Thanks KK6why. I have the same question but now am using F3261'a.. I found some for a good price. If I understand you, I need to flash the radio with the rr firmware 4.6.4 (latest and greatest from icom) and THEN access the existing code plug and begin to produce my new one. Could you confirm i have the steps understood as you have indicated? Also, when accessing the radio with the cloning software(4.9 ver do you have any idea as to how to turn off the keypad and LCD light? It appears to be a program issue as the unit stays lit as soon as the radio is turned on. Any input as to how to clear hat would be greatly appreciated.. also can I 'reset" the radio as to how it would be just out of the box? That would be very helpful.. Thank you in advance
The latest RR firmware from Icom is 4.6.6 RR. If the radio was an F3161, I'd recommend to stay with 3.1.1 RR, because later firmware will force narrowband. The F3261 is narrowband only though, so the latest version will probably be the best firmware to use.
When you flash the radio with the new RR firmware, it will throw a "Clone NG" error. This is normal, because the old codeplug that's still in the radio is not compatible with the new RR firmware. After you flash the firmware, you'll have to write a new codeplug to the radio from the RR software. The error will then clear.
Back up your old codeplug before you do anything. The old conventional codeplug can't be opened with or used by the RR software. You will have to write a new one in the RR software.
In the software, go to Common > Set Mode > Backlight.
Set it to "OFF" for backlight always off.
Set it to "OFF Auto" for backlight normal off, backlight on for 10s after a key press.
To reset it, just write a blank default codeplug to it.