TK-730 Operator Selectable Tone Problem

[inigo88]

Hey guys,

I've had the opportunity lately to manage several variants of TK-730, including the 32 Ch, Full 160 Ch and Full 160 Ch Dual Head (all with the full feature control head).

I just spent several hours with KPG7D today and could not get the radio to enter Operator Selectable Tones. When reading the radio KPG7D says the following:

Radio VHF Hi: SP Tune
Full 160 Ch
Single Head
Single Band
Model: 730SS160F

It has the full control head, and the keys are set up in the following order (from left to right, counter clockwise from the channel knob):

[HC] [OPT] [SQL] [D/A] [SCN] [MON]

So when putting the radio in PROGRAM mode, I hold "HC" (Home Channel) while powering on.

The OPT key was originally AUX, but I changed it in the Key Assignment menu of KPG7D. Then pressing F10 for the OPT/AUX Edit, I selected Operator Selectable Tone for the OPT key assignment. I then added the 16 tones to the Operator Selectable Tone option in the Features menu, and did not get the "No OST key assigned" warning.

As I understood the process, if you complete the above steps you should be able to press and hold the OPT key, and get "CODE 1" thru "CODE 16" to display on screen. However, when I press the key I get the single beep and OPT appears in a box at the top right. Pressing again releases it with the double beep, and pressing and holding has no effect. I tried re-assigning the key as AUX, and assigning Operator Selectable Tone to AUX (with F10), and the same thing happens with "AUX" appearing in the box at the top right instead.

What am I missing? Does the OPT function have to be assigned to a specific key (not any of the four) to work, or is there something really obvious like an optional tone board that is missing inside the radio?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide,

Inigo

 

[inigo88]

To follow up, I just found the manual for KPG7D online and read it. It is light on the OST set up, but from what I can tell I did everything it said to do. I would think maybe I should switch keys, but the fact that OPT (when OPT is selected as the key function) and AUX (when AUX is selected as the key function) appear leads me to believe the buttons are working normally.

I just get no OST tone menu. Very confused.

 

[wradar]

I had thought I was able to get mine to work on the OST set-up before, but I just went down and played with it for quite a while, and I can't get mine to do anything different than you describe, either. I'll be watching this thread to see if anyone comes up with an answer!

Good luck!
-Radar

 

[inigo88]

Holy moly this might be the ticket:

Hold down the SCAN key, press the OPT (OST) button, and then release both. CODE x should appear in the display and be selectable 1 through 16, corresponding to the 16 entries you made in your CTCSS table.

Your OST function and programming the MON button for selectable squelch should not be exclusive. I have several TK-630s set up that way.

Paul

Source: The Radio Information Board • View topic - Kenwood TK-730 User tone Option

I'll give this a try tomorrow. Crossing my fingers that it will work. Wradar please give it a try as well and let me know!

I wonder why Kenwood decided not to mention this tricky procedure in the manual?

Inigo

 

[inigo88]

It works. Map the key as OPT, then using F10 select the OPT function as "Operator Select Tone."

To operate, press and hold SCN + OPT. "Code 0" appears. Use the channel select knob to select code (input tone) number 1-16, then press OPT again to confirm your selection. OPT now appears in the upper right corner of the display to indicate a tone has been manually inputted for that channel. Press OPT on that channel again and it disappears, which I presume clears the tone. Don't forget to define tones 1 thru 16 in the program.

Hope this helps as it was extremely counter-intuitive and not included in the manual!