Icom

Who this page is for

Operators who already own an Icom, or who are choosing one family so USB audio, CI-V, and AH-4 accessories transfer between a shack radio and a park radio. Menu labels drift by firmware. Confirm on your radio. We do not host Icom manuals or menu screenshots.

Field vs shack in this family

Not covered here: IC-7610 / IC-7851 class shack twins, IC-7300’s bigger siblings, and every mobile. If that is your radio, comment.

Power, battery, Anderson, USB, CAT, GPS, Bluetooth

• Anderson Powerpole on the DC pigtail. 100 W radios want ~10 AWG to a LiFePO4, fused. Cigarette-lighter leads brown out the 7100/7300 on SSB peaks.
• 4S LiFePO4: plan to stop near 12.0 V under load. The 705 on BP-272 is a different chemistry — 5 W max, and do not treat the pack as a 10 W supply.
• USB audio: 705 and 7300 speak a USB codec. Pick that device in WSJT-X and Net Scribe. Mute the speaker on digital or the laptop mic hears the radio.
• CI-V: common addresses — 705 A4h, 7100 88h, 7300 94h. Baud 19200 or AUTO. Match N3FJP Rig Interface to the radio, not the other way around.
• GPS: 705 has a receiver. Use it for a grid after a sky view. A metal picnic shelter lies. Write the Maidenhead on the field sheet anyway.
• Bluetooth / WLAN: 705 can pair a headset and do firmware tricks. Do not bet an activation on Bluetooth CAT in the sun. Polo will take 20m + Send.

First radio to buy in this family

IC-7100 if the radio lives in a vehicle. 100 W HF plus 2 m / 70 cm in one head-and-deck, and you can leave it mounted. That is the usual POTA workhorse here: openings on V/U without a second box, hitch 4WAVE or a parked wire, N3FJP in the truck.

IC-705 if the station has to walk or sit at a table and you want HF plus 2 m / 70 cm without a second box. Pair it with a resonant EFHW or 4WAVE plus an external tuner (mAT-705Plus, AH-705). It has no internal HF ATU. 10 W on 13.8 V; add an amp only if you already know why you want one.

IC-7300 if you already hunt from a shack and will also tailgate 100 W HF. You will still want an HT or the 9700 for VHF/UHF and satellites. Fine radio. It is not a 7100.

Do not buy an IC-905 to “do POTA.” It is the SHF radio.

IC-705 — picnic-table SDR

Power

• Internal BP-272: max 5 W.
• External 13.8 V: max 10 W. MENU > SET > Function > RF POWER to 100% when on external DC.
• For 4S LiFePO4, treat ~12.0 V as a practical stop.

Digital / USB

• MENU > SET > Connectors > DATA MOD → USB.
• CI-V baud: 19200 or AUTO.
• Mute the internal speaker during FT8.

Antenna

Resonant EFHW, 4WAVE + tuner, or an external auto-tuner. 10 W into a bad match is still a bad match.

CAT into Polo / N3FJP

USB serial is the COM port AC Log wants. Polo: Hamlib / BLE if your build documents it; otherwise type band.

Product page: IC-705

IC-7100 — 100 W + VHF/UHF in the truck

This is the radio you mount and leave. Detachable head, deck in the console or under a seat, 100 W HF and native 2 m / 70 cm. A year of parking-lot POTA on a 7300 is fine until you want V/U openings without grabbing an HT. The 7100 is that next radio.

Why it stays in the vehicle

• Full-time mount. You are not building a picnic-table station every Saturday.
• 2 m / 70 cm for band openings, local nets, and a simplex QSO when HF is dead. Repeaters still do not count for POTA.
• Hitch 4WAVE or a parked wire + coupler. Check SWR at 10 W before 100 W. AH-4 class ATU if the wire is not resonant.
• N3FJP / AC Log in the truck: CI-V 88h, baud 19200 or AUTO. Audio for FT8 is the 13-pin ACC, not a USB codec like the 705/7300. Digirig Icom 13-pin lead.

Power

Heavy cable, fused, Anderson to a real LiFePO4 (30 Ah+ if you sit a while). Cigarette-lighter leads brown out on SSB peaks. Same 12.0 V under-load stop as the other 100 W Icoms. The 7100 will still display 100 W while the supply sags — watch voltage at the radio, not the brochure.

Digirig / ACC — do not copy the 7300 USB recipe

The 7100 is not a USB-codec radio for FT8. Typical field stack:

1. Audio: Digirig Icom 13-pin ACC cable into the accessory jack.
2. CAT: 3.5 mm into the REMOTE / CI-V jack (next to the USB port on the deck). Address 88h, baud 19200 (or AUTO). Many ops set CI-V Transceive OFF so two programs do not echo each other into a loop.
3. Radio menu: DATA MOD = ACC when audio is on the 13-pin. If DATA MOD is still USB, you get CI-V PTT and no TX audio — the most common 7100-plus-Digirig failure. Confirm on your firmware; Icom labels move.
4. If CAT keys the radio but the waterfall is silent on TX, try RTS PTT in WSJT-X instead of CAT PTT (some ACC pinouts only pass TX audio when the ACC PTT pin is asserted).
5. N3FJP Rig Interface: Icom, COM port for the CI-V adapter, address 88h. If WSJT-X owns CAT, set AC Log rig control to none for that sitting.

Mute the truck radio’s speaker on digital. The laptop mic will hear it and you will work yourself.

What it is not

Not a backpack radio. Not a USB-only digital toy. Touch head and D-STAR are there; SSB/CW/FT8 still win a 10-QSO POTA. If the outing is a walk to a table, take the 705.

Product: IC-7100

IC-7300 — shack-in-a-box that also goes to parks

This is the radio a lot of hunters already own. It is a 100 W HF/6 m SDR with USB audio and CAT on one cable. It is not a VHF/UHF radio and it is not a backpack radio.

Field use that actually works:

• Tailgate or picnic table with a real battery and Powerpoles. 100 W SSB peaks want ~10 AWG to the pack.
• Native USB audio + CI-V on one cable. Address commonly 94h, baud 19200 or AUTO. MENU > SET > Connectors > DATA MOD → USB (confirm firmware). This is the opposite of the 7100 ACC recipe.
• USB straight into WSJT-X. Mute the speaker. ALC just moving.
• AH-4 or a parked tuner at the antenna if the wire is not resonant. The 7300 has no internal ATU.
• Leave the 7300 in the truck for SOTA; walk a 705 or a QRP box.

The 7300 is a hunter’s shack radio that also tailgates. It will not do 2 m simplex for a POTA 10 when 20 m is dead — pack an HT or use the 7100.

Product: IC-7300

IC-9700 — VHF/UHF/1.2 GHz and satellites

Use this when the activation day includes linear birds or VHF weak signal, not as your HF POTA radio. Full duplex and 1.2 GHz are why it exists. Parking-lot sat workflow: Satellites. HF still wants a 705/7100/7300 (or another family’s HF box) on the same sitting if you need ten POTA QSOs before the pass.

Product: IC-9700

IC-905 — SHF / microwave (only if that is the outing)

Controller plus RF unit on a LAN cable. Bands start at 144 MHz and run through microwave. Relevant if you already chase SHF or want a microwave rover next to a POTA pin. Not a substitute for an HF activator. Confirm current transverter options on Icom’s page.

Product: IC-905

Cabling to Digirig / USB codec / WSJT-X

WSJT-X: USB-D / data mode, ALC just moving, clock within one second. Activation-day logging: WSJT-X then merge in ADIF Doctor.

Digirig cable matrix: digirig.net — buy the Icom-specific lead, not a Yaesu DIN.

Habits / gotchas / checklist (Icom)

• 705: BP-272 = 5 W. External 13.8 V = 10 W. DATA MOD USB. GPS grid written on paper anyway.
• 7100: DATA MOD ACC for Digirig 13-pin. CI-V 88h. Fat DC. Hitch 4WAVE or parked wire. N3FJP in the truck.
• 7300: DATA MOD USB. CI-V 94h. HF/6 m only. Same Powerpole rules as the 7100.
• 9700: sat day, not the HF POTA radio. Full duplex — Satellites.
• One owner of CAT. Polo 20m + Send if the sun kills Bluetooth.

Official manuals

Icom America support — download the PDF for your model and firmware. We will not host it.

Still missing a model?

IC-703, IC-706, IC-7000, IC-705’s AH-705 recipes, and the 7610 shack class are not written up yet. Comment on this page with the model and whether it is backpack, tailgate, or shack.