World of Ham Radio 1997/WOHR97_AmSoft_(1997-02-01).iso/mods/alinco/dj580_3.doc

Text File | 1997-02-01 | 13KB | 259 lines

   A L I N C O  D J - 5 8 0 T  A I R  &  O U T  O F  B A N D

This is a very simple mod it will give you aircraft band RX,
from 108-130 Mhz AM. On the first part and RX/TX from 130Mhz-
170Mhz on VHF and 415 - 470 Mhz on UHF (Approximate).

1. Remove the  battery from the radio.
2. Look at the bottom of the radio where the battery mounts.
3. Locate four screws that hold the battery mounting plate to the
   bottom of the radio. Remove these four screws.
   (Be careful, the screws are SMALL!)
4. The battery plate is still attached by two wires but there should
   be enough slack in them to get around the plate with a pair of
   cutters.
5. With the radio's keypad and display facing up, locate a loop of
   red wire on the right side of the radio interior.
6. Cut this wire for AM Aircraft band RX.
7. On the left side of the interior, locate a loop of blue wire.
8. Cut this wire for TX/RX  as described above.
9. Insulate the exposed ends of these wires so they do not short.
10.Re-attach the battery mounting plate and replace the battery.
11.With the radio off, hold down the function key and turn the
   radio on.

73 de Tom/N6ZXY@W6QFK.#SOCA.CA.USA.NA
==============================================================================

From: [e-mail] (William Soley)
Subject: Re: Alinco DJ-580T undocumented features

In article <[e-mail]>,
[e-mail] (Douglas Fields) writes:
|>  after noting that there were features on the
|> DJ-580T that could be accessed by typing keypad numbers with the pad locked
|> (FL symbol on), I went through and tried all 1000 #nnn combinations. I found
|> the following things:
|>
|> #120:  Prints open/closed on the main band
|> #127:  Same thing as above (or is it #128?)
|> #355:  Just beeps

I also noticed this one:

    #123

This one lets you set the touch tone send rate 1=very fast ... 9=very slow
and 0=even slower (like you'd expect 10 to be).  Every time you access this
code, it adds one to the current value and displays it.  So if all you want
to do is read the value without changing it, you have to enter #123 10 times
to get it to count all the way around (pain).  It keeps separate values for
VHF and UHF.  The RESET procedure will put it back to factory values.

I also assume you intentionally left out #508 which is in the manual (cross
band duplex).

==============================================================================

From: [e-mail] (Dale Mosby)
Subject: DJ-580 HT review/info (long)

I was asked about modification of the DJ-580 for out of band operation.
They couldn't have made it much easier:

- Remove battery pack.
  Use a small philips screwdriver (ie. jeweler size) to remove the 4 screws
  that hold the metal battery slide on the radio.  These are at the outer
  corners of the metal clip.
- Gently lift off the metal clip.  Note that the two power wires are
  on this so don't pull it too far off.  Also note that there is a small
  metal tab on this clip that is inserted in the battery release slide.
  You will want to insert it back in the same hole when you replace the
  metal clip.
- You will see a small RED wire loop as well as a small BLUE wire loop.
  You can gently pull these up with some needle nose pliers.  Cut the
  loops and then cover the ends so they don't contact anything.  My
  method was to cut them not quite at the top, so one wire was a bit
  longer than the other.  I then slipped a small piece of heat shrink
  tubing over the wires so the ends could not contact each other again.
  This is probably adequate. I took a CLEAN soldering iron and used that
  to shrink the tubing a bit just so it wouldn't move.
- Push the wire loops back into the radio.  The metal battery clip will
  push up against the circuit board running down the center of the radio
  so you don't want the wire loops crossing over the circuit board.
- Replace the metal plate -- remember to stick the projection into the
  small hole on the battery release slide.
- Replace the battery pack and reset the radio.  You reset the radio by
  holding the function key down and turning on the power.  Note that
  this clears all memories, so make the mod early -- this thing has
  40 memory channels - a lot to reprogram.

I cut both jumpers.  Documentation I have, as well as verbal instructions
was that the RED jumper opens up the out of band receive -- aircraft
and cellular, while the BLUE wire opens up the out of band transmit.
You certainly can't transmit in the aircraft or 800 band, I don't
know just what transmit limits are, don't have any reason to stray
outside of the ham band.

  Dale Mosby   N7PEX
==============================================================================

From: [e-mail] (Greg Dolkas)
Subject: Re: alinco dj-580 repair

OK, since I just went through this broken antenna thing recently, let me
jot down a few of the highlights...

First thing is to remove the wrist strap and all the knobs from the top
of the radio.  The knobs just pull straight off.

Around the knob shafts is a nut of sorts, more like a sleve with threads.
They sit down in the gap between the shaft and the radio shell, and have
two notches, 180 degrees apart.  They probably want you to use some sort
of special tool to unscrew them, but I just used a really small screw driver
(basically anything small and pointy will do).  This is probably the part you
missed.  Use the screw driver to push the notches around the shaft to unscrew
the nut.

Un-do the 4 screws that hold the base plate on.  Be careful with the wires
and the spring that pushes on the battery release.  Also un-do the 3 screws
that hold the front and back halves of the radio together.  The radio can
now come apart, although it won't want to.

The ribbon cable joining the two halves of the radio has enough stretch to
just barely allow the radio to be taken apart.  The thing you're trying to do
is get the knob shafts out of their holes.  Once that is done you can lay the
radio open on the table.

Of course, you're looking at two PC boards, one in each half.  The BNC
connector isn't on either of them :-(.  It's burried below the one on the
back side of the radio.  There are 4 screws holding that one down, one in
roughly each corner.  Remove them, and carefully lift that board.  Under it
is yet another PC board, and under that one is the BNC connector.  Alinco
must have stock in the folks producing "Dr. Who".

At the top of the radio is a rubber gasket thingy which goes around the plugs
for the mic/earphone/etc.  I don't remember exactly how this went, but it
will end up coming out.

With the second board lifted out of the way, you'll see some copper foil
covering where the BNC connector is.  There is a screw on the top right, and
a solder blob at the bottom.  Remove the screw and peel the foil back.  I
ended up breaking the solder blob in the process, but it was easy to put
back.  The under side of the foil has an adhesive on it.

There is a wire connecting the BNC's threads which broke off at the PC board
*and* the center connection had cracked from the solder post.  Use a really
small soldering iron and touch up both connections.  Be real careful not
to burn anything, drop solder on anything, or bend the little coils near the
center connector's post.  I didn't use any extra solder, just re-flowing what
already was there.

With the repair complete, reverse the process to put things back together.
Don't forget to re-blob the foil, and get all the rubber gizmos (PTT/Function
switch, and the seal around the speaker/mic connectors back in place, and not
pinched under something else.

As a final step, get some good epoxy and run a bead around the BNC connector
to keep it from moving in the future.  Come to think of it, you might want to
put some on the inside while the radio's open, but I put it on the outside.
Seemed safer.

I've probably forgotten some minor, but important detail in all this, but
this is from memory, so use your best judgment.  Don't force anything; they
put it together without a hammer, so you shouldn't need one to take it apart.
You will need a real fine Phillips screwdriver, fine tip soldering iron,
and NO INTERRUPTIONS to pull this off.

Greg  KD6KGW

==============================================================================
From: [e-mail] (Dale Mosby)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc

I mailed information on the new Alinco dual band hand-held, the DJ-580T
to a couple folks that had enquired about them.  These people had some
requests for the information, so decided that I'd just post it.  This
is not intended to be a complete review of the radio, just information
I had e-mailed.

Note: I posted a couple weeks ago about a stolen DJ-160, the 2 meter
Alinco.  I had a few e-mail responses to that post.  It was stolen by
a brother of one of the Girl Scouts in my Daughter's troop.  We now
have it back -- returned after two weeks, one day before I was going
to mail a claim to the ARRL insurance.

The DJ-580 dual band radio is one of the "small" hand helds, not the
smallest thing out but a very nice size.  I think it has a nice solid
feel to it.  Display shows both VHF & UHF frequencies, as well as
indication for which band is receiving a signal.  Lighted keyboard.
Built in CTCSS encode and decode, as well as tone paging.

I purchased my first DJ-580 from Amateur Radio Supply in Seattle (ARS)
at the ham fair in Washington.  Price was $399.  After playing with it
for a weekend I decided that it was a great radio and I purchased
another one for my wife.  The second one was from Ham Radio Outlet
(HRO) in Tigard, Oregon.  Price there was also $399.

At a ham fair in Salem a couple weeks ago Electro-Comm (a small Alinco
only dealer in Washington) sold out of their 580s and had not yet
received new ones.  At the ham fair last week ARS had just received
them -- I don't know how many they got, but every time I passed
their booth I saw someone buying one.  HRO has had two shipments of
10 each, and after I got mine they had one left.  These things seem
to be popular.

They use a battery specific to Alinco.  The battery is *MUCH* improved
over the DJ-160 (2 meter only) radio.  On the DJ-160 the battery can be
easily removed when the radio is stressed in a purse or backpack.  This
doesn't break it, but is a nuisance.  On the DJ-580 the connection
seems quite secure.  It comes with a drop in charger -- standard slow
charge.  I think there is a fast charger for it.  Standard battery is
7.2 volt 700 ma nicad.

I measured the current draw, and with a single band turned on it
draws about 60 ma, and with both bands on 100 ma (squelch not broken
of course).  With the battery saver feature you should get about 60
percent improvement on power consumption.  In battery save you listen
for 130 ms and then drop to standby power for 390 ms.  Unfortunately
it is not easy for me to measure the power used in this standby setting
but I'd guess that it averages out to perhaps a 60 percent savings.

Only thing I worry about a bit with Alinco is that they seem to come
out with a neat new model each year.  The 580 is a clear winner over
the 560 dual band.  Don't know what they will have next year, but
perhaps the 580 is selling well enough that they will stick with it
a while.  Anyway, hope they decide that this is a good
battery design and keep it.

We did put this on a signal generator and it was a bit more sensitive
than the Yaesu FT470 (think that is their small dual bander) we also
had with us.  I hadn't made the out of band mods yet so couldn't
check sensitivity out of band.  I do know that many of the radios
will display out of band but are not sensitive enough to actually
pick up anything.  The 580 does seem to receive out of band quite
well.  As I say though, I don't have any info on intermod rejection.

Also, the default memory set up is 20 channels for VHF and 20 for UHF.
You can allocate these differently if you wish, for example 30 VHF
and 10 UHF.  The manual describes this procedure.  The manual that
comes with it isn't too bad -- at least not for the "simple" stuff.
I don't know if it does a good job of describing things like cross
band repeat.  If you get one of these radios contact jay Appell at
[e-mail] and tell him you have a 580 and would like
to have him e-mail you a manual.  He has one in progress now.  I
have the first draft and it is pretty good.  Think the second draft
will be out in a month or so.

==============================================================================
From: [e-mail] (Tom Bodoh)

In the US version, cutting a blue jumper will restore out of band xmit.  The
way to get to the wire on recent models is to remove the battery pack, remove
4 small screws on base plate, remove base plate, snip blue wire, cover the
bare ends with electrical tape, put base plate back on (be sure that the
dohickey lines up with the whatzit), re-install the battery, reset the radio
by holding the function key down while turning the power on (oh yeah - you did
write your frequencies/offsets down first, right?).  BTW - in the US version,
cutting the red wire restores extended receive...