Help me pick a new mobile radio

[K5MPH]

Try this link eham.net go there and search the radio you are wanting and read the reviews it might help your in making you mind up............

 

[pcunite]

Really considering the TM-V71A. Can I hook up a mobilinkd to the data port on the back of the unit to get APRS functionality? I've decided I want to have that. I know the TM-D710GA has everything included, but I would still get the mobilinkd anyway so I could use my phone to send receive. Also, the TM-D710GA is basically unobtainium.

Thoughts?

 

[AK9R]

Can I hook up a mobilinkd to the data port on the back of the unit to get APRS functionality?

Yes. There's a 6-pin mini-DIN connector on the back of the RF deck that has Rx audio, Tx audio, and PTT.

Unless you already have the Mobilinkd, they are also currently unobtanium.

 

[pcunite]

Unless you already have the Mobilinkd, they are also currently unobtanium.

I know right!

With everyone's recommendation, I'm attempting to build a solution with the Kenwood TM-V71A. Do you know if there is a microsat (WX3in1 manufacture) product that will meet these scenarios?

Scenario1:
While out hiking, I want to send SMSGTE messages from an HT. In my truck, I will have a mobile (Kenwood TM-V71A) tuned to 144.390. The HT cannot reach an iGATE, but the mobile unit can. I therefore need to have the APRS messages from the HT forwarded and repeated by my mobile unit listening in the truck.

Scenario2:
While in my truck and driving, I would like to be able to broadcast APRS location from the mobile.

Scenario3:
While sitting in my truck, I would like to be able to send SMSGTE messages using an iPhone with the APRS.fi application I currently have been testing with.

I know it seems like APRS is the most important thing. That's what lead me to the Yaesu FTM-300. But I like the idea of not being tied to one manufacturer. APRS is not yet baked into all radios. So, I'm okay with these add-ons which allow me to use any radio.

 

[pcunite]

I do realize I've added a requirement. APRS is a requirement, but it does not have to be in the radio itself. I just need a way to enable APRS. Sorry for the addition. And isn't this fun!

 

[GlobalNorth]

To some in the hobby [myself included], APRS is a great tool. To the majority of Hams, it's a protocol with limited usefulness and pointless in everyday usage.

Yaesu killed off my favorite 2m/70cm rig and expects its' customers to make do with ever-smaller mobile rigs. D-star is popular elsewhere, but not in my area, so Icom isn't under consideration. Kenwood hasn't released a follow on to the D-710G.

 

[pcunite]

The Kenwood TM-D710GA really is the radio I need to simplify all this, while still giving me the option to hook up a mobilinkd if I wanted to use my iPhone. Maybe Ham Radio Outlet can order up another batch for us? I could live without DTMF support ... I think.

 

[AK9R]

Maybe Ham Radio Outlet can order up another batch for us?

I think that's an impossibility at this point. Kenwood announced months ago that an integrated circuit(s) used in the TM-D710 were no longer available and production had been halted. There's been no word of production resuming or a replacement radio since then. If you want a TM-D710, you will have to find one on the used market.

 

[AK9R]

I know it seems like APRS is the most important thing.

If you think APRS will solve your problem, then it may be a solution. Assuming that you can park your vehicle in a location where it can be heard by an I-gate, either directly or through a digipeater, and assuming that when your vehicle is in this location, it can hear your handheld, then I think you have addressed your communications path issues.

A used Kantronics KPC3 (with latest firmware) or a KPC3+ can serve as an APRS digipeater when connected to a suitable radio.

A new Byonics TinyTrack4 can serve as an APRS digipeater when connected to a suitable radio. A TinyTrack4, when connected to a suitable radio can also originate APRS packets (position reports, messages, etc.). The TT4 is a little smaller than a Mobilinkd, however, the TT4 does not have a Bluetooth interface, to the best of my knowledge. The Byonics website shows the TT4 as being out of stock until this month.

 

[pcunite]

@AK9R
Thank you. It looks like a Raspberry Pi is going to be the TNC/APRS path I take. I'm familiar with them and Linux enough to make a go of it. Onboard wifi and bluetooth, lots of ways to connect to them radios, computers, and phones. So ... ugh, here goes a lot of research and testing.

 

[GlobalNorth]

I considered the Kenwood for < 2 minutes until I discovered that they aren't available either.

I gave up several hobbies because of time and physical limitations. Now, parts shortages may kill off this one for me.

 

[krokus]

I considered the Kenwood for < 2 minutes until I discovered that they aren't available either.

I gave up several hobbies because of time and physical limitations. Now, parts shortages may kill off this one for me.

The TM-V71 is still available.

R&L Electronics Kenwood

Search Results for Kenwood

store2.rlham.com

 

[pcunite]

@krokus,

This review here states that when both A and B sides are receiving simultaneously, on the TM-V71, the audio only comes out of one band?

Here is a quote:

Which means, if you are in active conversations on 2 different frequencies, you will miss information coming in on your sub frequency, when you have an incoming signal on your main frequency.

Can you confirm this?

 

[GlobalNorth]

The TM-V71 is still available.

Sadly, no APRS though.

 

[krokus]

@krokus,

This review here states that when both A and B sides are receiving simultaneously, on the TM-V71, the audio only comes out of one band?

Here is a quote:


Can you confirm this?

It has true dual receive, but it mixes the audio in the speaker, which can make it difficult to track the conversations. I highly recommend using two speakers, that are physically separated. This spatial diversity lets your brain keep the conversations separate. (If using the same band on both sides, receive is blanked while transmitting with the other side )

See page 71 of the user manual, which is page 79 on this website.

Voice Recorder - Kenwood TM-V71A Instruction Manual - Page 79 of 107

Kenwood TM-V71A manual : Voice Recorder

manualsbrain.com

 

[krokus]

Sadly, no APRS though.

Not built in, but easily interfaced.

 

[pcunite]

Sadly, no APRS though.

And no per channel power settings, only 6 characters for display, 10watts for mid power. This thing is a dinosaur. Kenwood needs to make a new radio design.

 

[pcunite]

It has true dual receive, but it mixes the audio in the speaker. If using the same band on both sides, receive is blanked while transmitting with the other side.

That's okay to me. The reviwer made it sound like when just monitoring both bands, that you can't hear the sub band.

 

[AK9R]

The TM-V71 has one internal speaker, but two external speaker jacks. With no external speakers connected, the audio from both A and B sides of the radio comes out of the internal speaker. If you connect an external speaker to external speaker jack 1, the internal speaker will be muted and A and B audio will come from the external speaker. If you connect an external speaker to external speaker jack 2 with nothing connected to jack 1, the B side audio will come from the external speaker while the A side audio will come from the internal speaker. If you connect external speakers to both jacks 1 and 2, the internal speaker will be muted while A audio will come from jack 1 and B audio from jack 2. The relationship between A and B audio and the two speaker jacks can be reversed through a menu function.

As with most true dual-band radios, one side of the TM-V71 can be tuned to VHF while the other side is tuned to UHF or both sides can be tuned to VHF or UHF (aka dual in-band receive). You'll hear received audio from both sides of the radio based on your speaker configuration. If, for example, one side is tuned to VHF and the other side to UHF, you can transmit on VHF and still hear received audio from UHF and vice versa. However, if both sides of the radio are tuned to VHF and you transmit on one side of the radio, receive audio on the other side will be muted. IOW, you can't hear a VHF signal while transmitting on VHF and you can't hear a UHF signal while transmitting on UHF.

Also, if you use an external TNC or sound card adapter with the TM-V71, you can configure which side of the radio will transmit if the external device asserts PTT. This can be separate from the side of the radio that is keyed when the microphone PTT is pressed. IOW, you can transmit with the mic on the A side while your external TNC can transmit on the B side.

The Kenwood TM-V71 has been on the market since 2007. Kenwood historically develops new radios at a slow pace. Their radios are well-designed and are generally reliable. Right now, Kenwood Communications is putting most of their eggs in the public safety and business radio basket. Also, based on their annual reports, all two-way communications products, including amateur radio, are only about 25% of JVC Kenwood's business. I have seen comments from people inside Kenwood hinting at new radios coming for the amateur radio market, but no announcements yet.

 

[pcunite]

However, if both sides of the radio are tuned to VHF and you transmit on one side of the radio, receive audio on the other side will be muted.

Ahh, okay. Now I understand! Thank you for clarifying.