Icom IC-7100 Mars Mod

[blindfire]

Anyone know of a ham or a company that would be willing to do the Mars mod on an IC7100?

I want to get into Mars operations and would like to use my IC7100. I "think" it holds the frequency enough to meet MARS specs.

My eye sight is not good enough to attempt to remove some tiny ass'd diodes from the board.

Thanks

 

[drgrant]

Anyone know of a ham or a company that would be willing to do the Mars mod on an IC7100?

I want to get into Mars operations and would like to use my IC7100. I "think" it holds the frequency enough to meet MARS specs.

My eye sight is not good enough to attempt to remove some tiny ass'd diodes from the board.

Thanks

If you find the directions (a good blowup pic, like from mods.dk) I can probably do it for you, as long as it only involves -removing- the diodes... I've probably unlocked like 50 radios at this point, it's pretty easy to do, but yeah, if you can't see the damned things, its kinda hard.

-Mike

 

[blindfire]

If you find the directions (a good blowup pic, like from mods.dk) I can probably do it for you, as long as it only involves -removing- the diodes... I've probably unlocked like 50 radios at this point, it's pretty easy to do, but yeah, if you can't see the damned things, its kinda hard.

-Mike

I'd gladly pay for your time on this.

I have the mod from mods.dk and it would only involve removal of only two diodes.

0.1 – 199.999999 MHz
400 – 470 MHz

Remove Diodes D6316 and D6315
Leave all other diodes at default

The PDF also shows the board layout and a zoomed in image.

The mod is directly from Icom...so I feel a bit better

 

[cockpitbob]

If you have a soldering iron, consider a magnifying visor. I'm in my late 50s with crappy close-up vision and with this one with the 5X lens I'm fine working on surface mount parts. It's great for all kinds of other work too.

Pro-tip: never forget you have it on your head(flipped up, out of the way) and walk into the men's room. They'll be rolling out the door laughing.

 

[pastera]

Where are you located?

Would take about two minutes with a hot air pencil to pull those diodes.

Sent from my C6530 using Tapatalk

 

[Tommy Gun]

I'm in Littleton MA, and can do it while you wait. Should be about a minute after I locate the Diodes.

 

[blindfire]

Thanks guys, DrGrant is swinging by my QTH tonight with his bag o tools and will attempt the mod.

Will take some before and after photos and post them for archival purposes and for anyone else who may want to attempt it.

 

[blindfire]

Well, as promised, here is the before and after photo from drgrant doing the Mars mod on my IC7100.

Before

After

Size of the diode....no way in hell I'd have been able to do that!

Thanks gain, Mike!

 

[drgrant]

Even after doing a ton of these over the years I still can't get over how tiny those damned things are... they're like ever so slightly larger than a typical grain of sand.

-Mike

 

[cockpitbob]

Even after doing a ton of these over the years I still can't get over how tiny those damned things are... they're like ever so slightly larger than a typical grain of sand.

-Mike

+1 to you for doing that for him.

And yeah, what size diode was that? Was that an 0402 size package? I can see using those in a handheld, but not in something as big as a 7100. I design circuits for a living and I only use 0402 size components when I have no other choice. They're too small to put any markings on them. And forget about probing them with an o-scope or volt meter after the 2nd cub of coffee.

 

[drgrant]

+1 to you for doing that for him.

And yeah, what size diode was that? Was that an 0402 size package? I can see using those in a handheld, but not in something as big as a 7100. I design circuits for a living and I only use 0402 size components when I have no other choice. They're too small to put any markings on them. And forget about probing them with an o-scope or volt meter after the 2nd cub of coffee.

Maybe they were 0402 small, I know even with a magnifying glass you're not going to read markings on the things.

-Mike

 

[proslambanomenos]

Hi guys,


Glad to see you've done this mod. Did it turn out successfully? I am thinking of doing this same mod on my 7100.


Does the mod you did (allowing tx on 0.1-199.99999 Mhz and 400 - 470 Mhz by removing the two diodes) affect any other frequencies? In other words, doing this just opens up the radio more frequencies, right? It doesn't somehow remove frequencies elsewhere on other bands, does it?

What desoldering tool did you use to remove the diodes?

Thanks!
Austin

 

[drgrant]

Hi guys,


Glad to see you've done this mod. Did it turn out successfully? I am thinking of doing this same mod on my 7100.


Does the mod you did (allowing tx on 0.1-199.99999 Mhz and 400 - 470 Mhz by removing the two diodes) affect any other frequencies? In other words, doing this just opens up the radio more frequencies, right? It doesn't somehow remove frequencies elsewhere on other bands, does it?

What desoldering tool did you use to remove the diodes?

Thanks!
Austin

It unlocks the transmitter. We didn't dummy load test across all the frequencies. Any GOOD soldering iron with a fine tip (I think we used a Weller WTCPT) and some fine tipped tweezers will be able to help you get it out of there. A magnifying desk lamp is a big help. These diodes are tiny.

It doesn't destroy any existing capability- well, with one exception... if you're a big fan of band edge beeps, or automatic repeater shifts, not sure if this is the case in the 7100, but most of the time unlock mods will kill both of these "features" because the radio is no longer in playskool mode once its unlocked. Basically these diode matrices are set based on the country the radio is sold in, and doing the unlock more or less makes your radio in "export" mode, which isn't country specific.

I actually had a nipplehead that I sold a radio to that got upset with me because it was modified. Oh the horror! So if you are considering resale value, may be an issue. 9 out of 10 times it's not a problem but it's worth knowing.

From past experience out of band power output will vary. You'd have to do some testing with a Bird 43 and some slugs after the mod is completed to find out what you got. It's not going to enable stuff that is way , way out of band.

-Mike

 

[proslambanomenos]

haha, i love your epithets. made me laugh.

It doesn't destroy any existing capability- well, with one exception... if you're a big fan of band edge beeps, or automatic repeater shifts, not sure if this is the case in the 7100, but most of the time unlock mods will kill both of these "features" because the radio is no longer in playskool mode once its unlocked. Basically these diode matrices are set based on the country the radio is sold in, and doing the unlock more or less makes your radio in "export" mode, which isn't country specific.

Ooh, thanks for this info--this is good to know. I don't really care about edge beeps (the factory 7100 does have them)--i guess they are kinda nice but not operationally essential so if I lost them I don't think I'd cry myself to sleep. Auto repeater shifting is nice to have, though--anything that speeds up operation and keeps me out of menus is a plus for me, especially on the 2m and 70cm bands.

Perhaps if the original poster is this monitoring the thread, he will let me know if the auto shifting is disabled on the 7100 after the mod?

Thanks!

 

[drgrant]

haha, i love your epithets. made me laugh.



Ooh, thanks for this info--this is good to know. I don't really care about edge beeps (the factory 7100 does have them)--i guess they are kinda nice but not operationally essential so if I lost them I don't think I'd cry myself to sleep. Auto repeater shifting is nice to have, though--anything that speeds up operation and keeps me out of menus is a plus for me, especially on the 2m and 70cm bands.

Perhaps if the original poster is this monitoring the thread, he will let me know if the auto shifting is disabled on the 7100 after the mod?

Thanks!

Blindfire is around here pretty often so he'll probably chime in. I think on my 706mkIIs it killed the ARS.

I'm actually not a fan of ARS because I don't like the radio assuming I'm going to be doing something in a given part of the band. Since the splits are always the same al you need to do is hit the button to go plus/minus as needed. After awhile, also, you know intuitively which direction you have to go in anyways. If you want to speed programming memories, the best way to do it is with some kind of computer interface, that makes life a lot easier. On the icoms theres also usually a button that allows direct input from the mic keypad as well.

-Mike

 

[Love Machine]

Now, is there something dedicated that's being sold for MARS purposes?

 

[blindfire]

Blindfire is around here pretty often so he'll probably chime in. I think on my 706mkIIs it killed the ARS.

I'm actually not a fan of ARS because I don't like the radio assuming I'm going to be doing something in a given part of the band. Since the splits are always the same al you need to do is hit the button to go plus/minus as needed. After awhile, also, you know intuitively which direction you have to go in anyways. If you want to speed programming memories, the best way to do it is with some kind of computer interface, that makes life a lot easier. On the icoms theres also usually a button that allows direct input from the mic keypad as well.

-Mike

I honestly haven't tried ARS on the 7100. I just use software to program all of my repeaters that are in the area. I can look at it this week and see if it still works and post back.

Sorry for the late reply...haven't been on this forum in a bit.

- - - Updated - - -

Now, is there something dedicated that's being sold for MARS purposes?

IF there is, it will be twice as expensive. Why? Because "EFF YOU! That's why!"

I haven't seen MARS specific radios though....but have seen stores that will do the mods when you buy the radio.