All Band Transmit Modification Icom IC-7300 Full Explanation w/ Test at End!

Video Tutorial on how to perform MARS/ Cap Mod to open tx from 100 KHZ to 74.8 MHZ continuous on USA Icom IC-7300. Very easy to do with just a little patience.

[@javaman3765]

Best storage for removed parts I use is to cleanly one leg of part to "one" of the pads you removed it from as a place holder. That way it's stored and you know where it was placed originally.

[@JLPicard440]

Good Tip.. thanks..

[@tookthe5th182]

You can usually tombstone these small 2 pin smt parts by just heating one end and lifting that side up with the iron. No solder needed but tin your iron first. Done this many times with no PCB damage. 73

[@JLPicard440]

@@tookthe5th182 That's what I usually do too... thanks :-)

[@RobBob555]

no need for solder there.. a little flux if anything would have been better imho. when it comes to removing SMD stuff i find just a little upward pressure via tweezers and a lil heat is all you need, one side at a time..

[@BruceNitroxpro]

rob b, you're reading my mind. A little RA flux would be all you'd need.

[@NeilBeresford]

And mine too! good call guys, worth mentioning for any one with less experience removing SMD componenets.

[@johninjersey]

I dip solder wick into flux and use that. I think he used solder for the flux but with wick it draws up the solder as well. Much more fun is unsoldering a 128 pin chip , one leg at a time, heat and lift.

[@tedn4yx628]

Yep - no need for solder - simply heat & flip lift one side. Then, optionally, tweezer component & heat other side for removal.

[@NB3K]

No need to remove the diode, just pull one leg up and leave the other side attached!

[@GaryLordsWayMinistry]

Good to know easy enough. I know you had to clean that mess up because I saw one heck of a good bridge there between the diode you took out and the next one in line with it. What a mess. That looked scary to me. I'm glad I can do much better than that here.

[@JLPicard440]

HI... there was no bridge, it was the way the light was hitting the board... Just so happened that that one didn't come out real nice... Didn't hurt the radio. Thanks for stopping by.

[@allescard4377]

My thoughts

[@GaryLordsWayMinistry]

Well I took out diode 422 as you showed and I do not have transmit on 27.425 lsb either. So I did a reset too and still no output power on 11 meters. Any ideas? I went back to see if there was any residual solder on the circuits and couldn't see any, I have a set of eyeglasses with different magnification coming maybe I can see better with them or I will have to buy a microscope to see even better into this circuit.

[@JLPicard440]

I would compare what your diodes look like to the mod itself on mods.dk for example. See if you have any diodes that shouldn't have been taken out, or some that still need to be taken out. IF your configuration looks exactly like the mod says, then that's a problem.. Do the rest of the ham bands still work?

[@donsdoityourself2547]

Just so you know, it appears if you make the mod, you can still lock out the Out Of Band transmit in the menu by going to Set=>Function=>Band Edge Beep=> set to On(User) & TX Limit. This appears to highlight the Transmit Limit with the red dashed line around the TX symbol at top left of display and physically limit transmit just like when the Diode was there. Effectively, the radio software now appears to give you a menu option to open it up for a life or death emergency or zombie apocolypse if ever needed with the mod, but function like the hardware (diode) is stock with TX Limit selected. I'd highly recommend if you do the Mod, set the menu to limit this transmit as it is illegal anywhere outside the HAM Bands and this way you won't be able to transmit outside the HAM bands if you accidentally lean on the transmit button or etc.. BTW... thanks for taking the time to make a video. I know it takes effort to do that.

[@JLPicard440]

HI Donald. That's great advice. I didn't know the radio would do that from the menu. I personally never TX outside of the bands so it would be great to have a safety net there, and it could be easily defeated in a pinch if an emergency should arise!... :-)

[@mrblue2989]

Just to be clear here. Are you saying the company made it so it would limit transmitting power even if you do this modification you displayed in your video?. If this is true, what is the transmit power then limited too?, can you still get 100 percent power transmission with diode pull?. Just curious, I don't even have this radio but thought about getting one possibly one day.

[@JLPicard440]

@@mrblue2989 The radio has tuned circuits inside the radio. It depends how far away from the Ham bands you are trying to go. Say if your on the 160M band and your trying to TX on AM broadcast down around 540KHZ for example this is to far away from the 1.8 MHZ that the circuit it designed for. IF your trying to broadcast on CB at 27 You'll get full power since it's close to the 10 Meter band. The radio will still make full power, you just won't see it on the meter. I don't recommend transmitting on any of these frequencies, I'm just using them as a explanation. Hope this helps.

[@evanfinch4987]

Or just know the band plan and work conscientiously.

[@gordonmcdonald480]

Thanks for this post it helped me out greatly. There were a shortage of IC-7300 in Australia so I bought one from Japan. I began experiencing restrictions to transmit in some band ranges and I couldn't figure this out. I found out that those ranges were programmed in according to the Japan Amature radio bands parameters. Your post gave me an idea. Changing the Band Edge Beep=> to OFF. - Default is set to - On(user) & TX Limit, removed certain perameters within the band. Very happy. Thank you.

[@walkingmanvideo9455]

You have an awesome voice for a Radio Announcer. Thanks for the video. 73 from Australia

[@JLPicard440]

Wow, thank you! You're welcome.. :-). I've worked Australia a couple of times..73.. :-)

[@GaryLordsWayMinistry]

@@JLPicard440 😀

[@lzlb5927]

You are the master of soldering!

[@JLPicard440]

I wouldn't say that! I usually do better, but this one messed up a little. I couldn't re-shoot the video. I'm glad the radio never did have any trouble..

[@allescard4377]

You must be kidding

[@BrianBattles]

Look cool, but frankly I'm scared to do that on my nice radio!

[@JLPicard440]

I can understand that! Thanks for the comment.. :-)

[@princearthur4946]

Great presentation and unique modification on the IC-7300! Thanks!

[@JLPicard440]

Many thanks!

[@tonyhwang3888]

How about lifting one lead of diode instead of removing it?

[@lt4324]

correct, you do not have to remove it at all. This is good if you decide to put that diode back in place for some reason down the road.

[@JLPicard440]

Yes that would work too...

[@ronknight3417]

yes tony i always do this

[@dannelson8556]

That's actually the proper way to do this mod. You use the tip of a pin to lift one end of the diode while heating the other end up with a hot-air rework station pen Of course, you're going to want to use a little bit of desoldering Wick first. Unless you have a high-end. Soldering iron such as a hakko 951 with the proper tip then I really don't recommend using a soldering iron On boards like this. If you're just lifting one corner, be careful not to Lift a pad on the opposite side.

[@looneytune-upelectronicsll2241]

I thought about the same thing. Maybe even putting in a on off switch in case you want to turn the mod on an off.

[@bigliftm]

perfect cb radio !!! highly recomended

[@JLPicard440]

It is a good radio for that.... although I'm not sure how good the AM TX audio is... I've never tried it on AM... typically Ham radios don't sound that good on AM, but some of them do...

[@bigliftm]

@@JLPicard440 nobody uses AM here in the netherlands. everything is fm so it does not matter

[@JLPicard440]

@@bigliftm Wow, that's interesting!... I didn't know that.. They use FM on CB? What about a conventional CB radio like a Cobra 29? Anything like that doesn't have the option for FM.....

[@BruceNitroxpro]

@@JLPicard440, The 7300 sounds terrific on AM. Best reports since the days of high level modulation! de KQ2E

[@JLPicard440]

@@BruceNitroxpro I've never tried it.. good to know.. thanks..

[@smbrown]

No power @ 100kHz because your meter is 1.8MHz - 200MHz

[@JLPicard440]

Steve Brown I’m sure that will affect it too, and the tuned circuits in the radio aren’t made for those frequencies either

[@trippledee351]

It was reading on the 200 watt scale also, maybe it would have read a little on the 5 watt scale at min power on the rig.

[@JLPicard440]

@@trippledee351 It probably would. Im not sure what freq youre trying to tx on, but if it's to far out of the range the radio is made for, it'll probably have a high internal SWR.

[@trippledee351]

@@JLPicard440 I would agree, outside the normal frequency ranges the meters accuracy will likely take quite a dive, but they will give some readings. I think he had the radio on minimal TX power at the frequency it was on and he had the Power meter set to the 200 watt scale, so Id say that is why it didn't register.

[@JLPicard440]

@@trippledee351 Yep, that'll do it too..

[@charlesstephens3660]

Just use a dental pick to pop the SMT diode off. I hope if you do this you are a licenced MARS operator.

[@JLPicard440]

Yes that could work! Thanks..

[@michaeldavidheit]

These are not diodes, they are "zero Ohm" resistors for pull up operation to the IC array ...

[@JLPicard440]

Sometimes they're diodes, sometimes they're resistors... (Depending on the radio) Thanks for the info... 😊

[@samiam9059]

Hot air guns are used for a lot of surface mount removal like SMD stations.

[@JLPicard440]

Yep, I have one..

[@samiam9059]

@@JLPicard440 That is what you should of used then.

[@nobodysreview6137]

I did this, it worked, i had to use a magnifying glass to see. Thanks for the video.

[@JLPicard440]

You're welcome... ! Yes, I can't do anything without a magnifying glass... 😎😎. I used to be able to work on this stuff with nothing, but those days are long gone...☹️☹️

[@idpagroup6525]

On a 100 RF power on my 7300 icom I only get 55 Watts on my Watt meter on single sideban 27.385 how can I get 100 watts ?

[@JLPicard440]

Are you using a PEP sensing wattmeter? IS something out of tune? Mic gain to low? What happens when you select RTTY and try and key up? Can you get 100W on RTTY? There are so many variables, I can't see what you've got going over there. Do you get 100Watts PEP on 10 meters with the same meter?

[@davidmiller2811]

Why not just lift one edge of the diode much easier, and can resolder back if you want.

[@JLPicard440]

Yes that is one way to do it, and it'll work fine.. 😀

[@dennisdeckmann9336]

What a genius, you turned a $1,000 radio into a super-CB…

[@JLPicard440]

Thank you!... 😊

[@SocialistDistancing]

You call it a CB. I see one radio instead of numerous radios. It all depends on your needs. My needs are more complex than yours.

[@daveengstrom9250]

My hat is off to you. I would be afraid to fiddle around with a soldering iron among those tiny parts. I can see you know what you are doing.

[@JLPicard440]

TYSM! I really appreciate it. Since that video I have found I like the hot air station better for removing those small parts. I've also used an exacto knife with some success as well, but I like the hot air better...

[@architectflocatalan1630]

Got it and i can now transmit to freq i want. Thank you

[@JLPicard440]

Excellent!

[@j0llyroger889]

Chuck Norris could do this modification without a magnifying glass and butter his toast at the same time.

[@JLPicard440]

I'm suffering from O.L.D.... 😂

[@jamesventura5106]

I noticed that a bridge was made after the Diode was removed from #1 to #2, was that superposed to happen ???

[@JLPicard440]

JAMES VENTURA it only just looks like a bridge, but it’s not

[@looneytune-upelectronicsll2241]

I wondered the same thing.

[@aarongriffin81]

There is already a trace there, he just left extra solder on an existing trace. The same trace connects all the diodes in that whole row.

[@quadrant2005]

Liquid Flux is your Friend...

[@ebayusergeerja1454]

Louis Rossman! :-)

[@bartrosenberg]

How about a solder sucker and leave one side of the diode connected - slip a little bit of electric tape in if the diode wont lift off the board.

[@TheRadioKid_tt]

if you accidentally cook the diode under, for RX, what is the type of diode? i need to find one with the same value and symbols on it from another radio

[@JLPicard440]

HI, finding an SMD diode isn't the problem. It's finding one with the same characteristics as the original. You might be able to download a service manual for the 7300 and identify your component... D1115 for example... With that board identification that will lead you to a part number somewhere in the manual... With the part number you can do a google search to see if anyone has it other than ICOM themselves.. If no one has it you may have to call them and see.

[@TheRadioKid_tt]

@@JLPicard440 thank you for that advice. i didnt see it until today unfortunately, but i have already sent off my 7300 to be repaired through icom yesterday. thank you for the free knowledge buddy!!

[@JLPicard440]

No problem... Hopefully won't cost to much for them to fix it... 😀

[@TheRadioKid_tt]

@@JLPicard440 i know ray novak, was covered for free 😉

[@truthfilterforyoutube8218]

I love everyone that will do this mod and then say " I will never transmit in the " Guard Band" where it's way busier than the ham band that starts at 10meters". Like 27.475 mhz. Live on the dark side people !

[@JLPicard440]

Lol.... I actually don't get on there. I usually am on 75-80M.... 😀

[@richardfryer8646]

After you 'take a bath' (you could use a haircut too) this is a pretty neat radio for your bathtub Rubber Duck lookin for his good buddy on the chicken band... just crank er down to around 15 watts O/P and you'll almost be legit. Lifting that diode up on one end also does the trick.. just leave the diode there, it does no harm. These rigs have the kind of filtering on the output that no CB radio is likely to have...and who knows, ham radio and that license that allows you to run 1.5kw might even become interesting...

[@JLPicard440]

I get a haircut bi-anually whether I need one or not! I must have made this video towards the end of the 6 months...😂. Yes, nothing wrong with lifting one side of diode and leaving it there.

[@shanerorko8076]

I don't see an issue using the 7300 on CB if you're within the CB channels. Yes, technically, it's not correct, but I highly doubt anyone will care. I imagine the 7300 will have less bleed-off out of the intended frequency, unlike those guys running cheap CB radios with juice shooting spurious emissions out each side of the sideband by 4 or 5kh. I'm sure the FCC guy, who is likely a ham himself looking on his SDR receiver, will be more worried about the cowboys running PAs on their modded $200 CB radios.

[@JLPicard440]

I agree... I doubt if anyone would notice if the person isn't using crazy amounts of power...but technically it isn't legal except during emergency use.

[@normdingmore8521]

I have a Japanese IC-9100 that is closed to a large part of the US VHF/UHF frequencies. Wish I could do a mod like this to get on the US authorized frequencies.

[@JLPicard440]

HI, you might check mods.dk and see if they have a mod listed for the 9100...

[@stuarth43]

LOOKING AGAIN, I think I'd lay alu foil over every bit of the board,'cept for the lil place I was working, these things are 2020 Au dollars, here and no advantage in importing

[@JLPicard440]

Yea the foil might prevent any static discharge.. There could be some voltages however from the battery that keeps the memory alive and the foil could short that out..

[@digitalmediafan]

No way would I contemplate doing this not that I needed to as the mod was done before I bought mine...great hair, reminds me of a DJ here in the UK called Mike Reid....

[@JLPicard440]

Yes, it's not too bad... :-)

[@fredbissnette3104]

My 757 yaesu has a switch inside the radio lol they made it real easy

[@JLPicard440]

IKR.. I wish they were all like that! Good ole Yaesu... :-)

[@InflatedDolphin]

I know a lot of people don't give a crap about the rules, but why do this in the first place? The radio is as the radio is, it's meant to have the restrictions it has, now this one's inspector bait......

[@JLPicard440]

Mostly because it'll open up 60 Meters. In case of an emergency, it'll TX anywhere. Doesn't mean you have to abuse it and use it on CB or above CB around 27.555... But the capability is there in case its needed. Thanks for the feedback.

[@smitty2721]

Does this mod allow transmitting on 11 meters CB freq's?

[@JLPicard440]

Yes

[@johnjeffrey3660]

Wonder how many folks follow his recommendations to NOT GO TO THE CRIMINAL BAND (CB) ? On another note, this guy could narrate for Nova films or any other scientific program on television 😎

[@JLPicard440]

Thanks for the vote for the voice over! I recommend not to go to the CB band because I follow those recommendations myself!

[@Jim-xz1ew]

This is a perfect way of not doing it correctly. You don't need the heat and you're never going to put the diode back on this board. Get a small pair of tweezers and grab the diode. Now a slight twist and then the other way and its out. Clean out the remains by turning the rig upside down and dumping any pieces out. Now reset. Don't put all of that heat on your board. You cant undo that kind of damage.

[@JLPicard440]

Thanks for the info!

[@glennjohnson3098]

Are you saying the diode shatters and both ends stay on the pads? Or are you saying rip the pads clean off the PCB?

[@JLPicard440]

HI, no it doesn't or shouldn't rip the pad off the PCB. I've used an exacto knife to pop those components off the board. That works well too. If you have some junk electronics laying around that has those SMD components on there, it would be good to practice with that first... 😀

[@Goondoon1972]

That is EXACTLY how I do all mine. No mess. I will never limit a radio. No need to replace it later.

[@blazingjmen37]

Why do you stress not to go to 27.185? I am a trucker and using a 2970N4. Bought that radio because I thought thought it would be what I needed when I got my General Class. I know now I was wrong but don’t have anyone guiding me.

[@JLPicard440]

It's not that I'm stressing it.... It's not really legal to use the 7300 on 11 Meters. That's why i'm transmitting into a dummy load so nobody can say that I am. A lot of hams would be appalled at using a Ham radio on the 11 Meter band... I have nothing against 11 meters. especially if you're a over the road trucker. It's a useful tool to keep from going crazy when there's nobody to talk to!

[@hienokaveri]

So what the fuck, why would it be so bad to use it on CB, with lowest tx power? Nobody would know.

[@jerrydiver1]

He's a ham; a lot of his audience are hams; he doesn't want to advise them to break the law. Even though it's hard to get in trouble for it, it is still illegal for hams to operate their ham equipment on the CB freqs. So you'll see him in all his videos advising hams not to do something they all know that they shouldn't do.

[@whatsascrewdriver5572]

Hieno Kaveri - Would it be so bad to use it at 100 watts? That's 13 dB higher than 5 watts. Figure 6 dB per S-unit, so 100 watts will give you an additional 2 S-units, like going from S-5 to S-7. By itself, it's not enough to assure you're going to hell. There's also the issue that CB is channelized. If you want to talk to most people, you'll need to keep a chart nearby so you know what frequency to tune the radio to for what channel. That can be inconvenient compared to a channel selector every time you want to change channels. Personally, I wouldn't put in the energy doing this conversion "just" to put the 7300 on CB. Out of the box, it works on the Ham bands that are hundreds of times more interesting than CB. If you're considering doing surgery on this radio, then you're already demonstrating an interest is radio-electronics. If that's the case, I'd recommend putting your energy into getting a Ham license (which is not difficult, arrl.org) and be really free to explore operating the Ham bands that are all over the Shortwave spectrum, and worldwide... a lot of the time... sometimes not... A lot of high-power CB operation is testosterone-driven vulgarity, seeing who is able to step on who, indulging in power-wars so you won't be able to step on me anymore, ohhh the vulgarity, and the end result is a constant noise level of S-9 so you can't hardly talk further than an FRS walkie-talkie, even if you are running power. Radio can be more fun than that. And a lot more family friendly. After the incessant noise levels, my next problem with CB is the vulgarity. I'm no prude, but it gets pretty one-dimensional and tedious after a while. And God forbid you want to introduce your radio to a kid, but half of what you hear on the CB is stuff the kid would have gotten their mouth washed out with soap for. Granted, some of that stuff leaks through on Ham radio -- and sometimes in the worst places like 80 Meter AM, but it's still 99.99% less than on CB. And finally, of course, one has to mention that ALL Morse code requirements were eliminated from ALL grades of Ham licenses in February of 2007. So you can go all the way to Amateur Extra without doing a single dit, if you don't wanna. Today, the only people doing Morse code are the people that love it. Otherwise, the latest attraction is digital communications, hooking your computer up to your radio. You can contact people whose signals are so weak you can't even hear them in the loudspeaker, but your computer can pull out their signals, anyway. That opens the door to low power communications and/or inefficient antennas, and still being able to communicate around the world, sometimes. But don't get me started.

[@robinj.9329]

WHAT? WAIT, touch screen? That radio used touch screen for selection and control? I HATE TOUCH SCREEN! Half the time it just doesn't work! I've had to "touch" my screen as many as 4, 5, or 7 times to make a selection! It's a great idea. And would be wonderful IF IT ACTUALLY WORKED! But, I've never found one THAT WORKS!

[@JLPicard440]

This one actually had no problems.. I kept that radio for over a year and it never hiccuped at all... :-)

[@ChatGPT1111]

Been using the touch screen on my Kenwood TS990S for 5 years with zero problems. I can see a signal on the other side of the band and with one touch, I’m dead on it.

[@evanfinch4987]

First thing I'll be doing with my brand new IC-7300 when it arrives.

[@JLPicard440]

Excellent! Yes I usually open up a radio that I get. I don't know why, I doubt if I ever use it that way, but it's there none the less... 😊

[@elonlovesyou]

So, in doing this, you would be able to transmit on CB frequencies?

[@JLPicard440]

Yes, but I don't recommend it

[@michaelhamilton3778]

Kind of looked like you left behind one hell of a solder bridge. Hope y’all removed it before you started playing with it. 🤣🤣🤣 💥💨💨💨💨💨

[@JLPicard440]

No I didn't. It looked that way on the camera, but there was no bridge there.

[@cbureriu]

don't do it ! :-)

[@stuartdunk803]

Huge bridge you dint seem to remove!

[@JLPicard440]

There was no bridge... It was the way the light was hitting the solder joint. Thanks

[@eugeneerickson6395]

Nextime use solder wick, you will have a cleaner job, and it Will absorb a lot of the heat, whick could damage the pcb lan as well as the diode. Myself I wouldn't take a perfectly good working radio and risk a butcher job, and for what, but that's just me.

[@JLPicard440]

I think the solder wick might be to big for the size of those tiny little components. Usually there’s other components in close proximity and the heat from the solder wick would spread to them. I do use the wick a lot, but on bigger parts... I tried one of those cheap hot air stations from amazon and I’ve had really good luck removing SMDs with that... the parts come off pretty clean with no damage to the board.

[@eugeneerickson6395]

@@JLPicard440 I was a tv repair tech for over 25 years and have done it all, hot air, oven flow, etc. But the best buy far for small smd's was solder whick for me, it comes in different sizes, the size i used the most for smd component was 1/8 inch, and get real solder whick not radio shack junk, and no i don't have stock in solder whick, just want to help you. On big ic's hot air works great if have the right attachment (jig) for the ic, and quick chip is not bad, but for small smd's I use solder whick

[@JLPicard440]

Eugene Erickson interesting, I’ll have to give it a try...thanks for the tip🤓🤓

[@Integr8d]

@@JLPicard440then use a solder sucker… that solder job was cringe😬

[@lorderik237]

Knowing my luck, I would follow these instructions to the letter, try to turn the radio back on, and just see a black screen.

[@JLPicard440]

Oh No!😂😂

[@rayharkins9564]

I just found out the hams can use the 2200 meter band. Would it be safe to operate a 7300 thete?

[@JLPicard440]

HI, I don't think I would use it there. I seem to remember testing the radio at a much lower frequency into a dummy load and the power output was quite a bit lower. I believe this is due to the circuits in the radio aren't designed to operate much below the 160 Meter band. I think it will generate a high internal SWR. It probably causes the radio to automatically cut back on power to keep from damaging itself..

[@RC-Heli835]

Thanks for sharing. I want one of these like everything else.😎

[@JLPicard440]

I have also found a rework station to be excellent for this.. I made sure to check for any solder bridges before turning on power. Thanks for the input.. 🙂

[@RC-Heli835]

@@JLPicard440 Do these radios really work on all frequencies including 11 meter?

[@mowtown75]

@@RC-Heli835 Yes

[@evanpainter3482]

It would be my luck I would transmit all in the wrong places 😂

[@JLPicard440]

Definitely something that you have to be conscience of!

[@markasteelsr.5990]

We would both be sitting/laboring in the gulag! Just my luck I would make a mistake and go to gulag!

[@russphilly]

@@markasteelsr.5990 yes, go to Gulag if you transmit on CB ,11 meters... the FCC will send you there..this has happened too many.

[@MickPaul]

Thanks for the video, interesting but is there a point of making it Tx out of band? Rx out of band I understand.

[@JLPicard440]

Yes some people use it for MARS operation. I don't think this will TX on 60M without the mod while others can use it incase of an emergency, you know like a zombie apocalypse!

[@VK7AM]

@@JLPicard440 some of us would like to use it on the 4M band. in the UK. What are the differences between the UK version and the American/Australian rig?

[@JLPicard440]

@@VK7AM I think the TX/RX might be a little different. Other than that, I'm not sure..

[@machfive916]

I think I'll leave my 7300 stock.

[@JLPicard440]

If you break it you can always get another one! I think they're on sale now..... Naaaah, I guess not... bad idea.. lol

[@thebrain4239]

Why not tiny nips on diodes both sides?

[@JLPicard440]

That might work, but those diodes don't have any legs to nip like a regular diode. The nips will crush instead of cut.

[@jeepien]

Or once in the middle.

[@charlie12590]

Did I see correct. Was that 100 whiskey on am? Cool vid thanks for that. 73 from N2FJ. Your right on not recommending but good to know.

[@JLPicard440]

HI Charlie... I didn't test in AM mode... I was in RTTY... I haven't tried to see what it'll do on AM...

[@marcinmichigan2772]

@@JLPicard440 25W on AM from the normal ham bands, doubtful the ext freq mod would also increase power limits.

[@JLPicard440]

K8MH No it certainly won’t increase the power on AM or any other mode

[@JeffreyPelkofer]

I purchased an Icom 9700 made for Japan's market. Can you modify the radio to be an all-band US Icom 9700? I bought the radio and can't return it. The radio is new and has never been opened. Icom says it can't be done, that I essentially purchased a scanner.

[@JLPicard440]

I don't know the answer to that! If you go to mods.dk there's a mod there for a European version which was originally 144-146 and 430-440. After the mod it was 144-148 and 430-450. Not much of a difference I know. I'm not sure what the JA version is locked to out of the box. You can go over there and check it out and see if it looks like it might help. Of course at your own risk if you decide to mod the radio! Not sure why Icom would say it can't be done..

[@JeffreyPelkofer]

@@JLPicard440 Thank for the info the *&(^ didn't tell me about this and I'm stuck with the radio. Thanks again

[@JLPicard440]

@@JeffreyPelkofer Hopefully you can get it going..

[@behnkem1]

I think the reason you didn't see any power on 100KHz, is because your Watt Meter does not go that low, it only goes down to 1.8MHz.. So anything below that will give false output..

[@JLPicard440]

Yep that's possible

[@pentachronic]

Stick a resistor at the load and measure it’s temperature rise over time. You can then work out the wattage!!!

[@RC-Heli835]

Does this mod make the radio equal to the FT991A far as bands are concerned?

[@JLPicard440]

No. This radio was never designed to RX or TX on VHF/ UHF.... This mod only opens the TX up to TX most places the radio can RX... Thanks for the comment.. 😀

[@SocialistDistancing]

I recently saw documentation of this radio being used as an AM transmiter on pirate radio station. And not for a short time, but for years. This radio us far more capable than credit is given.

[@JLPicard440]

Wow! I didn't think it would hold up to continuous TX for that long. I've heard of Collins amplifiers being keyed down at full 1500 watts and leaving it like that for like 30 days with no ill effects. I think that was a sales pitch they used back in the day...

[@SocialistDistancing]

@@JLPicard440 ya, I was pretty surprised when I heard what was being used for the transmitter. I wouldn't think that it could hold up.

[@JLPicard440]

Maybe they improved the heat sink and added a fan too... Or they could have been using it on a lower power setting. If I remember right this radio will dead key 25 Watts and from there modulate the carrier...

[@SocialistDistancing]

@@JLPicard440 ya, I think there were some mods made.

[@WA4TKG]

You’ve had the radio three years now. Would you buy it again? Would you buy it for $1000, like HRO has it now

[@JLPicard440]

I wound up selling the radio a while back. I would buy it again. I miss that radio and regret selling it.. 🙂

[@WA4TKG]

@@JLPicard440 damn...

[@JLPicard440]

@@WA4TKG IKR.. 🙂. I'm using a IC-7600 now. I like it too..

[@ThomasMarcotte-jt9od]

My vendor did the mod for me. It did not open up above 30 Mhz. Below 30 Mhz it did open up.

[@JLPicard440]

I seem to remember that it was normal for it to not tx above 30... then it opened up another section in the 50MHZ range that was above 54...

[@kirbyruenholl6132]

why do say do not transmit on 27185 am will it hurt the icom 7300.?

[@JLPicard440]

No it won't hurt it as long as your antenna has a low SWR.. OR the antenna tuner can compensate.

[@rickvia8435]

It looks like you deleted the diode, but you bridged two traces. Why please..?

[@JLPicard440]

It only looks like that on the camera, there was no actual solder bridge.. you would want to leave it open

[@tommyherrera4498]

Hi my name is tommy I wanted to know if you can open up the transmit for me on my iCom 7300

[@JLPicard440]

HI Tommy, I don't do this kind of work commercially. Thank you for your consideration.

[@gabrieltgh]

Where did the waterfall go???

[@JLPicard440]

Depending on the mode the water fall isn't visible...

[@gabrieltgh]

@@JLPicard440 Thanks!! Another question, do I have to reset the radio after removing the diodes??

[@JLPicard440]

If you read the mod is says to, but I actually never do a reset and it still works! So I would try it without the reset and see if it works. It always has for me... 😀

[@MINITMANRADIONETWORK]

Now all the CB people can transmit on a real radio.

[@JLPicard440]

Not really.. most ham radios don't sound that good on AM.. It'll work great on sideband though.

[@MINITMANRADIONETWORK]

@@JLPicard440 A neighbor of mine just got one of these models.Sounds phenomenal on AM once he figured it out.Thanks for posting this vid.Im currently watching the used radio market to get this exact model.

[@JLPicard440]

@@MINITMANRADIONETWORK Oh nice! Thanks for the info..

[@MINITMANRADIONETWORK]

​@@JLPicard440 The Icom 7300 sounds exceptional on 11 meters.I hear quite a few of them.

[@JLPicard440]

@@MINITMANRADIONETWORK I've heard that. The 706 MKii is a good one too...

[@ronangsr]

Does it Work on firmware 1.3? I have heated a pair of tweezers up till tops are red with a mini blow torch. Simply just grab the smd and it comes away instant

[@JLPicard440]

Good Tip.... My guess is that it would work... but the radio shown is on version 1.14, so I can't prove it... Thanks..

[@parkerriverrat1]

thanks buddy, I just got my 7300 still playing around with it and learning it. Will do the mars mod in a few days. Great video. thanks.

[@JLPicard440]

TYSM! I really appreciate it. I actually sold this one sometime after making this video. I have a 7600 now, which I do like as well. The 7300 was a great radio, I probably should have just kept that one...

[@TheDbcobra]

Also my board has 2 extra diodes to the right of the top one you're taking out

[@JLPicard440]

HI, see my other response.. Thank you.

[@Firstmajortomlikestoticker]

My FATHER is Cheering from his GRAVE Right NOW !!!!!!!! he was an OLD-SCHOOL "CB"-er..... 7:26 I LOVE IT... HE Would Have DONE IT !!!!!! LOL

[@JLPicard440]

Awesome!... Not that you dad is in the grave of course... but that he would have enjoyed the video.... Thanks ... :-)

[@scottmerrow1488]

Weak AM receive capabilities compared to good CB rigs, otherwise yeah.

[@bigliftm]

@@scottmerrow1488 in holland everything is fm on cb ! so AM is not imporatant

[@scottmerrow1488]

@@bigliftm I know FM is used in Europe. If you want to pay that kind of money just to use it on CB, feel free.

[@StanCook]

Good info for a HAM just getting back in after 40 years away. Stan is KH6JMK now in the Pacific Northwest. I am looking at the 7300, good choice? Oh, Advance Class

[@JLPicard440]

Lots of my local friends are advanced class... u just have to make sure to stay in the correct freq zone! Yes, I sold this 7300 and have regretted it ever since!... I enjoyed mine.. Welcome back to the hobby... :-)

[@timothystockman7533]

There are mods for the iC-7100 (which I have as well. The main valid reason I might want to do this is to get 630 meters. Operating the 7100 on 630 requires a fairly elaborate diplexor which splits the low pass to the antenna and the high pass (harmonic spurs) to a dummy load.

[@JLPicard440]

630 Meters? I didn't know there was a ham band below 160.

[@timothystockman7533]

@@JLPicard440 160 is just above the top end of the AM broadcast band, 630 meters is just below the bottom. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/630-meter_band

[@JLPicard440]

Yes, I know that. I didn't think there was Ham use down there... But looking at the band plan I see there's a 630M band and a 2,200 M band! It's right in front of me! LOL..

[@mikewalsh5237]

Hopefully no one else is as big of a klutz as I am. While heating one lead and carefully trying to pull it away from the board, I broke the diode in two. Having burned that bridge, I guess I'm not going back. The good news is that it works great, and theoretically, if I should ever want to lock it again, I can order that diode. Man those things are small (they look way bigger on the video!) ;-)

[@JLPicard440]

Glad you got it going! You should never need to lock it again.. Someone said you can lock it via the menu somehow, but I never checked out how to do that..

[@billfarnham1592]

Twi questions: q. Cab the diode simply be clipped in two? 2. If this is a yrue SDR, wy cannot software be accessed to do this mod?

[@JLPicard440]

Yes the diode can be clipped. Why isn't the software accessible.. I don't know, you'd have to contact Icom for that one..🙂

[@chuckwilliams6294]

Spell check Dude! It's a "thing" in "effective communications" that don't require a transmitter. 🤣

[@viaoutdoors]

@@chuckwilliams6294 *doesn’t Proper grammar is a preferred means of communications as well. j/k 😆

[@jeepien]

Because an SDR is not an SDT. it already receives on all bands.

[@roberthicks6697]

I think i will leave my radio alone ,

[@holger182]

I would not do it way. Just clp one side. No need to completely remove it.

[@JLPicard440]

Yes, that'll work too! Thanks for the suggestion... 😀

[@jonathanrobertson3406]

This is something I would never do (Honestly - if for no other reason that I am absent minded enough to not realize I am out of the legal band and/or I would probably permanently damage my Icom). Nevertheless, it is fascinating to know. Amazing what just one Diode can do.

[@JLPicard440]

Yes you definitely have to be cognizant of where you are concerning being out of band or not! Thanks for the comment.. 😊

[@jonathanrobertson3406]

@Jeremy True. Very true. I have a baofeng that can transmit well outside the legal ham limits. When I first got my technician license, and didn't know any better, It made a few transmission outside of the legal band. I made no contacts, but still, I wish I had known better.

[@jonathanrobertson3406]

@@hooligans-ve4ws honest request. Can you be a bit more specific in what you said? Thanks.

[@poitevienphilip]

Hi friend, what size screwdriver did you use to remove the screws?good video

[@JLPicard440]

HI, not sure which screws you mean. Probably a Philips #2 would be most of them..

[@jatoav8or]

Can the current 2023 usa model 7300 still be modified? Trying to decide what rig to buy.

[@JLPicard440]

I don't have that model in front of me, but I highly doubt they would have changed the PCB. If you go to mods.dk and plug in the 7300 you can see the mod there. I'm pretty sure it'll be the same thread that's been there for quite some time. They do make you sign up for a free account, but they've never spammed me.

[@SteveWrightNZ]

rough job

[@TheDbcobra]

I have a Japan model from Japan will this mod work on it or what diode do I have to take out To open the transmit

[@JLPicard440]

HI, I've had this question before and I wasn't able to find info on the Japan unit to compare the mod with the US version in the video.

[@genesatterwhite8610]

@@JLPicard440 Do have any new info on opening up TX on the Japanese model? I Need this also. Thanks!

[@JLPicard440]

@@genesatterwhite8610 HI, I don't. Have u tried to google that to see if anything useful comes up?

[@Coalrollinfurry]

What u hear on 4-5 meters in north america?

[@whatsascrewdriver5572]

Now that they removed the TV stations, they should augment the Ham 6-Meter band.

[@EvgeniX.]

thanks for the idea! legals aside, wonder how safe in terms of the unit longevity.. with such a low output far outside of the bands, where the power is actually going? will it overheat the final stage badly? need some additional mods to the filtering circuitry?

[@JLPicard440]

Yes I'd be very leery of using it at the far outskirts of it's normal intended frequency range. (A little bit should be ok) I believe the unit will develop a high internal SWR. This might cause the SWR protection circuits to kick in and hold back the power. At least I hope so.

[@scharkalvin]

The mod will be useful for MARS operation (assuming that by default the rig did not operate outside the ham bands at all).

[@curtisbarker9272]

I just recently discovered these Things I want one though i would probably get my self in trouble with the fcca LoL

[@JLPicard440]

You definitely have to be mindful of where you're txing!

[@JLPicard440]

@@samenamenamesame2834 Well this is true. 😃

[@JLPicard440]

@@samenamenamesame2834 Absolutely! I know of a guy who was interfering with ATC from a airport with his high power CB rig.... he got busted. But like u said sloppy, aircraft band is 125 MHz!... arrrgh

[@Paulskirocks]

Looks like all that solder you added formed a bridge?

[@Paulskirocks]

Nevermind. I see there is a common trace on all diodes

[@JLPicard440]

HI! Yes it looked that way, but it didn't bridge. I don't remember what side the apparent bridge was on, but you're right.. one side of those diodes is common anyways. 😀

[@3butalcomp3]

You bridged a couple & the whole world saw! Thanks for the mod. ** Did you know that the beastly Icom 740 can be opened up from 24.900 mc through 28.100 mc - using an 8 position- 4 wafer rotary, & a few 2.2k resistors, a relay to prevent transmit, and some wire. You'll find the components to clip/ jump on the HPL unit. Clipping is safe. Do not jump without using buffer resistors (2.2k). Clipping & jumping step by step will easily be used to figure out the correct wiring as it's a switching matrix. A very nice mod... A bit involved it's not for the inexperienced to take on, just letting you know. This mod is well worth doing to the Icom 740 because it's such a good rig. This mod. functions when the radios band switch is set to 28.0 and each position on the rotary switch you use will jump 500kc. Of course the display won't show the change but at an even 500 kc ~ 3.0mc shift, the math is nothing. Please be SURE to include the necessary relay switching to prevent accidental transmit where you don't belong as this is for RX pourposes only. Don't use a crystal switch to make the 740 general coverage. Also, a decent AM detector can be made and used for AM receive when the rig is on USB.

[@JLPicard440]

Hi Jeff... actually I didn't bridge them! It only looks that way on the camera, but upon close inspection with a eye loop, the connections were not bridged. I had a bad day that day, but what can I say, it happens to all of us. This was one of those things, you couldn't re-shoot! I am not familiar with the IC-740, .. only opens from 24. to 28.? The band switch on the front looks like it covers 1.8 - 29 MHZ? 160M-10M? Am I looking at it wrong?

[@3butalcomp3]

Take a Bath Productions Hi, it's good that it only looked that way with the solder... Imagine the awful possibilities... but I'm not surprised as looks can be deceiving. On the mod I mentioned, It is meant to gain access to 25.0 mc thru 28.0 mc while the rig is set on the 28.0 band. Wired correctly, the switch will drop a total of 3.0 MHz, in 500kc increments for those interested in listening to that spectrum. The radio does cover from 1.8 mc ~ 30.0 mc factory (separate bands) with a gap between 25.0 thru 27.999 +/- a couple KC. It's not a general coverage rig (1982-1983) and a simple mod is needed to allow TX on the WARC band. At $1299 or $1199 ( I forget) with no options installed, it's a gem. There are only a few 740 videos on KZbin, where you have so many 757's 430's, 440's etc. In that era. Icom stopped the 740 production due to gen.coverage rigs. Everybody had a 757 nice and all but no comparison in the RX. or user controls. The Icom 745 took the place of the 740 and honestly I'll take the 740 over it, and many others. But yeah, that's the deal with the rotary switch mod. Full coverage on the top end. Alignment was not necessary as it's only a 3 mhz max. drop in freq. @ 10 meters. I'd imagine some may need to be aligned of course. The 7300 caught my eye, nice video BTW.

[@ronknight3417]

ime glad its his rig and not mine!

[@JLPicard440]

It happens

[@nitestrykerx01]

Can you get on the 11m band ?

[@JLPicard440]

Yes, but not legal

[@stuarthearn9890]

better that forking out mega squillions on a marine ssb of 100 watts, i knew it was common practice, but YOU DONE GOOD ME BOYO So what else is needed with a new install, that tuner?

[@JLPicard440]

Depends on the antenna.. if your antenna is tuned to that marine frequency, then you don't need a tuner... or can the internal tuner in the radio work? Depending on the SWR..

[@kevincollins6497]

Did no one notice he did make a bridge to the 2nd diode???

[@JLPicard440]

No there wasn't any bridge. The way the light hit it it looked like it. Thanks.

[@vu3mes]

You loose band edge beeping after this mode, QSL?

[@JLPicard440]

I can't remember for sure, but I think so

[@jeepien]

Do you know wtf QSL even means?

[@AAABTonto]

Great knowledge ... might want the option in a SHTF sitch ....

[@JLPicard440]

Yes true...

[@robertmethia7080]

rig already covers 60 meters

[@JLPicard440]

Yes that's true, but not everything else... 😊

[@Jah_Rastafari_ORIG]

Is it my poor ears or are you saying "lex" instead of "let's"...?

[@JLPicard440]

Do you really think it matters Jah? 😀

[@Jah_Rastafari_ORIG]

@@JLPicard440 Absolutely. It's like when you're reading a book, come across a word you don't know, then you read on for many pages and suddenly realize you haven't comprehended a thing since that one word. Sorry, but "let's" is a word; "lex" is a Superman villian.

[@JLPicard440]

@@Jah_Rastafari_ORIG Thanks for the info.. 😀

[@lenny0272]

done a bunch of these mods and never used solder..

[@JLPicard440]

I've since switched over to a SMD hot air station. Works great..

[@jsfetters]

dude that wig is killing me

[@ArntPetterAndersen]

I have a EU Version. I Guess the thrid one should be removed… as of now I have tx on 0.1-30mhz, but I can't even go up on 50mhz or 70mhz.... Is this due to not having removed the Third diod? -AP!

[@JLPicard440]

I couldn't find anything specific to the EU version. Check this chart out and see if this is what you did.. www.cqdx.ru/ham/do-it-yourself/icom-ic-7300-wide-band-modification/

[@Wood_969]

Interesting

[@JLPicard440]

TSYM!

[@MrSlicer2424]

Why don't transmit on 27.mhz?

[@JLPicard440]

It's illegal except in the case of an emergency.

[@polarwind2574]

Will this work with Japan version?

[@JLPicard440]

HI. I've had this question before and I had a really hard time finding the MOD info on the JA version. So honestly I don't know.

[@robinj.9329]

That "Modern" circuit board looks exactly like the ones we removed for study, from the "Saucer" that crashed at Roswell in the 40's ! I wonder if there is a connection?

[@JLPicard440]

LOL... it is strange that Tech kind of exploded from that point on...!

[@johnjeffrey3660]

The tech is NEVER the problem. Certain people with their will perverted towards evil always are!

[@JLPicard440]

@@johnjeffrey3660 Yes, that's always a problem too.