Does my D710a need repair or am I an idiot?

[Ayrow]

I love my D710a. But it started doing something this week that I can't figure out how to fix.
I'm not sure if I accidentally activated something on the radio or it needs to be sent into Kenwood for repair.

The A side of the radio will not receive a transmission unless the squelch is turned to the left (counter clockwise) so that the squelch is always "open" and under the threshold.
In other words, you have to have to be hearing constant white noise to hear transmissions from other stations.

However, it still transmits just fine on this channel.
Also, channel B seems to work perfectly, without issue.

Did I activate or hit something wrong, or is the radio in need of repair???
Hopefully, I am just an idiot.


Thanks so much.
K3TOD

[N8IAA]

Did you maybe/might have turned on the attenuator? Changed the squelch settings in the menu? That's what I would check first.
HTH,
Larry

[chief21]

Some Kenwood TM-D710 and TM-V71 radios will have a well-known issue with the ceramic filters. Perhaps this might be your problem.

There are separate standard and narrow filters for each "side" of the radio. Reportedly, one can confirm this problem by changing the filter selection on the affected "side" from "standard" (FM) to "narrow" (NFM) or vice -versa (menu 102). If the previously reduced signal improves substantially, you have confirmed that the ceramic filters need to be replaced. As a temporary work-around, you could re-save all of your memory channels on the affected side in the opposite mode... NFM vs FM or vice-versa.

According to posts that I have read on other sites, Kenwood will repair the radio at no charge if the serial number falls within a certain range. There has been much past discussion of this issue on the Yahoo TMD710 and TMV71 discussion groups.

Hope this helps.

[Ayrow]

Originally Posted by chief21

Some Kenwood TM-D710 and TM-V71 radios will have a well-known issue with the ceramic filters. Perhaps this might be your problem.

There are separate standard and narrow filters for each "side" of the radio. Reportedly, one can confirm this problem by changing the filter selection on the affected "side" from "standard" (FM) to "narrow" (NFM) or vice -versa (menu 102). If the previously reduced signal improves substantially, you have confirmed that the ceramic filters need to be replaced. As a temporary work-around, you could re-save all of your memory channels on the affected side in the opposite mode... NFM vs FM or vice-versa.

According to posts that I have read on other sites, Kenwood will repair the radio at no charge if the serial number falls within a certain range. There has been much past discussion of this issue on the Yahoo TMD710 and TMV71 discussion groups.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the thorough reply. I will poke around a little bit, but I'm afraid ultimately that I am going to have to send it off to the east coast for repair.
I notice there is a repair facility in VA Beach and also one in New York. Is one better than the other??

[chief21]

I believe that there are only two Kenwood repair facilities for amateur radio equipment in the US... California or Virginia. To my knowledge, the NY facility doesn't do ham stuff.

[KC4YIN]

I have had excellent results with the repair center in Va. Beach with the same radio with the same problem. I bought a 710 A off a guy on e bay who swore it was working properly. It was deaf on both sides. I sent it to Va. Beach and it was back in about 2weeks and working much better. They had to replace some ceramic filters in the receive section. $75.00 was what it cost if I remember correctly.