N8GNJ.org

Better Day with the ID-1 - Success

Ten days ago I had a frustrating day trying to get one of my three Icom ID-1 radio / control heads mounted. Today was better.

As I explained in my earlier article, the mounting threads on one of my ID-1 radios was (apparently) supposed to be M4 with a 0.7 thread. The first unit that I tried to install like the above just... didn't... fit. I spent 15 minutes at the local Ace Hardware with the ID-1 radio in hand trying various metric screws, and concluded that that radio unit was threaded for M4 0.7 thread machine screw... but only two or three threads would engage.

After some back and forth with the good folks on the D-STAR23cm mailing list, I thought to try another of my ID-1 radios and sure enough, those other units had no trouble accepting an M4 0.7 machine screw. All I can conclude is that the previous owner of the "troublesome" ID-1 radio tapped the threads for a screw type other than the original M4 0.7 thread. Since I have three ID-1s, I installed one of the other ID-1s whose threads were M4 0.7.

One of the best tips I got from the list was from Al Massaro KF5SMH that he bought his metric hardware from Lowes. It was news to me that a big box home improvement store would have such a specialized item, but sure enough, my local Lowes has the best selection of small metric machine screws that I've seen in my area - different heads, threads, and lengths.

When I get to the "troublesome" ID-1, since I can get a decent installation even using only 2-3 threads, I'll probably just go with that, as these radios won't ever be subjected to the stresses of mobile usage (from me). My interest in the ID-1 its unique "128 kbps" data capability, athough there is a 1240 - 1300 MHz analog FM repeater in my area. Thus, this ID-1 might be the rare data radio in my radio stack that does have its microphone connected.

Second was the mystery of the bracket. Tom KC9ONY on the D-STAR23cm mailing list provided some additional detail, and a clue that a MB28H bracket might work. That was good news for me. Ham Radio Outlet put those brackets on their discontinued list a few weeks ago and I bought two for some used Icom IC-28A / IC-28H / IC-38A / IC-48A radios I had that had no brackets. So that was an easy fit test, and yes, the Icom MB28H bracket does fit the ID-1!

The bad news is that yes, the MB28H bracket is discontinued, and today I just purchased the last one in stock at Ham Radio Outlet. Other vendors might have one in stock (Google) if you have an ID-1 without a bracket.

In case HRO removes this listing, here is the text from HRO's MB28H page:

ICOM IC-MB28H
Mobile Mounting Bracket for FM Mobiles - IC-27 - IC-28 - IC-2350 - IC-208 - IC-2710 etc
Mounting bracket for most Icom VHF UHF mobile radios.
Fits radio Width of 141mm (5.5") screw spacing 50mm (2.0"), for the following series of Icom radios.
IC-27, IC-37, IC-47
IC-28, IC-38, IC-48
IC-2350
IC-207
IC-208
IC-2100, IC2200, IC-2300
IC-2710, IC-2720
IC-208
ID-800
ID-880
[does not fit Icom V-8000]

The mounting base I used for mounting the ID-1 control head and radio (and all my radios) is a small 10" deep black cutting board intended for use in a bar. The one I chose is prefectly sized for the wire racks I use for my radios.

Next challenge is getting the ID-1 powered up, perhaps updated, and communicating over the air.

Thanks for reading!
Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA
Copyright © 2021 by Steven K. Stroh

 

Frustrating Day with the ID-1s

I spent several hours today finally breaking out of storage my three used Icom ID-1 radios. Icom discontinued the ID-1 a couple of years ago and they started to come onto the used market at somewhat reasonable prices. I'd always wanted one back in the day, and finally they were affordable used. I have a special fondness for the ID-1 because I was at the Digital Communications Conference (1996, I think) where the ID-1 was unveiled to the US market. (The reception of the crowd to that unveiling is quite the story, for another time.) I had not checked them over really before now - they arrived at times when I wasn't prepared to do anything with them, so they just got put safely into storage for later resurrection and usage.

I'm now preparing to put one of them into my data radio shelf system, and I now discover that I have only one with a proper bracket out of the three radios. Even if I had noticed back then, they were sold working, including only what was shown in the eBay sale photos.

That said, I'm unimpressed with Icom's documentation for the ID-1:

• There's no mention of the part number of the bracket for the radio. It's going to take some significant research to figure out the part number for that bracket to see if it's still available (used on other Icom radios).
• There's no mention in the documentation of the screw size on the body of the radio. Almost every other radio I have has the thread type and and maximum allowed length stamped or stickered on the side of the radio near the screw threads for the bracket. I'm going to have to get a Metric thread pitch gauge to (gently...) figure out what the socket thread is.

Glancing through the documentation, it's going to be quite the interesting challenge to get these radios programmed and back on the air. The software apparently was written for Windows 2000, but I've seen mentions of it being used on later versions.

Ah well, at least it was a beautiful day with the shop doors open as I played with radios (my version of a day out in the fresh air and sunshine).

Thanks for reading!

Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA
Copyright © 2021 by Steven K. Stroh