Kenwood TK-7360 introduction?

[westcoaster]

when was the kenwood TK-7360 first available for purchase?

is there a way to decode the information on the bottom of the radio to tell month and year of production?


on the bottom of the radio just above "Kenwood Corporation" I have a 036/12/005654
Would that be the date of manufacture?


Inquiring minds and all....

Thanks,

 

[mmckenna]

The TK-7360/8360 was introduced January 24th, 2011.

I don't have any knowledge of how to figure the build date. None of the service manuals cover that.

If I was to take a total wild guess, I'd think that ~maybe~ that might be 36th week of 2012, but that's a guess.

Likely Kenwood would know by serial number. Usually different hardware revisions are signified by serial number leading digit/letter changes.

Is there a specific reason you are inquiring? Firmware releases that are hardware dependent are usually restricted to certain serial number ranges, not date codes.

 

[toastycookies]

I have on mine

TK-7360HV 019048 192912
barcode
then the serial below it.

 

[westcoaster]

No specific reason other than wanting to simply date a radio.

Any used TK-7360 I acquire would be at worst 6 years (this January) old and at best be a week old...

When trying to determine a value on a used piece, some concession could be made for something built last week vs. 6 years ago...


I had the same guess as you did on the date.

 

[westcoaster]

I have on mine

TK-7360HV 019048 192912
barcode
then the serial below it.

whats immediately above the "kenwood Corporation" toward the bottom of the sticker? and below the serial number...

For the number you listed, the last digits are 192905 on my radio...

 

[westcoaster]

I have on mine

TK-7360HV 019048 192912
barcode
then the serial below it.

I also just have TK-7360H 019048 192905

No "V"

Not sure what the V signifies.


it's a TK-7360H -K

 

[toastycookies]

Sorry I could not describe it better, and as they say a picture is worth...

 

[toastycookies]

thought it was a good deal for $200 so i picked it up.

seems to work well for 2m amateur stuff as well as part 90 stuff which it is intended for.

 

[westcoaster]

Thanks for the picture,
Yours doesn't have the date code (I'm thinking it's a date code...) I'm referring to.

On my radio, immediately below the bar code for the serial number is another line with 036/12/005654

I also have an Industry Canada number immediately below your FCC ID (I'm in Canada eh!)
Yours is also a TK-7360HV -K. Mine is just a TK-7360H -K
It could be a Canadian sticker thing, could be a "V" radio thing. Not sure....

 

[mmckenna]

The "V2" on Toastycookies radio is the version number. That's indicating it's Version 2 hardware. Not sure when the version 2's were rolled out starting November 2011 (see below)

Version 1 radios, serial numbers starting with B18, Latest firmware version for those is V1.10. Likely not many more updates for those unless there is a major change needed.
Version 2 radios, serial number B1B0xxxx and higher, have newer firmware, latest is V2.16, released in July 2016.

V1 versions will support MDC1200.
V2 versions will support MDC1200 with SelCall, page, radio check encode, external output.

V2 hardware for the 7360/8360 appears to be released in Nov. 2011. Serial numbers B1B0xxxx or later.

 

[westcoaster]

Thanks for that info.
The serial number on this radio is B1200XXX


What will updated firmware do for a guy?

Bug fixes? New features?
Where would one get it?

Thanks,

 

[mmckenna]

Depends on what firmware version you have now.

If the radio has not been updated since it was new, updating firmware to the latest will do a couple of things you may not want:

-It'll force the 150.1MHz and above frequencies to narrow band.
-It'll require using the updated KPG software

Unless you have a specific issue with the radio, it's usually not a good idea to update firmware. The firmware updates are usually just bug fixes. In the case of the V2 radios, it does add the MDC1200 upgrades, but your V1 isn't going to do that due to hardware limitations.

 

[westcoaster]

It would be very bad if 150.1 and above were to be forced into narrow band.

There are a number of common frequencies around here that are still wide band and above 150.1Mhz...



The TK-760H and TK-760HG could be front face programmed (program a frequency into a channel without software or cable. Just by pushing a sequence of buttons)
Can the TK-7360 be field programmed without software? something tells me that capability was lost with the TK-7160...

 

[mmckenna]

It would be very bad if 150.1 and above were to be forced into narrow band.

There are a number of common frequencies around here that are still wide band and above 150.1Mhz...

Kenwood can sell you a "W-license" that will reopen the wide band option. It isn't free and it's specifically tied to the software key, so it cannot be shared.
I have it for some of my software since we do some interoperability with USCG.

The TK-760H and TK-760HG could be front face programmed (program a frequency into a channel without software or cable. Just by pushing a sequence of buttons)
Can the TK-7360 be field programmed without software? something tells me that capability was lost with the TK-7160...

There is a "Panel Tuning Mode" for this radio. Not sure if the firmware version you have supports it. It likely needs to be turned on in software.