Q I have a chance to purchase an ICOM IC-745 transceiver. The owner says the battery is dead and that I would need to return the radio to ICOM to replace the battery and reprogram the memory. It is a shame that you have to return the rig each time the battery expires. Is there an easier solution?
A The program code that controls the various functions of the IC-745 (and many similar ICOMs of that vintage) was stored in “volatile” memory (ie, remove power and it gets erased). The long-life lithium batteries used to maintain this memory lasted quite a few years, so I suspect that ICOM probably figured that the radios would be obsolete and no longer in use by the time this happened.
You have two options. One is returning the rig to ICOM (or an ICOM-authorized service center) for battery replacement and reprogramming. The other is to purchase a “memory replacement board” from Willco Electronics.
The latter item is a nonvolatile memory board that contains the same information as the original. Once installed, you (or a future owner) will never have to face this problem again. The disadvantage is the cost of the board, which is probably a substantial chunk of the going price for the radio in used condition. You can contact Willco at:
Willco Electronics
203 York Place
PO Box 788
New Lenox, IL 60451
tel 815-723-1874
http://www.ameritech.net/users/willco788/my1.html
From QST September 1999
