Reason for change:
While the HGSW beam performed well on 80 meters, it was only marginal on 40 m and not dramatically better than a dipole on the higher bands. Lately though, it has become almost impossible to tune it on 40 meters. The MFJ 993b auto tuner sounded like a machine gun, firing all the relays during the tuning process, and often failing to attain an optimal SWR. This condition needed to be fixed!

In addition to the degrading performance, I have always preferred to have an antenna that the radio’s internal tuner could handle. (Most internal antenna tuners built into radios will not tune an antenna with an SWR above about 3:1.)

Finally, I needed to put something up that was a lot less visible – a lot less conspicuous. I am nearing the end of a remodel project and will be putting the house up for sale soon, but I don’t want to have to take down all my antennas while it is for sale.

The Skywave Loop:
Enter the Skywave Loop design. According to my research, this antenna is resonant on all of the upper harmonics, unlike dipoles that are only resonant on odd harmonics. It also gets a lot of wire up in the air. Think about it, an 80 meter loop puts a full wavelength up at 80, 2 wavelengths at 40, 4 at 20 and so on.

Antenna length is not super critical.  Most of the discussion on this antenna say that, for instance on an 80 meter loop, the length of the loop wire can be off by several feet with little or no noticeable effect.  However, it should be near the resonant length of the lowest planned operating band and not simply the longest random length that can be put in the space.  While a random length will work and will tune up, performance is somewhat degraded by comparison.

Loop antennas can be installed in two basic orientations, either in the horizontal plane or the vertical plane. In the horizontal plane, the antenna will have horizontal polarity no matter how it is fed.   If installed in a vertical plane, the placement of the feed point and the shape of the antenna (square, triangle, etc.) will determine the polarization.

Additionally, height above ground will affect takeoff angle for the horizontally mounted loop. The higher the installation, the better.  Also, the antenna need not be in a flat plane.  Some corners can be above or below the general plane of the antenna.  However, if the antenna is installed close to the ground, it can become an NVIS antenna. Of course, this may be what you want – think local emergency operations on 40 and 80 meters or portable operations, where you want to talk out to up to about 300 miles.  (I’ll leave it to you to research the heights that will induce the best NVIS performance, but figure about 0.15 to 0.2 wavelengths above ground.)

Loop Skywave Antenna Installed:

So, last week, I spent a warm afternoon outside with my spud gun, launching more strings and ropes over trees in the yard.  It’s so much easier in the winter when there are no leaves left on the trees.  I put up four suspension points, each with a 3″ pulley to support the loop. None of the support points are fixed at any position along the loop wire, so it is free to move in response to winds. The feed point is about 1/3 of the way between the two eastern supports, and the slack on the overly-long ladder line feeder is pulled away fron the house with a string to keep it vertical and at least 10 ft above ground. (Deer and other wildlife will forage directly under the feedpoint. It’s their main foraging trail through the area. I need to keep everything high enough so they don’t snag antlers on feed lines.)

After I instaqlled it, I did find a reference to feedpoint location on

Loop Performance:

I was immediately impressed with the performance in comparison to the HGSW. It tuned up easily on every band from 80 to 10 meters, using only the radio’s internal tuner. I’m now able to retire any external tuner.  Reception of signals appears comparable or better. Noise levels seem to be lower too on the lower bands. The next surprise was a comparison to the TA-33jr 3 element beam. On 20 meters and above, the Loop antenna is picking up signals almost as well as the beam antenna! Occassionally, it will do better.

I’m wasn’t sure about DX operation yet though.  So far, I haven’t been hearing much DX on 80 or 40 meters. I was starting to think I had an “extended distance” NVIS with a range of about 1500 miles. I just wasn’t hearing anything beyond North America or the Carribbean. Over days, it just appears that conditions haven’t been good. In comparing signals with other local hams, I found that I’m getting as good or better reception as anyone else in the local area. I was also able to make a contact last night with South Africa, so it looks like the antenna is doing just fine.

80 meter loop on 160 meters:

A surprise was waiting here. All the articles say that you can’t use a loop antenna below the design frequency, so don’t expect to tune up an 80 meter loop on 160. I can tell you that this is a fact. I tried, and all I saw was an infinite SWR. That means no transmitting on 160. However, I noticed that as a receive antenna, this loop was fantastic.  Previously, with the old antenna, the band was pretty quiet.  Now, the band is loud and crowded. It’s frustrating, because now I can hear it all, but can’t transmit!

Hope is not lost though. Those same articles that say the loop will not tune on a lower band also say that the two leads on the ladder line can be connected together and the system behaves like a vertical antenna.  The feed line becomes a vertical and the loop acts as a capacitance hat!  This is something that I will have to try.

Summary:

It was well worth the effort. The Loop Skywave antenna performs well, is somewhat quieter, tunes nicely with the radio’s internal antenna, and is much less visible above the house. It’s making operating a much easier and pleasant activity.  I’ve been able to make contacts with little or no difficulty. (HK0NA, Malpelo Island DXpedition took about 5 minutes effort – they were working 5 to 15 up and had to find me in the pileup.) I just wish I had room to go to a 160 meter loop!

73,
W4FT

TA-33jr installed on Chimney Mount

Well, “a” TA-33 is up, not the same one.

The upper bands have been heating up all summer and I was getting the urge to do something to improve on my antennas. While the HGSW antenna does a fair job all around, I wanted something better. Back around September, I was set up at a hamfest with a fellow ham, and I was sitting there, staring at a pile of aluminum about three vehicles down from my spot. I don’t remember exactly what antenna it was, it had some missing parts, and it wasn’t all that great a price, but I was getting the urge to get a yagi for the upper HF bands. I had sold off almost everything I had, certainly all the good antennas over a year ago, thinking that I would have long ago had the house up for sale. (The kitchen remodel is just taking forever, but it is almost done now.)

I kept looking at that antenna, trying to justify spending about $125 for it, but I just couldn’t do it. Finally, my friend spoke up. “Don’t you have a bunch of antenna parts at home that you can put something together?” That’s when the light bulb went on. It was pretty dim, but it was turned on. It was about that time that someone else walked right past me, with that antenna in hand. Either it was a sign that I shouldn’t buy it, or that it wasn’t going to sell until I decided that I didn’t need it.

We kept chatting about how and where I was going to put it up. I had long ago sold my push-up masts and tower sections. I had sold all my rotors. Heck, I didn’t think I even had a piece of decent mast to use. Then he started reminiscing about all the chimney mounts he’d put up years ago in New York. The light bulb started to glow a little brighter.

When I got home, I started checking all of my antenna parts and pieces of aluminum laying around in the basement and the back yard. It was getting slim, compared to the collection I used to have, but I actually found all the parts to a Mosley TA-33 junior! It was in pretty rugged shape. I had to repair one trap and splice a new end onto one element that had snapped off. The boom was bent, and straight is a term that could only be loosely applied to any element. Still, I spent about a week straightening, cleaning and repairing, but I got it put together in the back yard.

Next, a trip to Trader Joe’s followed. This guy has several tons of surplus hardware – brackets, components, antenna parts, cable, and on and on. A Saturday afternoon going through his place looking for needed parts is always fun. As it turned out, he had several chimney mount kits that looked like they were new in 1960. Perfect! That and a couple of pieces of aluminum took care of several needs.

What about a rotor? I had one, but after a day of testing and attempted repairs, it turned out that the gearing was too worn to be reliable. With no hamfests in the near future and contests comming up, I went with a standard TV rotor from the local Lowe’s.

Time to put the system up. There was a surprise waiting for me though. I checked the chimney mount kit and found that it came wioth 12 foot long straps to wrap the chimney. Unfortunately, the Chimney was about 15 feet around the outside! Hmmm. No problem, I just made a quick trip to Lowe’s again(seems like I go there every day), and picked up an 8 ft threaded rod and a couple coupler nuts! I cut the threaded rod in two, and easily took up the gap.

With the chimney mount problem solved, everything else followed easily. I had a couple pieces of mast pipe, including an 8 ft piece that filled the bill nicely. In an hour an a half, we had the antenna up and working! Initial testing showed a good match that the radio’s internal tuner could make perfect on any band from 20m to 10m.

What about antenna height? The TA-33 jr. is mounted about 6 feet above the ridge of the roof. That’s about 20 feet above the front yard or 30 feet above the back yard. (The house is on the side of a hill.) While higher may (or may not) be better, 20 to 30 feet will do a good job!

So how has it worked? I’ve run the CQ WW, the ARRL November Sweeps and 10 meter contests since then. In every one, the 3-element beam has been a champ. It has gotten me QSOs from North Carolina to Australia, New Zealand and Japan. I’ve made contacts with it on almost every continent (still need Antarctica) In comparison with the HGSW, the beam wins hands down. During the 10 meter contest, I made contacts with most of Europe, the Carribbean and South America. I made contacts with both European and Asiatic Russia. The US west coast was easy, as was Alaska. As expected, the east coast and nearby states were almost unheard.

In a word, putting up the 3 element, 20/15/10 meter beam antenna was well worth the effort at minimal cost! If you can, go for it!

73,
W4FT

I bought the new Rigblaster Advantage because I had a problem during a recent contest.  I was running an old Rigblaster, one of the originals that I’ve had for several years, as a voice keyer connected to the computer and the N1MM contest software.  I wanted to run everything from the computer instead of having a seperate physical box for a voice keyer.  It worked fine on 10 and 15 meters, but I was getting distortion and other problems at times on the lower bands, especially 40 meters.  At the Charlotte Hamfest, I had an opportunity to speak with the reps from West Mountain Radio about it.  They suggested that it was probably time for an upgrade and introduced me to a new product- the Rigblaster Advantage.

The old Rigblaster worked fine, but I was confident that RF was getting in on all the audio cables in the rat’s nest behind the station desk.  I figured that since the Advantage has its own sound card built in and is connected to the computer by USB cable, this might solve the problem, or at least mitigate it by eliminating the audio cables between the computer and the Rigblaster.  Besides, I really liked the idea that it had its own sound card.

So, with the new Rigblaster Advantage in hand, I started testing.  To summarize, the transmitted signal was distortion free on all bands, and most of the problems were gone.  However, I was still getting some distortion on my local speakers (I use the computer speakers, fed out of the Rigblaster for monitor audio.  I’m still working out some of the setup.) 

As if that wasn’t enough, my friend noticed something new.  When I was transmitting but not speaking, he could hear a broadcast signal.  It took a while, but we identified it as a local talk radio station, WPTF.  This is a 50kw station and the transmitter antennas are only about 8 miles away. The WPTF signal was in the background on every band!

Now, the hunt was on!  I started the diagnostic process, to try to track down the culprit.  I disconnected the Rigblaster from the radio and plugged the mic directly into the radio.  That removed the problem, but that’s kinda like saying the disease is cured because the patient is dead.  I hooked the Rigblaster back up and disconnected all of the cables from it to anything except the radio and mic.  Again, no errant signal.  Next, I plugged the USB cable back into the Rigblaster, but not the computer.  Still no errant signal.   But as soon as I connected the USB cable to the computer, WPTF was back in the background, clear as a bell.  I continued the process, plugging and unplugging everything from the computer, shutting down the computer and/or the monitor, removing the keyboard and mouse.   In turn, everything still managed to put the WPTF transmission on my signal. 

Finally, I unplugged the computer from the power strip that everything else was plugged into.  Amazingly, the WPTF signal disappeared! I plugged everything back in the way I wanted it, EXCEPT the AC power for the computer.  Still, my SSB signal was clean.  The moment I plugged the AC power back in, the WPTF signal reappeared. 

Here’s what surprised me.  I unplugged the AC cord from the power strip – one of those 6 foot long industrial strips – and plugged the computer AC cord into the same duplex plug where the power strip is connected.  No WPTF signals! By just moving the plug, the problem was fixed!  So now, the signal is cleaned up, everything is hooked up for the contest this weekend and I’m ready to go. 

Sometime after the contest though, I’m going to have to do some troubleshooting.  Who would have ever thought that a power strip would make a good AM receiver!

73,
W4FT

Testing began the next day, but the results weren’t good.  SWR readings were in the 9:1 or higher range.  So what did I do wrong?   I had installed the antenna at about 75 to 80 feet up, with the last 15 feet on either end hanging down because of space limitations.  I thought about it for a while and decided that the likely culprit was the feed line, or at least, it’s a starting point. Another issue might be the hanging ends.  Anyways, I pulled the antenna back down and replaced the RG-8 coax with 100 ft of 450 ohm ladder line.  I also put a 4:1 balun on the end of the feed line.  This gave me moderate improvement on some bands:

I should point out that there was a change in design by the author.  The January 2010 edition of QST has a letter from the antenna’s designer and the author of the original article, Rob Wilson, AL7KK.  Rob had found that simply removing the inductor at the feed point resulted in a close match to 50 ohm coax, so a direct feed was possible.  In emails that I exchanged with Rob, he also suggested that feeding with 80 ft. or 100 ft. of 450 ladder line would yield good results on most bands.  Given the performance we had with two of these antennas cut for different bands, I believe they will operate nicely on all bands.

So here I sit, with mixed results on match, but a pretty good first glance at the receive on this antenna.  I just haven’t had a chance to tinker or do much operating yet.  I’ve seen this antenna in action at Field Day and it produces good results.  I’m just not convinced that I’ve really done it justice in this installation.  I still need to throw an antenna tuner in line and test it.  When I get more info, I’ll pass it along.

73,
W4FT

For years, I’ve had an MFJ-434 voice keyer that I wanted to use with my Yaesu FT-1000MP during contests.  Sometimes, it would work fine.  Other times, the combination of the radio and the keyer would do strange things. Often, I would just disconnect the keyer and set it aside – I wasn’t in the mood to troubleshoot during a contest.  Afterwards, once I recovered, I wasn’t really in the mood to troubleshoot the problem.  I spent a lot of time searching the internet for a solution, but never found anything that worked.  In fact, I didn’t find much on the topic at all. Anyways, with Field Day approaching, combined with the relay problem that I had (see http://w4ft.com/2010/06/yaesu-ft-1000mp-transmit-relay-replacement/ )  I decided to spend some time really digging into this one.  The good news:  I found a solution – the correct jumper settings for the MFJ-434 to work with the FT-1000MP!

Strange Behavior

Sometimes, the combination of the MFJ-434 and the Yaesu FT-1000MP would start doing strange things.  The most common “strange behavior” was quite easily duplicated, once I figured out the conditions that caused it.  First of all, I had set all of the jumpers in the 434 using the default Yaesu setup as described in the manual.  This appeared to work, at least initially, but there were two problems.  First, recordings created using the external mic, the Yaesu MD-100 desk microphone, sounded terrible and very weak.  The 434′s internal mic did a much better job.   Unfortunately, this should have been a clue.  The desk mic also sounded terrible and extremely weak on the air too. 

The second problem was much more interesting, even entertaining except when I was trying to make contacts during a contest.  Under certain conditions, the radio would start changing frequency all on its own!   Specifically, if the Notch, NB-1, NB-2 and EDSP buttons were all activated while the 434 was connected and configured with the default Yaesu setup, the radio would start scanning downward when the transmitter was keyed.  It is the same behavior as using the ”Down” scan switch on the mic.  Are you starting to see the problems? For full disclosure, I don’t remember 100%  if I had to key the radio to start this behavior.  I’m also reasonably sure that it did this when I used the Heil headset and boom mic too. These would be easy enough to duplicate and verify. Either way, the EDSP was a no-no when the 434 was hooked up.

So, two serious problems – low mic output and unwanted retuning when I used all the noise supression tools.  Definitely unacceptable.

Two Solutions Are Found

By now, you’ve figured out what I instinctively knew, but didn’t want to accept for a long time.  The default Yaesu jumper setup inside the 434 doesn’t work with the FT-1000MP.  So, with Field Day approaching, I decided to spend an evening diagnosing and researching the problem.  It took a couple hours, but I solved both problems and the system works just as you’d expect.  It just takes a couple undocumented jumper settings.

1. The microphone problem:

One of the microphone pins carries +5 volts to power the microphone.  Unfortunately, the default Yaesu setup suggested in the instructions for the 434 doesn’t pass this through.  There is a setup that puts +5v on the 434′s mic connector, but it doesn’t seem to work as well.  The solution has three steps:
         1. remove the jumper between JMP-3 (Yaesu) pins 15 and 16 (8th pair), and,
         2. install a jumper across JMP-4 (Icom) pins 5 and 6 (3rd pair).
         3. remove the jumper from JMP2.  (When installed, it shorted the +5v directly to ground.)

This routes the +5v signal from the radio through to the same pin on the 434′s microphone connector.  The result is that the MD-100 or any mic that requires the +5v supply will now work approximately as expected.  It may not be perfect, but it works. I say this because mic audio quality might be slightly degraded.  You may find that recording messages with the 434′s internal mic may still be the best, but now you can effectively use your mic while attached to the Voice Keyer without a serious dop in audio levels.

2. The Scan Down problem:

  Okay, I confess, I have no idea exactly what was causing this or why.  Pin 3 carries the ”Scan Down” signal and is a straight passthrough, according to the schematic.  Logically, it should not be a problem. I do know that once I sat down and traced the connections through the schematic of the 434 and made sure that each pin had exactly the right connections or passthrough, the problem disappeared.  If I were to guess, I’d say it had to do with the ground signals, but that’s just a wild guess.  I really haven’t figured it out yet.  I just know that my final setup (below) solves both problems.

MFJ 434 Jumper Setup for a Yaesu FT-1000MP

So here is the complete setup.  Note that for jumpers JMP-3, -4 and -5, the pins are numbered fron left to right and top to bottom, starting at the back of the unit and working towards the front.

1. JMP-1: Leave this jumper set.  It enables PTT Automatic Override (See manual, pg. 6)
2. JMP-2: Remove jumper.  When set between “Y” pin and center pin (default), it shorts the radio +5v line to ground.
3. JMP-3: There are 8 pairs of pins.  Set the jumpers on all pairs(default), EXCEPT remove the jumpers on pair 2 (pins 3 & 4) and 8 (pins 15 and 16).
4. JMP-4: Set a jumper on ONLY pair 2 (pins 3 & 4).  This enables +5v for the mic connector to power an external mic.
5. JMP-5: Set a jumper on ONLY pair 3 (pins 5 & 6).  This enables the pin 5 ground from the radio to the mic.
6. JMP-6: Leave the zero volt setting in place (default). The radio is providing the voltage.  
7. HD-1: Leave default jumper between pins 7 and 8 (default).

Using these settings enables the desk mic to function correctly and eliminates the downscan problem.  It also works with my Heil ProSet Plus.  If you’re using a different microphone, or some other combination of hardware, your best bet is to examine the schematics of all the equipment involved and trace it all out. 

Finally, note that this is for the MFJ-434 and the Yaesu FT-1000MP.  It may or may not work with the MFJ-434-B or the Yaesu Mark-V, or any other subsequent models, but this discussion should give you a lot of ideas on where to look!  Good luck!  If you try this, or try it on another combination of hardware, leave a comment here so that we can share the knowledge. Let’s share what works, what doesn’t and why!

73,
W4FT

Failed RL6016 transmit relay - the black component at the top edge.

What do you do when your Yaesu FT-1000MP, your main base HF rig, that’s been a trusted partner for over a decade,  just doesn’t want to transmit?  As if antenna problems weren’t enough, now I have to perform surgery on my old friend.  Fortunately, this is a story with a happy ending.

For a while now, I’ve been experiencing some difficulty tuning my Yaesu FT-1000MP.  I’ve been trying to figure out how to resolve this problem, but was still able to operate reasonably well, so I carried on.  Anyways, on certain band segments, the internal tuner would hunt around for a long time but wouldn’t be able to tune the antenna for the frequency.  Sometimes, tuning up or down the band, letting the tuner lock in and then coming back would work, but it was annoying.  Recently, that changed completely. The radio would no longer tune at all.  Instead, it would just show an infinite SWR and the protection circuit would cut output power to milliwatts, as designed.  This is what happened when the radio was tuned to the antenna resonant frequencies, so it isn’t a mismatch issue.  (Yes, I know that most internal tuners only function if the SWR is 3:1 or less.)

Time to do some troubleshooting.  With the assistance of Alan, AB4OZ, we opened the radio up and started checking signal paths and function.  To make a long story short, we found a relay that had failed.  RL-6016 on the LPF board was getting a trigger signal, but simply wasn’t functioning.  The radio has been in service for about 12 years, and this is really the first major issue that it has exhibited.  (The only other repair that I have had to make was to resolder the center connection between one of the antenna SO-239 connectors and the board to which it was attached.) 

We also traced the signal path on the schematics from the PA through the LPF board and out to the SO-239.  As an additional diagnostic, we identified an internal coax connection downstream of the PA and the SWR coil, but before the relay in question, disconnected it and attached it directly to a dummy load. (If I can remember which one, I’ll edit it in later.) Once we did this, the radio would key up normally, the power levels would go to expected values, and the internal SWR meter would show expected measurements, near 1:1 for a dummy load.  We also verified that the trigger voltage was normal going in to the relay, and verified that the relay was actually not engaging.  That’s relay RL6016 – the black one in the picture.

OK, so the (hopefully, only) problem has been identified.  I called Yaesu on Tuesday, after the holiday, and spoke with some very friendly people in both the parts and tech support groups. I got the impression that this is a fairly common problem. I explained the symptoms to the tech support rep and they very quickly told me that my diagnosis is probably dead on.  These relays do wear out over time and a simple replacement usually resolves the issue. Parts followed suit by dropping a relay in the mail the same day.  I had the relay in hand via USPS First Class Mail on Friday afternoon.  Total cost, about $15.   Thanks for the quick answers and the fast delivery.

What I haven’t mentioned is the nitty-gritty of getting into the beast in order to diagnose and replace anything.  Opening the cover is the easy part.  Knowing what to do next is not for the novice.  At first glance, it is intimidating.  This radio is fairly tightly designed and assembled.  However, Yaesu appears to have used a modular approach.   There are numerous boards, interconnected with cables and connectors, and well shielded. A roadmap here helps immensely.  In other words, if you’re going to open this radio up to do anything, it is best to have a copy of the service manual, if for nothing else, to have the disassembly instructions!

For my project, it was fairly straightforward. First caution:  pay attention to the locations and positions of all cables, cable ties, copper ground fingers, etc.  Now, if you’re ready to start, remove the cover, remove the six screws holding the big heat sink and the fan from the left side of the radio, flip that over, remove the main shield (one screw in the center), and expose the board with the bad relay.  In the photo at left, the board in question is on the left. 

Here is the newly replaced relay.

Here are photos of the LPF unit, after it has been repaired. Relay RL6016 is the large black lump at the right end of the board. 

In the trace side photo below, the relay is located just to the left of the two copper grounding fingers at the center.  Note the four pins in a square and the three pins located to their left in the red box.  These had to be desoldered to remove the old relay and to install the new one.

Note the 7 solder points inside the red box - 3 on the left and 4 on the right.

 Of course, removing that board was a little more complicated.  All of the connecting wire harnesses appeared to be permanently attached to this board and had to be disconnected at the other ends.  Add about 5 mini push-in coax connections on the board too.  My advice here is to be very careful and patient, and mark every connector with the connector number on the board where it attaches. (Ex:  J6006, J6015, etc.)  It will make it easier.  Fortunately, almost every connector is unique in number of wires or color code.

Remove the speaker and then the frame below. (See text.)

To disconnect everything, you’ll need to start by removing the speaker, held in place with 4 screws. Don’t lose the bushings around the screws.  Lift it up and set it aside.  Next, remove the screws holding the frame that supports the SO-239 antenna connectors and the board to which they are attached. Note the positions of the grounding fingers.  Slide the board slightly towards the front of the radio and rock the frame upward toward the center of the radio to get it out.  Expect to have to cut some of the zip ties holding the cabling in bundles.  Yaesu left enough wire and cable that you can get room to work.  The automatic tuner is on the underside of this frame.

The tuner (large heat sink) is next to come out. The board with the relay is on the underside.

You’ll have about three wire harnesses on this frame to disconnect.  Two go to one of the boards on the top and the third goes to the auto-tuner. label them as you disconnect.  You’ll be glad you did later.  For the two on top, it’s easier to remove the three screws holding the pc board to the frame first.  It gives you room to work around all the other wire bundles. 

Once everything is disconnected, replacing the relay is pretty basic.  The board looks like it is a single layer board and not too densely packed.  Use good desoldering technique on the relay, be careful to use low soldering heat – don’t burn the board or the traces, and swap out the relay.  It’s the big black one on the end.  Be careful not to damage the two copper grounding fingers on the bottom of the board.  Many thanks to Alan, AB4OZ.  He did a masterful job of swapping out the relay – so good in fact, that I couldn’t tell that anything had been changed on the board!  Of course, he does that kind of thing every day.  I suppose I could have done it myself, but it wouldn’t have been as clean on a good day.  And have you ever tried to focus on desoldering electrical components from a PC board with a massive headcold where you can’t focus on the aspirin bottle in front of your face???

Back to work – time to put everything back together. Just reverse the process and put everything back.    Yes, I know, easier said than done.  Actually, it is fairly easy.  It’s tedious to do all this, but it is fairly easy, if you’re just careful and patient.  Be sure to pay attention to placement of copper grounding fingers, cable paths, etc.  Long ago, I learned the difference between “difficult” and “tedious.”   The former is a challenge of knowledge and skills; the latter is a challenge of patience. Another plus – no alignment process necessary. Once I finished the reassembly, everything worked perfectly!

For this job, it looks like Yaesu made it something that a reasonably skilled ham can accomplish. The board is fairly easy to get to and appears to be a single layer, the traces aren’t too small, and as long as you’re patient, you might even be able to just unmount and flip the board over to do the work.  On the other hand, if the auto-tuner module has problems, I’m not so sure. It’ very tightly assembled, and I couldn’t figure out how to disassemble that one, but I didn’t try very hard.  Guess I got lucky there.

So, the FT-1000MP is back in one piece and working as well as it did a decade ago!  Looks like it’ll be ready for Field Day!

Now, if I can just figure out where that leftover copper ground finger goes….. 

73,
W4FT

If you have any questions or comments, leave them below…..