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TK-8180 K out of band programming

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K7MFC

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Hello, I have a Kenwood TK-8180 K (450-520 MHz) and I am using KPG-89D software to program it. I am able to program this radio for use in the 70cm amateur band; the software gives a "Frequency out of range" warning when entering transmit or receive frequencies below 450 MHz, but the file is able to be saved and written to the radio. One channel I have programmed is for a repeater operating on 441.625 MHz (with an input of 446.625 MHz). TX/RX work as intended, however, switching to this channel sometimes results in an intermittent "beep beep beep beep" heard via the speaker. I assume this is a warning that the radio has been programmed incorrectly, but powering off the radio and on again will eliminate the beep and channel operation resumes. This only seems to happens once every 3 or 4 days, and doesn't seem to happen consistently. Has anyone experienced this before? I realize I am programming the radio out of band to frequencies on which it is not intended to operate and I am leveraging an unsupported or undocumented feature, but I'm just curious as to why sometimes the channel works and sometimes it gives the warning beep.
 

MSS-Dave

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Hello, I have a Kenwood TK-8180 K (450-520 MHz) and I am using KPG-89D software to program it. I am able to program this radio for use in the 70cm amateur band; the software gives a "Frequency out of range" warning when entering transmit or receive frequencies below 450 MHz, but the file is able to be saved and written to the radio. One channel I have programmed is for a repeater operating on 441.625 MHz (with an input of 446.625 MHz). TX/RX work as intended, however, switching to this channel sometimes results in an intermittent "beep beep beep beep" heard via the speaker. I assume this is a warning that the radio has been programmed incorrectly, but powering off the radio and on again will eliminate the beep and channel operation resumes. This only seems to happens once every 3 or 4 days, and doesn't seem to happen consistently. Has anyone experienced this before? I realize I am programming the radio out of band to frequencies on which it is not intended to operate and I am leveraging an unsupported or undocumented feature, but I'm just curious as to why sometimes the channel works and sometimes it gives the warning beep.

The beeping is the error of the RX VCO unlocking. I'm surprised the radio will even lock at 441 Mhz. I've had a few that worked well at 442 and up. The intermittent part of that could be based on your supply voltage or the temperature. It can be realigned and vco tuned to give better lock at 441 but the RX sensitivity may suffer.
 

mmckenna

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I realize I am programming the radio out of band to frequencies on which it is not intended to operate and I am leveraging an unsupported or undocumented feature, but I'm just curious as to why sometimes the channel works and sometimes it gives the warning beep.

Yep, VCO unlock. You are trying to use a frequency that is right on the edge of the VCO being able to lock. Temperature/voltage variations are causing the intermittent behavior. Each individual radio will handle this at different points due to variations in component tolerances.
Running them a bit out of band isn't an issue. But go too far and this happens.

If and only if you have the right test equipment, you can tweak the radio down a bit lower in frequency. It's not something you can really eyeball and expect it to work correctly. If you don't have the right test gear and don't have experience doing this, it's best not to touch it. Fairly easy to screw up your radio once you start monkeying with the values.
 

K7MFC

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Thanks for the replies. I think I will eliminate this channel programming from the radio.
 

danielxgame

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calgary
Low power as in transmit? That will do absolutely nothing as the problem is the receive vco is unlocking because it is almost 9 mhz out of band.

OH SORRY I DONT FOCUS TO TOPIC LOL, MY APOLOGY... ANYWAY IF YOU ARE USING KPG-89D, AND YOU WAN TO PROGRAM YOUR RADIO TO LOWER FREQ. YOU HAVE AN OPTION THERE FOR MODEL AND FREQ. BAND YOU NEED I THINK YOUR OPTION IS 450-520 AND 400-470 MHZ
 

AK9R

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YOU HAVE AN OPTION THERE FOR MODEL AND FREQ. BAND YOU NEED I THINK YOUR OPTION IS 450-520 AND 400-470 MHZ
  1. Most of the Kenwood radios I've programmed will not accept a download of a program file if the radio model in the file doesn't match the radio.
  2. The issue is not the programming of the radio. The issue is that the VCO will not lock at frequencies far outside the band split that the radio was made for. The only way to fix this is to adjust the VCO as stated in post #5.
  3. Typing in ALL CAPS on social media is generally regarded as yelling. Please don't do this.
 

danielxgame

Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2018
Messages
44
Location
calgary
  1. Most of the Kenwood radios I've programmed will not accept a download of a program file if the radio model in the file doesn't match the radio.
  2. The issue is not the programming of the radio. The issue is that the VCO will not lock at frequencies far outside the band split that the radio was made for. The only way to fix this is to adjust the VCO as stated in post #5.
  3. Typing in ALL CAPS on social media is generally regarded as yelling. Please don't do this.
oh sorry again, maybe im not familiar for the rules yet... thanks
 
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