Ham Radio Help Desk » Kenwood

Ham Question: Kenwood TM-G707 Display Erratic

kx4o — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:57:37 +0000

Hello all,

I wonder if any of you had your display unit for your Kenwood TM-G707 2/440 transceiver go blank and reboot even while the radio operates just fine.

If I move the wire with respect to the control head in a certain position this happens.

Is this just a case of dirty contacts between the little cable adapter and the control head or have any of you seen the wire in the cable actually break?

I guess this question applies to any remote display head models from any manufacturer. I had heard Kenwood units are especially prone to this behavior.

Thanks for your observations.

Ham Saves Self with HT While Hunting

kx4o — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:09:22 +0000

Early one November morning an amateur radio operator was patiently waiting for morning to break in his tree stand in Rappahannock County, Virginia to get in another chance at a deer. Then tragedy. The tree stand broke sending him down to the ground and, we are not sure how, onto a board with nails leaving him near motionless with six nails in his back.

About 6am a call for help came in on the Warrenton, VA repeater… quite likely out of range from Rappahannock County using an HT. However, the victim managed to hail help from listeners on the repeater including folks named Randy, Frank and Tom. Authorities were called by the Warrenton operators who then talked with the hunter to encourage him while he drifted in and out of lucidity. Before sunrise, help arrived to the hunter who drew the attention of the rescuers to his location by swinging a flashlight beam through the trees.

A quick visit to a hospital addressed his wounds and he is already out and recuperating at home.

Great news…

There just one question though… How did the hunter use a small low power HT to access a repeater several counties away?

It turns out the hunter has a 2M/440 FM transceiver in his truck which can be set as a cross band repeater. This is exactly how he had it set up this particular morning while he carried a 440 FM HT with him. The mobile radio was tuned to the Warrenton 2 meter repeater.

So, the hunter relayed his signal from his HT to his truck and, in turn, to the repeater and finally to the hams listening during their morning commute.

Sure a cell phone would provide the same results, but there is a real chance they don’t work in the back roads of Rappahannock County and this was the case for Steve. Plus the cell phone would not allow the vocal support from a variety of concerned friends listening in on a party line.

So Steve relied on his amateur radio equipment to keep him “connected” to the world. Good thing he did. Here is the pathway Steve’s call for help took to bring the first responders to his side…

Entire communications path for ham requesting ambulance.

Steve’s equipment includes:

Yaesu VX6R hand held transceiver
Kenwood TM-708A mobile transceiver in cross repeat mode

This is an excellent example of how a hunter prepared for the worst using the best capabilities our amateur radio gear can provide. Thankfully, the morning commuters knew just what to do and helped keep up the spirits of the hunter.

This is real EmComm…
…and it didn’t even require a uniform.

Turning AGC Off Helps Kenwood TS-2000 CW

kx4o — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:51:29 +0000

A ham on the local Sunday Night Tech Net reported a technique that improved the reception of CW measurably.

He has a Kenwood TS-2000 transceiver. As time went by he used various adjustments while listening to CW. He was never quite satisfied with the noise levels that came in along with the desire CW signals. Variables adjusted include the RF Gain and AGC response time.

He achieved what he thinks is the best low noise performance from his TS-2000 by turning the AGC completely off and using only the RF gain to “tweak” a particular CW signal.

There is certainly more to this than meets the eye, but the moral of the story is if you have a Kenwood TS-2000 and are looking for improved signal reception on CW, try turning your AGC off and play with the RF gain.

I am told the Kenwood TS-2000 is a pretty amazing radio and this might just be one way to get a little better result from it.

Good luck.

Two radios on one power supply cause problem

kx4o — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 02:43:51 +0000

A viewer has a problem powering two radios from one power supply.

This situation is quite likely very common among amateur radio operators who keep a simple shack set up with one large power supply feeding multiple loads.

Many operators use a DC power distribution system like the RIGrunner from West Mountain Radio to distribute the power.

In this case, the viewer simply has the power cords for both radios tied straight to the DC power output posts on the power supply.

Equipment involved includes:

Power Supply Astron RS35A
IC-746 (the non pro version)
Kenwood TS-180S

The problem:
Whenever the Kenwood TS-180S radio is powered on, the Icom IC-746 will not transmit and the display screen goes white with no visible characters.

If you turn the Kenwood TS-180S off, the Icom-746 returns to normal operation.

The Kenwood radio shows no problems when the Icom is on or off.

The viewer asks for thoughts on what may be causing this behavior.