{"id":190,"date":"2021-11-29T18:07:01","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T18:07:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/m1cdq.co.uk\/main\/?p=190"},"modified":"2021-11-29T19:13:57","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T19:13:57","slug":"ham-radio-gets-brain-transplant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/m1cdq.co.uk\/main\/2021\/11\/29\/ham-radio-gets-brain-transplant\/","title":{"rendered":"HAM RADIO GETS BRAIN TRANSPLANT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Old radios didn\u2019t have much in the way of smarts. But as digital synthesis became more common, radios often had as much digital electronics in them as RF circuits. The problem is that digital electronics get better and better every year, so what looked like high-tech one year is quaint the next. [IMSAI Guy] had an Icom IC-245 and decided to replace the digital electronics inside with \u2014 among other things \u2014 an Arduino<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He spends a good bit of the first part of the video that you can see below explaining what the design needs to do. An Arduino Nano fits and he uses a few additional parts to get shift registers, a 0-1V digital to analog converter, and an interface to an OLED display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless you have this exact radio, you probably won\u2019t be able to directly apply this project. Still, it is great to look over someone\u2019s shoulder while they design something like this, especially when they explain their reasoning as they go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PCB, of course, has to be exactly the same size as the board it replaces, including mounting holes and interface connectors. It looks like he got it right the first time which isn\u2019t always easy. Does it work? We don\u2019t know by the end of the first video. You\u2019ll have to watch the next one (also below) where he actually populates the PCB and tests everything out.<\/p>\n\n\n