See the picture on alt.binaries.pictures.sports.ocean I took with a
tiny little Logitech camera today while installing a whole suite of
Icom radios into my buddy Geoffrey's Amel Sharpi ketch we brought to
Charleston from Satellite Beach, FL a few weeks back. Gotta have all
the toys....(c;

The Icom M802 HF SSB/GMDSS/DSC radio sells, without the antenna tuner
from Ham Radio Outlet in Atlanta for $2,399 + tax and recappable
tires. The AT-140 antenna tuner adds another $480 and tax to that
total, almost THREE GRAND in HF radio......

Then WHY SO CHEAP, ICOM?....DAMMIT!!

1) The tiny little Japanese 6-pin plug that's the control output for
the tuner is a little fragile plastic plug that's NOT sealed in any
way. It plugs into a tiny, little Japanese male outlet on the main
SSB radio. This plug, if you are to install the proper cable (not
included), instead of an overpriced Icom cable with the plugs already
on them, making them impossible to thread through cable runs inside
the boat loaded up with other wires, MUST BE ASSEMBLED! Notice how
the plug is a SIX PIN PLUG....

Icom only uses FOUR of the 6 pins in this tiny little cheap connector
AND ONLY PROVIDES FOUR TEE-TINY LITTLE PINS LEAVING ZERO ROOM FOR
ASSEMBLY ERROR ABOARD A ROCKING BOAT! You don't even get the OTHER
TWO PINS it doesn't use as goof-up spares! These loose female contact
are VERY fragile, very small and easy to bend or break. The contacts
probably cost $1/thousand at the OEM order level.....SO WHY DID ICOM
ONLY PUT FOUR OF THEM IN THE PLUG KIT?!!.....&#)(*&@_#)(#@)$(*&#@%$
(EXPLETIVES DELETED) I got them installed without incident but what
if someone makes a tiny mistake and breaks one? Why, oh why, oh why
should he have to WAIT WEEKS FOR REPLACEMENTS OF SUCH CHEAP PARTS??!!!

2)....This same cheap, unsealed plastic inline connector is hanging
out of the AT-140 antenna tuner on a little piece of cable, OUT IN THE
WEATHER or on some boats IN THE HUMID, DAMP, CORRODING BILGE under
some settee someplace. WHY CAN'T A $500 ANTENNA TUNER HAVE SEALING,
WATERPROOF CABLE CONNECTORS MOUNTED RIGHT INTO THE ANTENNA TUNER'S
WATERPROOF HOUSING??!! Hello? Icom? Does anyone at Icom own a boat?
Ever worked on a boat? Ever seen an unprotected connector eaten by
electrolysis because it was exposed to SEAWATER with 13.8VDC on it?!!
Arrgh!.....(puke). Ok, so we'll get rid of this cheap little
connector, right? The ANTENNA TUNER INSTRUCTION MANUAL shows that
inside the tuner this useless pigtail wire is screwed into a TERMINAL
BLOCK on the main PC board, on a European-style terminal block made
for bare wires....right? WRONG AGAIN, FISH BREATH!! The damned
pigtail is SOLDERED to fine little wires that are soldered to the PC
board WHERE THE TERMINAL BLOCK IS SUPPOSED TO GO!!

DAMMIT ICOM, WHY IS THIS $500 TUNER MISSING THE LITTLE TERMINAL BLOCK
THAT COSTS AN OEM $1.39?!!! DAMNED CHEAPSKATES!!

My plan was to open the tuner, unscrew the wires from the terminal
block on the PC board and install the custom cable I pulled into the
wireways in the boat, through the waterproof cable squeezer straight
into the MISSING TERMINAL BLOCK!!!!!! IDIOTS!!!!!

I cannot pull the main PC board out of the tuner because of all the
HOT GLUED PARTS making disassembly impossible. I'm afraid if I
unsolder the pigtail cable from the little wires soldered to the
board, I may also unsolder the little wires from the unremovable
bottom of the main PC board.

I feel just like the Aflac Duck walking out of the barber shop with
Yogi Berra in the commercial.......AHHHHHHH!!!!GGGGhhh!!!!

Stupid Icom for a unit that retails for $3000 to be constructed so
cheaply!! This ISN'T a consumer ham radio for someone's
hamshack...THIS IS A BOAT RADIO!!! ALL connectors should be
WATERPROOF, EVEN ON THE MAIN CHASSIS!! It's HUMID in a boat!!!

3) The remote unit, that may be mounted outside on some boats, IS
waterproof. it has rubber keys, nice sealed box.....But,
ARRGH!....THE CABLE CONNECTOR ON THE BACK OF IT IS A LITTLE MINIATURE
DIN CONNECTOR OFF SOME HAM RADIO MADE FOR SOMEONE'S CAR!! Water is
gonna get into that tiny connector with DC power on it and just EAT
THE PINS RIGHT OFF IT!! Well, Duhhhh!!!.......

Well, I'm gonna have another Newcastle English Ale and stop trying to
figure out how I'm going to put the control cable to the tuner,
tonight. I'll think more about it in the morning.....

I just wanted every one of you to know how this nice radio (otherwise)
is made. Its technology is certainly a wonder....but its construction
is NOT A MARINE RADIO!!!

PS - the matching M602 IS sealed like a marine radio should be. It
has an EXTERNAL heat sink outside the sealed case. THE M802 HAS A FAN
THAT DRAWS SALT AIR INTO THE CABINET TO COOL IT! Think about how
wonderful that's gonna be in 3 years.....(c;

Arrgh.......Any Icom reps or dealers wanna explain this to
me?.....Planned Obsolescense? Payback for losing WW2? Why....WHY?!!

Larry W4CSC
3rd Mate Engineering
S/V "Claire's Navie"
CAREFULLY soldering the FOUR LITTLE PINS you provided........

Larry

Extremely intelligent life must exist in the universe.
You can tell because they never tried to contact us.