Icom ID-50A Manual page 13

A Few Suggestions
Some components come with a bit of tape on the end
of their leads. These are a result of being supplied to
commercial users for automated insertion machines.
Removing the tape can be tedious; it is unnecessary
— the leads are all long enough so you can just cut off
the taped end.
You may decide to insert a few components in a group
and then reverse the board. Then you can solder these
components at the same time without having to flip the
board over and over. The next step is to cut off the ex-
cess leads, as they all poke up from the solder. As you
do, keep count of the number of leads you clip. If you
come up with an odd number, this means you forgot to
solder or clip one lead — they are usually in pairs.
The Board
The board is an industry-standard two-sided printed
circuit board with traces on the top and bottom. Here
is where a very small soldering tip might come in
handy. The soldering pads surrounding the compo-
nent lead holes are very small and very narrow. Use a
bit of caution, and try not to overheat and destroy any
of the pad surface. In many cases, the holes them-
selves are just big enough to be able to insert the
component lead.
The board coating between solder pads serves to
help you if you are too generous with the amount of
solder used. It is nonstick; if you accidentally bridge
two points with solder, the coating allows you to melt
the solder and wipe out the excess.
If, for some reason, you do have to unsolder a compo-
nent, or you accidentally splash solder into a hole that
should be used for another component, you may have
difficulty cleaning out the hole. If you do have to clean
out a hole, check for continuity from the hole to the
next connecting point. If there isn't any continuity, use
an external jumper.
Tests at HF and VHF
Two sets of tests were run at HF: one at 40 meters
and one at 10 meters. There is no way to specifically
describe the results as either good (helpful in hearing
52 June 2024 QST www.arrl.org
Figure 10 — The
smaller tip was easier
to use than the lar-
ger, standard tip in
several places. The
top scale numbers
are centimeters; the
smaller divisions are
millimeters.
signals) or not helpful. When it is used, either with the
included telescoping antenna or with a random wire
extending the telescoping antenna, any signal may be
raised as well as the noise. Whether this improved the
readability of the signal or not is, to a good extent, in
the mind (and ears) of the tester, and no specific an-
swer can be given.
It was not possible to test the kit as a second antenna
element for noise suppression or signal enhance-
ments. However, previous product evaluation tests run
here with several different diversity combiners, and a
few antennas gave the same spread of results —
sometimes yes, sometimes no, and most often cannot
really tell.
For VHF, the test used a Yaesu VX-6, which had a
16-inch dual-band whip (145 and 430 MHz). The
162.55 MHz weather broadcast reception at my home
is constant but marginal, and signal strength can be
varied by changing the location slightly. With the Pa-
cific Antenna unit connected in place of the 16-inch
whip, the squelch break point had to be reset, thus
showing that there was increased noise (and signal)
using the active antenna instead of the usual whip.
Here, more than half the time, the signal readability
was improved. Because there was equal gain in noise
and signal, perhaps some could be related to the dif-
ference, depending on where the gain was applied
with respect to where the bandwidth was limited in the
narrow FM. No significant difference was seen when
the mode was set to AM or wide FM.
One unexpected problem was found in this test with the
VX-6. The output of the active antenna is a BNC con-
nector. The VX-6 uses an SMA connector. Because I
and many others, including companies advertising their
products, are often unable to decide if a connector is
male or female, my solution was to buy a set of SMA-
to-BNC converting connectors of various polarities.
This kit is designed to allow for listening using a short
(wavelength-wise) antenna in cases where a full-size
antenna is not practical.
In Summary
Sometimes there was an increase in signal readability,
and sometimes it was indecisive. The kit comes with a
very good instruction manual and a low parts count,
which is suitable for beginner and intermediate kit
builders. Ultimately, its price and the fact that it's a fun
kit to build make it worth the investment, and it can be
handy for improving reception in certain situations.
Manufacturer: Pacific Antenna, P.O. Box 10301, Fay-
etteville, AR 72703, www.qrpkits.com. Price: $25.