Broadcast - 9 August 2026
Last technical night, Ian VK7IH, brought in some new accessories for his recently purchased Icom IC-705.
He definitely seems to be going portable as he had purchased the backpack designed specifically for it.
Apart from the 705 in the backpack, Ian also included a 12 volt 18 amp hour Lithium battery and
constructed a very smooth looking “DC Control Panel”, incorporating switching for Master, Radio, Tuner
and Auxiliary power feeds. This black control panel is well made and looks the part with its white labelling.
Did I mention it also has a voltmeter included for good measure and not a 3D printed item in sight, Hi-Hi.
To complete the ensemble, Ian also obtained a portable tripod to mount his vertical antenna. A multiband,
calibrated, telescopic, Diamond antenna complete with ground radials. There is also space on the tripod,
below the ground radial distribution hub, to hold his Icom antenna tuner, the finishing touch to a fully
portable set up. Thanks Ian for a look at your almost completed “work in progress”.
Ross VK7ALH, arrived armed with three Kenwood TS-840 main processor boards, all for TS-840s but all a
different version and in this case all exhibiting different faults. His message was more of a “make sure you
check your spare parts before you order”, as they may not be the ones you need, they could be the wrong
version. These were the versions required, but it is a very good reminder and relevant to those, like Ross,
that deep dive into repair work, and not just on transceivers. Ross took us through some of the interesting
evolutions and modifications undertaken by the manufacturer, over the years, on these printed circuit boards.
Throughout every version, one thing remained the same, hidden somewhere on each board was a ubiquitous
Z80 microprocessor chip! The Z80 was designed by Frederico Faggin and Masatoshi Shima and was
publicly launched in July 1976. It stayed in production for 48 years, ending its run in 2024. Last month it
turned 50! So Happy Birthday to the famous Zilog Z80 microprocessor.
As usual pictures will be available on the NTARC Web site under “Blogs” for this broadcast. NTARC Blogs
UPCOMING EVENTS
CW course - Every Wednesday night, on 3.580 MHz from 7 to 7.30 pm. Your CW Coach for the evening is
Nic, VK7WW.
On Air Test and Technical gathering - Wednesday nights, on 3.567 MHz from 7.30 pm.
Club Room Technical night - The next session will be Wednesday the 2nd September and will commence
at the usual time of 6.30 pm at the Club Room Archer Street, Rocherlea.
Coffee Morning - Held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Time is from 10 am to noon.
Finally - If you have any items of news please email them to the Secretary at the following address
news@ntarc.net all items to be received no later than 5 pm on the Friday prior to the Broadcast.
That’s all folks,
73, Stefan VK7ZSB.
