Ham-fisted

They say you should never play with fire. I'd like to alter that slightly to include other things that are rather hot.

I recently decided to send off my application for a 5MHz NoV (Notice of Variation). NVIS propagation interests me, and with 5MHz being talked about as an interesting band for this in particular, I thought I'd give it a go. In anticipation of being granted the NoV, I decided to do the wideband transmit modification to my FT-897 to give me access to the 5MHz frequencies. Steering well clear of my welding torch that is allegedly a soldering iron, I used one of the proper temperature-controlled irons we have at FARS, that are intended for surface-mount work. This is where I probably should have stopped.

Anyone who's been inside an FT-897 before is probably familiar with the surface-mount jumpers that control which frequencies the radio has access to. I'd previously modified the same radio to give me access to the airband frequencies (receive only, obviously), and that was straightforward enough - although that only involved removing one of the jumpers. For this modification, you need to remove a further two, and solder one in on a previously-unused pair of pads.

I successfully removed the two jumpers, and started to solder in place the third, when I applied too much heat to one of the sets of pads, and watched in horror as the pads lifted off the board, exposing the middle layer of the board. Attempts to make some kind of reconnection were unsuccessful, and at this point I called it quits and decided to see if the radio would still work.

I re-assembled the radio, applied power and to my suprise (and short-lived joy) it powered up. A quick scan through the bands showed that all I'd lost was the previously-gained air band, which I wasn't too fussed about as long as I still had a radio that worked. Next step was to pop it all back together and give it a proper test, so I pulled the power out of the back...

Uh-oh.

A *click* *click* *click* sound is never a good thing, and this was confirmed by plugging the power back in and being met with what we here in Yorkshire refer to as 'nowt'. Desperate poking and prodding yielded even more 'nowt', and it looked like the poor FT-897 was toast.

That was two weeks ago. It's now in the capable hands of another club member who can hopefully nurse it back to life. For my part, it's made me realise that surface mount work is something that you can never get enough of, so I've spent two whole evenings down at the club practicing surface mount work.

It could still turn out to be an expensive lesson, so if you're thinking of doing similar please - for your sanity's sake - practice first. Preferably not on a £700 radio.