Kenwood: Kenwood TM-281A Accessing memory frequency list

[graywoulf]

Greetings,

I bought a used TM-281A and it already had nearly 50 frequencies stored in it's memory bank. I can manually scan through these save frequencies by the descriptions in the memory mode that were programmed into it but is there a way to scan through these to see what the actual frequency is? I don't want to have to buy a programming cable just for that use if I don't have to but I would like to make a list of what those frequencies are for reference. The manual is not covering this situation.

Thanks

 

[kayn1n32008]

Greetings,

I bought a used TM-281A and it already had nearly 50 frequencies stored in it's memory bank. I can manually scan through these save frequencies by the descriptions in the memory mode that were programmed into it but is there a way to scan through these to see what the actual frequency is? I don't want to have to buy a programming cable just for that use if I don't have to but I would like to make a list of what those frequencies are for reference. The manual is not covering this situation.

Thanks

RTFM, specifically page 32 of the manual.


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[graywoulf]

RTFM, specifically page 32 of the manuaL

So it will only display one or the other with that setting if I am reading that right.

After storing a Memory Name, the Memory Name
appears in place of the operating frequency. However,
you can still display the operating frequency, if desired.
To display the frequency rather than Memory Name,
access Menu No. 17 (MDF) and select “FRQ”. This
menu toggles the display mode between the Memory
Name (“MN”) and frequency display (“FRQ”).

I was hoping that there was a way to push a button for a momentary recall to the frequency attached to the memory name but I guess I can look all of the frequencies up here in the RR database. They are all local frequencies anyway. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

 

[wrath]

So it will only display one or the other with that setting if I am reading that right.

After storing a Memory Name, the Memory Name
appears in place of the operating frequency. However,
you can still display the operating frequency, if desired.
To display the frequency rather than Memory Name,
access Menu No. 17 (MDF) and select “FRQ”. This
menu toggles the display mode between the Memory
Name (“MN”) and frequency display (“FRQ”).

I was hoping that there was a way to push a button for a momentary recall to the frequency attached to the memory name but I guess I can look all of the frequencies up here in the RR database. They are all local frequencies anyway. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

If you want a radio that does both at the same time I reccomend the Kenwood 710 ga dual band ,on sale they can usually be had for around $500 ,and are remotable right out of the box, there is alot to love about this rig ,I own 3 ,it has built in features that other rigs don't like the ability to be an echolink node as well as I gate ,built in TNC & GPS. It has a port that can share it's GPS with something like a scanner or can take direct input from a Peet or Davis weather station.and unlike many other radios it still has full dual band with two independent volume and squelch circuits not some star trek menu crap with touch screens.

So should you ever want both long alpha tag and frequency it is out there and a Kenwood.

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[graywoulf]

If you want a radio that does both at the same time I reccomend the Kenwood 710 ga dual band ,on sale they can usually be had for around $500 ,and are remotable right out of the box, there is alot to love about this rig ,I own 3 ,it has built in features that other rigs don't like the ability to be an echolink node as well as I gate ,built in TNC & GPS. It has a port that can share it's GPS with something like a scanner or can take direct input from a Peet or Davis weather station. So should you ever want both long alpha tag and frequency it is out there and a Kenwood.

Thank you for that suggestion. I think that my next major purchase will be a good base antenna. The 710 is an impressive rig I must say but a bit out of my fixed income price range right now. I did however just purchase a programming cable for my 281A which I am sure will be a big help in getting more information on what is already programmed into the radio plus making any future changes I will want to make. I will keep the 710 in my list for future purchases. Thanks again.

 

[kayn1n32008]

Thank you for that suggestion. I think that my next major purchase will be a good base antenna. The 710 is an impressive rig I must say but a bit out of my fixed income price range right now. I did however just purchase a programming cable for my 281A which I am sure will be a big help in getting more information on what is already programmed into the radio plus making any future changes I will want to make. I will keep the 710 in my list for future purchases. Thanks again.

Another, less expensive option is the TM-V71A.

A simple press of the channel/VFO rotary encoder switches between alpha and frequency.


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[cmdrwill]

One problem with the 710 is the 'Memory Name' is in small letters, kinda hard to read.

"Another, less expensive option is the TM-V71A." Ditto, want to trade control heads?

On the TM-281, V710/V71, I use the Kenwood software and that works very well.

 

[graywoulf]

Well I have the software all figured out now. It was pretty easy after all. I tried CHIRP just to see how it did and was surprised to find that you cannot save the file unless it is a .CSV file. The radio I bought had a bunch of frequencies in the memory but only a few had alpha tags with them. I guess I will totally reprogram it for what I will be using.

 

[cmdrwill]

I guess I will totally reprogram it for what I will be using.

Yes, that is what I would do. Just to be safe I always READ the radio first and store that in an archive file just in case. Then delete the old 'channels' and put in 'my' channel plan.

 

[graywoulf]

Yes, that is what I would do. Just to be safe I always READ the radio first and store that in an archive file just in case. Then delete the old 'channels' and put in 'my' channel plan.

Yes, that is just what I did in fact. I also printed out a list of the frequencies that were already in the radio just so I could look them up. I found that the fellow I bought it from must have traveled the state quite a lot. Now, since I am primarily going to use it as a base unit for now, I have just what I need stored in it.