Not wanting to leave the GPS-9700 sitting behind the back of the transceiver out of sight and unloved, a simple mounting plate was fabricated out of some scrap aluminium plate, so the GPS-9700 could be mounted to the side of the IC-9700 using the existing M4 tapped holes.
A suitable piece of aluminium was cut, filed, sanded down and two 4.5mm holes drilled to match the side of the radio.
There isn’t a huge amount of width to play with before the M4 screw heads touch the side of the GPS-9700.
I did have some black M4 screws, but the heads were too big.
No problem, the smaller headed screws were sprayed black, just like the mounting plate.
First, a coat of etch primer.
Screwed into the radio.
3M VHB double-sided tape is stuck to the mounting plate.
This will hold the GPS-9700 to the mounting plate.
A short lead made from RG-316 and some SMA connectors for the 49.152MHz output to feed the Leo Bodnar injection board inside the IC-9700.
Mounting the GPS-9700 to the side of the radio means it travels with the IC-9700 if taken out for field day use, and isn’t just flopping around, or forgotten.
Watch the video!