Icom IC-M710 Marine radio for HF - software

[StoneCrab]

I have the IC-M710 which is normally used in the marine service but can be used on the Amateur frequencies. Since I now have my license, I want to "open up" the M710 to these frequencies. Not all the M710 were shipped open. You can't tell from the Serial Numbers whether they are open or not. So I wrote to Icom. Their reply was short and to the point.

"We no longer service the M710."

They also indicated that use on the Ham bands was something that the dealers mod'ed for the customers.

I'm looking for help sourcing the software, firmware or whatever else was needed to make this upgrade. I found an old blog W1CEN that gives the pinout for a control cable and mentions a software written by another Ham N3ZH. It was called Ham Radio Integrator.

Links in the blog all go to defunct Yahoo groups. I tried the Wayback Machine but it doesn't contain any of the content.

I know this was a popular radio in its day. There should be something out there to fill in the gaps. Any help on this is appreciated. Any old dealers out there who hang onto software and cables like I do?

[belizesailor]

Thread link below about programming 710 series radios, mostly the RT, but I think much of it applies to any 710. The last post I made to this thread includes a link to all the ICOM 710 stuff I have including a few software utilities. They are typically specified as "EX-nnnn.exe". You just need to research and see which "nnnn" number you need for your radio.

At least for my old 710RT, I had to find a PC with a native serial port (nope, USB emulators wont typically work because this old software accesses UART registers directly). Later I found "DOSBOX", a hell of a good DOS emulator built for old DOS based games...it even emulates UART registers. So, the EX-nnnn.exe software can be used with it.

Good news is that you only need to do this once and then its unlikely you will ever need it again.


https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

[wholybee]

I have the software for the M-710. The exe for the M710 is ex-1726.

You will need a special cable, which has some sort of electronics in it so not easy to make. The cable is available on ebay, with the software.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-DOS-Boo...kAAOSw6qBfZB5Y

The software is easiest to use if you have an old computer that has a real, physical DB9 serial port. It doesn't like emulated ports with USB.

It can work on a modern computer running DOSBOX, but you must use a USB->serial cable with an FTDI chipset, and there is some configuration tweaks that need to be made to the dosbox config. It will not work with other usb-serial adapters.

[StoneCrab]

The ebay site https://www.ebay.com/itm/163303001508 points to a programming cable which has a Serial RS232 DB9 connector on one end and a 3.5mm audio connector on the other end. I am trying to confirm that this is the proper way to program a M710 versus using the remote DB9 port on the Icom. Thanks for the Link Warren and the advice about DOSbox.

An upside to the ebay cable is that it comes with the programming software and a DOS boot thumb drive. That takes a few steps out of the process, which is nice.

I also ran across this site: https://w7pea.us/2011/12/conclusion-...control-cable/. It shows the pinouts for the cable for remote operation.

At the time of the previous thread on this topic, Yahoo groups were in existence. Unfortunately this services has been discontinued so some really good links have been found to be 404'd.

Tom Lafleur, KA6IQA wrote a program for controlling an M710 from your PC using the DIY cable. It is still posted on the WinLink site: https://winlink.org/content/icom_mar...ontrol_program
Thank you Steve Waterman, K4CJX for passing along my search to Tom, who provided the current link. K4CJX is the Winlink 2000 network administrator, and a member of the Winlink Development Team.

You need one of two executables running under DOS, a computer with a real serial port, and the special cable in order to open up the HAM frequencies. From the previous thread:

"On models before this release (if there was one), you can only open the tx freq range with software via computer thru the clone port using ex1726/ex2144 or through remote operation of the radio via computer running 3rd party radio control software."

I want to send a special thanks to Belizesailor who maintained a copy of the programming software since 2010 on a cloud drive. As he mentioned above, the last post in the previous thread points you to this repository, which is very comprehensive and should give me everything I need.

Originally Posted by belizesailor

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qdo4i4hjvd...710RT.zip?dl=0

I just need to confirm the cable requirement for programming. It seems odd to me that a sophisticated radio would be programmed through a 3.5 mm phono port.

I am looking forward to trying out the WinLink control software.

I am grateful that this community exists. I was not getting anywhere with just internet searches. Thanks to all.

[duckpond49]

Originally Posted by StoneCrab

I have the IC-M710 which is normally used in the marine service but can be used on the Amateur frequencies. Since I now have my license, I want to "open up" the M710 to these frequencies. Not all the M710 were shipped open. You can't tell from the Serial Numbers whether they are open or not. So I wrote to Icom. Their reply was short and to the point.

"We no longer service the M710."

They also indicated that use on the Ham bands was something that the dealers mod'ed for the customers.

I'm looking for help sourcing the software, firmware or whatever else was needed to make this upgrade. I found an old blog W1CEN that gives the pinout for a control cable and mentions a software written by another Ham N3ZH. It was called Ham Radio Integrator.

Links in the blog all go to defunct Yahoo groups. I tried the Wayback Machine but it doesn't contain any of the content.

I know this was a popular radio in its day. There should be something out there to fill in the gaps. Any help on this is appreciated. Any old dealers out there who hang onto software and cables like I do?

Get in touch with Peter Waterson at Seacoast Marine Electronics. He's an ICOM dealer and his background is as a radioman beginning back on the Titanic, I think. He'll tell you what's possible and no doubt, try hard to sell you something, but then you'll know.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by StoneCrab

The ebay site https://www.ebay.com/itm/163303001508 points to a programming cable which has a Serial RS232 DB9 connector on one end and a 3.5mm audio connector on the other end. I am trying to confirm that this is the proper way to program a M710 versus using the remote DB9 port on the Icom. Thanks for the Link Warren and the advice about DOSbox.

An upside to the ebay cable is that it comes with the programming software and a DOS boot thumb drive. That takes a few steps out of the process, which is nice.

I also ran across this site: https://w7pea.us/2011/12/conclusion-...control-cable/. It shows the pinouts for the cable for remote operation.

At the time of the previous thread on this topic, Yahoo groups were in existence. Unfortunately this services has been discontinued so some really good links have been found to be 404'd.

Tom Lafleur, KA6IQA wrote a program for controlling an M710 from your PC using the DIY cable. It is still posted on the WinLink site: https://winlink.org/content/icom_mar...ontrol_program
Thank you Steve Waterman, K4CJX for passing along my search to Tom, who provided the current link. K4CJX is the Winlink 2000 network administrator, and a member of the Winlink Development Team.

You need one of two executables running under DOS, a computer with a real serial port, and the special cable in order to open up the HAM frequencies. From the previous thread:

"On models before this release (if there was one), you can only open the tx freq range with software via computer thru the clone port using ex1726/ex2144 or through remote operation of the radio via computer running 3rd party radio control software."

I want to send a special thanks to Belizesailor who maintained a copy of the programming software since 2010 on a cloud drive. As he mentioned above, the last post in the previous thread points you to this repository, which is very comprehensive and should give me everything I need.



I just need to confirm the cable requirement for programming. It seems odd to me that a sophisticated radio would be programmed through a 3.5 mm phono port.

I am looking forward to trying out the WinLink control software.

I am grateful that this community exists. I was not getting anywhere with just internet searches. Thanks to all.

Be sure and post how it works out for you.

[StoneCrab]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Be sure and post how it works out for you.

I've been using the radio for a few months now in my office. I mounted the antenna tuner to a tree and ran some 14 gage wire to another tree as a stand-in for the backstay.

I had some trouble with the control cable that goes to the tuner not activating the tuner. I checked it three times without finding anything wrong. After removing the pins from the plastic housing and then reinstalling them, it began working. My assumption is that the pins were not all lining up correctly inside the Molex connector.

I made up a modified serial cable for controlling the M710 from my laptop, and bought the OPC-552 programming cable from ebay as mentioned above.

I run the "M710 Control Program" from Tom Lafleur KA6IQA on a laptop for remote control of the Icom IC-M710. The remote control makes it very easy to put in Amateur frequencies, change mode, jump from band to band and to store frequencies. It also has two buttons for scrolling up the bands in 5 KHz increments.

I think it is worth noting that with the "M710 Control Program" I have the best of both worlds. I can run the rig like a ham from the computer or use the radio as a marine service operator from the face of the radio. For the marine channels, the radio is easiest. For ham operations, the radio by itself is cumbersome and slow.

Although I now have the OPC-552 cable, so far I have not yet found a computer that will boot to DOS which also has a DB-9 Serial port. I didn't think that would be a problem since the software that comes with the cable is on a bootable thumbdrive. My computers with Serial ports, have BIOS which doesn't allow for USB boot devices. I checked with several IT shops and pretty consistently was told that since things got slow with COVID, they cleaned out their closets and tossed the old iron. I learned that Samsung Toughbooks will do what I need.

The serial port on the radio receives commands in the NMEA 0183 format. The control/programming/clone port receives the commands as HEX code. If you have a PACTOR MODEM, it would interface with the radio using the control/programming port. Despite my not having run the setup DOS program for opening the Amateur frequencies, the ICOM Control Software overides this and allows me to transmit on the HAM frequencies.

The M710 has a "Speaker" button on the front of the radio. This only kills the audio going to its built in speaker. I wired the speaker out port to my laptop's microphone port. That gives me a lot of options for digital data reception. There are a lot of software programs available which use the soundcard audio input and perform like you have a MODEM. When in data mode I just toggle the "Speaker" button to mute the radio's speaker.

I've been having fun with JVComm32 for receiving HF-Weather FAX. It works well with the Icom and produces very clear results. My only complaint on JVComm32 is that it can't change the frequency of the radio. If it was able to link with the M710 Control software to change the frequency automatically from a WX-FAX schedule, it would be a solid way of gathering weather information. All the weather charts are stored in one directory, so reviewing the information once a day is easy.

WinLink email software also works, but requires a manual frequency setup before you begin unless you have some automated interface software.

I've tried a number of CW decoding software programs with disappointing results, but the possibility is there.

The software that I am using was all written in the 90's. I'm guessing Visual Basic was the program of choice, based on the appearance of the buttons and window. The M710 Control Software is available on a GitHub repository. I looked into downloading it and making some modifications like adding more memory buttons and creating a script for the auto frequency changes, but I can't get my hands the developer software that would be needed. This was before the dot.net specification, so I'd need a very old version of VB.

I thought I had a breakthrough when I learned that Ham Radio Deluxe software (HRD) also had a companion program (HRI) Ham Radio Interface which was written about in several articles as having the ability to control the M710. This was used for email and fax operations back in the day and had a shareware copywrite.

The original author of HRD and HRI (Simon Brown, HB9DRV) sold his software license and business in 2011 to a HRD Software. They have continued the development of HRD to include the new radios and have added additional features. (I'm like a little kid when I see waterfall displays... With HRD, even an M710 can have a waterfall display on the laptop.) HRD charges a fee for their license, which I'd be happy to pay, however...

As exciting as that is, the latest releases no longer support the M710 remote control that was offered with the original HRI software. I've spoken to their engineers and they told me that they don't even have access to the old HRI versions.

I wanted to provide an update on my progress and to ask if anyone has a copy of the HRI freeware version remote control software in their archives.

I am glad that I decided to take the radio home for setup and experimentation. This would have been frustrating to do on the boat. It has been a good experience. I'm close to having what I want but would still like to be able to schedule frequency changes. Finding a copy of HRI would make that easy.

The last item on my wish list would be to add digital signal processing for cleaning up the audio signal. Newer radios have this. DSP does a remarkable job of eliminating static and adjacent signals. If anyone can recommend a PC based DPS software program that can process a real-time signal please provide recommendations. I'd like to try them out.

I was looking at some of the new HAM HF radios this weekend. They have some remarkable features but at the end of the day, I appreciate having a marine radio with marine channels which can also be run as a HAM radio.

[belizesailor]

Wow! You've been busy!

To get around the native MS-DOS issue try DOSBOX. It is an excellent MS-DOS emulator originally built to support gaming, but Ive used it successfully to tweak my M710-RT. It emulates COM ports at the UART level which is what these old utilities need. This means you can use a USB-RS232 bridge cable to program the M710 (at least I was able to with the RT version...which is just a 710 with a remote control head).

https://www.dosbox.com/

[StoneCrab]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Wow! You've been busy!

To get around the native MS-DOS issue try DOSBOX. It is an excellent MS-DOS emulator originally built to support gaming, but Ive used it successfully to tweak my M710-RT. It emulates COM ports at the UART level which is what these old utilities need. This means you can use a USB-RS232 bridge cable to program the M710 (at least I was able to with the RT version...which is just a 710 with a remote control head).

https://www.dosbox.com/

I downloaded DOSbox and tried it tonight. It loads nicely but when I try to download the existing configuration out of the radio, I get a clone error.

I am running this on a Windows 10 laptop with a USB to Serial dongle to the Icom clone cable. I tried setting the EX1726 program to each serial port on in the menu but got "clone error" each time.

Thanks for the suggestion. It was worth a try.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by StoneCrab

I downloaded DOSbox and tried it tonight. It loads nicely but when I try to download the existing configuration out of the radio, I get a clone error.



I am running this on a Windows 10 laptop with a USB to Serial dongle to the Icom clone cable. I tried setting the EX1726 program to each serial port on in the menu but got "clone error" each time.



Thanks for the suggestion. It was worth a try.

Damn. I dont know why. Fired right up and worked for me.

[StoneCrab]

Thanks for trying it again for me.

Is your serial connection a USB to serial dongle?

If it is, can you tell me what the chipset or driver it uses?
Mine is a prolific driver. I've been tole that these dongles are not all equal.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by StoneCrab

Thanks for trying it again for me.



Is your serial connection a USB to serial dongle?



If it is, can you tell me what the chipset or driver it uses?

Mine is a prolific driver. I've been tole that these dongles are not all equal.

Ah, I meant it fired right up years ago when I last used it.

But yes, I used it with a prolific adapter. Dont recall which chipset/driver, but a very old one as it was years ago.

[jamhass]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

But yes, I used it with a prolific adapter. Dont recall which chipset/driver, but a very old one as it was years ago.

A good point, this. Earlier prolific chips in USB-Serial adapters don't usually work with windows newer than 7. A problem with many "data-to-usb" devices, as many have the older prolific chips embedded in them. I've had trouble with NMEA-USB multiplexors and Pactor USB modems.

[wsmurdoch]

There was a m710 users group on Yahoo before they shut their groups down. I saved this from there, and you might find it useful.


1-The ICOM interface is not RS232 but RS485 drop online protocol ?, you will need an interface to communicate with it.
2- the ICOM needs to be set on address #1 in order to program it. otherwise....nothing at all. see manual how to do that !
3-the com speed for the computer needs to be set at 4800,8,n,1
4-ex1726 is a old pice of software that uses hardware handshake... connect rts to cts and dtr to dsr, otherwise data will get stuck in the rs232 chip of your computer and wait until data set ready and clear to send has been received before it will be transmitted data to the tranceiver
5-if you are using an interface that takes the power from the serial gate of the computer then place a second diode. one diode on rts/cts and one diode at dtr/dsr...... because the ex1726 useses hardware handshake, it will set rts low after each received command to signal the computer t is processing data. Seting rts/cts low <=> no power anymore for the interface, hence no communication. typical behavure that this is the problem will be that the transceiver acknowledges the data by going into the remote mode, but then refuses to do anything anymore ! Same is true for RTS/CTS and DSR/DTR not handled properly as under point 4. it will go into remote control mode or prgramming mode and then wait but not receive anything anymore. The best bet is still use a small adaptor for supply such as a phone charger.'

also this...

"Dear Friends,
Firstly a big thanks to all of you. With your help & guidance I am successful in programming the M710.
I am able to connect via CLONE & REMOTE both. I am able to make changes to the Radio via CLONE.
These are the things I did:
1. Used a Laptop with Core 2 Duo 2.10GHz.
2. Operating System : Windows XP (Service Pack 3) & also used Windows 7.
3. CLONE interface : Homebrewed the interface from this website: http://wa2hip.com/jrpetro/_res/stuff2/opc478-japan.jpg http://wa2hip.com/jrpetro/_res/stuff2/opc-478-japan.jpg
4. Modified the interface power supply by adding external 5v regulated power supply to the 150 ohms
resistor & disconnected it from the DB9 as per this website: (refer the OPC 478 version
2)http://www.radioaficion.com/HamNews/...gramacion.html
http://www.radioaficion.com/HamNews/...gramacion.html
5. External 5v regulated power supply was taken out from a 9v cell using the circuit from this
website: http://dawn.singlespoon.org.au/7805.gif http://dawn.singlespoon.org.au/7805.gif
6. Used a USB to RS232 converter connecting the Laptop & Interface cable.
7. Clone program does not depend upon the D-Sub or Pin config. It doesnt matter.
Both the interface is working with both Laptop (via USB to serial converter) & Desktop (direct COM port) &
with any operating system Windows XP & Windows 7.
The problem for Clone was that the USB converter & COM port was not able to power up the interface.
After connecting the external power supply, the voltage at the Radio side 3.5mm mono pin jack was
around 3.5v.
Also care should be taken in the polarity of the two capacitors.
For the Remote access, a simple DB9 to DB9 connector was homebrewed by me as per this
website: http://deepplaya.com/w7pea/2011/12/c...controlcable/ http://deepplaya.com/w7pea/2011/12/c...control-cable/
Once again thanks a lot for the big help.
It was indeed a great discussion.
Hope to see you "On Air" soon.
Best 73s,
Namaste from India.
VU2UUU
Kaustav"


I also have three Icom documents; "EX-1726 FIELD PROGRAMMING SOFTWARE - IC-M710" (26 pages) and "Icom Instructions, Cloning Software, EX-2144 Rev. 1.0" (2 pages) and "The IC-M710 NMEA Instruction Manual" 28 pages). If you would like copies, send me an email address by PM.

I use Winlink with a "Signalink USB" sound card and set my receiver frequency automatically from the computer.

Bill
AK4PO

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by wsmurdoch

There was a m710 users group on Yahoo before they shut their groups down. I saved this from there, and you might find it useful.


1-The ICOM interface is not RS232 but RS485 drop online protocol ?, you will need an interface to communicate with it.
2- the ICOM needs to be set on address #1 in order to program it. otherwise....nothing at all. see manual how to do that !
3-the com speed for the computer needs to be set at 4800,8,n,1
4-ex1726 is a old pice of software that uses hardware handshake... connect rts to cts and dtr to dsr, otherwise data will get stuck in the rs232 chip of your computer and wait until data set ready and clear to send has been received before it will be transmitted data to the tranceiver
5-if you are using an interface that takes the power from the serial gate of the computer then place a second diode. one diode on rts/cts and one diode at dtr/dsr...... because the ex1726 useses hardware handshake, it will set rts low after each received command to signal the computer t is processing data. Seting rts/cts low &lt;=&gt; no power anymore for the interface, hence no communication. typical behavure that this is the problem will be that the transceiver acknowledges the data by going into the remote mode, but then refuses to do anything anymore ! Same is true for RTS/CTS and DSR/DTR not handled properly as under point 4. it will go into remote control mode or prgramming mode and then wait but not receive anything anymore. The best bet is still use a small adaptor for supply such as a phone charger.'

also this...

"Dear Friends,
Firstly a big thanks to all of you. With your help & guidance I am successful in programming the M710.
I am able to connect via CLONE & REMOTE both. I am able to make changes to the Radio via CLONE.
These are the things I did:
1. Used a Laptop with Core 2 Duo 2.10GHz.
2. Operating System : Windows XP (Service Pack 3) & also used Windows 7.
3. CLONE interface : Homebrewed the interface from this website: http://wa2hip.com/jrpetro/_res/stuff2/opc478-japan.jpg http://wa2hip.com/jrpetro/_res/stuff2/opc-478-japan.jpg
4. Modified the interface power supply by adding external 5v regulated power supply to the 150 ohms
resistor & disconnected it from the DB9 as per this website: (refer the OPC 478 version
2)http://www.radioaficion.com/HamNews/...gramacion.html
http://www.radioaficion.com/HamNews/...gramacion.html
5. External 5v regulated power supply was taken out from a 9v cell using the circuit from this
website: http://dawn.singlespoon.org.au/7805.gif http://dawn.singlespoon.org.au/7805.gif
6. Used a USB to RS232 converter connecting the Laptop & Interface cable.
7. Clone program does not depend upon the D-Sub or Pin config. It doesnt matter.
Both the interface is working with both Laptop (via USB to serial converter) & Desktop (direct COM port) &
with any operating system Windows XP & Windows 7.
The problem for Clone was that the USB converter & COM port was not able to power up the interface.
After connecting the external power supply, the voltage at the Radio side 3.5mm mono pin jack was
around 3.5v.
Also care should be taken in the polarity of the two capacitors.
For the Remote access, a simple DB9 to DB9 connector was homebrewed by me as per this
website: http://deepplaya.com/w7pea/2011/12/c...-controlcable/ http://deepplaya.com/w7pea/2011/12/c...control-cable/
Once again thanks a lot for the big help.
It was indeed a great discussion.
Hope to see you "On Air" soon.
Best 73s,
Namaste from India.
VU2UUU
Kaustav"


I also have three Icom documents; "EX-1726 FIELD PROGRAMMING SOFTWARE - IC-M710" (26 pages) and "Icom Instructions, Cloning Software, EX-2144 Rev. 1.0" (2 pages) and "The IC-M710 NMEA Instruction Manual" 28 pages). If you would like copies, send me an email address by PM.

I use Winlink with a "Signalink USB" sound card and set my receiver frequency automatically from the computer.

Bill
AK4PO

Yes, lots of info on the old Yahoo group, but just for this puropse I did not need to build an adapter or a power supply. The first time I used an old machine w a native COM port. Second time was DOSBOX on a Dell Latitude laptop running Windows XP.