Hi Jeff! > Seems the TH-D72A is pretty much a replica of the TH-D7(A) with some minor > modifications.
I'm sure that's what Kenwood was looking for, to keep R&D costs for a new ham HT down, but I think you are getting more than just a minor upgrade to the TH-D7 with the TH-D72. Not much change for FM satellite work, but improvements on the packet side and especially for APRS. > One word of caution on spliting the audio at the HT. DON'T DO IT. > > <snip> > > What you could possibly do is find and solder a 1/10, 2.5mm, plug to a wire > then run a couple feet to the splitter so there will be little or no weight > on the recepticle at the HT. > > Figured I'd save others from a headache. A good suggestion. This problem may or may not present itself, depending on how much stress is put on that speaker jack. I will probably rig up a short cable like Jeff describes in the near future, possibly by cannibalizing an old speaker/mic so I can have the two-plug connector going into the radio, to reduce the stress on the speaker jack. Nigel's suggestion of a speaker/mic is one I have thought of, and I will try it the next time I'm out with the radio. I have an old Kenwood SMC-34 speaker/mic, which has a speaker jack on the bottom of the mic, along with 3 remote-control buttons that can be defined in the radio and even a volume knob on the face of the mic. I could put the radio on my belt, and use the 3 buttons to switch between VFOs (define one button as A/B) and do my tuning adjustments during a pass (the other two buttons would be the up and down tuning buttons), all without having to look at the radio. This may be a bit easier than working the buttons on the face of the radio during a pass. My splitter would go into the jack on the speaker/mic, and from there audio would go to my earpiece and my recorder. I'm still poking around with it, including working an SO-50 pass last night. So far, so good. I've put a one-piece Diamond SMA/BNC adapter on the antenna connector, and have been using only antennas and coax with BNC connectors. This adapter almost makes the radio look like it came with a BNC connector, and now I don't have to fiddle with the SMA connector. I did the same thing with my other HTs with SMA connectors (VX-8GR, TH-F6A), so I would not have to stress the SMA connector every time I want to change the antenna or coax going to it. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ _______________________________________________ Sent via amsat...@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
