IC-R5 Unusual PC board in battery area

VancouverScan · Sep 1, 2016

I picked up a used R5, first thing I noticed was a hole in the battery cover and inside was a 2 pin connector. Upon opening battery compartment, there is a small PC board inside, no room for batteries, it has a name on it, NS Microwave. It appears it was from Gov't surplus, it also came with an unusual BNC antenna on thin coax to an SMA connector, I tested antenna for peak frequency range and it is centered at 166.500MHz.

Anyone know anything about this board and how to use it? I can add a picture if needed of the board.

Thanks.

EricCottrell · Sep 1, 2016

Hello,

I picture would be helpful.

NS Microwave seems to be a defunct company, but websites seem to point to microwave surveillance and security systems. There also seems to be multiple companies named NS Microwave.

What is the range of your antenna measurement device? It could be a colinear antenna for a higher frequency range and will also work on 166 MHz. I suspect that the board is a downconverter so the receiver can be used to check frequencies above the 1.3 GHz limit of the R5.

73 Eric

VancouverScan · Sep 1, 2016

EricCottrell said:
Hello,

I picture would be helpful.

NS Microwave seems to be a defunct company, but websites seem to point to microwave surveillance and security systems. There also seems to be multiple companies named NS Microwave.

What is the range of your antenna measurement device? It could be a colinear antenna for a higher frequency range and will also work on 166 MHz. I suspect that the board is a downconverter so the receiver can be used to check frequencies above the 1.3 GHz limit of the R5.

73 Eric

Much of the same info I read about them also. I'm using an MFJ-259B antenna analyzer to measure the lowest SWR at 50ohm's. I hope the pic attaches, first time using.

eorange · Sep 1, 2016

So the board wasn't connected to the R5 in any way? It was just sitting in the battery compartment?

VancouverScan · Sep 1, 2016

eorange said:
So the board wasn't connected to the R5 in any way? It was just sitting in the battery compartment?

Yes, it was screwed in where the original screws were. When I received it I used an AC adapter and the scanner worked normally.

eorange · Sep 1, 2016

VancouverScan said:
Yes, it was screwed in where the original screws were. When I received it I used an AC adapter and the scanner worked normally.

Any chance you could take a closer pic so the writing on the board is readable? (I have a R6 so I find this interesting.)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk

kmi8dy · Sep 2, 2016

how about a voltage adapter so it could be plugged into a cigarette lighter in a vehicle? that's my best guess. it could have been taken off another electronic device and used on the r5. just throwing ideas out there to see if anything sticks.

VancouverScan · Sep 2, 2016

eorange said:
Any chance you could take a closer pic so the writing on the board is readable? (I have a R6 so I find this interesting.)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk

Found my other camera, this should help.

eorange · Sep 2, 2016

That helps. My guess: it's a 3 volt regulator, for allowing an external source to power the R5. U1 looks like a voltage regulator, with a pair of capacitors and resistors for filtering.

VancouverScan · Sep 3, 2016

eorange said:
That helps. My guess: it's a 3 volt regulator, for allowing an external source to power the R5. U1 looks like a voltage regulator, with a pair of capacitors and resistors for filtering.

That certainly could be. Would you think a company that once dominated in counter surveillance and spying would just make a 3V regulator when there is a plug on the side for that. Keep in mind this also came with a specific antenna centered around 166.500MHz.

eorange · Sep 4, 2016

VancouverScan said:
That certainly could be. Would you think a company that once dominated in counter surveillance and spying would just make a 3V regulator when there is a plug on the side for that. Keep in mind this also came with a specific antenna centered around 166.500MHz.

I know, seems strange. Who knows what the circumstances were on this radio...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk

slicerwizard · Sep 5, 2016

VancouverScan said:
Anyone know anything about this board and how to use it?

Hm, a two pin power jack, 3V REG printed right on the circuit board, and two battery contacts placed where the ends of two AAs would normally be...

It doesn't get much easier than this. You apply power (6 to ~15V) of the correct polarity to the two power pins and you get a regulated three volts out. So now you can run it off a vehicle's DC rail. Kind of pointless these days when two high capacity NiMH cells will run it for over 24 hours.

VancouverScan · Sep 6, 2016

slicerwizard said:
Hm, a two pin power jack, 3V REG printed right on the circuit board, and two battery contacts placed where the ends of two AAs would normally be...

It doesn't get much easier than this. You apply power (6 to ~15V) of the correct polarity to the two power pins and you get a regulated three volts out. So now you can run it off a vehicle's DC rail. Kind of pointless these days when two high capacity NiMH cells will run it for over 24 hours.

There is a DC power jack to power this scanner already. I am curious, why would a surveillance company mfg a board to do the same thing, and yes, two NiMH will run this little baby all day long and night.

EricCottrell · Sep 6, 2016

Hello,

It could be a 3.3 volt regulator that runs off the internal batteries and powers external equipment. The two pin jack could be an output and not an input.

73 Eric

VancouverScan · Sep 6, 2016

EricCottrell said:
Hello,

It could be a 3.3 volt regulator that runs off the internal batteries and powers external equipment. The two pin jack could be an output and not an input.

73 Eric

Very interesting. Perhaps an output to some portable counter surveillance equipment as this also had a band specific antenna.

Any idea what can be done with it if left in the scanner, I mean, for us hobbyists anyway.

slicerwizard · Sep 9, 2016

VancouverScan said:
There is a DC power jack to power this scanner already. I am curious, why would a surveillance company mfg a board to do the same thing

That DC power jack mates with the plug/cord of a small AC-DC converter, aka a wall wart. Most cars don't have AC outlets though.

So now you need a DC-DC converter. If you make it as a circuit board that's the size of two AA cells, it'll fit in any device that has a 2 AA battery compartment and you don't have to worry about the different DC jack sizes on those devices. Then it's up to the customer whether he cuts a hole in the battery door or just leaves it off.

And if you make a 6V version, you don't have to worry about anyone trying to plug it into a 3V device. A 6V version would be the size of four cells and wouldn't fit in a 2 cell battery compartment.

Also, some devices will attempt to charge the batteries when their DC power jack is being fed. If the users have stuffed some alkalines in, the device will be destroyed. If you have to remove the batteries to use the external power supply, no way to rupture alkalines.

VancouverScan · Sep 10, 2016

slicerwizard said:
That DC power jack mates with the plug/cord of a small AC-DC converter, aka a wall wart. Most cars don't have AC outlets though.

So now you need a DC-DC converter. If you make it as a circuit board that's the size of two AA cells, it'll fit in any device that has a 2 AA battery compartment and you don't have to worry about the different DC jack sizes on those devices. Then it's up to the customer whether he cuts a hole in the battery door or just leaves it off.

And if you make a 6V version, you don't have to worry about anyone trying to plug it into a 3V device. A 6V version would be the size of four cells and wouldn't fit in a 2 cell battery compartment.

Also, some devices will attempt to charge the batteries when their DC power jack is being fed. If the users have stuffed some alkalines in, the device will be destroyed. If you have to remove the batteries to use the external power supply, no way to rupture alkalines.

All very good points, thank you. I have to assume what you mentioned is the reason this was installed or they wanted to drive a GPS, computer software of some sort and/or surveillance purposes. I guess I could use it somehow.

If anyone has ideas how this could be utilized I am open to hear them.

I really appreciate every that offered comments, makes RR #1 still in my book

IC-R5 Unusual PC board in battery area

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