IC-7300 Paddle <> Key Switch for IC-7300 Mk2

Since I recently bought the new IC-7300 Mark 2, I wanted to sell my old IC-7300, and luckily I found a buyer ;-).

I wanted to keep my "Nintendo" controller, but surprise ... it didn't work with the new rig !

See the original article about that Nintendo controller (with two buttons) here.
Or see the extended version (with 8 buttons) here.

Two problems are the cause it didn't work: the Mk2 has a new hex address, $B6 instead of the old $94. And the CI-V command table has been revised, and many commands have changed codes as well.

To make it easy, and because some PC programs don't support the Mk2 yet, I changed the transceiver address back to the old $94.  One problem solved !

Then I reprogrammed my Nintendo controller with the new commands for the Mk2. The revised CI-V Reference Guide for the Mk2 can be found on the Icom Japan website, download it here

The new Arduino sketch for the Mk2 is available on my github here.

Look for the file called MiniPro_IC7300Mk2_PaddleKeyKSwitch_2026.ino

Basically, the only changes are for the Key type (01 64 became 02 24), and the USB AF <> IF setting (00 59 became 00 69).

Of course you can make this project with any Arduino (UNO, Nano, etc), or use less buttons if you don't need all the functions. And if you find some more useful commands in the reference guide, feel free to adapt the code to your preference. If you make all 8 buttons short & long press, you can have up to 16 different commands.

$ $ $

To be sold with the old rig, I built another controller in a new box, also containing 8 pushbuttons, which have the same function as in the previous build.  The circuit is still based on the original, only adding more buttons to pins 2-3-4-5 and 10-11.

I started by putting 8 pushbuttons on a piece of perfboard, and prepared an  Arduino Pro Mini with the necessary wires. I did solder a 4-pin programming input, and added a wire to the RESET pin, since this won't be accessible once the box is closed. A reset button was then added on the back of the perfboard (not on the picture below).

I attached the Arduino Pro Mini  to the perfboard with double sided adhesive tape, and connected all wires, the diode and 10k resistor. A 5V wallwart, and half of a 3.5mm stereo cable complete the assembly.

 As an extra, I added a red LED, that blinks each time a command is sent.

Once the box was closed, I fixed some printed labels with Scotch tape.
See the final result in the top picture.

Happy tinkering !

73 de Luc ON7DQ 

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2026 - Day 11

From Trier to Ostend (B), 400 km

POTA BE-0513 Verdronken kinderenvallei Nature Reserve

No more pages in this report ... go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2026 - Day 10

From Karlsruhe to Trier, 258 km

DM/RP-433, Rehberg - 564m, 4 points

22 QSO's in the log, with 3 S2S

DM/RP-171, Röster Kopf - 708m, 6 points

Since I still had some driving to do, I kept the activation short, and made only 14 CW QSO's, no S2S.

My last AirBnb for this trip was in the small village of Föhren near Trier.  
Culinary tip : I can recommend this Italian restaurant in the nearby village of Quint.

 

Continue reading ... go to DAY 11

or

Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2026 - Day 9

From Friedrichshafen to Karlsruhe, 258 km

DM/BW-058, Burg - 975m, 10 points

I had 33 QSO's with 4 S2S, one of those was on 2m FM with Tom HB9EVF/P at a distance of 129 km, using only 5W from my FT1D and a Chinse RH-770 clone. Nice!

DM/BW-846, Burg Hohenzollern - 850m, 10 points

22 QSO's and 5 S2S

Continue reading ... go to DAY 10

or

Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2026 - Day 8

Going easy on a Sunday morning ...

DM/BW-348, Gehrenberg - 754m, 8 Points

NOTE : from this day on, there are no more APRS tracks, sorry. For some unknown reason , the GPS module in my car (a Garmin GPS-18) had given up, maybe from the heat ? Will have to investigate when I'm back home.

24 QSO's and 12 S2S

Continue reading ... go to DAY 9

or

Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2026 - Day 7

At the HAM RADIO Fair

I had only bought a ticket for the Saturday at the fair, so I was at the entrance at 09:00 to get the most of it. There was a long queue, but we were able to get in quickly.

I did my usual round, first the flea market, then the main hall A1, and in the afternoon I also briefly visited ASTRO, the trade fair for astronomy.

The flea market is shrinking in size every year ... this is the first hall, still looking full, but the tables are much wider apart than before. Well, It has the advantage that you don't have to squeeze between rows of people.

The second hall looked almost empty. Even an an additional partition wall couldn't hide that maybe next year, one hall will be enough for the flea market.

Someone was selling thermometers at the flea market, always good to know t was 27.3°C there, hi.

A few iterms that caught my attention ...

In the main hall were the usual exhibitors, but also here quite a lot of companies are no longer coming to the Ham Radio. The main attraction in the main hall is of course the SOTA stand !

For those that follow the SOTA Reflector, or have read the previous pages of this report, you will have noted that one of the most talked about items in 2026 the Hourglass Antenna. There is a lot of interest in this small & light but very effective antenna for horizontal polarisation. It enables 2m CW/SSB operation with little effort, so as to participate in this years' 2m/70cm CW & SSB Challenge.
At the SOTA stand , Roman DL3TU was promoting a double version of the Hourglass Antenna.

A suprise at the SOTA stand was meeting Martin, DK3UW. Martin has nothing to do with SOTA, but he's one of the regular participants in the QCX Challenge and the QCX WARC Party. So I have one or more QSO's with Martin every two weeks or so.

In the afternoon was the traditional SOTA meeting, where Joe, OE5JFE explained some fine details of the Ham2k PoLo logging app. I'm using this app for some time now, but I still learned a few new tricks. Thanks Joe!

ASTRO

A visit to this astronomy fair was comprised in the Ham Radio ticket. I didn't have much time left so it was a short visit. I'm not really into astronomy, but there was an impressive display of telescopes and everything related. 

Continue reading ... go to DAY 8

or

Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2026 - Day 6

One summit, and the SOTA Dinner !

This day, I took it very easy.

Did some shopping in the morning, and in the afternoon I prepared to go to a 'classic' summit, followed by the traditional SOTA Dinner.

DM/BW-854, Höchsten - 838m, 8 Points

This was my 7th activation here, so indeed becoming a classic.

The parking spot at 47.819749, 9.402346 is already in the AZ, but was fully in the sunshine ...a no go.

Beyond the bandstand are a number of benches in the shade, that looked much better.
I had carried a small table, so I had a comfortable setup.

I had again taken two 6m Decathlon poles, so I could set up the random endfed for HF, and the Hourglass antenna for VHF, at the same time.

 Another item that came in handy, was the double PC fan with it's own battery. It has a series/parallel switch to make it a two-speed fan. Nice to cool the rig ... AND the operator, with temperatures going above 30°C !
 

I made 40 QSO's here, with 5 S2S, in about 1 hour and 40 minutes. A very pleasant activation indeed.
I was so busy on HF that I only had time for two QSO's on 2m, one in FM and one in SSB.

The SOTA Dinner

At 18:00 local time, some 60 people gathered in the Gasthof Adler in Hefigkofen. The dinner was again perfectly arranged by Joe OE5JFE, and the people at the Gasthof did their best to switftly serve drinks and food. With this wetaher, the cold salad dishes were most popular ... and the cool drinks even more so !

Here I'm sitting with some SOTA friends, the picture was taken by Joe, and more pictures can be found here

After the main dish, there is always room for ice cream 😋

There was a lot of talking about SOTA, transceivers, antenna's, etc ... and the best thing is you get to meet many SOTA friends you only knew from the radio. Anevent not to miss !

Tomorrow we go to the Ham Radio fair.

Continue reading ... go to DAY 7

or

Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2026 - Day 5

From Vorderfalkau to Friedrichshafen, 151 km

This day, I had planned two easy drive-ups, where I have been several times before.

DM/BW-015, Hochfirst - 1190m, 10 points

Easy drive-up, parking spot : 47.901074, 8.185303

It was only 15km from my Bnb to the summit. I arrived early enough to grab the only bench that is in the shade. Temperature at arrival was 25°C. This was my third activation here, the view over the Titisee never gets boring.

I mounted the 9.15m endfed with one 6m pole, and on another pole was the Hourglass antenna, attached to the back of the bench, so I could operate from HF to VHF. I also carried a small table to make a comfortable outdoor shack.

22 QSO's and 5 S2S, in about 45 minutes. All 18 HF QSO's were on 40m, mainly CW.
On 2m the best DX was 312 km, nice ! 

DM/BW-193, Schächer - 921m, 10 points

Another classic, easy drive-up. Parking here : 47.888629, 8.577234, near the big TV tower.
I could park my car under the trees, and just behind the bushes is a nice picnic bench, which is in the shade.

I still had to eat my lunch, but first set up two antennas again, for HF and VHF, so I could listen for some S2S while having lunch.

I guess you better avoid this summit in a weekend, the place was full of garbage, probably people are having wild parties at the BBQ place.

My activation went well, in just over 1 hour, I had made 28 QSO's, with an incredible 12 S2S. It was clear that a lot of hams were in the area, all coming to the Ham Radio. Best DX on 2m was 247 km, again a nice result for 10 Watts and the Hourglass antenna.

I left the summit around 14:30, with a temperature of 34°C in the shade, and had to drive 100 km to my Bnb in Friedrichshafen. I arrived at 16:15, and it was already 37°C there ... it's a heatwave !

Lucky for me, the AirBnb was in a basement, and indoors it was a 'cool' 26°C. Alas, no airconditioning here, but my big tower fan helped somewhat to survive, hi.

Tomorrow a day of rest , with some shopping, only one summit, and the SOTA Dinner.

Continue reading ... go to DAY 6

or

Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2026 - Day 4

 Two nearby summits, driving only 42 km

DM/BW-001, Feldberg - 1493m, 10 points

Free parking and a short walk to the top! Why would you not want that ?

I had always postponed activating this summit for two reasons.
I'm a terrible cheapskate, and if I can avoid paying "tourist trap" prices for parking, I will ... hi.

(FYI : the main parking at the cable car station costs 3€ per hour, and the Grafenmatt parking nearby is 10€/day)
And I'm basically a lazy person, so if I can find a shorter walk ... I will gladly use that too!

So I cannot understand why not one of the 341 activators before me have not found this route (or did they use it, and wanted to keep it a secret ?).

Anyway, this year, I took a closer look at all the maps and info about the Feldberg, and discovered something interesting.

There seemed to be a short but possibly steep way to the summit.

The track starts at the Todtnauer Hütte, but how to get there?
Google Streetview is now available in many places in Germany, which is very handy for checking access and planning routes. So I found this view at position  47.858858, 7.997407 , in a hairpin bend on the road B317.

The signs on the right point to two huts, but hey ... is there not a forbidden sign at the left ?

Yes, there is, but there is a small sign hanging underneath that says "Anlieger Frei".

I had always thought that this meant only local residents could drive into such roads, but it means something completely different.

According to a statement on the ADAC website (use Google to translate it), ANYONE can drive in the road, as long as you have some "business" there. The only thing that will get you fined, is if you use the road as a shortcut to avoid traffic.

Well, this one is a dead end street, so no shortcuts possible here, hi.

Studying the maps further, I also found out that there is a Wanderparkplatz just before reaching the Todtnauer Hütte, at position 47.866367, 7.997182

It's not too big, but if you come early on a weekday, you will easily find a parking spot.
Note that the parking at the Todtnauer Hütte is for their guests only.

The track to the summit is easy to follow, and I posted it on the summit page.

The walk along the zig-zag track is a bit steep at places, but nothing really difficult, and a pleasant 35 minute climb to the summit. It starts just beyond the Todtnauer Hütte, at some staircase steps. 

At the summit is a circular viewing platform, which is busy with visitors all the time.
Still I decided to set up my station there, and found a way to put my sloping endfed outside of the railing.

At the back of the bench, I put up a second 6m pole with the Hourglass antenna. 
A lady who was on the summit with a group of children asked to take a picture of them, and in return I asked if she could take a picture of me ... here it is 

I stayed on the summit for one and a half hours. I logged 36 contacts on 40m and 20m, with a mix of CW and SSB. Also 5 S2S made it into my log, and I could also make 5 QSO's on 2m, with the "worst DX" being Marcel DM3FAM, who lives only 15 km from the Feldberg. Best DX on 2m was 170 km.

Interlude : Meeting with PA3HEN

Like myself, Theo, PA3HEN, is also one of the board members of the Netherlands Telegraphy Club (NTC). See the NTC website.

I knew that Theo was also coming to Friedrichshafen, to promote the NTC at the AGCW stand.
He sent me a message that he would like to visit me during my Feldberg activation. But due to several reasons (traffic, GPS problems) he was a bit late, and I was about to leave the summit, so it would be useless for him to start the climb, so we agreed we would meet at my parking spot. And indeed, when I arrived back at my car, Theo was waiting there.

We had our lunch toghether, and had a nice talk ... but sorry, I forgot to take some pictures.   But here is a selfie I took when meeting Theo at the SOTA stand in 2023.

After lunch I prepared for the next summit, but since temperatures were again nearing 30°C, Theo decided not to follow me to the summit, but instead activate the area only for POTA, somewhere near the parking spot for Herzogenhorn.

DM/BW-002, Herzogenhorn - 1415m, 10 points

Parking spot : 47.844677, 8.019771, at the Leistungszentrum Herzogenhorn.

Again, the road to that parking seems "forbidden" but it is "Anlieger Frei", so don't be afraid to drive into the road. We have some serious SOTA business to do, right ?

I basically followed the track by DO1DJJ from the SotaMaps site.

As I found out, Theo made a wise decision ... the walk to the top, and the top itself was all sunshine and no shade to be found anywhere !

Lucky that I took my big umbrella, using it as a walking stick during the walk, and to make some shade at the bench where I was operating.

In about 40 minutes, I made 21 QSO's with 3 S2S.
Quickly setting up the Hourglass antenna also gave two QSO's on 2m SSB.

By 15:50 I called it day, went for some groceries and went to my Bnb.
Tomorrow is the last part of my outward journey, finally arriving in Friedrichshafen ...

Continue reading ... go to DAY 5

or

Go back to overview HERE