Posts Tagged ‘Electronics’
HF Ham Radio Kenwood TS-50S Panel Button Repair
March 10th, 2017 | 
Author: The buttons in my Kenwood TS-50S ham radio started falling out when the foam inside started getting old. The foam was the only thing holding the buttons in so I used jewelry repair rings from Michaels Store to clamp around the base of the buttons inside the bezel face plate which then holds the buttons in nicely yet lets them have full travel and good tactical feel.
ISO-TIP 7700 Soldering Iron Review
Model 7700 soldering iron
I recently had the opportunity to try out a new ISO-TIP 7700 soldering iron. This is a rechargeable soldering iron without a lot of extra features but it is plenty capable for small soldering tasks. Here’s a few specs from the ISO-TIP web site:
MODEL #7700
– Fully recharges in 3.5 to 4.0 hours
– Partially charged battery to full capacity in one to two hours
– Up to 125 soldering joints per charge during continuous use
– Withstands high-rate charging without damage
– Fully recharges in 3.5 to 4.0 hours
– Partially charged battery to full capacity in one to two hours
– Up to 125 soldering joints per charge during continuous use
– Withstands high-rate charging without damage
I’ve been on the lookout for a simple construction project for our local radio club and had acquired a Blinkey Kit from rainbowkits.com. This is a simple two-LED flasher circuit using the venerable 555 timer. I decided it was also a great little project to try out the 7700 soldering iron. Assembly was very simple, requiring 24 solder joints. The iron did a find job of heating up those joints. It takes about 2 to 3 seconds for the tip to heat up, plenty fast for my needs.
Soldering iron in action
Here’s a short video of the circuit blinking away, proving that I can solder together a simple circuit: Video of circuit blinking Yes, the circuit did work the first time.
The soldering iron performed well, no complaints at all. With only 24 joints to solder, I did not stress the capacity of the iron (which is rated at 125 joints). This is a relatively light duty iron, so I wondered how well it would do against a physically large soldering task. Soldering a PL-259 coaxial connector is a common task for amateur radio work, one that takes a lot of heat. I was surprised to find that the 7700 was able to heat up the center pin of the connector quite nicely. I was not surprised that it struggled with heating the body of the connector. I think that is asking too much of this size soldering iron. The only nit I would pick is I’d really like a LED power/charging indicator. I am always nervous about whether a device is plugged in, getting power, really charging and a simple indicator would solve that. But that is a very minor issue and probably speaks more about my personal paranoia than the soldering iron.
This iron has quickly become my “Go To” tool for quick soldering jobs. I don’t do major kit assembly and other big soldering tasks. I just need a little soldering here and there and this baby is always in the charging stand ready to go. To order the soldering iron (and see other products), visit http://www.iso-tip.com/products-page/
Use discount code YT1510 to get 10% off store wide.
73, Bob K0NR
Disclosure: this soldering iron was provided to me by ISO-TIP at no charge.
The post ISO-TIP 7700 Soldering Iron Review appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.
GQRP / Kanga receiver
The buildathon is a great way for anyone who has an interest in electronics, radio or has indeed has no experience in construction, build a kit and walk away with a working radio. The step by step guide we supply with the kits allows easy installation of the components and instant gratification.
I wrote the instructions for this kit and whilst doing so, I managed to video the whole build. The video is sped up, but the build actually took about 2 hours, not rushing and includes the videoing & taking pictures.
GQRP / Kanga receiver
The buildathon is a great way for anyone who has an interest in electronics, radio or has indeed has no experience in construction, build a kit and walk away with a working radio. The step by step guide we supply with the kits allows easy installation of the components and instant gratification.
I wrote the instructions for this kit and whilst doing so, I managed to video the whole build. The video is sped up, but the build actually took about 2 hours, not rushing and includes the videoing & taking pictures.
Surface mount soldering
I created a 2 part video on SMD soldering using a hot air (reflow) station and using solder paste. In this video I created a QRP dummy load which is a great introduction into Surface Mount Components and at a great price of £5.95 available from Kanga Products
Surface mount soldering
I created a 2 part video on SMD soldering using a hot air (reflow) station and using solder paste. In this video I created a QRP dummy load which is a great introduction into Surface Mount Components and at a great price of £5.95 available from Kanga Products
Acorn II – Buildathon instructions
To aide the construction, I have created a set of instructions that may help with anyone who is building this little kit. You can download the PDF here, There are significantly more pages than the Kanga instructions, but for a group construction project we find that lots of space and easy to follow instructions are a great help.
And if you haven't seen the construction video - here it is again.
