TK-8180 Scanning Question

[drdeputy]

I have a TK-8180 K2 and have a question regarding scanning settings. Currently, my only issue is this: when scanning stops on an active channel, I would like to have it stay on that channel when I take it out of SCAN….or at least force it to pause on that channel until I choose to release it to continue scanning. As it is now, when it’s stopped and I manually stop the scan, it reverts to the channel it was on when I originally pressed SCAN. Other commercial radios I’ve used had a ‘scan hold’ feature. If the Kenwood does, I can’t find anything in the manual that describes what I want it to do.

Is this possible? Thanks!

 

[hill]

Setting should be under the scan menu in KPG89. You have to change revert channel to last heard. I am at work and not by software and going to long time before I get to see the software.

All my Kenwood radios have scan revert as selected channel and that works best for me. That way I know will always transmit on selected channel at all times.

 

[AM909]

I don't see a way to infinitely pause the scan on the first hit, but you can set the dropout delay as high as 300s (5 minutes). To go back to scanning, press the scan button twice to stop and restart it. Does that do what you need?

 

[W2JGA]

I'm looking at my KPG-99D and do see options:
PRIORITY=NONE, FIXED, SELECTED, OPERATOR SELECTABLE
and then
REVERT CHANNEL=LAST CALLED, LAST USED, SELECTED and SELECTED+TALKBACK

 

[hill]

I don't see a way to infinitely pause the scan

I don't think there is pause in the scan like that. The post above mine kind of clarifies it. Great job W2JGA.

Remember these are commercial radios and many don't really use scan that much, as not to miss traffic on their primary channel/talkgroup or it isn't permitted for their agency.

It's best to only scan a few channels on any radio not a boatload of channels.

All my Kenwood radios TK290/390, TK5210/5310, TK3180, and TK7180 all are programmed the same to revert to the select channel and show this on display, rather than the word scan. My main use is ham radio, plus GMRS and some public safety receive only along with some for my volunteer group. Going forward this radios work great for my purposes and much more durable than any ham radio or chicom radio.

 

[ramal121]

Interesting concept, so I had to try it on my 2180. Tried Last Used and Last Called. No luck, turning off scan always reverts to the same channel you started scan with. Reading help only refers to this as a transmit feature. I would agree.

 

[dryfb]

Might want to use CH/GID Recall as a button, it will infinitely pause the scan (as long as the radio is on) on the last heard channel. On my NX300, if I turn the channel knob it will then act as if it was on the recalled channel and go to the next, makes it easy to hop around. No idea if it's the same way on the x180 series.

 

[drdeputy]

Might want to use CH/GID Recall as a button, it will infinitely pause the scan (as long as the radio is on) on the last heard channel. On my NX300, if I turn the channel knob it will then act as if it was on the recalled channel and go to the next, makes it easy to hop around. No idea if it's the same way on the x180 series.

I figured it out by myself, but your answer is the correct one for my needs. On a chance try, I set a free panel button to CH/GID Recall. When scanning stops on a busy channel, that button will hold the scan until you press it again. If you missed the chance to catch it on channel, pressing the button will stop it on the channel that last had traffic. This is exactly what I wanted. The only rub is that while paused, you get a warning beep-beep every few seconds. I need to guess which tone it is and either disable it or lower the volume to 1. There’s on tone labeled ‘alert’, but that would probably be too easy. 🙂 So, bottom line, it is possible and want on the scan menu….rather an option among the many choices you can assign to a panel button.

Thanks to those who offered suggestions.

 

[drdeputy]

I don't think there is pause in the scan like that. The post above mine kind of clarifies it. Great job W2JGA.

Remember these are commercial radios and many don't really use scan that much, as not to miss traffic on their primary channel/talkgroup or it isn't permitted for their agency.

It's best to only scan a few channels on any radio not a boatload of channels.

All my Kenwood radios TK290/390, TK5210/5310, TK3180, and TK7180 all are programmed the same to revert to the select channel and show this on display, rather than the word scan. My main use is ham radio, plus GMRS and some public safety receive only along with some for my volunteer group. Going forward this radios work great for my purposes and much more durable than any ham radio or chicom radio.

Public safety is my background, specifically a modest sized sheriff’s office. We did indeed use scan quite a lot to monitor other agencies within our jurisdiction as well as our own dispatch along with rural fire, ambulance and rural medical first responders. In our then analog world, being able to scan with our primary radio and not just a scanner was pretty fundamental. These were the days of Sheriff’s Net, Point to Point and Mutual Aid. 155.73, 155.37 and 155.475 if those mean anything to any of you. Our highway patrol dispatch was on low band (42.12, etc.) and was about the only reason we had an actual scanner. Our radios were either Midland XTRs or various Motorolas. It’s nice I can now have the Kenwood work in a similar fashion.

 

[hill]

The only rub is that while paused, you get a warning beep-beep every few seconds.

I think it's something like the stop scan tone.

 

[drdeputy]

I think it's something like the stop scan tone.

Turns out it was Control Tone. Setting that to 'off' worked for me. It shows RCL on the screen when stopped, so I didn't need a tone reminder.

Anyone know where the setting is for power-up volume? I've tried various things, but it keeps defaulting to '8' and I'd rather it be lower.

 

[drdeputy]

Turns out it was Control Tone. Setting that to 'off' worked for me. It shows RCL on the screen when stopped, so I didn't need a tone reminder.

Anyone know where the setting is for power-up volume? I've tried various things, but it keeps defaulting to '8' and I'd rather it be lower.

Disregard on this question. The louder tone is only after a programming reset. A normal power off/on defaults to the volume level when you powered off. All good. Loving the radios. I just added a TK-8180H-K2 to the corral.