[Icom] PIEXX ICOMPROM board vs Willco Electronics No-Fail Memory

[Chris Smolinski]

Jim Shaw wrote:
> 
> I have an IC-751A and, since the battery is 15+ years old, need to replace
> it before it dies.  Rather than do a direct battery replacement I am
> considering upgrading to nonvolatile RAM.  I can only identify two potential
> sources: PIEXX ICOMPROM board & Willco Electronics No-Fail Memory.
> 
> I am very interested in any experience anyone has had with either of these
> products as well as any opinions on the vendors.  Please provide your pros
> and cons.

I installed a Willco board in my R71A several years ago, and have been
very happy with it.  Basic installation was a snap, I also chose to do
the extra mods required to increase total memories to 1024 ch (not sure
if this feature is for the 751 or not). That was not too difficult to
do, other than the tight working conditions inside the rig! I am mostly
a ute listener, so I find the extra memories to be very handy. Youend up
with 32 banks of 32 memories. The memory knob is also used to select the
bank, the speech button is used to latch the bank number, then you use
the memory knob again to select the memory channel in that bank. 

The Willco unit also opens up reception to 10 kHz to 40 MHz. This saves
you from having to use the "trick" to get the R71 to tune to 0 kHz from
where you can tune up into the LW band, plus opens up part of VHF-Lo. On
my rig, I find the PLL loses lock around 36 MHz. Sensitivity starts to
drop off before that due to the front end filtering. 

73
Chris
N3JLY