Mastodawn

My new #hamradio project:

Icom IC-718 in good shape other than smelling like ashtray, intended as "beater" base station for garage and outdoors, “up on the blocks" airing out

This thing is built like a tank and will last forever, it's like a 1986 Volvo 240SL sedan with 780k miles on it and not a spot of rust

Power output is 72W key down with about 12A power draw on RTTY, adjusting R1707 doesn't move the needle up. I will slowly work my way through the service manual as time and life permit

It has the UT-106 DSP in it, which is adorable, in its own little "cooler bag" shielding

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Comrade Weez Oct 8

@flyingsaceur The power connector on the 718 is a weak point. Clean up the pins on the power cable, use a jeweller's screwdriver or a proper Molex pin tool to adjust the spring pressure of the pins to make them fit tighter. Also clean fuse connectors in the power cable.

There's a fix for the Molex prob- look for 3D printer plans to fit Anderson powerpole connectors to the rig. Fixes low pwr output.

Brake cleaner will take smoke smell out of the radio but remove the front escutcheon etc 1st.

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Mike KJ6LNH

@weezmgk Thanks so much for that info! I'll be planning to make this mod to mine soon. I didn't use my 718 for a long time because my power cord was otherwise engaged. Finally made up a new cable a few months ago. Molex connectors are a pain, especially wiring up 2 pins for + and -. Wonder if this mod will work on my 706 as well.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5624994 for anyone else looking for this.

#HamRadio #PowerPoleTheWorld

Icom IC-718 Anderson power pole conversion by Lunchbox7985

I adapted rdcole's design to fit in my Icom IC-718 in place of the molex style power socket. I find the original power plug gets loose, gets hot, and starts to melt. This will allow you to convert the radio to Anderson Power Poles. This fits the models with a 6 pin plug. I have seen some newer IC-718's that have a 4 pin power plug, this will not work with those. Please see the pictures to make sure yours looks the same as mine.The original 6 pin plug is just 2 power, 2 ground, and 2 unused (they are internally connected to each other with a green wire, this might have some use with the official Icom power supply, but i do not know.) I just put each of the 2 wires in 1 anderson connector, as they are internally connected anyway. The radio is rated at 25 amps, so I used an anderson connector rated at 30 amps.Fit is tight, might require light trimming/sanding.

Thingiverse

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Comrade Weez Oct 8

@KJ6LNH no wucking furries, mate. She'll come right up to 100W once you sort out the power connector, either temporarily or permanently.