radios:dr-m06th
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| radios:dr-m06th [2025/04/12 23:29] – m0mzf | radios:dr-m06th [2025/04/13 06:29] (current) – [Modifying an Alinco DR-M06TH 6m transciever for packet usage] m0mzf | ||
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| ======Modifying an Alinco DR-M06TH 6m transciever for packet usage====== | ======Modifying an Alinco DR-M06TH 6m transciever for packet usage====== | ||
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| - | Finding an affordable single-band FM radio for 6m is a challenge, occasionally these turn up on eBay so I nabbed one tried my hand at modifying it. As it turns out they' | + | Finding an affordable single-band FM radio for 6m is a challenge, occasionally these Alincos |
| - | The PA puts out ~20W and can be adjusted using VR1. The deviation is adjusted with VR2 and is set ~5KHz from the factory. On Recieve | + | The PA puts out ~20W and can be adjusted using VR1. The deviation is adjusted with VR2 and is set ~5KHz from the factory. On receive |
| - | ====Schematic==== | + | After tapping the discriminator / modulator the radio was bench tested using an 857D and a pair of NinoTNCs; it works on 4k8 IL2Pc beautifully. The main issue with testing was those Aerial Facilities dummy loads are **superb** at 50MHz! |
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| + | Ready to go as GB7WIN' | ||
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| + | =====Schematic===== | ||
| {{: | {{: | ||
| * Pin 11 of IC3 is the output from the discriminator | * Pin 11 of IC3 is the output from the discriminator | ||
| - | * The junction between C25 and C26 is the output of the de-emphasis filter | + | * The junction between C25 and C26 is the output of the de-emphasis filter |
| * The junction of VR2 / R24 / R25 / R123 is the modulator input, via the deviation pot VR2 and coupling capacitor C40 | * The junction of VR2 / R24 / R25 / R123 is the modulator input, via the deviation pot VR2 and coupling capacitor C40 | ||
| * CP11 is the input to the mic preamplifier, | * CP11 is the input to the mic preamplifier, | ||
| * PTT line is taken from the front panel connector, Pin 2 (3-o-clock position from the rear) | * PTT line is taken from the front panel connector, Pin 2 (3-o-clock position from the rear) | ||
| - | ====Tap points==== | + | =====Tap points===== |
| {{: | {{: | ||
| - " | - " | ||
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| - " | - " | ||
| - | ====Finished mods==== | + | =====Finished mods===== |
| - | {{: | + | {{: |
| - | + | **After initial tapping; the board is littered with test points so I soldered to them** | |
| - | **After initial tapping** | + | |
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| - | {{: | + | |
| + | {{: | ||
| **I decided to add a " | **I decided to add a " | ||
| - | ====Rear connector==== | + | =====Rear connector===== |
| - | {{: | + | {{: |
| **Rear connector & switch** | **Rear connector & switch** | ||
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| Alinco had also left another dimple in the casting, presumably for a different model of radio, so I drilled that out and installed a mini toggle switch to allow changing between " | Alinco had also left another dimple in the casting, presumably for a different model of radio, so I drilled that out and installed a mini toggle switch to allow changing between " | ||
| - | ====Other tweaks==== | + | =====Other tweaks===== |
| - | {{: | + | {{: |
| **Detail of rear connector area** | **Detail of rear connector area** | ||
| To route all the taps to the rear connector I poked them through the external speaker jack holes. A small bit of wire was also soldered between the tip and tap pads to route audio back to the internal speaker, normally this would be done within the speaker jack when nothing is plugged in. | To route all the taps to the rear connector I poked them through the external speaker jack holes. A small bit of wire was also soldered between the tip and tap pads to route audio back to the internal speaker, normally this would be done within the speaker jack when nothing is plugged in. | ||
| - | ====Finished article==== | + | {{: |
| + | ** Detail of PA module ** | ||
| + | |||
| + | Horrifyingly there was no thermal paste anywhere in the radio! I suppose they had a dry day at the Alinco factory. By its condition this radio has barely been used, if at all, so hopefully no harm has been done - I liberally applied that horrid white Servisol thermal transfer paste to the PA and linear regulators. After holding the radio in transmit for a few minutes at full power the heatsink becomes appreciably warm, but not remotely hot - and the PA module is the same temperature so good thermal contact was achieved. After dialling back the RF power from 22W to 10W and leaving it in transmit for 10 minutes the heatsink had reached equilibrium and was ~40C with no forced airflow. At 10W the radio drew 1.6A at 12.2V, so that's ~10W thermal into the heatsink which it certainly appears appropriately sized for. | ||
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| + | =====Finished article===== | ||
| + | {{: | ||
| + | **Wire routing** | ||
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| + | The tap wires were routed around the front central case mounting post before soldering to reduce the chances of pulling a trace off the board. The eagle-eyed viewer will notice an extra wire in the area of the "flat audio in" wire - yes, I pulled off the orange wire's pad when adding the green wire. Silly billy. Nonetheless it was an easy fix :) | ||
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| + | =====Test data===== | ||
| + | None yet. When I get access to my DSO and find someone with a specan I'll post the results up here. | ||
radios/dr-m06th.1744500548.txt.gz · Last modified: 2025/04/12 23:29 by m0mzf