Yaesu DR-1X Modifications – Part 1

by Brad (K4NHA) · July 31, 2016

I am currently modifying the first of several Yaesu DR-1X repeaters to allow control via an Arcom RC210 controller. Stage one involves splicing into the data cable which connects the TX and RX radios together. I won’t detail that here since Ken at Arcom Controllers already has an excellent article on how to do that here on his site.

While I had the repeater open I decided to install three DHT22 temperature and humidity sensors to monitor how well the stock cooling was working. I placed one in the RX section which houses the RX radio, 120vAC to 13.8VDC power supply, and Yaesu controller. The other two were placed in the TX section with one being on the airflow inlet side and one on the airflow exhaust. The TX section is separated right at the mid-point of the TX radio so that the two fans can deliver maximum airflow across the heatsink. I’m interested to see how well this works later on once this repeater is placed into service.

Part 2 coming soon which will be the Arcom ADR interface and Arcom RC210 connection.