I recently applied the GM0EUL mod to my Palm Mini Paddle. This is an excellent upgrade to get this paddle back into regular use, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone who loves their Palm Mini but has had trouble with the original Molex connector. The 3.5mm connector is much more robust. Peter GM0EUL offered a nice kit of parts and has an informative video on the mod:
Cheers and 73,
Mike K6STR
Thanks Mike, great video, very informative.
Geoff vk3sq
To be clear, this is Peter’s (GM0EUL) video, not mine!
73,
Mike
K7ATN did a write up in the Pacific Northwest newsletter quite a few years ago on how to do this mod. He provided part numbers and pictures as well. I’m not sure if Mouser still lists the part number for the jack or not as it’s been a while since I last checked. Pretty good mod as I recall…
73, Todd KH2TJ
After three revisions of the Molex in a full size Palm, I gave up. It is now in a no-slide position with cable tied down thru two new holes in the bottom. Perfect… …Elliott, K6EL
Todd et al,
Sadly, the parts to sub a 3.5mm jack for the palm are long since discontinued.
Etienne-K7ATN
The whole point of Mike’s original post was that the parts ARE available from Peter, GM0EUL!
I had an issue with a home mode Molex based Palm cable on Beinn Dubh this Friday just. I’ve just stripped it and the ground connection was broken. Resoldered and we’re back in business. Must be 10+ years since I made this cable. The trick I found was to use very lightweight cable, this uses the cable from some headphones that belonged to one of my kids till they destroyed them. So it’s very light, thin and flexible.
Hi folks,
the Palm Paddle cables which were provided with the paddles in the early years used a simple heat shrinking tube to cover the Molex 3 Pin connector. This simple approach was certainly not ideal and therefore was replaced by an improved version later on (I believe in 2014).
This newer version uses Palm Radio’s own plug housing to cover the Molex connector and provides integrated strain relief for a cable up to 2.3 mm thickness. The plastic material of the first batch used was later replaced by a special material from the automotive sector for improved strength and durability.
The new, thin cable itself is highly flexible and the 3.5 mm plug is gold plated.
See photos below.
If anyone is interested in these cables or needs just the plug, please contact me directly via email → QRZ.com
73 Hannes, DL9SCO
