Hi this is Frank and welcome to the channel, today I will share with you one of my friend’s Go Box VE2GIQ which has an IC-705 installed with an ingenious method that allows easy removal from the Go Box and a few other interesting components.
The IC-705 is installed on a tilting mount, allowing for confortable operation and reading. The mount itself is installed on rails, so we can bring the radio forward and backward and can also lock it for transport. We can easily remove the radio from the Go Box by disconnecting the cables, unscrewing the base and be ready to go back-packing and operate as a portable.
The radio is connected to a RM Italy MLA100 HF amplifier which provides 100W on HF and 80W on 6 meters. Even though the specification says the input power to be between 1 and 5 watts, we tested the maximum power from the IC-705 at 10 watts, and the amplifier provided 130 watts output, so there is a tolerance factor which is good in case he forgets to bring down the power from the IC-705.
There is also a “Build it yourself” “Remote Antenna Switcher” which allows to use 2 HF antennas, for example an EndFed antenna and a Vertical antenna and be able to quickly switch between them at the flick of a switch. This comes handy when you want to compare signals or antennas.
The IC-705 has a single antenna connector, so in order to use VHF/UHF as well, he installed a Comet CF-530 HF/(VHF/UHF) Duplexer, this allows to use the single antenna connector on the IC-705 and split the HF to one antenna and the VHF/UHF on another antenna without having to disconnect/reconnect any cables. There are 2 external VHF\UHF antenna connectors, one in the back and one on the left side.
The Go Box contains a MFJ-849 Digital Wattmeter/SWR that covers HF and VHF/UHF with a very easy to read display.
The Antenna tuner is a LDG-Z11-Pro
The Power supply is a repurposed Yaesu FP-30B which was made for the FT-897.
For power distribution he used a RigRunner 4005H.
The front panel is 3D printed and custom fit for the required switches.
(Diagram) Here is the diagram of the Go Box, you may want to pause the video if you want to see more details,
If you have a Peovi mount, it could also be used if you allow sufficient room around the radio in your Go Box but it could not fit in this particular Go Box.
Overall this is a very functional and unique Go Box that can cover many bands with a single radio, 100 watts on HF, 10 watts on VHF/UHF and may be later add a 50 watts VHF/UHF amplifier. The versatility of the radio mount, the rails and the ability to quickly remove the radio from the Go Box is a great idea!
This Go box is the 4th version, it initially started a IC-7200, IC-7000, IC-7300 and now an IC-705.
Building a Go Box is sometimes an on-going project, adding and replacing parts and accessories as new ideas come in and budget allows it!
I hope this video gave you some ideas for your Go Box, if you have comments or suggestions, leave them down below, if you like this video click the Like button. This is Frank signing out, thanks for watching, 73!
Box: Gator 4U rack mount case (19 inches width x 4U (4 x 1,75 inches) height)
Mount: Neewer Z-Flex mount
Sliding rails: come from a local hardware store, I don’t have the P/N, it is custom made to fit.
*** Note on Keying the MLA100: The Go box has been upgraded (2023) to use a buffering interface to protect the IC-705. Available on eBay "ICOM IC-705 amplifier keying cable, RBI-1 Interface KXPA-100, RM Italy MLA100"
4 окт 2024
