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TK-8180 Programming Software

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alcahuete

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Okay...so let me preface this by saying I'm a Motorola guy through and through as far as commercial radios are concerned, and haven't ventured terribly far from that (except for an HT here and there). There is always a lot of good things being said on this forum about the 8180, and you can hardly go wrong with the used price on some of them.

I started to do a little research, and looked at a few dealers, and there appears to be 5 or 6 different software versions that supposedly program this radio. WTF is Kenwood thinking with all these different versions? The one dealer literally had 20 pieces of programming software for Kenwoods alone, and the naming convention doesn't seem to make any sense or help. Can somebody please shed some light on what programming software I would need for the 8180? Also, I'm assuming it works on fairly recent Windows versions?

Thanks in advance!!
 

a417

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Some of it will depend on if the radio had been flashed with Passport (Scholer Johnson) SJ-180 software prior to you using it. They are conventional feature limited, and the KPG-89D will barf at you and tell you it's not supported. Outside of a Passport system, they are mostly useless.

If that is so, and it tells you that "Use SJ-180" (or whatever that error was), you can get a regular firmware file from a vendor and flash it in using KPG-89D (or KPG-92D i think if it's a euro model, never had one, never needed it) to bring it back to the good side.

There are a couple of very intelligent kenwood dealers that are active on the board, and could probably help you out more.
 

mmckenna

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Not sure what you've been fed by the dealer, but it should not be confusing.

KPG-89DN v1.61 is the latest software for the TK-#180 radios.

If you end up with an MPT trunking version, you'll need KPG-96DN (version 3.30 is the latest)

As a417 said, if you get a Passport radio, you'll need the specific software for that.

If you buy an overseas radio (which you shouldn't as it won't have FCC acceptance) then you'll need to deal with other headaches.

But, for a standard TK-2180, 3180, 7180 or 8180, KPG-89 should be all you need. Keep things simple, don't buy an overseas radio, don't buy an MPT radio unless you need to connect to an MPT system, and don't buy a passport radio unless you need to work with a passport system.
 

alcahuete

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Thanks guys!!!

In the dealer's defense, I was only going by what was listed on the website. I haven't talked to them yet. It listed all the software and the compatible radios, and there were literally 6 different ones for the 8180.

Thanks for the info, gents!
 
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