Harvard H407 bleep?

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NightProwler
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Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by NightProwler »

Hey all, I picked up a nice unmollested H407 homebase recently because...Well I like them. Anyway since it has the Japanese Amstrad 901 board what do I need to do to 'wake' the roger bleep up? I presume It's in there but needs a few components to get it to work. Also I would like to change the channel display to green but what radio could I use for the green display?

Cheers all..Rich :thumbup:
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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by Buick Mackane »

NightProwler wrote: 18 May 2019, 17:56 what do I need to do to 'wake' the roger bleep up? I presume It's in there but needs a few components to get it to work.

Cheers all..Rich :thumbup:
Looky here, The thread below is about mid-banding an amstrad 900, But half way through it morphs into installing the missing components for the bleep circuit,

As for the CH-Display, It uses a negative display, You could replace it with a positive one obviously you'd need to reverse the wiring, But you'd also need to reverse a few diodes, That's discussed in the thread below too..

If you need any of the components PM Me

viewtopic.php?f=53&t=38321&hilit=amstrad+bleep
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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by NightProwler »

See...It IS possible to get a sensible answer from our MR.Buick :thumbup:

Cheers Jason :D
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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by Buick Mackane »

NightProwler wrote: 18 May 2019, 19:00 See...It IS possible to get a sensible answer from our MR.Buick :thumbup:

Cheers Jason :D
That's 4 helpful posts in 7 years, I'm on a roll.............Somebody Stop Me :mrgreen:


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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by Buick Mackane »

NightProwler wrote: 18 May 2019, 17:56 it has the Japanese Amstrad 901 board
All Amstrad 900 models are made in japan,

The made in hong kong 901's aren't all fake, But the quality of workmanship isn't as good as japan models.

The made in hong kong fake has a sh1tty brown PCB With no component markings (Silk Screening) And smells rank,

All spinneytronic & Harvard clones of the 901 are made in long dong, And as far as i'm aware use the fake board mentioned above,

Useless info, But now ya know :)
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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by The Collector »

Maybe the likes of the Icom 1050 etc can provide you with a small, green LED channel display, providing they're the right polarity of course. I nearly went down that road to put a green display in my Mad'Strad Amstrad 901 to make it different, but decided red went better with the purple front and turquoise back panels.
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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by Buick Mackane »

The other issue with changing the colour of the LED Display is you'll probably need to change the filter too (Glass covering it) Otherwise you won't be able to see the display.

Pretty sure i used the display from a Radiomobile 202 when i changed the display on my amstrad,
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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by NightProwler »

Cheers dudes, Although that is too much trouble for a little Harvard homebase so sod it I will leave the display red and no bleep. Have to say though after using Unidens and a Magpie, Im loving this Harvard :D
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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by Buick Mackane »

NightProwler wrote: 19 May 2019, 17:10 Cheers dudes, Although that is too much trouble for a little Harvard homebase so sod it I will leave the display red and no bleep. Have to say though after using Unidens and a Magpie, Im loving this Harvard :D
The bleep is pretty easy to set up, One transistor (I think) few resistors + caps, But yeah the display is more bother than its worth, Tricky to solder/unsolder
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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

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NightProwler wrote: 19 May 2019, 17:10 ...Have to say though after using Unidens and a Magpie, Im loving this Harvard :D
Is that because you can now hear people on this that the Uniden stuff couldn't? Even the filtered Magpie would struggle to pull in stuff that the Harvard/Amstrad board will methinks.

Cheap and cheerful radios now suck in the signals like there's no tomorrow.
Suffering from "broadband" is now a distant memory for nearly all of us and these cheaper, unfiltered boards are now nice and receptive ;)
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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by NightProwler »

Hard to say really. I like the sound it gives, Quite a warm sound and yes it pulls in signals lovely with hardly any QRM at all. I can use this radio and Uniden ones at my QTH with about S1-2 QRM which is fine but if I try anything Cybernet I get a load of QRM. Hence why im a Uniden man at heart :)
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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by The Collector »

Always used an Amstrad 901 in the car. Nice and receptive and fairy lights looked the biz of a night. Tried a Shogun but it was faulty so Amstrad was back in the next day.

Nearly always had the larger Cybernet-boarded stuff at home. Liked the delta tune function which improved the odd signal that was a touch off and switching it also got rid of most of the bleedover from the next channel up or down when some noob came on with his power mic' on full.
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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by 163TM847 »

The green Leds in the Icom ICB1050 are common cathode while the Harvard homebase are common anode, The common anode will work but you will need to reverse the polarity to the display and all the diodes [Channel 9 etc], It is a pain to add all the components needed for the beep, Its much easier to add a Nato/superstar 2000 CW board for the beep as the Nato/SS2000 etc CW board is basically an Amstrad beep and will sound exactly the same, I have some here spare if you prefer to just add the board instead of all the components, As for the LED display i wouldnt bother as you would also need to replace the red filter plastic too otherwise green wont show through properly.
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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by The Collector »

I had a few channel displays and perspex panels in different colours and sizes, but sold them all in a job-lot on ebay seeing as I'm not tarting up radio fronts any more.

Seeing as the radio is black, I don't think it's worth the hassle as others have said, unless you were doing it to colour-code it like the orange channel display on my gold-plated Cobra 148 GTL-DX.

As for the beep, they're "Marmite" things and in the old days, people always used to ask me to switch my Amstrad's beep off! They're ok over a long distance perhaps where they can tell you've let go of your mic', but otherwise they can be annoying.

If you really have to fit a beep, why not go the whole hog and fit a switchable "peewit" Hygain one ;)
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Re: Harvard H407 bleep?

Post by NightProwler »

To be honest I hate bleeps but was just wondering how easy it was to put it back. I think I will just leave it as it is although the green meter bulb I put in looks nice :thumbup:
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