IC-705 & Raspberry Pi – Next level digital ham radio


The performance and functionality of a base station in one hand. ICOM does not exaggerate with that.

The many possibilities of the IC-705 as a portable KW/50/144/430-Mhz multimode transceiver are impressive. Due to its size, built-in battery and connectivity, it is especially well suited for portable operation and digital modes. Audio, CAT (TRX control) and GPS are transmitted with only one USB cable. This is perfect for WSJT-X, FLDigi, SSTV, Packet Radio and much more.

The use with Windows or MacOS is very easy. But the Raspberry PI has also proven to be very useful as a wireless computer. I myself currently use a PI3 for this purpose. I tested the PI4 for a while, but it gets too hot and has a much higher power consumption. In addition it happened from time to time that some external devices (e.g. GPS) had problems with USB3. The PI3 is completely sufficient for the programs I use.

Installing programs under Linux is not always easy and here I recommend to check out the YouTube pages of KM4ACK and OH8STN. There you can find extensive information about QRP operation, amateur radio and the Raspberry Pi. Jason, KM4ACK has developed a great script which allows you to install all important programs on the Raspberry Pi, almost fully automatic. Thanks Jason, very good work.

At my place in the radio room I use a small tripod for the IC-705 and to the Raspberry Pi I connect monitor, keyboard and mouse. On the road I use the hotspot mode in the Raspberry Pi, control it with the iPad via VNC and use a large photo tripod with a holder for the radio, computer and the antennas. I use a logarithmic-periodic 4-element antenna for 144/430Mhz and an AlexLoop for KW.

For the power supply I use the battery built into the IC-705, the Raspberry Pi hangs on a powerbank and the iPad has a built-in battery anyway. As backup and supplement I use another powerbank with a rollable solar panel which has a USB 5 Volt and 12 Volt output. Everything together fits comfortably in a backpack.

YouTube side from OH8STN
https://www.youtube.com/user/SurvivalTechEU

YouTube side from KM4ACK
https://www.youtube.com/user/jasonoleham

Ham Radio Raspberry Pi | Build a Pi V3
https://youtu.be/l4M9VVqGxoc

Ham Radio Build a Pi Setup
https://youtu.be/MI3TC1PY8AI

HELP! Conky Won’t Start :: GPS Issue
https://youtu.be/YIIC-iT6H-s

ICOM IC-705
https://www.icomjapan.com/lineup/products/IC-705/

Logarithmic-periodic dipole antenna 144/430Mhz
http://www.joachims-gmbh.de/detail_blatt/LP145435SO.html

AlexLoop 10-40m
http://alexloop.com/

PowerFilm Solar powerbank
https://www.powerfilmsolar.com/products/lightsavers/lightsaver-max-portable-solar-charger

Radio and computer holder are made of self edged 1,5m aluminium sheets mounted on a Cullmann ALPHA 2500 tripod

73, Karl-Heinz, have fun!