IC-705 Message Controller with built-in paddle

 Two-in-One !

The IC-705 manual shows a simple circuit to add some message buttons to the paddle/key input (see page 13-2 in the Basic Manual).

(source: Icom)

Keying the rig for CW is done by grounding the TIP (Dot) or RING (Dash) of the connector, but when you connect a certain resistance to ground, one of the 8 stored messages is transmitted. 

This works for CW, Voice and RTTY, if you don’t forget to change the appropriate settings via MENU > Set > Connectors > External Keypad.

Such a box with buttons is available commercially, like this one at Wimo

Cheaper versions can be found on Amazon, Ali Express, etc.

On that box, two buttons are provided to key some CW, but I doubt you will make very long QSO’s with those buttons. It's probably OK for an emergency, like keying with the microphone buttons.

But for real CW ragchewing, you still need to connect an external key or paddle.

So that got me inspired to brew my own … and include the paddle IN the box.

And it cost me virtually nothing !

The box I used was from a small laptop adapter. The large hole where the mains socket was, is now the opening for the paddle.

I didn’t really need all 8 messages for regular SOTA or POTA operation, so I made a box with only four buttons, connected to the TIP, and a 3.5mm connector. The box is connected to the IC-705 with a regular 3.5 mm stereo cable.

If I ever wish to use the other 4 messages, I could easily add a small slide switch to move the resistor chain to the RING, for message 5 - 8.

And if I want to use an external key or paddle, I can still add another 3.5 mm connector, in parallel to the first one.

 

The paddle was inspired by the work of Carel, PA0CMU, see his PCB paddles here

 

So I took some pieces of single sided copper clad board, and started cutting and filing :

• a bottom plate for the box (8 cm x 4.5 cm), glued inside the box
• two paddles, with copper removed where it is not needed (9 cm x 2cm), soldered to the bottom plate at the back end
• A HEX standoff with a washer is soldered to the bottom plate as the center contact

This is what I got before assembling :

To make sure the paddles wouldn’t collapse or come loose with “heavy copper pounding”, I added a small piece of PCB between the two paddle arms. A 3.5 mm stereo connector is mounted on the side of the box. This is the finished paddle (bottom part).

The top cover contains the four buttons and four resistors, wired as in the diagram from the manual.

As you can see, I drilled the holes for 8 buttons, but then decided to mount only 4 ...

See the picture at the top for the final result, including a label showing what's stored in the messages.

There is no provision to adjust the spacing (yet), but a larger size washer would fix that. I chose a rather wide spacing, since I may use the paddles with gloves on, during a winter SOTA or POTA activation.

The tension is also fixed, but I think I got it just right by filing away enough of the PCB material in the middle of the paddles. A spring or two small magnets may be an option if you wish, but I didn’t want to make it too complicated.

And it works !

I did  a POTA activation recently, and made 16 CW QSO's in just 26 minutes, the only errors were 'operator' errors, not the fault of the paddle, hi.

73 de Luc, ON7DQ

Mallorca 2023 Day 16

On our last full day on Mallorca, we hadn't planned much, except for a meeting with two SOTA friends, more about that later.

But the small house where we stayed had no back yard or terrace where we could spend some time outside .. so I found nothing better than to go out for ... another SOTA activation !
I was lucky that the YL agreed, anything better than to sit in  a cramped bedroom ... and we didn't need to do more shopping, our suitcases were already full, hi.

The nearest summit was this one, and it was only 6 km from where we stayed in Inca.

SOTA EA6/MA-060 (Santa Magdalena)

also valid for   VGIB-093 – REG Santa Magdalena

Parking spot is  at 39.72741, 2.95564, this is a family picnic place.
From there it's a 10 minute walk to the summit. Also see my previous report here

The large building with the cross is less than 200m away from the "vertice" so this activation was also valid for the DVGE program. Here a view of the area, taken near the vertice.

We spent 3 hours on the summit, so I had a long activation, resulting in 85 QSO's, the largest number for this trip. This included 6 S2S. Here a map of the QSO's (one chaser seems to live in Antartica, but probably hasn't set his QTH correctly in the database, hi).

 

°°°

After a nice lunch in the restaurant of social organization "Esment" in Inca (see their website here), and a last walk through the city, we had an appointment with two "big shots" of EA6 SOTA and POTA ... Lorenzo EA6KB and Ricardo EA6LU. We met in a local bar for a coffee and a chat.

I had met Ricardo and his wife on my previous visit, he was then still EA6AIF.

I had never met Lorenzo before, but worked him a number of times from home. 

We had a long exchange of ideas about antenna's, CW keys, and a lot of other subjects concerning portable operating ... all very interesting. 

I was a little puzzled when Ricardo asked me if I still used my "dipolo Coca-Cola" ?
Then I realized he meant my link dipole, which I used in 2017, and where the links are made with bottle caps from Coca-Cola, but also other bottles, so as to get all kinds of colors ... making it easier to switch bands.

I still have the link dipole, but don't use it very often.

Ricardo also sent me this nice "selfie" of the four of us.

And that concludes my report of the Mallorca Trip 2023. Day 17 was just handing in the rental car and take the flight home.
One last look at the Serra de Tramuntana (and Puig Major) from the plane ... and we're gone !

See you on antoher adventure soon !

73,

Luc ON7DQ

Go back to the overview HERE

Mallorca 2023 Day 15

Long before our trip I was dreaming of a "special" activation, one I couldn't do in 2017.

I'm not a real mountaineer, so I wasn't looking at the higher summits in the Serra de Tramuntana, but I was attracted by a small island that has just one SOTA summit, and is a POTA park at the same time.
So this was the one !

SOTA  EA6/SD-001 (Na Popia)   

also valid for POTA  EA-0204 Sa Dragonera Nature Park

NOTE : there is also a DVGE vertice on the island, but at a different location than the SOTA summit, so you can't activate both at the same time.

Before the trip, I reserved two seats for the first available transfer, at 09.45 local time, on the small ferryboat of the company Cruceros Margarita. See their website for reservations here.

In the early morning we drove to the small village of Sant Elm, and I found a free parking spot in the Carrrer de sa Malea, pos 39.579894, 2.350932.

From there it was just 170m to the ferry. Someone from the ferry company was waiting there, and you pay them for the tickets before embarking (at the time of writing , it is 15€ for the return trip).

Surprise, surprise ... I knew that Stefan, HB9HCS, was also on Mallorca, but not that he would also show up at the ferry at the same time. He's in the middle of the picture below.

(NOTE: I had met Stefan before, in Friedrichshafen, and we went on an activation together, see that story here)

The ferryboat is rather small and can only take up to 60 people. The crossing took barely 20 minutes.

Stefan is a 'bit' younger than me, so we agreed that he shouldn't wait for us, and so we both went our own way. Stefan did the walk to the summit in just 50 minutes, amazing !

We struggled with the heat (28 °C when we started walking at 10:07 local time, and getting over 30°C at the end of the walk).

First we wore some hats to protect against the sun, but the hats also keep your head warm ... so after a while we changed into using our umbrellas, so whenever there was a little wind, it would cool us a bit.

With frequent drinking and picture stops , we arrived at the summit at 11:45 local. By that time Stefan had already finished his activation, so there was no problem with mutual interference.

Also on the way up, I stopped to work Stefan on 2m FM, and when he came down, he also worked me on 2m, so both of us would have the summit complete on the same day. 

At the back of the ruins of the old lighthouse Far Vell, there is a lookout space with a railing, and it's in the shade, so that's where I set up my station. 

The carbon pole was fixed to the railing with some bungee cords, and I was sitting on the ground on a plastic bag.

The island is populated with thousands of lizards, and these little animals are very curious, but they don't do any harm. They come crawling on your arms and legs, and all the stuff you carry. So it's best to carefully close all backpack zippers, etc.

As a test, I put a paper from a cereal bar on the ground , and this was the result !

Of course I took the paper back home when we left !

Here's a lizard looking at his reflection in my sunglasses ...

I had a good activation, 47 QSO's in the log with 4 S2S, and even two DX on 12m CW (thanks N4EX and N4RKK). Here the map of my QSO's.

Stefan had already made 44 QSO's before I arrived, so together we have made 91 chasers happy to work this rarely activated summit (actually that's 89, because we both also worked the summit as a chaser , hi).

After the activation, it took us about one hour and a half to get back down, and we had just 15 minutes left to quickly get our feet wet at the small beach.
Stefan had of course plenty of time to spend, and was already happily swimming!

We took the same boat back to Sant-Elm, and this was the end of the beautiful excursion to Sa Dragonera, one we won't easily forget !

 Continue reading ... go to DAY 16 

or

Go back to overview HERE

Mallorca 2023 Day 13

It was time to say goodbye to our spacious finca, and move to a very small house in the city of Inca. There we would spend 4 more nights before returning home.

On the way to Inca, we visited the Santuari de Cura, which I had also visited in 2017.

SOTA EA6/MA-032 Santuari de Cura 

also valid for POTA EA-1295 Randa Natura 2000

and for VGIB-010 – Randa

I found a nice operating spot in the shade, at the northern side of the parking lot.
I could tie my UNUN to a pole that was fixed on the wall, and then put my carbon pole a bit further , leaning against a tree, because I could not get any spike in the rocky ground.

This setup worked very well. I made 81 QSO's in about 2.5 hours.

Again a nice catch in the S2S department, 7 S2S QSO's and a special one ... I was surprised to work Lars SA4BLM/P from a summit. Normally I only have him in my log as a regular chaser.

Continue reading ... go to DAY 15 

or

Go back to overview HERE

Mallorca 2023 Day 11

SOTA EA6/MA-040 (Talaia d'Alcúdia)

which is also also valid for POTA EA-1195 La Victòria Natura 2000

and for  VGIB-006 – REG Atalaya de Alcudia

For this summit, we drove to the Ermita de la Victoria, where there is a nice parking (if you go early before it gets full!). Parking position is 39.873245, 3.170607.

I have posted my track on the SOTA Mapping Page, it's also available via SOTL.AS

The first part of the walk is a wide gravel road (a bit boring), until you arrive at the steep "wall".

At first it wasn't clear where the track was, it seems you can go anywhere you like, but after a while there is only one track remaining, and it is not so difficult to follow. Where needed, some wooden handrails have been built.

Here a 'collage' of three pictures of the YL walking the zig-zag route up to the ridge.

At some point you cross the ridge (see the 'dip" in the pictures above), after which it is only 10 more minutes to the summit.

Here the final ascent to the summit, the walk took us 1 hour and 25 minutes, but this included frequent stops to drink and take pictures.

At the summit is a vertice, a fire lookout, and several ruins.
Also a lot of goats, and luckily a nice big tree for some shadow.

 I had a lovely activation, with a few visits from my friends the mountain goats ...

... resulting in 42 QSO's with 8 S2S, and again working 4 ON friends. Nice result !

Afterwards we went for lunch and a short visit of the city of Alcúdia.
And of course I deserved a nice reward for all the trouble to climb that summit ! 

Mmmm ;-)

Continue reading ... go to DAY 13 

or

Go back to overview HERE

Mallorca 2023 Day 10

On this day, we first visited the Mirador de Colomer on the North-West coast, near the city of Pollença. It's a nice lookout on the way to Far de Formentor (but we didn't visit the lighthouse this time).

Those that have been there will recognize the SOTA summit Fumat ( EA6/MA-048) in the distance.

From the Mirador , it's only a mere 2.5 km drive up to the summit of 

SOTA EA6/MA-077 Talaia d'Albercutx

Parking space near the summit is at 39.928513, 3.117606 (don't stop at the buildings at 39.928199, 3.117925, you can drive just one hairpin bend further).

In 2017 I didn't climb the stone tower on the summit, but since this time the YL could watch over our backpacks, I took my chance and climbed the tower for a beautiful view over the area.

NNE view, in the direction of Far De Formentor and Fumat.

SSW view in the direction of Port de Pollença and Alcudia, and the VOR installation near the summit.

The area around the tower was very busy, lots of people needed to take endless series of "selfies" ... so I found a spot a bit away from the tower, where I could easily setup and operate quietly under my umbrella :-)

I made 30 QSO's here, and that included 1 S2S and 7 ON stations.

Continue reading ... go to DAY 11 

or

Go back to overview HERE