Gear Updates and a 3D Printed Thing

Welp. I burned out my XPA125B amplifier. Don’t ask me how. One day it worked, the next day it didn’t. Back to 10 watts on the IC-705 for me.

On the bright side, I picked up an ICOM ID-52A over the summer. It’s a nice little handheld, and here’s the neat part: it uses the same battery as the IC-705. One less proprietary battery ecosystem to worry about. Small victories.

But wait, there’s more gear.

I also grabbed a Mobilinkd TNC4 because apparently I can’t stop buying radio equipment. This thing lets you do packet radio with your phone as the interface. The problem? No good way to attach it to my radios without it flopping around like a fish.

So I did what any reasonable person would do: I designed a 3D printed adapter that clips the TNC4 directly onto the ID-52A or IC-705.

You can grab it here if you want one: https://www.printables.com/model/1167045-icom-attachable-mobilinkd-tnc4-id-52-ic-705

Did I spend more time designing the adapter than I’ve spent actually using the TNC4? Almost certainly. But now it looks tidy, and that’s what matters.