Using the Icom IC-735 for FT-8

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Written by AG5ND   

iCOM ic-735DISCLAIMER: I am not a tech wizard.  The article that follows is a description of that I did to make FT-8 and rig control work with my IC-735 radio.  Your results may differ.  Many thanks to Dale Sharpen whop helped me over the last hurdle, and the tech folks at MFJ.

The Icom IC-735 is perfectly capable of handling FT-8.  The key to getting it done is, I think, starting small and simple and not installing too many accessory software packages.  It's easy to get overwhelmed in all the software that can be added.  This starts you at square one.

 

This is what I needed to make FT-8 work for me:

 

  • Icom IC-735.
  • MFJ-1204 USB interface with 8 pin DIN connector (about $100)
  • Windows computer (mine is Windows 7, but anything post-XP should be fine)
  • CAT controller cable from BlueMax49ers on eBay. There's more to this cable than just a cable, it also has a chip in it that makes the whole thing work. Part number is FTDI USB CI-V CAT Programming Cable CAT CI-V IC-735 IC-736 IC-737 IC-738 CT-17.  (about $25)
  • Most recent copy of WSJT-X.
  • Dimension 4 time sync software
  1. Download the most recent version of WSJT-X and install it on your PC.
  2. Download Dimension 4 time sync software and install it.  Make sure it runs all the time.
  3. When you get the MFJ-1204 (or whatever USB interface you choose) it will have two cables, a USB and a round 8-pin DIN cable.  Plug the 8-pin DIN into ACC1 port on the back of the IC-735, and the USB cable into any USB port on your PC.
  4. Start WSJT-X on your PC, and two screens will open.  One is the waterfall, the other is the control screen.  Everything here forward is describing the control screen.
  5. In the top left corner, click the FILE => SETTINGS => RADIO.  At the top, set the radio choice to "none".
  6. Go back to FILE => SETTINGS => LOCATION and fill in the blanks.
  7. Close that screen, and set the bottom left panel to 20m.  Set your Icom to frequency 14.074.  (Make sure the mode is always USB, regardless of the band.)
  8. Turn up the volume on your radio so you can hear, and you should hear some digital screaming.  If so, you're doing well.   The left pane should start filling up with digital traffic your radio is hearing, and if you click ENABLE XMIT you machine should start calling CQ.
  9. If all is well, and you're feeling familiar enough with WSJT-X to forge ahead, we'll set up rig control.
  10. Getting rig control to work seems to be the big obstacle for most IC-735 owners, but hopefully we're about to fix that.
  11. First, read the one page of installation instructions that came with your BlueMax49ers CAT cable.  Honest, read it.  You need to understand the process.  Pay attention to the baud rate and stop bit settings specified in the instructions.
  12. Plug the CAT controller cable USB plug (you bought from BlueMax49ers) into the back of your PC.   Windows Update will spend 5-10 minutes downloading the software it needs to run the cable.  Just go get a cup of coffee, and be patient.
  13. After the download and installation finish, plug the 3.5mm end (the little end) of the cable into the back of your IC-735.  It goes into the little hole just to the right of the ACC2 port on the back.
  14. On the PC, open Control Panel => Device Manager => Ports (LPT and COM).   You should see your new cable listed there.  Now, this is important.  If your PC does NOT have serial ports, set your cable com port to Com 1.  If your PC DOES have serial ports, set the cable to COM 5.  If the PC says something else is using that port, you can ignore that warning and use it anyway.
  15. To change your cable's com port:  Go to Control Panel => Device Manager => Ports (LPT and COM) => Choose cable =>Port Settings => Advanced.  Just set the COM port to 1 or 5 as described above.

Under Port Settings, make sure the cable shows the default settings of:
  • Baud 9600
  • Bits/sec 8
  • Parity None
  • Stop bits 1
  • Flow Control None
Save it and get out of Control Panel.  We're now ready to set up WSJT-X.   Open WSJT-X, go to Settings => Radio.  Change NONE to IC-735.

Use the settings shown in the screenshot below.

  • Note the baud rate is set to 1200.  I found that (at least on my machine) setting the baud rate any higher resulted in ham lib errors.
  • Make sure your radio is on.
  • Click TEST CAT.  If all is well, it will turn green.  At this point, MAKE A SCREENSHOT OF YOUR SETTING AND SAVE THAT IMAGE ON YOUR DESKTOP!  You'll need to know what works for you should things get wiped out, as PC settings sometimes do.
  • Now, you can change bands and frequencies  in the WSJT-X software, and the radio will follow right along with you.
  • That's it.  If it works for you, hooray!  If not, drop me a line at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and I'll try to help out.   Also ask for help in the Facebook WSJT-X page.  Do be prepared to ignore the first or second answers on Facebook, which will probably be "RTFM".   Answers like that are written by people who aren't using an IC-735 for FT-8, and don't understand our issues aren't IN any of the manuals.
  • This solution may also work on other early Icom radios.   If it works on other models, please drop me a line so I can amend the instructions.
  • Happy trails,
Allen, AG5ND
Starkville, Mississippi

 
 
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