Kenwood TM-D710a

VHF/UHF Purgatory

Well the TM-D710a is back from Kenwood.  They found nothing wrong.

My analysis:

Before shipping it off to Kenwood, I tried operating with two different antenna systems – separate antennas and feedlines – and the problem occurred on both.

The power supply is an Astron RS-20 which also powers my TS-590. If the problem was in the power supply then I’d have seen it while operating the 590.

That leaves only one possibility: the power cable between the supply and the radio. We’ll see what happens over the next few days.

 

VHF/UHF Purgatory Continues

The Kenwood Service Center called today regarding my TM-D710a.  They say they can’t find anything wrong and want me to send them the microphone.  So I packed up the mic and power cord and shipped it off.

This is puzzling.

I know it is not antenna related because I’ve checked the radio using two different antennas each with a different feedline.

I know it’s not the power supply (Astron RS-20A) because I continue to operate my TS-520 on it with no problems.

I suppose it could be the power cable.

Oh well.  Time will tell.

Partially out of VHF/UHF Purgatory

The Kenwood TM-D710A got shipped off to Kenwood today for repair. I’ve been told that turnaround time will probably be at least 3 weeks.

Fortunately, I solved Hendheld-to-antenna problem.  The SMA-to-SO239 adapter I was using appears to be bad.  I bought a different one and it seems to work just fine.  So now I can at least converse with the old gang on The Scottsdale Repeater.

 

VHF/UHF Purgatory

I am in VHF/UHF purgatory at the moment.

My Kenwood TM-D710a seems to have developed a heat-related problem in the power amplifier section.  If I engage in a conversation longer than about 2 minutes the power starts to fall off to the point where I cannot activate the repeater.

The backup is my handheld.  Unfortunately I live in a neighborhood surrounded by 2-story houses, making it tough to hit the repeater.  “Well I’ll just hook u the handheld to my outdoor Diamond X50a dual-band vertical” was my thought.  The handheld uses an SMA connector. I bought an SMA-to-SO239 adapter but I think it’s defective because both transmit and receive are WORSE on the Diamond X50a than the HT’s rubber ducky.

I’ll call Kenwood on Monday and get the process started of sending the 710 in for repair.

Kenwood TM-D710A APRS – Getting Started

I recently bought a Kenwood TM-D710A to use at the VHF/UHF radio here at the home QTH, I’m slowly dipping my toes in the APRS pond.

GEtting it to receive and display APRS packets was a no-brainer:

  1. Turn radio on.
  2. Tune the left side (‘A in 710 parlance) to 144.390.
  3. Push the TNC button a couple of times until ‘APRS12’ appears at the top of the display.

Today I decided to take the next step and see of I could get it to ‘beacon’.   I configured the settings (NOTE: I do not claim these to be optimal settings.  This is simply what I used initially that worked):

Basic Settings (Menu 600)

  • My Callsign : WB7OBG
  • Beacon Type : APRS

Position  (Menu 605)

  • Name: Home
  • Lat/Lon : transcribed from a hand-held GPS (I do not have a GPS unit attached to the radio.  It’s a base station)

Beacon Information (Menu 606)

  • Speed: Off
  • Altitude: Off
  • Position Ambiguity: Off

Position Comment (Menu 607)

  • In Service

Status Text (Menu 608)

  • 1 Text: Home
  • 1 TX Rate: 1/4

Station Icon (Menu 610)

  • The little House symbol

Beacon TX Algorithm (Menu 611)

  • Method: Auto
  • Initial Interval: 10min
  • Decay Algorithm: Off
  • Proportional Pathing: Off

Verifying that it is Working

To verify that I was actually transmitting something intelligible, I went to:

http://aprs.fi

and entered my callsign in the ‘Track Callsign’ field and clicked search. Shazam!  There I was!

 

 

 

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