Kenwood TM-261 Troubles

Status
Not open for further replies.

ems603

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
4
Hello, I have a Kenwood TM-261 rig that I'm having some trouble with. All of the function buttons on the front of the rig give me a warning tone when I push them. The only buttons that work are the memory scan button, the power button, the button next to the power button and that will only change the view from alpha display to the memory storage number. All other buttons when pressed give a warning beep. I was wondering if anyone else has had this trouble before? The radio is not locked but it's acting like it is. The radio is functional with what I have programed in but it would be nice to be able to get back into the menu functions when needed and to be able to use the VFO. I have tryed powering the rig on with another button pressed and none of them seem to do anything. I have taken the rig apart to see if a button was stuck and it does not appear so.
 

ems603

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
4
tm-261

Well as far as a Hard Re-Set goes, from what I can find in the manual you do this by pressing one of the front bottons and the power button. I have done this and nothing happens. Whats the deal with the paper clip?
 

WA0CBW

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
1,633
Location
Shawnee Kansas (Kansas City)
Many uProcessor devices have a small hole somewhere to insert the end of a paper clip to push a small switch to "reset" the uP.

I would also examine each button to be sure it isn't pushed in and stuck. I had the same problem with another radio and it took me awhile to find that one of the buttons was pushed in and stuck.

BB
 

ems603

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
4
Tm-261

Thanks for the advise with the radio, I have taken the face of the radio appart because that was my first thought that maybe a button was stuck and I'm not seeing that to be a problem. The radio sits on the hump of my truck and my son was sitting in the middle seat one day and I think his legs were resting on the radio. I noticed that the radio was on when he got out of the truck. Then the next time I went to use the VFO putton all I was getting is an alert type of beep. The button that is always suppose to stay active even when the radio is in lock mode wont work, thats the function button. I was thinking that maybe there was a hidden option somewhere, because when I use the owners manual to program an alpha display instead of seeing the freq numbers by using the owners manual I found when I first got the radio that the Jap version that was converted to american ended up missing a step, hentz why I could not get the alpha charactors to program in the radio. I was kinda thinking maybe there was a reset step or some other buttons to push to get it out of it's state right now. Anyway if you happen to think about anything else let me know, and I will try the paper clip thing and see if that works.
 

ems603

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
4
Kenwood TM-261

Yes I have taken the mic off the radio also, and still end up with the warning tones like the radio is locked.

I have done the following....

Completed a re-set using the power button and the MR button

Taken the radio apart to look for stuck buttons

Taken the mic off the radio

Turned the radio on using the power button and every other button on the face one by one

disconected the power and re-connected everything

So this is why I'm looking for help as I have run through everything I can think of. The radio is operational the way it is and I can get to everything that I have programed in and the radio works fine doing it that way. I'm not able to access the VFO, or add anything new to the radio or make any changes to programed information that is already in the radio.
 

pjtnascar

Member
Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
368
Location
Sussex County, NJ
I have one of these radios, too, but haven't experienced any problems. If I remember, there is a small reset button on the back like you'd find on a modem or router. Try that, or else call Kenwood. It's gotta be something silly that we are overlooking.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top