Kenwood: Kenwood TM-G707 Won't transmit above 145.99

[N9MS]

I bought this radio off of e-Bay. It works great, EXCEPT beginning at 146.000 it will not transmit -- it just beeps.
I've tried resetting everything without success. I'm using it as an AllStar node on a 145 Mhz freq without problem. I just can't use it to talk to the local repeater on 146.85.

Maybe I'm missing a setting?

 

[kayn1n32008]

You likely have purchased a version intended for markets that only have access to 144-146MHz.

Likely you will need to modify the radio to be able to transmit above 146MHz.

Europe, for example, hams only have access to 144-146MHz

 

[N9MS]

More information. I did not know that this radio was operating on the Japanese 2m band not the American 2m Band. Their top band edge is 146.00 Mhz. I found forums explaining about removing jumpers. Mine came with all jumpers removed. While I can dial in a frequency above 146.000 it still won't transmit. It just BEEPS. Perhaps there is no fix for this?

 

[k6cpo]

More information. I did not know that this radio was operating on the Japanese 2m band not the American 2m Band. Their top band edge is 146.00 Mhz. I found forums explaining about removing jumpers. Mine came with all jumpers removed. While I can dial in a frequency above 146.000 it still won't transmit. It just BEEPS. Perhaps there is no fix for this?

I have read in other places that Japanese market radios are incapable of being retuned for the US bands. The people that are selling these without disclosing they are Japanese market radios are essentially scamming US customers. I'd return the radio. If that doesn't work, then put in a claim for your money.

 

[AK9R]

From what I've read, Japanese amateur radio regulations are much more restrictive than elsewhere in the world. As a result, radios made for the Japanese market often have band restrictions "hard-coded" into the CPU and cannot be modified to transmit outside the Japanese amateur radio bands.

A few years ago, I purchased an Icom ID-31 as part of an estate sale. It would not tune above 439.9875 MHz. IOW, it would not tune the U.S. 70cm "repeater band". So, I did a master reset of the radio. The menus all came up in Japanese. That was my clue that I had a Japanese-spec radio. I figured out how to get the menus back to English, but the radio still wouldn't tune above 439.9875 MHz. I sent the radio to a well-known Icom-authorized repair shop to see if they could do anything with it. The shop called me to say that it was a Japanese-spec radio and could not be modified to work on the U.S. band plan.

The moral of this story is don't buy Japanese-spec radios. If you are shopping on E-bay for an amateur radio to be used in North America, the listing will show where the seller is located. If it's Japan, keep shopping. If you are still interested in the radio, ask the seller to show you the radio transmitting on a frequency in the band plan for your country. If the radio won't transmit on frequencies that you plan to use, don't buy the radio thinking that you can modify it to do so. You may be in for frustration and disappointment.

 

[krokus]

The European variation of the model is limited to 146 MHz. Is there an A or an E on the model & serial number sticker?

https://manual.kenwood.com/files/TM-G707-English.pdf