radio.
When the loading has completed turn the radio OFF.
Now turn the radio back ON and you should now see your frequencies have loaded into the radio.
Go to one of your 60 meter frequencies by rotating the “SEL” for select knob just to the left of the radio display.  ONLY use this knob to choose the programmed channels.  As soon as you rotate the large knob you go out of your pre programmed channel and fine tune the frequency.  

While on a 60 meter frequency, press your microphone button and you should see the RED light turn on from the face plate of the radio showing you that it is transmitting on 60 meters.  If this happens, it appears that the prior modification has worked.

Counterpoise is required for best operation.

You need to add a stranded, not solid, insulated wire to the rear ground connection of the radio to help balance your antenna operation.  The best counterpoise is 1/4-wavelength at the lowest frequency you intend to use.    “Without a significant formal “counterpoise”, we have often undesirable case of the coax shield serving as most or all of the ad-hoc counterpoise; the “other half of the antenna”.

An interesting counterpoise solution can be found here:  https://www.qsl.net/sv1uy/counterpoisekit.html

I truly hope this description has helped and you are successful in using and enjoying this radio.

When you connect your Yaesu FT-817 to a 60 meter antenna try to tune the antenna with a passive SWR analyzer to avoid a mismatch in impedance.  Most ham stick antennas allow you to slide the end tip portion up and down and lock that part with small screws.  Once you think you have a very low standing wave ratio, SWR,  reading then lock that antenna length.   A further test is to attach a SWR meter between the radio and antenna to make sure there is a good impedance match when you transmit.  You really want to avoid reflected waves coming back into the radio because the antenna was a mismatch.

73

 

Posted September 25, 2020
Modified September 30, 2020

 

 

Installing Kenwood 144/430 MHz Dual Bander, Model TM-D710A Into 2009 RAV4

Installing Kenwood 144/430 MHz Dual Bander, Model TM-D710A Into 2009 RAV4

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I was given a Toyota 2009 RAV4 from my sister who can no longer drive.  I decided to install an old Kenwood radio that I had purchased years ago into that vehicle.  The Kenwood TM-D710A radio is a dual display radio because two channels can be received. MSRP for the TM-D710A when it was sold $600. I have this model. E-Ham Score for TM-D710A: Average rating: 4.2/5
TM-D710A is no longer made.

Current, in production, model is TM-D710 GA, ($530 to $580). It includes a GPS (Global Position System) unit.
It also has a E-Ham average rating of: 4.2/5
Listed cost about $600.

Some terms that will be used:

      • APRS =  Automatic Packet Reporting System
      • CERT = Community Emergency Response Team
      • RACES = Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service

Radio capability:

• APRS Ready (I purchased a separate GPS unit for this radio) (I am using this) • APRS Weather Station ready
• KSS II+ (kenwood Skycommand II+)
• NMEA 0183 GPS I/O port
• Built-in 1200/9600 bps TNC (Packet) (Not using this) • Echolink Ready (Not using this)
• High RF Power Output (V/U: 50 watt)
• 1000 multifunction Memory Channels
• Dual Receive on same band (V+V, U+U)
• NOAA Weather Alert/RX (US Only)
• Voice Guidance & Storage option (VGS-1) This is installed.
• MCP Compatible with ARRL “TravelPlus”
• With “illegal” MARS / CAP Modification radio can transmit into FRS frequencies:

Cut one wire and remove one resistor is all that is required for this modification.  At first I did not have the guts to make this modification.  What changed my mind was when I shared this installation document to our local RACES group, a ham radio operator said he makes the MARS /CAP modification to all of his radios.  This modification results in the radio violating the FCC rules set for FRS (Family Radio Service) hand held radios.  BUT, in an emergency, all FCC rules are thrown out the window as they expect results for assisting aid, not compliance.

Antenna:

Diamond model NR770HNMO Average cost $60
E-Ham review score: Average rating: 3.4/5
2 meter and 440
No ground plane required
Gain: 3.0 on 2 meters and 5.5 db gain on 440. Connector: NMO

Antenna Mount:

Diamond Deluxe Luggage Rack Mount model K515SNMO. Cost: $70.
SMA connector attached to coax. SMA to PL-259 included. Installation was very easy. The mount allows the antenna to stay mounted but can be angled forward or backward and also side to side. This allows the owner to angle the antenna horizontally so the vehicle can enter a garage without removing the antenna. The antenna lead-in cable has a very small diameter. I used split wrap to protect the antenna cable for the portion of the cable exposed outside the car. I purchases a NMO protector cap.

I used Split Wrap and applied it to the antenna line coming from antenna mount and as it enters the car door.

Image below shows Split Wrap being applied to antenna line coming from mount.

Power Supply line Installation:

• Power line was routed directly from the car battery through the car fire wall and into the passenger compartment with 12 gauge wire. It took about 3 hours to make a hole through an existing rubber gasket on the passenger side using a small diameter Phillips head screwdriver. (see image below). Anderson Power Poles were soldered to the wire ends inside the car cabin.

• Connections had to be made at the battery and an in line fuse was included to protect this wiring. I used split wrap to protect some of the power lines within the engine.

Image below shows split wrap being applied to main power from battery.

 

The disadvantage of supplying constant power to the radio from the battery, is you could run the car battery down if you forget to turn the radio off. I set the APO (Automatic Power Off) to 60 minutes, just in case I forget to shut the radio off when I leave the vehicle for a long time. The APO resets it’s timer every time you make any change to one of the radio controls.

• The main radio was mounted on a plastic sheet. Under that sheet I placed the hook side of Velcro. This Velcro attached itself to the car carpet under the passenger seat with such force that I had to almost use crow bars to lift the radio so I could service it.

• A method was needed to mount the radio control head. A cup holder was decided upon because there was no impact into the car like glue or drilling.

I purchased the Lido LM-802 Heavy Duty Cup Holder Mount. Cost $45.

The Toyota 2009 RAV4 has 2 cup holders between the driver and passenger. This cup holder installation naturally takes up one of those cup holders. This car has rubber inserts that can be removed to make for larger drinks. I found that the radio mount needed those rubber inserts. Also, the mount expands or contracts to the size of the cup holder by turning the large knob just above the portion that slips into the cup holder. I had to really expand the mount so it would not mover around. Note that the mount, seen above, has 2 rings toward the bottom The one on top gives you more expansion and one below for smaller expansion. I had to use the smaller expansion portion.

There is also a large knob that compresses two opposing ball joints at both ends of the top portion. This allows you to angle both the cup holder and the radio head mount. I found that I had to try to keep the holder in a vertical angle as much as I could so it would be less prone to dip.

The radio head has dual display. Left side is completely separate for reception and transmission and so is the right side. I chose to have APRS  set for the right side of the control head.  When working properly the top right of the display are the words “BCON GPS” The GPS must flash on and off to tell the operator that the GPS receiver component for APRS is working properly.

I also had to drill some holes into the adapter plate that comes with the cup holder mount so the radio head plate could be bolted to the cup holder plate. (see next image below). The cup holder plate allows for slide removal of radio head.

The Kenwood mounting plate allows the radio head to also easily be removed because it has 2 sections. One section stays attached to the radio head and the other is part of the mounting plate. A simple press to release uncouples the two.  The Lido plate is bolted to the under side of the Kenwood plate.

• Audio Out Solutions

I found three solutions to providing audio out of the ham radio:

#1  The main radio has a single speaker that provides audio for both radio channels. But, because I put the main radio under the passenger seat, the audio favored the low frequencies.

#2  The automobile has an auxiliary audio input located in the console between the driver and passenger. The advantage for this method is the audio comes out toward the operator from the front of the car. The radio has 2 speaker outputs which were easy to wire into the Aux audio input. The left audio channel as seen in the radio display comes out of the left side car speakers. The right side of the radio display’s audio comes out of the right side of the car speakers. This audio has the best quality of the three solutions. I chose to put the APRS signal into the right channel and I turn that volume down because I do not want to hear the digital tones. In an emergency which includes CERT volunteers, I would shut off APRS on the right channel and switch to FRS. I like to keep the left channel for active RACES station traffic.

3. The third method was to mount 2 separate speakers to the driver’s seat headrest (see image below). The problem with this was the audio comes from behind the operator. When using APRS, the radio sends out tones which can not be turned off. The tones come out of both audio channels equally. Thus, those tones seem to come right behind the head of the operator. This audio solution takes some time to get used to it.

? Summary:

I swept the car antenna with a SWR meter and the results were near perfect for the whole 2 meter band. My meter, being very old, can not sweep 440.

The radio GPS (Global Positioning Unit) was a pain to keep working while I was setting up the radio. Every time I inputted a new list of frequencies stored in the radio, I lost GPS. I even had to do a radio factory reset. The number of menu items one needs to go through to make the GPS work, is over 15! Any one of those menu items being set incorrectly would take down the GPS. But, once I got the menu system set correctly, the unit worked perfectly.

I came to realize that putting this radio in this car really added to my capabilities for the city. Let me list the improvements that I can now provide:

  1.   My connectivity and capacity to communicate has drastically improved.  The range of this radio is 1 to 3 miles. The new car radio has 50 watts of RF power out when set to high power.
  2.   My exact location is available. With the radio APRS capability, I can easily be found on a map in real time using APRS Google Maps. I can also use APRS to find another operator that is transmitting their location using the radio control head. APRS shows direction and distance between stations in the control head display.

When you get another ham radio operator to show up on the APRS display, it shows a compass heading for that station.  If I press POS (Position) on the control head I see more information such as distance between me and the other station.  The compass shows the direction. It is this feature that allows a radio operator to find and get near another station that is sending out APRS position signals.

Anyone can do a Google search for APRS and a map will appear.  In the APRS image map, you can see APRS radios that have transmitted within the past hour within any zip code you specify.  You can change the station logo image. WX stands for weather station. I chose car for my Toyota RAV4.

  1. I now can respond at any time to a call out. Before, I shared a car with my daughter.
  2. My vehicle can carry support items. I now can take with me food, clothing, sleeping bag, tent, cooking devices. My car can be used to make supply runs.
  3. If I make MARS / CAP Modification to the radio, I can transmit into FRS frequencies. FRS radios are really handicapped by extremely low power and not being able to switch antennas. FRS radios have an awful range. But, if I were to open my radio up to MARS /CAP modification, then my radio would have way better receive capability and fantastic transmit power. Our job as RACES members is to support CERT volunteers and if the only communications they are using is FRS then we need to be capable of reaching them. It is illegal to transmit on FRS frequencies with this high powered radio unless there is an emergency.

APRS Web Site: http://www.aprs.org/aprs.html

MARS /CAP Modification Reference:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm-8vBU29pw

 

 

 

Posted 7/15/219

Comet SBB5 2M / 70cm Dualband Mobile Antenna Review

Comet SBB5 2M / 70cm Dualband Mobile Antenna Review

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I really recommend the Comet SBB5.  This is a 2 meter and 440 antenna.  It does not require a ground plane.  It is almost double the length of the SBB2 which is an awful antenna.   My SWR analyzer showed a near perfect SWR for 2 meters using the SBB5.  Typically this antenna is attached to a vehicle.  I volunteered to provide communications for a walk and run event at a local university.  From past experience working this event, I found that the tall cement and steel buildings that stand like mountains between me and the event control operator posed attenuated signal strength.   Using an improved antenna is one solution to ensure clear communications.  You can not walk around using the antenna.  Typically each operator is assigned a fix position along the walk run walk routes.   The event starts at 7am and finishes at 11am.  I am not going to stand for 4 hours.  I decided to bring a beach chair.  I also took the ProLine MS220CR microphone stand and attached a TRAM Model 3270 to the end of the mic stand so I could screw in my antenna.  I also had a ABR Industries 6 foot RG316/U with SMA Male connector to allow me to use my HT radio with this antenna.  I can thus sit in my chair and transmit using a superior antenna at a raised elevation.

Antenna is Recommended.

Emergency Power In Ammo Case.

Emergency Power In Ammo Case.

It all started when I noticed on the shelf of Home Depot a plastic ammo can.  Immediately I thought it would work to hold my 12 volt gel cells that I use for emergency communications.  I am a ham radio operator who volunteers for the local city RACES group.  The very next day I went to Ham Radio Outlet to buy RT Software.  In the store, on the counter were two battery cases with no battery but on the outside of these cases was the interface for Anderson power poles.  I asked the store clerk about mounting Anderson Power Poles into my ammo case.  I was shown a product that made my socks roll up and down.  A company called Powerwerx had some pretty cute devices for mounting into cases.  I purchased three of these, all different, and they are:

  • Anderson Powerpole connectors (2 included in the module).  The module comes with its own mounting plate.  I will not use this single mounting plate but instead put all 3 devices into a single large plate.  The Anderson Powerpoles will provide power for my ham radios.
  • USB connectors  (2 included in the module) to offer emergency power for cell phones.  This module comes with its own mounting plate which I will not use.
  • A volt meter showing the battery voltage and it includes its own mounting plate.
  • I also purchased a three hole plate that makes all 3 of these modules look really nice.

 

The next day I drove over to Batteries Plus, Brea, California,  to see what battery they had that might fit into the ammo case.  The store clerk immediately picked up a Duracel 12 volt, 14 amp hour battery that slid into the case perfectly on 3 sides.  I had some extra room at the end of the ammo case for other items.

List of Parts:

Plano Field Box, Water Resistant, Model 1312-00 (Made in the USA)
4QT Sports Utility Box
Home Depot   $9.97.

Battery, Duracel 12-14F2, 12 Volt, 14 AH. with F2 0.250 terminals.  This battery is quite heavy.
Batteries Plus  $59.99
Item Number: WKDC12-14F2
Brand: Duracell Ultra
Voltage: 12
Lead Acid Type: Deep Cycle
Capacity: 14AH
Chemistry: Lead Acid
Lead Acid Design: AGM
Product Category: Sealed Lead Acid
Terminal Type: F2, T2, Faston .250
Weight: 9.2 lbs
Length: 5.96 in  (The ammo can is about 9 1/4 to 9 1/2 due to slight taper)
Width: 3.93 in  (The ammo can is about 4 in wide)
Height: 3.82 in  (The ammo can has 6 in height for contents)

Powerwerx 3 Hole Panel Plate.
PanelPlate3
Ham Radio Outlet   $5.95.  This is simply a very nice plate to hold the three devices.

Anderson Power Poles.
Red Black Anderson 15 Amp
Ham Radio Outlet, $18.95.  This is necessary power for RACES radios and the main reason for building the box, to get power to my HT radios.  I counted 5 pair (10 total) of red and black connectors.  I prefer to solder and not crimp these connectors.  From time to time I get a bit messy and some solder is added to the outside of one of these connectors.  I use a fine jeweler’s file to remove this solder otherwise I can not slide the metal connector into the plastic outside insulator.

Dual USB connectors rated at 4.2 amps.
PanelUSB-Plus
Ham Radio Outlet $23.95.  This will be perfect for charging cell phones.  I even have a USB LED on a stick that I could use to illuminate my work area.

Panel Mounting Digital Meter for 12/24 volt systems
PanelDVM-Blue
Ham Radio Outlet   $19.95

Powerwerx PD-8 an 8 position Anderson Power Pole distribution block
Powerwerx PD-8
Ham Radio Outlet  $34.95
I only needed to use 5 of the 8 pairs.

Misc Items: 

  • Red and black heat shrink tubing. The red obviously slips over the positive female disconnects and the black over the negative.  TRICK:  I borrow my daughter’s or my wife’s hair dryer and set it on hot and high. I then put part of my hand on the air intake to limit the air coming into the the hair dryer to raise the temperature.  In this way, the heat shrink rapidly shrinks around the female disconnects.
  • .250″ female disconnects.  The devices come with female disconnects but I am using larger diameter wire and do not use them but buy larger wire size connectors.  I like to use bare metal connectors, solder the wire to them and then heat shrink the ends.

Rough Cost:  I had the wire, connectors, heat shrink, and hardware so these items are not added.  My rough total for items I had to buy was about $180.  I would have to guess that if you do not have the items I already had on hand, your cost will certainly go beyond my cost.

 

Steps To Build:

Place 3 hole panel plate on top of ammo case on the side next to the handle but away from where the handle will fold into the case.  Center this plate.  Take a look at the under side of the top lid and get an idea of the plastic braces that will need to be cut away later.  I found it best to really get away from the handle as much as possible to avoid the internal plastic walls.

panel-marking

Mark the 3 large holes and 4 small plate mounting drill holes.  I made a mistake of drilling the 4 small holes first.  When I drilled the large 3 holes I found that my prior 4 holes did not line up exactly and I had to drill them out again.  I really recommend that you drill the large holes first.  Put two units into the large holes and then drill the 4 small mounting plate holes last.

Open the top lid and look inside and judge where the 3 large holes and 4 small holes will come through.  You will find that you are going to collide with small internal vertical walls.  Think this through to make sure you do not have to cut them out too much.

Drill the 3 large holes for the devices.  I use a Kline Tools #59009 Step Drill bit (made in the U.S.A.) that is wonderful and fast for thin wall drilling.

Drill-bit-for-holes

Trick:  With this type drill I do not come down to finish the exact hole size but stop short.  I pull the drill out and see if my cut is exact or not.  I will see my circle mark I had made with a marking pen and the cut.  As you can see in the image below the drill does not line up.  I then can adjust the drill by pressing in the direction to fine tune my cut to be more exact, as you can see in the right hole seen below.

drill-holes-do-not-line-up

Powerwerx.com who sells these devices sells the exact hole drill, 1 3/16 inch, for $17.99.  https://powerwerx.com/panel-mounts  With this type hole drill, you can more easily center the hole cut.

I then used a round file to do some simple trimming of each hole and tested to see if each module would slide in and out of the hole.  Just remember that the cover plate will make it look quite good.

Drill the 4 corner holes for mounting the plate.  I measured the 4 plate mounting holes 5/32 drill bit fit tight as I tested the plate holes.  I am not that precise in centering my drill holes so I often times go a bit larger in drill bit size if the plate fails to line up properly.

Open the top lid and look at the under side of that lid.  You should see some plastic wall braces.  You need to mark them for how much to cut.  (See Image).  This is where you really need to be careful.  I came too close to the walls in places and used a Dremel rotary tool to make finishing touches.

I used a Dremel Tool to cut away the plastic braces under the top lid.  I used grinding stone 8193 at high speed to melt away the plastic that was in the way for screwing in the large mounting nuts.  I really recommend that you have terrific light shining upon your work as you “cut” through the plastic.  The melted plastic was a pain to clean out.  I put my Dremel tool on slow speed to help remove the pieces that glued themselves back upon the lid and also to polish edges and surfaces.  As you can see in the image below, the inside looks quite a mess.  The outside should look quite good when you are finished.

chassis-connector-rear
Notice that the nut holding this device is under the plastic internal wall. I took care to cut the wall close to the lid only. I slid the nut under this wall and then rotated the nut as the device was in place.

Trick:  The internal inside lid walls are quite deep.  The grinding stone wheel #8193 is much shorter.  I decided to slide the wheel into each wall close to the lid, thus making a short open doorway, thus leaving much of the wall untouched.  When I mounted the devices into the 3 holes, I only needed to slide the mounting nut into place and as the device was pushed into the box lid, I would tighten the nut.  (see image).

The inside of the lid looks way less pristine after I melted the plastic in places but the outside looks very good

Battery in Ammo Case:

battery

There is 2 1/4 inches from the top of the battery to underside of the case lid which is air space.  But, the devices mounted on the lid come down just over 1 inch if you use straight connectors.  Thus, the total top air space between the top lid devices and battery is close to 1 and 1/4 inches.

Finished ammo case showing three modules, 12 volt power, volt meter and then USB power.
Left side module offers 2 Anderson Power Pole connectors, 12 volt. The middle module is a volt meter. The right module offers 5 volt USB power for cell phones or other devices.

The battery does not occupy the full length of the ammo case.  There is a 3” length x 4” wide x 5 “ deep cavity at one side of the ammo case next to the battery.  I am currently looking for a plastic box to insert in this space so the battery will not slide.  I could put fuses, fuse puller, small meter, etc. into such a box.

The finished ammo battrey case revealing the wiring.
Inside of the ammo case showing the wiring.

I am now researching attaching an optional solar panel to this battery.

How To Enter Your Call Sign Into Kenwood TH-D72 Radio

How To Enter Your Call Sign Into Kenwood TH-D72 Radio

I love Kenwood Ham Radios because their radios are easy to use without a manual but the TH-D72 was driving me crazy.  As is typical with a lot of technology items, the user manual was nice but totally lacking in a couple of places. If you want to use the APRS function, you must type in your call sign.  I tried this so many times and failed that I figured that the radio was defective.  I figured that there had to be a secret in the menu and kept on trying and finally did find the secret.  I will now share the secret with you.

APRS process for entering your callsign.

  • Press the “MENU” button on your radio (top right corner of buttons)
  • Move the large black button joy stick button just above the buttons to the right and advance to the next menu item which should be “APRS”
  • Move the large black joy stick button to the right to advance.
  • Go to menu 300 which should show as being “Basic Set”.
  • Just under that word “Basic Set” you should see the words “My Calllsign”.
  • Press the black joystick button again to the right to advance to the manu item “My Callsign”.
  • The radio screen should show “NoCall”.
  • Use the large black joy stick to position the cursor all the way to the left so you can enter the first call sign letter.
  • Press the keyboard button that corresponds to the first letter of your call sign.  Just keep pressing the same button as it represents about 3 letters and 1 number.  By keep pressing the same button the letters will cycle and then the number, over and over again. Once you type in the first correct letter of your cal sign, then use the large black joy stick to move your cursor to the next field.
  • After you successfully type in your call sign then use the key (top middle) labeled “A/B -CLR”.  This is really important as it will insert a BLANK field (being the secret trick).  DO NOT press any key that shows up as a dash (such as “ENT”).
  • Once you have your call sign showing correctly move the black joy stick all the way to the left as this initiates a “enter’ process and check to see if your call sign still shows correctly at the bottom of the HT screen.  If you move the cursor out of the call sign field and your call sign does not revert back to “No Call”, you did it correctly.

Sky Command  process for entering “Callsign”

  • Use Black joystick and advance from RADIO to GPS to APRS to SKY.
  • The arrow should rest just to the left of SKY.
  • Press the Black joy stick button to the right thus revealing SKY COMMAND and the menu number should show 50-.
  • Press the black joy stick button to the right so that the arrow moves down to “CMD Callsign”.  Note that the field below will show “NOCALL”.
  • Again, press the black joy stick button to the right so that “NOCALL____” shows a flashing cursor just after the last letter.
  • Move the black joy stick button so the cursor is all the way to the left at the letter “N”.
  • Now enter your call sign as described above.
  • Remove any wrong letters or numbers by pressing the “A/B -CLR” button.
  • Use “A/B-CLR” button to clear any fields after your call sign.
  • Now move your cursor to the right and this will cause your call sign to be entered.
Problem Getting News That Matters To Me

Problem Getting News That Matters To Me

My wife and I were in San Luis Obispo June 23 on vacation.  That evening our room lights dimmed, a brown out.  A while later we lost power.  My wife looked out the window and reported not seeing any lights.  After finding two LED  flashlights I pulled out my hand held ham radio and turned to one of the local repeaters.  (146.670 MHz).  It took a while but within, I would guess fifteen minutes, we got a pretty clear picture that this was a very large outage.  Ham radio operators were reporting whether they had power or not.  One mobile operator reported at which freeway off ramp he determined the outage began going south on HWY 101.  We made a list of dark cities on a pad of paper and realized how extensive the outage was.

It seemed to take a while before there seemed to have an operator take charge.  My main criticism is this: I never heard any summary of what was reported by the control operator.  I think we need to be aware that media and some of the general public may listen to our communications.

Next morning at breakfast at Apple Farm Restaurant, I gave the complementary newspaper found outside our hotel room to my wife while I used my smart cell phone to read newspapers in California.  The San Luis Obispo newspaper, The Tribune, had by a mile, the best information.  All other papers were deficient or failed to carry the story.  I then realized that no major California paper had a California section.  You either have local or national news, both ends and no middle.