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tk-280 programming issue

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Vmo

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Jul 10, 2016
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Hi all, just bought a tk-280 (V1) that was programmed for the MURS and WX channels and worked fine. I reprogrammed it for the ham bands a couple of times and it worked fine again. On the third revision, the codeplug took but now the rx is 5khz off and it won't transmit any meaningful power (it's enough to key up a radio next to it but my freq counter won't read it). also, the squelch is now locked open. Otherwise the display looks as it should. I tried making some squelch adjustments in test mode but I don't have a test set to hook it up to so I didn't want to mess with it too much before asking someone.

Thanks for any help!
 

ramal121

Lots and lots of watts
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Dec 5, 2008
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Location
Calif Whine Country
Rare, but I have run across radios where some tuning values get trashed. Why I'm not really sure. Cosmic surge?

You can go into the test mode and see if any section has its tuning slider slammed all the way to the left or the right. Pretty good indication of unintentional bit flipping. Do NOT play with the sliders, you are only there to look. As kayn1n32008 mentions, a realignment is probably in order.
 

Vmo

Newbie
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Jul 10, 2016
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Well I took it to someone with much more equipment and experience than me - basically it won't save the alignment settings. If I try to do it via computer the computer can't connect. If I try to do it via the test mode on the radio the same thing happens, so I guess it's bricked (probably due to a 50 cent part). Oh well, maybe one day I'll have the troubleshooting skills to figure out WHICH part. :) Thanks for your help.
 

Vmo

Newbie
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Messages
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It's a V1. The cable is not a kenwood so there's the possibility that it's lacking those pins - I wasn't aware of a difference. I was impatient when I got the radio and ran the first codeplugs by adapting an older cable (trs style) to pins that I simply held to the right pads on the side of the radio. That worked fine for the first couple of tries but not the third time. I think I was using kpg49d but it's been a while
 
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