An R71A battery question
Richard Bossard
Apologies as I rather imaging this is an old question, but -- My R71 is over
11 years old and I've been thinking about doing something about its battery
before it dies. I know I can send the battery board back to Icom for
replacement. But, I was wondering if anybody has ever offered a solution which
doesn't require a battery?
Could anybody give me some advice?
Thx in advance.
Rick
Tom Marcotte
The first thing to do is measure the voltage.
If it is greater than 2.5 V then don't do anything.
The battery is 3V nominal, and has to go down to less than
1 V for it to lose memory.
You can change it on your own by soldering in a temp 3V source (I used
2AA's) and then replace the old one on the fly.
Just make sure you always have voltage on the circuit.
If you screw up, send to Icom as a last resort, not because of the
service, just the time tied up in something that you can do yourself.
73
Tom
N5OFF
In article <5m2nmi$aa8...@slip.lm.com>, rbossard{nospam}@nauticom.net
(Richard Bossard) wrote:
--
Remove the ".nospam" from address for replies.
Thanks
Tom N5OFF
Chris Smolinski
> Apologies as I rather imaging this is an old question, but -- My R71 is over
> 11 years old and I've been thinking about doing something about its battery
> before it dies. I know I can send the battery board back to Icom for
> replacement. But, I was wondering if anybody has ever offered a solution
which
> doesn't require a battery?
I faced the same problem, and bought a ICM-1024 board from Willco
Electronics. The RAM for memories is still battery backed, but the radio's
band limits are in EPROM, so if the battery dies, you don't lose them, and
use of your radio!
The board also gives you more memories, 1024, in 32 banks of 32. You use
the SPEECH button to select banks. It's very handy to be able to store lots
of channels, using a different bank for each type of frequency. It comes
pre-loaded with a few banks of utility frequencies. You do have to do some
soldering to boards on your R71A to take advanatage of this (but if you
don't want to, the board still works fine as a 32 memory only unit). I
should note that the soldering is *extremely* difficult, due to the compact
design of the R71A.
I speak only as a very satisfied owner of the ICM-1024.
Their email address: is WILL...@aol.com
I also have this snail mail address and phone number:
WILLCO ELECTRONICS, P.O. BOX 788, NEW LENOX, IL 60451.
PHONE (815) 723-1874
Chris
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http://www.access.digex.net/~cps
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Steve Kennedy
rbossard{nospam}@nauticom.net (Richard Bossard) wrote:
>Apologies as I rather imaging this is an old question, but -- My R71 is over
>11 years old and I've been thinking about doing something about its battery
>before it dies. I know I can send the battery board back to Icom for
>replacement. But, I was wondering if anybody has ever offered a solution which
>doesn't require a battery?
>Could anybody give me some advice?
>Thx in advance.
>Rick
The only commercial solution I know of is to buy the Willco board
(about $135). It replaces the factory memory board/battery with a
non-volatile version that will not lose the operating system if the
battery dies, you just lose your stored memory frequencies.
This board also adds memory to the point that you can get 32 banks of
32 channels.... 1024 memory channels! This option requires some
wiring. If you don't want to wire anything, It still gives you 32
memory channels as a drop-in replacement for the Icom board with no
mods..
Contact:
Willco Electronics
P.O. Box 788
New Lenox, IL 60451
The ICM-1024 board will also work in the Icom IC-751, IC-751A, IC-745
and IC-271A as well as the IC-R71A receiver. It also comes pre-loaded
with 250 "hot" H.F. Frequencies as compiled by Larry VanHorn, who
writes the "Utility World" column in Monitoring Times.
Steve
WB7PSD
Jason Warren
Steve Kennedy wrote:
>
> rbossard{nospam}@nauticom.net (Richard Bossard) wrote:
>
> >Apologies as I rather imaging this is an old question, but -- My R71 is over
> >11 years old and I've been thinking about doing something about its battery
> >before it dies. I know I can send the battery board back to Icom for
> >replacement. But, I was wondering if anybody has ever offered a solution which
> >doesn't require a battery?
>
> >Could anybody give me some advice?
>
> >Thx in advance.
>
> >Rick
>
I face the same problem. I opened up the radio and discovered that
the battery appears to be spot-welded (ultrasonically?) to a soft
metal strap that emerges from underneath. I'm not sure how to undo
this or, for that matter, how to keep power applied while I do it.
Anyone know how to detach it?
Thanks,
Jason
WA2LJW