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TK-370G removing diode 17

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Rred

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I need to remove D17, as per the manuals, to put a TK370G into field-programmable configuration. (Diode has to be removed before software can enable this.) If I'm reading the service manual correctly, D17 is conveniently located on the component [read: underside] of the circuit board, so accessing it means unscrewing a host of screws AND unsoldering the antenna connection. I can solder, I just prefer not to get that deeply into a small radio.

Is there any other way to access or cut D17 out? Or do I just have to roll up my sleeves and fire up the soldering gun?
 

mmckenna

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Is there any other way to access or cut D17 out? Or do I just have to roll up my sleeves and fire up the soldering gun?

Removing D17 is the only way to do this. Thats going to mean disassembly to remove the board.

Benefit is that it makes the radio pretty flexible. I've got a TK-290 and a TK-5210 set up with this.
 

Rred

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McKenna-
Can you go into any detail on this? I've got the radio mainly apart, stopped just short of unsoldering the antenna connection. The problem is that the service manual CLEARLY states that D17 is on the component side of the board. Which is ambiguous but there are more components on the "underside".
And that contradicts the line drawing in the service manual, which clearly shows D17 as located on the TOP side of the board, according to the shape (cut-outs, etc.) of the board, as drawn. The illustration in the service manual also shows circuit traces and components around D17, which don't seem to match either side of the board. Certainly not the top side, but I got half an eyeball and a bright light to the underside, and they don't match there either.

And of course, if the board is not marked D17, and only the part is? I'd never know if this one was already removed! If it was, it was clean, I didn't see the usual "stubs" after a clipper job.

I'm pretty certain someone was in the radio at some time past, since the lock rings on the knobs weren't hard to loosen. But self-programming didn't work when I had tried it, so someone may have simply been in it for other reasons in the past 20? 30? years.

There's just the one spot marked "antenna" to unsolder, right?
 

mmckenna

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Don't know, never tried it myself. I've got TK-290's.

Just looking at the service manual was all I did.

A few more bits of information I found:
TX-RX board is X57-588X. It shows the diode on the component side. Shows it right between CN1 ribbon cable connector and IC13 chip.
Also says, K, K4, E, (N)E models only.
Make sure you aren't telling the radio you have a trunking board installed. It says it will defeat self programming mode if that's checked.
 

Rred

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OK, CN1 is very definitely on the "top" side of that board, which I would have called the "less populated side with fewer components" side. If they want to call it the "component side"...I'll call mine "Bob".

Anyway...I took a long slow and repeated look with jeweler's glasses and didn't see anything marked IC13, but the manual calls that the CPU so I presume it is the unrivaled big Toshiba chip on the board. Did look between the ribbon cable connector (ain't plain English grand!(G) and that, no sign of a part marked D17 or any stencil of D17, although there are two solder spots next to a '474' device, in what might be the right location. If D17 used to live there, it ran left-to-right, oriented side-to-side in the radio, but the manual seems to indicate it should have been up-and-down, i.e. parallel to the antenna?

The instructions I've found here and online all say there's a D17 in the US market models, and that reference to a "(N)E" should mean (N)orth American market, no?

It is possible that the radio is just locked out of self-programming because of a software setup, and that I couldn't run the software because of legacy issues, i.e. the Windows programming software is 16-bit and I'll need an older (not 64-bit) system for that to operate.

On the bright side, I did find and remove a tiny thin solder hair from the board, which eventually could have popped free and shorted something out. (Signs of a previous visitor again.)
 

mmckenna

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What I see is that D17 runs up/down on the board.

N would be a North American market radio. Not sure what the E part means. E on it's own, as I'm sure you know, is usually a European market radio. Since these are a bit older, their scheme might be different than the newer stuff.

Yeah, I'm at a loss. Without one of these in front of me, I don't think I can be much help. Sounds like you've got the same manual I have.
 

Rred

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I'll just wait patiently till Thursday, in case Kenwood replies to my email by then. I'll see if a phone call can drum anything up. Oddly enough, some radio shops in Australia claim to still be selling these NEW and inexpensively.

Unless you want to pick a mutually inconvenient location and take a look at it over lunch. Colorado, Chicago, heck even Atlanta is cool and pleasant this time of year.(G)

I'm guessing the (E) means there was some limited distribution of this model, instead of the normal European model, over there.
 

mmckenna

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The "repair discontinuation" notice for the TK-370 came out in April of 2013. I don't recall when it was actually EOL'd.
Could be back stock, or who knows.
Kenwood only recently discontinued the TK-290/390's.

I get a bit itchy when I get stuck somewhere too long. I was in Denver a few months ago, now planning a trip down to Texas for work. Haven't been out to Chicago in a long time. Never have made it to Atlanta.
 

Rred

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One fast call to a very generous Kenwood tech, and some mutual head baffling later, we figured out the manual I had was obsoleted. And finally from his manual, confirmed that D17 should have been next to D19, to the right of the ribbon cable (CN1) and between the ribbon cable and the metal shield that covers the microprocessor. Except in this case, there's no D19, there's an "A", and a space beneath it where I hope D17 already was removed.

Bottom line, there may be errors in the online copies of the service manual, the "2000-4" edition should be used. And D17 is on the "component side" meaning, the side you can access without removing a dozen screws or unsoldering the antenna.

So now I'll procrastinate a while longer, than put the software on an old computer and try one more time.(G)
 
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