Icom tuning / ATU controls

Icom Tune Control Plug – – Credit goes to KC2WI

According to KC2WI: An easy way to put most Icom radios into 10W CW for adjusting a manual tuner is with a tune control plug. All you need to make one is a pushbutton, 10K* resistor, and 4-pin Molex connector.** Connect the 10K resistor between pins 2 & 3, and the pushbutton between pins 1 & 4.

If you add a SPST switch in series with the resistor, you can switch the radio between using or bypassing the internal tuner without having to disconnect the tune controller.

My IC-746pro will switch between internal and external tuner without power cycling the radio. When you switch the “external” tuner in, the internal tuner is bypassed, but it remembers the last setting. So you could have an antenna that is resonant at one frequency, matchable with the internal tuner on another, and matchable with an external manual transmatch on another. If your transmatch has a bypass position, you could rapidly switch between 3 different frequencies/bands without ever having to actually retune.

This may also work on some other Icoms. However, my 706 will not recognize that a “tuner” is connected unless it is connected when the radio is powered on. I haven’t tried it on other radios. See note below for the IC-7000***.

    diagram created using Kunky Schematic Drawing

Molex connector:
Radio Shack:RS 274-224
DigiKey:Connector: WM1326-ND Molex 03-09-2042 Connector Plug Housing, 4-pin
Pins for Connector: WM1100-ND Molex 02-09-2103

*For this simple pushbutton circuit you can also modify a male computer internal power connector (from a hard drive, CD drive, power extender cable, etc.). The pin spacing is identical but the keying of the housing is different. Just snip off some of the plastic from the housing so the connector fits on the radio. It won’t have the proper keying but it doesn’t matter because the connections are symmetrical.*** So you can basically make the whole thing from junk box parts.

**Other schematics show 47K or 100K.

***IC-7000 Caution: There has been some discussion about differences between the IC-7000 and other radios, and possible dangers of using tune controls designed for other Icoms on the 7000. One main issue appears to be that improper loading of or voltage on pin 1 will cause a malfunction of the fan control circuit leading to overheating. Note that pin 1 in the circuit above is open except during the tune activation. There is also a caution that connecting pin 2 to 12V is a problem because pin 2 has snubber diodes connected to the 5V bus. See the thread at groups.yahoo.com/group/ic7000/message/30151. AD5X presents an alternate circuit which incorporates a zener diode between pin 2 and 4 to limit the voltage (seewww.ad5x.com/images/Articles/TuningIntfc706.pdf). If you build the circuit with the diode note that having a proper keyed connector becomes important. If you use it with tthe SPST int-ext switch I would put the diode between pin 4 and the switch end of the resistor rather htan direct to pin 2. Steve W3AHL has made some measurements on the IC-7000 which suggest that the resistor should be a higher value than 10K. AD5X uses 47K.

.

Icom Autotuner Connector pinout:

Pin 1 is the KEY pin, when the ‘TUNE’ button is pressed, it’s pulled low by the tuner to tell the radio to start transmitting. This is the green wire on the AH-4 cable.

Pin 2 is the START pin to/from the microprocessor. Under normal circumstances the START pin is pulled high when a remote tuner is attached to tell the radio that the tuner is present. When you press ‘TUNE’ the radio pulls the pin low telling the tuner to start the matching sequence. This is the white wire on the AH-4 cable.

Pin 3 is POWER rated for 1 amp max and switches on and off with the radio. This is the red wire on the AH-4 cable.

Pin 4 is ground. This is the black wire on the AH-4 cable.

Additional Information and References:

AH-4 Tuner Info – K9EQ

Manual controller AT-140 but should work for AH-4

Original pushbutton circuit – pictorial diagram at http://www.hampedia.net/icom/ic-718-tune-controller-mod.php

Simple timer circuit info: http://www.hampedia.net/icom/ic-706-10-watt-tune-modification-an-icom-ic706-tune-trigger.php

Info on KG6MVB and AB2CT timer circuits: www.qsl.net/kg6mvb/tuner.html

Credit goes to KC2WI for this info. Use at your OWN risk.

Too low power Modification for ICOM IC-7100

I recently bought a second hand Icom IC-7100 HF radio for a reasonable price. This radio is known for a very conservative approach to internal ALC on the power output. This causes the output power to not go above approx 75-80W (PEP) as measured on my LPA-100 wattmeter in PEP mode with 14,5V DC input. Of course, there is no need to overdrive any linear amplifier, however Icom engineers have probably overdone it a bit on the conservative side on this radio (?).

There are two published mods that are possible on this radio. I did only one of the mods that involves a jumper from C1509 to ground, because the other mod that involves a 10uF capacitor is reported to cause modulation issues on FM and AM.

The PEP output power increased from 75-80W PEP to approx 140-145W PEP (14,5V DC input). Note: PEP, not average. On a sidenote the peak to average ratio also improved. There is no need to have PEP output of more than 100-110W PEP by the way.

The mod is easy:

  • Unplug the radio DC lead and all other leads incl. the antenna connector
  • Use an antistatic mat and handlead
  • Remove the back cover
  • Locate the C1509 and the ground lug
  • Solder a small jumper from the C1509 to the ground lug
  • Check carefully that you didn’t spill any solder residue on the PCB
  • Blow with compressed air to remove any residue
  • Close the radio

IC-7100 mod. (I did steal this picture from radio aficion website)

I did also upgrade the firmware to :

  • CPU 1.11
  • DSP 1.03

The firmware upgrade did have a small but insignificant effect on the PEP output power according to what I found. The hardware mod, did have a signficant impact as the DSP is led to believe that the output power is lower than it is.

Disclaimer:

  • All mods are done on your own risk!
  • You may void the warranty of your radio if carrying out this mod
  • I will not be held responsible for any problems, malfunctions, defects, indirect consequences or any other issues caused by the mod
  • Do at all times follow the license regulations of your country
  • Check that your bandwidth is not excessive
  • Check that your harmonic content is well below maximum allowed

G4WPW microphone connector database

image

G4WPW has made a nice database covering microphone adapters for most amateur transceivers. This is a good tool for contesters and DX-ers adapting microphones and headsets for their new radios. You can check out his webpage here http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rg4wpw/date.html