This project will no longer be maintained. Please see the new project which is compatible with IC-705, IC-7300 and IC-9700.
An excellent video was released by @HamRadioDude about the installation of the IC705SMeter project. It can help you !
The IC7505SMeter project allows to equip the extraordinary IC705 produced by ICOM, with a needle S-Meter ! The S-Meter allows to measure the S signal, the Po power and the SWR. It also displays the current frequency, mode and filter.
M5Stack is based on an ESP-32, dual core, which can be clocked up to 240 MHz. M5Stack has 16 MB of flash memory. Like all ESPs, Wi-Fi is of course integrated. The 2 inch IPS color display, based on the ILI9342C chipset, has a comfortable resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. It is very bright. The integrated battery is 110 mAh. It is possible to add an additional battery (700 or 800mAh) if needed.
In terms of size and weight, it is very compact: 54 x 54 x 18mm for 47.2g. Can be carried in the pocket without any problem ;)
Here are the detailed technical specs, for the curious:
| Resources | Description |
|---|---|
| ESP32 | 240MHz dual core, 600 DMIPS, 520KB SRAM, Wi-Fi, dual mode Bluetooth |
| Flash | Memory 16MB |
| Power | Input 5V @ 500mA |
| Port | TypeC x 1, GROVE(I2C+I/0+UART) x 1 |
| Core | Bottom Port PIN (G1，G2，G3，G16, G17, G18, G19, G21, G22, G23, G25, G26, G35, G36) |
| IPS Screen | 2 inch, 320x240 Colorful TFT LCD, ILI9342C, max brightness 853nit |
| Button | Custom button x 3 |
| Speaker | 1W-0928 |
| Battery | 110mAh @ 3.7V |
| Antenna | 2.4G 3D Antenna |
| Operating Temperature | 32°F to 104°F ( 0°C to 40°C ) |
| Net weight | 47.2g |
| Gross weight | 93g |
| Product Size | 54 x 54 x 18mm |
| Package Size | 95 x 65 x 25mm |
| Case Material | Plastic ( PC ) |
About the QSJ, count around 45€. You then have a complete development platform, totally autonomous, programmable in C and C++, MicroPython and UIFlow, from Linux, Windows or MacOS, all in a compact and ultra ergonomic box.
The easiest way is to install PlateformIO for VSCode on your PC (Linux or Windows) or on your Mac (Intel or M1). It is a cross-platform and multilanguage development environment that is powerful and pleasant to use.
Then, still on your PC or Mac, clone the IC705SMeter project via the command :
git clone https://github.com/armel/IC705SMeter.git
You can also download a zip archive of the project, if you prefer, and unzip it.
As I said, an excellent video was released by @HamRadioDude about the installation of the IC705SMeter project. It can help you !
Open the IC705SMeter project with PlateformIO for VSCode.
Line 5, check that the constant BOARD corresponds to your M5Stack model (by default, the constant is initialized to BASIC). So, indicate :
BASICif you have an M5Stack BASIC
#define BOARD BASIC
GREYif you have an M5Stack GREY
#define BOARD GREY
CORE2if you have an M5Stack CORE2
#define BOARD CORE2
Line 8, change the address of your IC705 if necessary. I have indicated the default value. Refer to the documentation, if needed.
Line 11 and 12, indicate your SSID and your Wifi password. You can view your IC705SMeter from a simple browser. It is even possible to control it by this way, as the buttons are clickable. In order to display your IC705SMeter in your browser, just go to http://ip_address_of_your_ic705smeter/. As a reminder, the IP address that your IC705SMeter retrieves is displayed on the screen.
Beware: it's slow! And there is no automatic refresh. You have to click on the background of the screen image to make a new capture. And otherwise, as said, the buttons are functional.
To avoid TFT image retention (also called Burn In), there is a kind of screen saver. If there is no action on the buttons or PTT, after a delay of 60 minutes, the screen will show the Icom logo.
You can change the delay, line 14.
If the screen saver is active and you press a button or the PTT to transmit, the IC705SMeter screen will come back.
Note that if the connection between your M5Stack and the IC705 has been established and you turn off your IC705 or disconnect the Bluetooth link, the screen will go completely into sleep mode. The IC705SMeter screen will come back as soon as the Bluetooth link is established again.
If and only if you are using the M5Stack Core2, edit the platformio.ini file and modify the lines,
default_envs = m5stack-basic-grey
;default_envs = m5stack-core2
By,
;default_envs = m5stack-basic-grey
default_envs = m5stack-core2
This is the same as changing the target platform, the semicolon being a comment.
Compile and upload the project to your M5Stack. You are done !
Once launched, you must connect your IC705 to your M5Stack via the menu (Set / Bluetooth Set) of your transceiver. Refer to the documentation, if needed.
Using the buttons, you can change the measurement:
- left: Po or PWR power
- middle : S signal
- right : SWR
Caution: the SWR measurement is reliable up to 3. Beyond that, the documentation provided by Icom is too inaccurate...
In addition :
- a long press on the left button allows to decrease the brightness,
- a long press on the central button allows to switch off the M5Stack,
- a long press on the right button allows to increase the brightness.
The value of the brightness is preserved at the next restart.
It's possible to store several applications on the SPI Flash File Storage of your M5Stack or on SD Card Storage. At startup, a procedure is provided to load a particular application.
I will detail here the procedure to deploy IC705SMeter and IC705MultiMeter applications on the same M5Stack.
Start by compiling your applications, as you used to do. Nothing changes here. For example, start by compiling the IC705SMeter application. Then do the same with the IC705MultiMeter application.
That's it, you have compiled the IC705SMeter and IC705MultiMeter application? It's perfect.
Each compilation has produced a binary. It is this binary that is sent / flashed to your M5Stack, via the USB connection.
Go to the root of the IC705SMeter folder, which contains the whole project. And go to the :
.pio/build/m5stack-basic-grey, if you compiled for a GREY or BASIC M5Stack.pio/build/m5stack-core2, if you compiled for M5Stack CORE2 or AWS
You will find a firmware.bin file there. Now, there are 2 solutions...
Format an SD Card as FAT32.
Copy the firmware.bin at the root of the SD Card. And take the opportunity to rename it, for example, IC705SMeter.bin.
Do the same with the IC705MultiMeter application. Of course rename it with a different name, for example, IC705MultiMeter.bin.
At this point, you should have 2 clearly identified binaries in the root of your SD Card : IC705SMeter.bin and IC705MultiMeter.bin.
Copy firmware.bin in the data directory at the root of the IC705SMeter folder. And take the opportunity to rename it, for example, IC705SMeter.bin.
If the
datafolder does not exist, create it.
Do the same with the IC705MultiMeter application. Go to the root of the IC705MultiMeter folder, which contains the whole project. And go to the directory :
.pio/build/m5stack-basic-grey, if you have compiled for a M5Stack GREY or BASIC.pio/build/m5stack-core2, if you compiled for M5Stack CORE2 or AWS
You will also find a firmware.bin file. Copy it, too, in the data directory at the root of the IC705SMeter folder. And take the opportunity to rename it to, for example, IC705MultiMeter.bin.
Important, the idea is to copy these 2 binaries in the same directory
data** (located at the root of the IC705SMeter folder).
At this point, you should have 2 clearly identified binaries: IC705SMeter.bin and IC705MultiMeter.bin in the data directory at the root of the IC705SMeter folder.
So let's move on to what is probably the most complicated step. Open the IC705SMeter project from Visual Studio Code, as you would compile it.
Step 1, click on the Platformio icon (the icon with an ant's head...). Step 2, unroll the section :
m5stack-basic-grey, if you have compiled for an M5Stack GREY or BASICm5stack-core2, if you compiled for M5Stack CORE2 or AWS
Finally, step 3, go to the Platform sub-section. And click on Upload Filesystem Image.
Wait ! It's coffee time (or beer) :) The contents of the data directory will be written to the SPI Flash File Storage of your M5Stack. Are you done? You're there !!!!
Start your M5Stack. You should see a black screen, followed by 1, 2 and 3 small dots at the top of the screen. This is the famous Bin Loader ;)
As soon as the first little dot appears, you can :
- either press the left or right button, to launch the default application.
- or press the central button. In this case, the Bin Loader menu appears and offers you the list of available binaries in SPI Flash File Storage or SD Card.
If you have followed the procedure perfectly, you should have a choice between IC705SMeter.bin and IC705MultiMeter.bin.
The left and right buttons allow you to switch from one binary to another. And the middle button validates the selected binary. In this case, the selected application will be loaded ;)
The loading takes about 20 seconds...
I think it is possible to have 3 or 4 applications cohabit in SPI Flash File Storage. If need more, use SD Card Storage.
If you find this project fun and useful then offer me a beer :)
By the way, you can follow me on Twitter and post pictures of your installation with your M5Stack. It always makes me happy ;)