L’Hôtel des Invalides

Je ne regarde pas habituellement des longs drames de la NHK.  Mais exceptionnellement, je regarde à chaque fois l’édition 2021 de « Seiten wo Tsuke (＝Frappez le ciel bleu) ».  Il y a eu une scène dans laquelle Eiichi Shibusawa (=portrait sur le billet de 10 000 yens) rendait visite à “LHôtel des Invalides” à Paris et était profondéent ému.

Ce lieu est toujours une attraction touristique à Paris et, avec le pont Alexandre III qui lui fait face, c’est un endroit photogénique qui vous donne l’impression la plus parisienne.

O,Sorry! The language being translated was different!!
“L’Hôtel des Invalides” literally means “a place to house (at public expense) those who can no longer play an active role (here soldiers).”


—Hey, you!  it has nothing to do with radio at all.—

But the “Satellite Equipments Basket” I’m making today is a way to give a home to all the radio equipment that has been retired for various reasons… a place for each piece of equipment to flourish, to the extent that they are still able to.  Will there be a place for everyone to shine at the “Yugi East Satellite Hôtel des Invalides” without anyone being left behind…?


—Huh?  It has still nothing to do with antennas… (Oh well)—

【Veteran #1】 My second-handed FT-817. At the time, I was thinking of taking it to the outdoor radio activities, and it seemed cheap, so I think it was a half-impulse purchase. (The FT-817ND had become popular, and the 818 was about to be released, so it was quite common.) However, one day, it suddenly stopped producing power. It moved slightly, about the thickness of the needle on the power meter… which means…the final stage chip must have been gone. I googled “FT-817” and found many articles in English saying, “I joined the Blown Finals Club, too.” “The Blown Finals Club”… It seems not to be a local club… I automatically joined. Apparently, the 2SK2975 final has a low maximum drain-source voltage of 30V, so it dies easily from static electricity or surges… The manufacturer quoted me nearly 30,000 yen (US$200) for repairs. It’s not that different from the purchase price… Replacing the final part myself would require some skill, so it seems impossible… (a hot gun, clad resistors, etc. hmm…) So, now that he was a demobilized soldier, he just lay dormant in a box for a few years.

【Veteran #2】 The buddy of Veteran 1, FT-817, is the aforementioned IC-706mk2G. It was once active on the IOTA front in the Southern Ocean… A man of the sea who traveled from island to island, from the Maldives (8Q) in the Indian Ocean in the west to Manihi Atoll (FO) in the east, even in the photo he has quite a bit of grey hair.. (…Hey! That’s due to the exposure! ) Although this is an old soldier, it is a 100W radio, has been renewed with JARD warranty and is currently also in the lineup of fixed stations. It’s fine for fixed operation at home, but I can’t operate it away (We are not allowed mobile operation over 50W in Japan)… When that time comes, I’ll pair it with its junior, 50W output IC-7100. It’s convenient as they’re about the same size.

【Veteran #3】 Although he was not the main soldier, after the two telegraph keys, it is the oldest headphone, the Kenwood HS-6, which has probably been used in our house for nearly 30 years. As rigs have become smaller, it has become difficult to find one that fits the 6.5Φ mono plug, and new modes such as FT8 do not require a sound monitor even though it is an AF signal, so it has not been used much recently. The main HF transceiver was replaced with an IC-7610, and I had a faint hope that it would continue to be useful… but it was short-lived, when the heartless owner earned purchase points from the store where I bought it and got the higher-end HS-5 model, so it was no longer in use. Still, it was thanks to this that I was able to use HF in the middle of the night or early in the morning without incurring any displeasure from my family, and I was able to use it peacefully. The ear pads were worn out, so I replaced them with leather pads ordered online, and I also replaced the plug with an L-shaped mini plug (quite expensive…) that I found in the electric guitar section on the second floor of Sengoku Electric Trades in Akihabara.

【Helper】 Unfortunately, the FT-817 can no longer transmit, but it can receive quite well. It’s not that far behind the IC7100. Let’s order a 144MHz and 430MHz preamplifier for both satellite B/J modes from Cosmowave, a local shop (probably the closest radio shop from home), and install it in the head of the FT817 to give it excellent reception. The print circuit boards were very compact, so I put them both together in one aluminum box. The only thing that needs to be switched is the power supply.

【Helper’s helper】 It’s a pain to switch between the two helpers (preamplifiers) depending on the incoming satellite (downlink B mode = 144MHz, J mode = 430MHz), so we use a duplexer to connect them simultaneously to the FT817. However, the coaxial cable of the duplexer MX-72N currently on the market is as thick as 5D-FB. It’s not something that can be easily handled at the bottom of the basket. (Photo) 　←This is the commercially available MX-72N So I searched for an old DIAMOND MX-72H on Yahoo! Auctions (with the thin RG-58U) and won it.   It looked like it had been used hard somewhere, and it was clearly well-worn, but its performance seemed fine. I removed the M-connector plug that was attached to the thin RG-58/U and replaced it with an SMA plug so that it could be directly connected to the preamplifier. (Photo below) The two removed M-shaped plugs were made into a jumper cable to use for connecting to the FT-817.

【Housing】

The original “LHôtel des Invalides” in Paris is shiny and glistening as shown in the picture, but there is no need for that this time, so I’ll use a “100-en-shop” basket.



These are two cases of the same size but different depths. Since the two veterans are different heights, I stacked them together to create a double bottom.



Use various cutter knives to make holes.



To check the performance of the preamplifier, I put only the receiving system in the cage and listened to it.

The S/N ratio was clearly higher than IC7100 with its pre-amp, and even with a GP antenna 2m above the ground, the satellite beacons could be heard clearly. This was the best improvement in my hearing.




The shallow basket on the bottom layer is the “Pipe Shaft of this Hôtel”, which holds the various cables that cross on the back of the rig when it is normally installed. This allows it to be placed upright, so it can also be settled in a vehicle.



If I put the IC-706 in the bottom row, the home version of the satellite basket is complete. If I put in the IC-7100, it will be the away version (= for mobile use). 

By the way, this IC-706mk2G actually only uses the 144MHz and 430MHz bands. The output of both bands is 50W/20W, so if I exclude bands below 50MHz from the specifications and make it a 144/430MHz dedicated model, will it be usable as a mobile station since it has a technical conformity guarantee?

For example, even if it is a technical conformity model that can output 14MHz, 3rd and 4th class amateur radio operators can apply for it as a technical conformity model by excluding the 14MHz band.  In the same way, if I exclude the band that can output 100W (= below 50MHz) from the application, wouldn’t it be approved as a technical conformity model?  I think so… (Someone please tell me!)

　　　　　　　　　－・・・－
Anyway, this IC-706mk2G is allowed into “the Invalides” even though it is still in active service and not a disabled soldier.

But now that I think about it, the original “LHôtel des Invalides” in Paris also houses the coffin of Napoleon, who was not a disabled soldier at all.

Is it a privilege for those who were “exiled to isolated islands”?  That’s an unexpected commonality.

For now only the FT-817 is a resident, but it is my main equipment of satellite operation for its good hearing.


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