Modifications for the ICOM - RogerK

You should now see the RF board (daughter board) on top of the main board inside your Q7A. WHEW!STEP 6On the RF BOARD! there is one visible screw located on the right side, see figure 1.4 below:STEP 7There are three points where the shielding for the RF board has been soldered to the lower board. One is in the lower left cornerjust above the ferrite inductor figure 1.5 and along the right side of the RF board next to the PTT button figure 1.6 and in theupper left corner near the blue assembly of the dial figure 1.7Figure 1.5 Figure 1.6 Figure 1.7Unsolder Figures 1.5, 1.6, and 1.7 with the solder sucker and desoldering braid to wick up any left over solder. Be careful not tomelt the plastic case in the procedure in figure 1.7.*** WARNING *** ONLY, do a small spot at a time. DO NOT OVERHEAT sections. If you don't get all the solder in onetime, don't worry, let things cool down a bit and go back for more later when it cools.STEP 8Once you have removed all the solder from the above steps, lift gently with your FINGERS ONLY, the rear of the RF board untilthe connector on the RF board figure 1.8 dislodges from its counter part on the main board, figure 1.9, use your fingers onlybecause of the surface mount components which are located near the edge of the circuit board, you don't want to pry off any ofthem with the blade of a screw driver.Figure 1.8 Figure 1.9Once you have dislodged this connector, the RF board will "Rock" clockwise just a little bit and tap gently on the SMA connectorat the same time to dislodge it from the plastic housing (remember, it's glued so be patient). DON'T TAP TOO HARD, the RFboard has inductor coils near the SMA connector end that if they get jammed into other parts of the radio could effectperformance later. BE GENTILE!