How to replace the memory battery in an Alinco DR599

The Alinco DR-599T dual band (2 meter and 70 cm) rig is a great radio.  BUT, it was manufactured in the 1990s making it 20+ years old.  

Due to its age, the battery that keeps the programmed channel memory from being lost fails.  This is not a problem if you never disconnect the radio from its 12 volt supply.  But, if you do, you lose all of the programmed memories.

If you have some experience soldering, this can be fairly easily solved.

According to the manual, the battery is located in the removeable front panel.

The front panel is easily removed using a #1 Philips screwdriver to remove these four screws.

Disconnect the front panel from the radio.

Remove the back cover of the front panel by removing these two screws using the same screwdriver.

Here is the location of the battery. 

As you can see, someone has replaced this before.  They used a 2032 battery and soldered the tabs and wires to the 2032.  Not  pretty sight.

The battery Part Number is ED0006 from Alinco.  I'm going to use a CR1616 with tabs that I bought from Amazon.  It is a bit smaller and thinner than the 2032 making it an easy fit.

First, we'll remove the old battery by desoldering it from the front panel circuit board

Then install the replacement being mindful of the polarity connections.  The + goes to + and the - goes to -.

Once the battery has been replaced, put the rear cover back on the front panel.

Then reinstall the front panel on the radio.

And we are done!  

Now you can program the frequencies into the channels and they will stay even if power is removed from the radio!

Thanks!

Mike

N5BGZ

Building a Power Distribution Kit with the Dallas Amateur Radio Club

Being retired gives me a lot more time to do stuff I could not do while working.  For example, the Dallas Amateur Radio Club (DARC) has a thing they do monthly called "Lab and Lecture".  Each month a kit is provided (for a nominal fee) and then there is a 2 hour "google meets" meeting on Saturday where we all build the kit.

This month they had a number of Anderson PowerPole kits to build.  I chose the power distribution box with voltmeter, fuses and USB connections.

Here is the link to the slides for the presentation:

Lab And Lecture

Lab And Lecture The DARC has a Lab and Lecture on the fourth Saturday of each month and starts at 10am. LnL is held at the Dal...

Here is the link to the slides for the presentation:

Anderson Power Pole w/USB 2021

Here is a picture of my finished kit hooked to a battery.

It has 6 output ports with a (really bright) green led for each.  The led goes out if the fuse is blown.  There is a voltmeter built in and two usb ports on the side (not pictured).

The circuit board was excellent quality.  There was a lot of copper there that required extra heat from the soldering iron.  Be aware that a small 40 watt iron may not be enough to get the job done.

In the end, everything worked and the kit was completed with excellent assistance from the folks on the "google meet" meeting.

Definitely a fun way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday!

Mike Dooley

N5BGZ

Experiments Using Wilson FGT-x CB Antennas for Ham Radio

I've been using CB Antennas for Ham Radio for quite some time.  Mostly for 10Meter mobile.  But I found posts on the internet about using the Wilson FGT-x series antennas.

Article by John, KL7JR that talks about this:
https://www.eham.net/article/34857

Referencing other articles he wrote:
http://www.hamuniverse.com/kl7jrcbverticals.html

In these articles John, KL7JR, uses the Wilson FGT-x series of antennas.  And he shows how different lengths of stingers can be used with these antennas to move them to the 10, 15 and 20 meter bands.

For my experiments I bought a pair of FGT-5 (the 5 foot one) Wilson antennas off Amazon.  Then I bought a pair of 36 inch stingers and an MFJ-347 mini dipole mount from HRO.

My first test/experiment was to use one of the Wilson antennas in a mag mount.  This was placed on a metal table and 3 tape measures were used as radials.  It worked pretty good on 20 meters without a tuner!  Using an LDG tuner it also worked on 40, 15 and 10.

Next I used the MFJ-347 to make a dipole out of the two Wilson antennas.  This was mounted on a 16 foot mast made from 2x2 lumber.  You may note short bits of wire hanging off the tips of the stingers.  These brought the dipole into the 20 meter band with no need for a tuner.

Again, using an LDG tuner it also worked on 40, 15 and 10.

These two setups were used for portable operations and did an adequate job...  I was able to make contacts at QRP power levels.  

Further thoughts:  I'd like to find a couple of the shorter FGT-x antenna discussed in John's articles to experiment a bit more.  When I do I'll add more to this article.  

Installing a 6BTV in the backyard

 And this is what it looks like!  But it was not always this way.

In the beginning I picked a location in the middle of the backyard.  At first I considered installing a nice piece of heavy pipe in cement to which the antenna would be attached.  But I thought, what if I don't like it?  Or move and it has to be removed?  

The solution was to put a PVC pipe in the ground in cement, with the top of the cement below ground.  That way, should I need to remove the antenna, I can simply cut the PVC off below ground level and fill the hole with dirt!

A loop of 10 guage wire encircles the PVC pipe and the radials are soldered to it. 

A 3 foot piece of galvanized fence post is slid into the PVC and it will hold the antenna!

The odd furrows in the grass were made with a weed eater on its side.  Into these the radials were laid and held in place with lawn staples from Lowes.

After everything was hooked up. The radials, ground rod, lightning arrestor and coax.  The rocks were placed to make it look nice in the yard.

The Coax and ground wire go from the antenna to the box mounted on the outside wall of the house.  Here we have another lightning arrestor and ground rod.  From this box we have coax going into the attic.  Yes, there is a second coax pull from the box to the ham room... for future stuff....  

The ground wire and both coax were brought into the ham room through the attic and wall.  This is behind the door.   When the door is open, you do not see this entry point.

Last, the trim plate is installed for a cleaner look.

And it works!  Tuning of the vertical will be looked at in a later post.