I recently purchased an Icom IC-7300 ham radio for use at home, and when researching the radio around the time of purchase, I discovered this excellent YouTube video playlist, covering many aspects of the radio.
When I got to video 46, I discovered that the IC-7300 supports an external keypad, and decided I wanted one of my own. This past weekend, I made one.
In addition to using that video, I found this page detailing another guy's external keypad build.
I don't have a drill press, but I think my unit came out well. I could have done a better job with the feet, but this works well enough.
I am a system engineer in the Raleigh, NC area. My main interests are Unix, VMware, and networking. More about me, and how I got started.