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Build A OPC 478U Clone 200727

The document provides a guide on building a clone of the OPC-478U cable for programming an ICOM V8000 rig. It details the necessary components, including a USB to TTL serial converter, and offers troubleshooting tips for software compatibility issues. Additionally, it includes schematics and suggestions for sourcing parts, emphasizing cost-effectiveness compared to purchasing the original cable.

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nikolay.pulev
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47 views4 pages

Build A OPC 478U Clone 200727

The document provides a guide on building a clone of the OPC-478U cable for programming an ICOM V8000 rig. It details the necessary components, including a USB to TTL serial converter, and offers troubleshooting tips for software compatibility issues. Additionally, it includes schematics and suggestions for sourcing parts, emphasizing cost-effectiveness compared to purchasing the original cable.

Uploaded by

nikolay.pulev
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Build an OPC-478U Clone

I recently obtained an ICOM V8000 rig from a fellow ham and decided to change
the channel programming that he had been using to match that of my other rigs.
Of course, this meant that I needed to look into how to do this without punching a
lot of buttons on the rig. I pretty quickly figured out that I needed a new cable
and some software. The Candy Store had the software in stock (Dear ICOM:
why can’t I buy this software and download it on-line?) so that was easy. But,
they wanted $45 for the cable. $45 for a cable? Well, that dog won’t hunt! So,
back to the web and my best friend, Google. I quickly found a plethora of
schematics for clone cables. The schematics all indicated that this $45 cable
was nothing more than a RS232 to TTL level converter, so I decided “I can build
that”.

I played with the idea of building a straight-forward RS232 converter but decided
that this wouldn’t be elegant since the laptop I use for Ham operations does not
have a RS232 port and thus I would need a USB to RS232 converter on top of
the level converter. That led to a decision to use a common USB to TTL serial
converter, also known as a “FTDI Friend” (see the parts list for sources). Figure
1 is the resulting schematic.

Figure 1 OPC 478U Clone Schematic

At first, I bread-boarded this to make sure that it worked but, due to the age of
the cloning software that ICOM provides (Windows 95/98 based!), it did not
recognize my USB serial port at first. Older software such as this did not allow
for more than a small number of Com ports, 4 in this case, so I had to manually
reconfigure the USB serial port to one that it did recognize. If you run into this
kind of problem, here is how to change it in Windows. First, go into Device
Manager; select the serial port that you need to change. Click on Properties and
then click on Advanced Properties. There will be a drop-down box available

July 27, 2020 NØDIM DIY OPC-478U Cable Clone


there to change the Com port to something in the range of 1 to 4. If they are all
taken, select one that you know is not connected and ignore the resulting error
message.

After getting the breadboard version working, I decided to make a more


permanent version that I can keep in the toolbox for use when I change my mind
about what frequencies to have stored. Figure 2 shows what that finished project
looks like. The stereo cable connects to the rig and the micro-USB connector, as
seen in Figure 4, provides the USB/serial connection to the laptop.

Figure 2 The Finished Project

Parts Used

The FTDI Friend is available from:


• Frys OSEP FTDI, p/n 6997547, for ~$20
https://www.frys.com/product/6997547
• Online from SparkFun p/n DEV-09 718 for ~$18
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9718
• Online from Adafruit p/n 284 for ~$15
https://www.adafruit.com/product/284
• Microcenter FTDI Adapter for ~$8
https://www.microcenter.com/product/486570/-ftdi-adapter-usb-controller

July 27, 2020 NØDIM DIY OPC-478U Cable Clone


• eBay! Search for “ftdi usb to serial”

Lastly, one reader pointed out that the FTDI Friend has 2 voltage options, 3.3V
and 5V. I used 5V to interface to my ICom V8000, but if you aren’t sure, start
with 3.3V and if that doesn’t work, change to 5V. A great trouble-shooting guide
has been posted by DF4OR at http://www.plicht.de/ekki/civ/civ-p21.html

The rig connector can be from a cut-up stereo cable such as I used, like a Radio
Shack 42-223 (https://www.radioshack.com/products/3-ft-1-8-stereo-plug-cable),
or you can use a 274-284 connector from Radio Shack and wire it up yourself.

The box used was a Radio Shack 270-283A, which includes a PCB that can be
used to mount the circuit such as in Figures 3 and 4. This specific project box is
discontinued and may be unavailable, so choose something similar.

Use a 10K resistor or something close for the pull-up resistor R1. The diode I
used was a 1N4148, but just about any diode should work.

Enjoy!

Mitch Matteau NØDIM

Figure 3 Inside the Box

July 27, 2020 NØDIM DIY OPC-478U Cable Clone


Figure 4 Front View

Figure 5 Component Side View

July 27, 2020 NØDIM DIY OPC-478U Cable Clone

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