Kenwood TM-D710A packet question

[MSD]

Just purchased the TM-D710A radio. At the present I have not explored the APRS side just the using the local repeater.

Can this unit display local packet BBS information on the control head (such as APRS does) without using a laptop? If so this would be the cat's meow!

Thanks in advance...

 

[KE5MC]

I follow Q&A on the D710 because I have one, but the details of the TNC I am not strong on.

TNC is primarily to support APRS and Sky Command. It has limited TNC capabilities compared to a dictated outboard model. I have not seen any TNC discussion without using a computer to process the data in and out of the D710.

 

[AK9R]

See the Packet section of the CD-ROM manual.

The TNC in the D710 has very similar features to a standard TAPR TNC2 (ala MFJ 1270B, Kantronics KPC-3, AEA PK-88). The console commands are similar, the mailbox is there, and the TNC can do KISS mode.

As for displaying the information on the radio's screen, you are probably out of luck. I can't recall if the P.MON function is available when the radio is in Packet mode like it is in APRS mode. Even if P.MON works, it's just a raw data display and information will scroll by before you can read it. You really need to connect the control head to a computer running a terminal emulator or dedicated packet program in order to see the packet traffic.

 

[MSD]

Interesting. I tapped P.MON and the control head does read the local Packet chatter on 145.090!

 

[KQ4BX]

Can you tell me if the TNC in the 710 can act like any other tnc, and allow the PC to run packet programs, or even host a packet BBS? I've been getting bits an pieces of information on the 710, and I wasn't sure if I could contact satellite's using packet programs on my PC through the radio. What details can you share with me? Thanks for sharing your knowledge on the Kenwood radio.

Joe

See the Packet section of the CD-ROM manual.

The TNC in the D710 has very similar features to a standard TAPR TNC2 (ala MFJ 1270B, Kantronics KPC-3, AEA PK-88). The console commands are similar, the mailbox is there, and the TNC can do KISS mode.

As for displaying the information on the radio's screen, you are probably out of luck. I can't recall if the P.MON function is available when the radio is in Packet mode like it is in APRS mode. Even if P.MON works, it's just a raw data display and information will scroll by before you can read it. You really need to connect the control head to a computer running a terminal emulator or dedicated packet program in order to see the packet traffic.

 

[AK9R]

Can you tell me if the TNC in the 710 can act like any other tnc, and allow the PC to run packet programs, or even host a packet BBS?

Yes, yes, and yes.

The command language for the internal TNC is very similar to the TNC2/Kantronics standard. It's documented in the "in depth manual" which you can download from Kenwood's web site.

The internal TNC has a built-in packet BBS like the Kantronics KPC3 has. The difference is that the message memory is smaller and the packet buffer size is smaller. As a result, the D710 internal TNC is not real good at sending large files that you can send with a standalone TNC.

Note that the packet buffer problem was worse with the TM-D700. Kenwood is using a different packet engine on the D710, but it still has a few limitation.

 

[KQ4BX]

But using software on a PC, or netbook should fix that size limitation, am I correct?

 

[AK9R]

The way the AX.25 protocol works, the computer sends a stream of serial data to the TNC and the TNC then breaks that stream of data into packets. If the stream is considerably larger than the maximum size of one packet, the TNC has to buffer the remaining data. The problem with the TNC in the older Kenwoods is that the packet buffer was small, so you couldn't send large amounts of data. The TNC in the newer Kenwoods has a larger buffer, but its still something to be aware of.

If you are just sending messages back and forth, it shouldn't be a problem. But, if you are sending binary files, you could have buffering problems.