Kenwood NX crossband audio

[swwifty]

I have a dual deck NX5700/5800. I bought a custom made cross over cable for it, that allows them to be crossbanded.

This setup works just fine, but I've noticed the audio sounds pretty bad. It's almost like the audio between the radios is over driven.

I haven't been able to really find any settings that adjust this, does anyone have any insight? I can provide more details on the setup if need be, but thought I'd ask more generically first.

Thanks.

 

[tweiss3]

Is it the cable from Alberta Radio? If so, there is a pot to tune audio on the DB25 connector.

 

[swwifty]

Is it the cable from Alberta Radio? If so, there is a pot to tune audio on the DB25 connector.

No, this was bought from a individual who made it.

Can you provide a link to that one? maybe I need a different one.

 

[swwifty]

Is this it? Linking Cable for Kenwood TK7180 NX700 NX5000 Radios Crossband Operation

 

[tweiss3]

Is this it? Linking Cable for Kenwood TK7180 NX700 NX5000 Radios Crossband Operation

Yep, that's the one I have. Follow their instructions and you can turn it on and off with the puch of a button.

 

[swwifty]

Yep, that's the one I have. Follow their instructions and you can turn it on and off with the puch of a button.

Thanks, but maybe I wasn't clear enough. I don't have this one. I have one that doesn't seem to have any adjustment on the cable for audio levels. I'm guessing its not a option in software if this one has an adjustment?

Did you experience bad audio, and were you able to adjust it with this crossband cable? I assume so, but just want to be sure before I order it.

Thanks.

 

[tweiss3]

I don't think there is any adjustment in the software.

 

[swwifty]

I don't think there is any adjustment in the software.

Okay, thank you and thanks for the info on that cable. Hopefully this will get the audio sounding a bit better.

 

[ramal121]

The cable is going to use the receive audio (AFO) on the DB25 connector. The NX-5X00 allows adjustment of the AFO line in the software. It's in the extended function tab and you can knock it down 10 dB from the default.

To adjust the microphone input it's in the audio profile as external microphone sense and you can run that down a whopping 20 dB from the default of 0.

 

[swwifty]

The cable is going to use the receive audio (AFO) on the DB25 connector. The NX-5X00 allows adjustment of the AFO line in the software. It's in the extended function tab and you can knock it down 10 dB from the default.

To adjust the microphone input it's in the audio profile as external microphone sense and you can run that down a whopping 20 dB from the default of 0.

Thanks I'll try that too. I also ordered that other cable from Alberta radio since it has an external TX audio adjustment as well. I figure they did that for allow for more adjustment.

 

[Cognomen]

I built the analog cable from the schematic that was posted on this site a while back. You can add a mini pot to the audio input line on each end. I placed the pots inside the DB-25 hoods, and drilled holes for adjustment.

 

[ramal121]

Kenwoods normally output about 200 mV RMS on the AFO and the mic input only needs about 10 mV RMS. So there is a mis-match and some balancing is required. Have fun!

 

[swwifty]

I wanted to follow up on this. I got the Alberta Radio crossband cable, and it is dramatically better than the one I had. The crossband audio is much cleaner now, and I now have enough adjustment to tune the audio to the levels where it is understandable and not so severely overdriven.