Modifications for the ICOM - RogerK

. .not used.Now the fun really begins! The diode that you received in the mail, and the one that you have to remove, are very small. Theyare also quite rugged, so don't let the size intimidate you. You do need to be clever about it though, and there is certainly morethan one right way to go about it. You need a magnifying glass of some sort, and a fine tipped soldering iron. I wrapped a pieceof solid No. 12 copper wire tightly around the tip of my 25 watt Weller. I brought a one inch lead straight out from the tip, andfiled the end smooth. Ready for pin point soldering, start by removing diode D22. I put a knife blade under one end and appliedlight pressure while touching my No. 12 tip to the diode lead closest to the knife. Then the next lead, and the last one.Pops right off with no problem. You're not going to reuse it (unless restoring to original configuration), so it doesn't matter if itdoes get dinged up a bit. With D22 out, all that's left is installing D19.I used a pair of tweezers to place the diode in position, with the three leads sitting on top of the little blobs of solder already onthe board.Then gently holding the diode in place with a toothpick, I tacked each lead in place. Don't add any solder, there's enough on theboard already to do the job. After one lead is tacked down, the diode will stay in place without the toothpick. As I said, there areother ways to go about installing this very tiny diode (actually there are two diodes in the little chip), so do what makes youcomfortable. Or find a friend with a steadier hand to do it for you!Now you just put it all back together again, starting with the CPU shield. If you have trouble sliding it into place, you might betrying to put it between the wiring harness and it's plastic backing.After the extended transmit mod the CPU resets itself (at least it did for me), but now you have the same features provided bythe extended receive mod, without having to repeat the mod. You also can transmit 136-174 MHZ. As to be expected with a unitdesigned with 145 MHZ as the center frequency, performance varies. At 145 MHZ my handheld put out 7 watts into a dummyload. It does that throughout the 2 meter amateur band. At the ends of the "designed" transmit range, 140 and 150 MHZ, thepower is down to 6.8 watts. Dropping down from 140 to 136 MHZ, the power is down to 6.2 watts. Going up from 150 MHZ, Igot readings of 5.75 at 155, 4.25 at 160, 3.2 at 165, 2.2 at 170, and 1.75 watts at 174 MHZ. These readings are with a RadioShack meter, so your mileage may vary. Nevertheless, a remarkable radio!Enjoy, and please don't transmit on frequencies you're not licensed for!Tim KA3YYP TPDugan@dockmaster.ncsc.milThis modification is read 536 times.top of page19-07-1998(IC-3) Low audio speaker mike on IC2A, 3A, 4A OR 02ATIf you own one of the IC2A, 3A, or O2AT series Hand-helds, you may be interested in reading on. I know my hearing is prettygood, but have you ever tried to listen to the audio coming out of your speaker mike on the above ICOM's? For the most part,it's pretty low. I may be the last guy to figure out a cure for this, but here it is anyway. On the O2AT, etc., there is a groove onthe back near the top of the rig that is just the right size to accept the HM9 speaker mike turned 90 degrees so that the mikeplug fits in that groove in the rear of the rig. Thus alllowing all the audio to be heard from the internal speaker of the rig, usuallymuch better than the speaker mike.Now, in the case of the 2A series, etc., the fix is more complex. These rigs don't have that handy groove built in, so I decided agroove had to be made to accept this configuration. I thought long and hard about a minute, before getting the "Dremel" out andmaking my own slot or groove. It works well on both hand-helds I have. In fact, you can hook up an external speaker for evenmore loudness in the auto. So, give it a try or see me for a demo.This modification is read 367 times.top of page19-07-1998(IC-32) Out of band mod for the IC-32ATThis mod allows the unit to RX-TX outside both ham bands, plus function as a crossband repeater! BE CAREFUL THAT YOU DON'TINADVERTENTLY TRANSMIT!DISASSEMBLY1. Remove the battery.2. Loosen but do not remove the two screws holding the PTT switch plate.3. Remove the 4 screws on the back of the radio.4. Now remove the front of the HT by carefully lifting the bottom edge and then pulling it down so it clears the top of the HT.Be carefull as there is a ribbon cable attached.5. Unplug the Speaker/Mic plug from the main chassis to allow the front conver to be fully opened.