Kenwood: TM-D710GA Set-up questions

[GHero]

AUX Menu: 521 Auto PM Store - I want it OFF, but AUX menu on my radio is 900's AND can't find a "Auto PM Store" setting? Maybe newer radios dropped this setting?
APRS Menu: 608 Status Text - There's 5 text options. It appears that if selected, Option 5 Automatically adds the B band freq to the beacon. Do the other 4 options also automatically add the Freq?
APRS Menu: 608 Status Text. It looks like there are two lines of text available. But my beacons never show the second line of text.
APRS Menu: 632 QSY. Is Shift/Offset necessary? Seems like most radios automatically know how to shift/offset. I'm asking because shift/offset takes up valuable text space if only one line of text is sent out with a beacon (See Above 608 question).

 

[KE5MC]

From the latest manual released 2013 and I assume it is current with firmware releases. You might want to check to make sure all the firmware is up to data and using the correct manual. Finding the manual on the Kenwood webpage is a bit of a deep dive. As I recall the main unit and control head have their own firmware and must be in sync with each other.
Good Luck, Mike

 

[AK9R]

Auto PM Store is Menu 922 in your radio, not 521. It was 521 in the TM-D710A (no G), so you may be looking at an old manual.

Status Text is explained on page APRS-11 and APRS-12 in the "CD-ROM Manual" which you can download from Kenwood's web site. According to the manual, which assumes that you have the latest firmware, Menu 632 sets up how the "QSY Frequency" is inserted into the transmitted status text. On, older TM-D710A (no G), the QSY Frequency was only inserted into one of the status texts (status text 5 sounds familiar).

The Status Text field has a maximum of 42 characters. That's not two separate lines you are seeing, but a run-on of the first line.

Shift and Offset are necessary for those radios that don't know how to do it automatically. This function of APRS that inserts QSY frequencies into beacons has evolved over time and the older radios may not be as capable as the newer radios. The Shift and Offset switches are available in your radio so you can maximize the data available to older radios that hear your packet.

 

[GHero]

Sorry, I should have been more specific.
It's a brand new TM-D710GA. Latest Firmware installed. Latest manuals downloaded from Kenwood.com, printed, and studied.
Re: Menu 922 "Auto PM Save": in some of the latest manuals it's Menu 521 , in other manuals it's 922. The fine print of menu 922 says menu 922 (Auto Pm Save) is invisible until a PM is saved, then Menu 922 turns on. That's why I couldn't find it.
RE: Status Text field 42 characters: When I have text in the last part of the 42 character field, it doesn't show in the RAW data on the APRS.Fi website. Maybe it's a APRS.Fi thing.
George, K5ERO-9

 

[KE5MC]

George,
Looks like you got some of it sorted out. Nice radio, I had the previous version of the 710 with the built-in GPS, but used a compact add-on. For the 632 QSY I believe the intent was simplex, but in any case if a repeater frequency I would expect the other operator would already have that programed. Again not a function I used, but Google should help track down good information.