Wireless Rig Control IC-705 and Mac Rumlog

It’s fairly easy to get wireless rig control between your IC-705 and RumLog on your Mac…if you know the settings. If you don’t know the settings, you can waste hours because there is NO DOCUMENTATION that explains it. I have scoured Google and YouTube and found nothing that explains the RUMlogNG settings. Even the RumLog Help file didn’t help.

I finally figured it out and now I have my 705 connected to my laptop for rig control with RUMlogNG. It requires that the computer and the rig are on the same WIFI network. You can also connect your computer directly to the radio if you are not on a WIFI network (the video below how to explains both methods, but my instructions are only for a connection type of Station (Connect to Network), but I think it will work for either)

Why would you want wireless rig control? First of all, with USB rig control on the IC-705, I got lots of interference from my computer to the rig so eventually, I’d have a S8 noise floor.

But the most important feature is automatic band or frequency changes. When I am chasing Summits on the Air or Parks on the Air activations, I change bands and frequencies for each contact. With RUMlogNG rig control of the IC-705, the frequency and band automatically change in RUMlogNG. It’s one less thing I have to remember to enter when I log a QSO. With rig control, all I need to enter is the call sign and signal report.

The following instructions explain how to connect RumLogNg to your laptop when you have a WIFI connection.

On your Mac, connect to a WIFI network.

The Mac and the IC-705 need to be on the same WIFI network

On your IC-705, connect to the same WIFI Network.

The Mac and the IC-705 need to be on the same WIFI network. This step requires that you change quite a few settings settings on the IC-705. See the great video below by Ham Radio Crash Course to see what settings you need to change.

Important: Make sure you write down the username and password you created on the Remote settings on the IC-705. Also, write down the IP address listed in the WLAN connection settings.

You only need to watch to 6:30 in the video. After that, the video is not related to wireless connection of the IC-705 to RUMlogNG.

Once you have set up the WLAN on the IC-705 according to the video instructions, go to Configure RUMlogNG Rig Control Settings below.

Configure RUMlogNG Rig Control Settings

1. From RUMlogNG, select RUMlogNG > Settings
   The RUMlogNG Preferences screen is displayed.
2. Select the TX 1 or TX 2 tab. For example, I have TX 1 configured for rig control of my KX2, so I used the TX 2 settings for my IC-705. You can only use one TX (rig control) at a time, so if you have another rig configured on one of the tabs, make sure Use CAT is unchecked.
3. Check Use CAT.
4. From Manufacturer, select Icom.
5. From Type, select IC-705-Ctrl.
6. From Interface, select Icom Server.
7. In the Icom Server section, in the Host field, enter the IP address shown in the IC-705 WLAN settings. To get the IP address, on the IC-705, go to Menu > Set > WLAN SET > Connection Settings (Station) > DHCP (Valid after Restart). Copy the IP address listed there and paste it into the Host field in the RUMlogNG Preferences screen.
   Note: If you followed the video instructions for configuring the IC-705 for wireless rig control, make sure you restart the radio after you enter those settings.
8. Enter the user you created in the video instructions in the User id field.
9. Enter the Password you created in the video instructions in the Password field.
10. You can leave all other settings in the TX screen as they were.

Connect the IC-705 to RUMlogNG

Now that you have configured both the IC-705 and RUMlogNG, it’s time to see it work.

First, turn on your IC-705. Next, open RUMlogNG and make sure the TX tab you configured for the IC-705 is turned on: Check the Use CAT field.

If the connection is successful, you should see a WLAN indicator in the top of the IC-705 screen. See the image below. If you don’t see the WLAN indicator in the top of the IC-705 screen, check your settings again to make sure you entered all the settings correctly.

Note: Sometimes, I have to uncheck the User Cat setting in the TX tab, then close the preferences. Then, open the preferences again, and check the User Cat setting in the TX tab, and then close the preferences screen. That often forces the WLAN connection between the IC-705 and RUMlogNG.