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Kenwood NX 5700K / KCH-20R

FiremanJim23

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I have the above Kenwood radio in my fire response vehicle. The KCH-20R head does not light up. I have VHF, UHF and MARKS decks. Nothing has changed since it was last working. I can hear transmissions from other departments but I have no idea where I am on my display - channel selection. I have checked all fuses, I believe, and all seem to be good and the connections are clean and bright. The display just stopped one day and I have been driving myself nuts trying to find out what it is. Any assistance would be really appreciated. I use this radio to let the fire department and dispatch know I am responding and sometimes communicate the situation on scene if I arrive first on scene. Thanks again and may God bless.
 

n7maq-1

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Try reseating the CH cable. I have not seen a display just go out on a KCH-20 as you describe, but that does sound like what it is. If it is under a year old then it will be covered under warranty, if not it is a flat rate repair now at United Radio. I DO NOT recommend FTH Group.

 

FiremanJim23

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Try reseating the CH cable. I have not seen a display just go out on a KCH-20 as you describe, but that does sound like what it is. If it is under a year old then it will be covered under warranty, if not it is a flat rate repair now at United Radio. I DO NOT recommend FTH Group.

Ok, dumb old man here - what is the CH cable and where is it located?
 

tweiss3

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CH is short for control head, the KCH-20. The cable goes into the back of the control head.
 

AYoung2600

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I’ve only had 1 KCH-20 head out of the hundreds I’ve installed do the exact same thing. I ended up pulling the back plate off of the head and reseating the ribbon cable inside and it has been working ever since.
 
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