[amsat-bb] Re: more about the TH-D72A for satellites
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. > > > > 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
[amsat-bb] Re: more about the TH-D72A for satellites
Plug in a speaker/mic. The Kenwood ones usually have an earphone socket that is easy to change if necessary. On 10-Dec-10 08:37, Jeff Yanko wrote: > > Let me explain. I have the TH-D7(A) and used a plug adaptor to go from the > 1/10", 2.5mm, recepticle to 1/4" for the headphones. Everything worked > great, for about a year, then I noticed the audio was cutting in and out. > Turns out the weight of the adaptor and sometimes I used a splitter to > record, made the contact very poor. Now if I plug in the HMC-3 head set > there isn't a problem since the two plug system, Speaker-Mic jack, holds and > maintains the connection very well. If I go back to the single audio out > plug, the problem resurfaces. > > 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. > > > > 73, > > Jeff WB3JFS > Las Vegas, NV > DM26 > > > > > > > > > > > > - Original Message ----- > From: "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)" > To: > Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 9:57 AM > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: more about the TH-D72A for satellites > > > Hi Bob! > >> I, too, have been considering "retiring" my TH-D7A(G), and you just sold >> me >> on the new Kenwood after our contact on AO-51. Sounded great. > > Several commented on my audio during the two passes I worked, as well as > "selling" them on the new radio. If a bunch of D7s show up for sale, maybe > a few of them will end up in the hands of those interested in working > satellites. > >> Ordered mine from HRO a few minutes ago. Also got the drop in charger. >> Since they changed battery to a Li-ion, the D7A charger (NiCad) will >> not work. Hope these new batteries last longer than the old NiCad's. > > Do you have a drop-in or fast charger for your D7? I think the wall-wart > charged my battery in 4 or 5 hours on Saturday night. The battery had a > partial charge in it, enough to power on the radio and perform a full reset > before letting it charge fully. I haven't looked at the model numbers for > all > the accessories closely, since so few of them are in the stores now. I'll > get > some of them as they arrive in the stores on the slow boat from Japan. > > I have an old Kenwood speaker/mic, and the external power cables are > the same as for the TH-F6A and TH-D7 (among others), so I had all the > accessories I could get for the radio right now. I didn't use the > speaker/mic > yesterday; I used the mic on the face of the radio, and plugged my audio > splitter (including adapter to step down from the 3.5mm plug on the splitter > to the 2.5mm speaker jack on the HT) with earpiece and audio recorder > into the speaker jack. > > I've read the other posts on this thread, and I will take a look at the DUP > setting when I get home tonight. It is possible that the way I had it set > up > (transmit on VFO B, receive on VFO A) is the only way it works on the > D72. If that is the case, then Kenwood did it right by their choice of VFO > A having to be the receiver when in DUP mode. VFO A is more sensitive > than VFO B. Being able to use the joystick-like 4-way control button on the > face of the radio to tune up and down made it easy to make the adjustments > on the receive VFO, without having to use the knob on the top of the radio > (press A/B to switch VFOs, then press down on the joystick button to move > down 5 kHz, then A/B again to get back to VFO B before transmitting - all > done with the thumb that also pressed the PTT on the side of the radio). > Packet in general, as well as looking at the APRS functionality beyond > simply transmitting my location, will be something I take a closer look at > some other time in the near future. > > I apologize if I appear to be going into too much detail on what I've done > in setting up the radio before I went on the air with it yesterday. I'm > coming > at it as someone who hasn't used Kenwood HTs in at least 15 years until > the past few weeks when I bought a TH-F6A, and no experience with the > TH-D7. If you know the TH-D7, you'll be able to get running quickly with a > TH-D72. The manual would still be a useful read for those people, to learn > about the new functionality in the TH-D72. > > For those interested in reading the manuals without shelling out cash first, > Kenwood has a good download site for instruction manuals of its ham gear: > > http://manual.kenwood.com/en_contents/search/ > > Just enter "TH-D72", a
[amsat-bb] Re: more about the TH-D72A for satellites
Hi Patrick and all, Seems the TH-D72A is pretty much a replica of the TH-D7(A) with some minor modifications. One word of caution on spliting the audio at the HT. DON'T DO IT. Let me explain. I have the TH-D7(A) and used a plug adaptor to go from the 1/10", 2.5mm, recepticle to 1/4" for the headphones. Everything worked great, for about a year, then I noticed the audio was cutting in and out. Turns out the weight of the adaptor and sometimes I used a splitter to record, made the contact very poor. Now if I plug in the HMC-3 head set there isn't a problem since the two plug system, Speaker-Mic jack, holds and maintains the connection very well. If I go back to the single audio out plug, the problem resurfaces. 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. 73, Jeff WB3JFS Las Vegas, NV DM26 - Original Message - From: "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)" To: Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 9:57 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: more about the TH-D72A for satellites Hi Bob! > I, too, have been considering "retiring" my TH-D7A(G), and you just sold > me > on the new Kenwood after our contact on AO-51. Sounded great. Several commented on my audio during the two passes I worked, as well as "selling" them on the new radio. If a bunch of D7s show up for sale, maybe a few of them will end up in the hands of those interested in working satellites. > Ordered mine from HRO a few minutes ago. Also got the drop in charger. > Since they changed battery to a Li-ion, the D7A charger (NiCad) will > not work. Hope these new batteries last longer than the old NiCad's. Do you have a drop-in or fast charger for your D7? I think the wall-wart charged my battery in 4 or 5 hours on Saturday night. The battery had a partial charge in it, enough to power on the radio and perform a full reset before letting it charge fully. I haven't looked at the model numbers for all the accessories closely, since so few of them are in the stores now. I'll get some of them as they arrive in the stores on the slow boat from Japan. I have an old Kenwood speaker/mic, and the external power cables are the same as for the TH-F6A and TH-D7 (among others), so I had all the accessories I could get for the radio right now. I didn't use the speaker/mic yesterday; I used the mic on the face of the radio, and plugged my audio splitter (including adapter to step down from the 3.5mm plug on the splitter to the 2.5mm speaker jack on the HT) with earpiece and audio recorder into the speaker jack. I've read the other posts on this thread, and I will take a look at the DUP setting when I get home tonight. It is possible that the way I had it set up (transmit on VFO B, receive on VFO A) is the only way it works on the D72. If that is the case, then Kenwood did it right by their choice of VFO A having to be the receiver when in DUP mode. VFO A is more sensitive than VFO B. Being able to use the joystick-like 4-way control button on the face of the radio to tune up and down made it easy to make the adjustments on the receive VFO, without having to use the knob on the top of the radio (press A/B to switch VFOs, then press down on the joystick button to move down 5 kHz, then A/B again to get back to VFO B before transmitting - all done with the thumb that also pressed the PTT on the side of the radio). Packet in general, as well as looking at the APRS functionality beyond simply transmitting my location, will be something I take a closer look at some other time in the near future. I apologize if I appear to be going into too much detail on what I've done in setting up the radio before I went on the air with it yesterday. I'm coming at it as someone who hasn't used Kenwood HTs in at least 15 years until the past few weeks when I bought a TH-F6A, and no experience with the TH-D7. If you know the TH-D7, you'll be able to get running quickly with a TH-D72. The manual would still be a useful read for those people, to learn about the new functionality in the TH-D72. For those interested in reading the manuals without shelling out cash first, Kenwood has a good download site for instruction manuals of its ham gear: http://manual.kenwood.com/en_contents/search/ Just enter "TH-D72", and you will see two sets of links. The first set are for the PDF version of the printed manual supplied with the radio, in several different languages. The other links that have "CDROM" in the description are for the detailed manual that is supplied on a CD with the radio. For software used with the radio (virtual COM port driver, along with the Memory Control Program) along with software for other Kenwood radios, go
[amsat-bb] Re: more about the TH-D72A for satellites
Hi Bob! > My understanding is that unlike the THD7, the D72 can only > operate full duplex as noted above RX-A and TX-B. But either > band can be VHF or UHF, so you can operate mode B or J, but the > TX is always from B. You are 100% correct. I downloaded both D72 manuals from the Kenwood web site during my lunch, and that is exactly how the full duplex mode is described. Transmit with VFO B, receive with VFO A - as long as the two VFOs are not set to the same band. 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
[amsat-bb] Re: more about the TH-D72A for satellites
Hi Alan! > Great preliminary report. One question. I haven't been able to locate the > size of the stock battery. The accessory is an 1800 MaH battery. Is that > the typical larger battery, or just a spare the same size? A friend who is > more interested in the APRS side asked me. There is - so far - only one rechargeable battery pack for this radio: the PB-45L, 7.4V/1800 mAh. The accessory pack is the same model and capacity as what came with the radio. I give credit to Kenwood for not saddling the radio with a smaller battery pack like Yaesu has done with the VX-8 series, and then offering the higher-capacity battery as an accessory. It might be up to someone like Maha or Batteries America to come out with an after-market battery pack with still larger capacity. Or maybe Kenwood will do that in the future. Kenwood has done that with the TH-F6A; originally it came with a 7.4V/1550 mAh pack, but the new one I just picked up last month came with a Kenwood 7.4V/2000 mAh pack. > As for myself, I would like one, but I have a full up Flex-VU5K and a new > HDTV on order, so enough expensive toys, at least until Dayton. Do you have the VHF/UHF module for your Flex radio? ;-) 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
[amsat-bb] Re: more about the TH-D72A for satellites
Hi Ed! > I'm sure there a lot of us interested in what you find out using the new > radio. Thanks for the encouragement. So far, nobody has told me to keep quiet. ;-) I'm getting more packet and APRS questions in private e-mail, and can't really answer many of them other than the D72 works to transmit my location to an APRS digi network. I'm still a novice with APRS, and haven't done much with packet except to send some data through the ISS digipeater in almost 15 years! > My last ham HT was a TH-D7A, which I reluctantly sold back to the > person I bought it from (he was donating it to "doctors without borders"). > I used it a little on AO27 and UO18, though I used my FT-817 more. I liked > the fact it was packet ready and satellite ready. The TH-D72 with embedded > GPS looks like a real winner. I have two FT-817NDs, and those will definitely continue to be used as a big part of my portable satellite station. A TH-F6A is another recent addition, which can serve as a backup all-mode receiver and an FM (plus maybe CW) transmitter. I wish I would have had a true full-duplex HT for some of the stops I made on my Canada trip a few months ago, where an HT was the only way to get on the birds at certain locations. > BTW for those having cost-phobia the original TH-D7 cost $395. I do not > have a HT, now.maybe? > It would be nice for air-travel w/ headset and mag-mount whip. Thanks for the reminder about that price. I knew it was relatively expensive in its day as a new radio, which was probably why I did not have one way back when. I know that a $500 radio in 2010 pesos is still not cheap, despite all the extra bells and whistles, so I don't fault anyone for citing cost as a reason to not get one. Maybe more D7s in good condition will hit the used market that can be put on the satellites, as more move up to the D72. 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
[amsat-bb] Re: more about the TH-D72A for satellites
Hi Bob! > I, too, have been considering "retiring" my TH-D7A(G), and you just sold me > on the new Kenwood after our contact on AO-51. Sounded great. Several commented on my audio during the two passes I worked, as well as "selling" them on the new radio. If a bunch of D7s show up for sale, maybe a few of them will end up in the hands of those interested in working satellites. > Ordered mine from HRO a few minutes ago. Also got the drop in charger. > Since they changed battery to a Li-ion, the D7A charger (NiCad) will > not work. Hope these new batteries last longer than the old NiCad's. Do you have a drop-in or fast charger for your D7? I think the wall-wart charged my battery in 4 or 5 hours on Saturday night. The battery had a partial charge in it, enough to power on the radio and perform a full reset before letting it charge fully. I haven't looked at the model numbers for all the accessories closely, since so few of them are in the stores now. I'll get some of them as they arrive in the stores on the slow boat from Japan. I have an old Kenwood speaker/mic, and the external power cables are the same as for the TH-F6A and TH-D7 (among others), so I had all the accessories I could get for the radio right now. I didn't use the speaker/mic yesterday; I used the mic on the face of the radio, and plugged my audio splitter (including adapter to step down from the 3.5mm plug on the splitter to the 2.5mm speaker jack on the HT) with earpiece and audio recorder into the speaker jack. I've read the other posts on this thread, and I will take a look at the DUP setting when I get home tonight. It is possible that the way I had it set up (transmit on VFO B, receive on VFO A) is the only way it works on the D72. If that is the case, then Kenwood did it right by their choice of VFO A having to be the receiver when in DUP mode. VFO A is more sensitive than VFO B. Being able to use the joystick-like 4-way control button on the face of the radio to tune up and down made it easy to make the adjustments on the receive VFO, without having to use the knob on the top of the radio (press A/B to switch VFOs, then press down on the joystick button to move down 5 kHz, then A/B again to get back to VFO B before transmitting - all done with the thumb that also pressed the PTT on the side of the radio). Packet in general, as well as looking at the APRS functionality beyond simply transmitting my location, will be something I take a closer look at some other time in the near future. I apologize if I appear to be going into too much detail on what I've done in setting up the radio before I went on the air with it yesterday. I'm coming at it as someone who hasn't used Kenwood HTs in at least 15 years until the past few weeks when I bought a TH-F6A, and no experience with the TH-D7. If you know the TH-D7, you'll be able to get running quickly with a TH-D72. The manual would still be a useful read for those people, to learn about the new functionality in the TH-D72. For those interested in reading the manuals without shelling out cash first, Kenwood has a good download site for instruction manuals of its ham gear: http://manual.kenwood.com/en_contents/search/ Just enter "TH-D72", and you will see two sets of links. The first set are for the PDF version of the printed manual supplied with the radio, in several different languages. The other links that have "CDROM" in the description are for the detailed manual that is supplied on a CD with the radio. For software used with the radio (virtual COM port driver, along with the Memory Control Program) along with software for other Kenwood radios, go to: http://www.kenwood.co.jp/i/products/info/amateur/software_download.html I haven't looked on the CD that came with my radio, since I didn't want to pull out the CD/DVD drive and plug it into my netbook last night. That was why I went to these links to download what I might already have on that CD. :-) 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
[amsat-bb] Re: more about the TH-D72A for satellites
Thanks, Patrick I, too, have been considering "retiring" my TH-D7A(G), and you just sold me on the new Kenwood after our contact on AO-51. Sounded great. Ordered mine from HRO a few minutes ago. Also got the drop in charger. Since they changed battery to a Li-ion, the D7A charger (NiCad) will not work. Hope these new batteries last longer than the old NiCad's. 73, Bob Herrell, AJ5C ___ 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
[amsat-bb] Re: more about the TH-D72A for satellites
> ... if the TH-D72 is the true successor to > the TH-D7 including the cross-band full-duplex > I'd take the plunge. > 1. Transmit with VFO B, receive with VFO A. > VFO A has better sensitivity than VFO B, > so why not go with that? There is no > restriction on which VFO can be the TX My understanding is that unlike the THD7, the D72 can only operate full duplex as noted above RX-A and TX-B. But either band can be VHF or UHF, so you can operate mode B or J, but the TX is always from B. Bob, WB4APR ___ 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
[amsat-bb] Re: more about the TH-D72A for satellites
Thanks, Patrick I've been considering "retiring" my TH-D7, and I think you just sold me on the new Kenwood! 73, Jim KQ6EA On 12/06/2010 04:24 AM, Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) wrote: > Hi! > > I wavered on whether I was going to get this radio straight away, after > the fiasco (related to FM satellite operation) the Alinco DJ-G7T was > last year. I didn't want to get bitten by a radio that was supposed to > be capable of full-duplex operation, but fall short like with the DJ-G7T. > After some thought, and after yesterday's hamfest, I drove over to the > local HRO store to see if they had any in stock. At mid-afternoon, HRO > still had 3 on the shelf at this store. I decided that, if the TH-D72 is > the true successor to the TH-D7 including the cross-band full-duplex > capability for FM voice satellite operation, I'd take the plunge. I > bought the radio and the only option they had for it in the store > (cigarette-lighter cable, compatible with several other Kenwood HTs > including the TH-F6A I purchased a few weeks ago). > > I charged the battery last night, and cleared some time this afternoon to > go out to my favorite city park to try it out. Not having used a Kenwood > HT on the satellites except for the TH-F6A as a receiver, I read through > the manual to make sure I had it set up for FM satellite work. I looked > at a few parameters I felt would be useful: > > 1. Transmit with VFO B, receive with VFO A. VFO A has better sensitivity > than VFO B, so why not go with that? There is no restriction on which VFO > can be the transmitter for this radio. > > 2. Audio balance. I set that all the way to VFO A, since I wasn't > interested in hearing VFO B. I could see with the S-meter if anyone else > was transmitting on the satellite uplink, and then rebalance the audio if > necessary to hear it. > > 3. Squelch. Open all the way on VFO A, tight on VFO B. > > 4. "DUP". This was a new one for me, not being familiar with the TH-D7 in > the past. Once I figured this out, turning it on for my transmit VFO (VFO > B), I was able to hear audio from VFO A whether or not I was transmitting > on VFO B. > > I had to get a plug adapter to use my normal audio cable/splitter setup > for an earpiece and my audio recorder with a Kenwood HT and its smaller > speaker jack. I already had one for my TH-F6A, and it worked fine with > the TH-D72A. I made sure tuning steps on both bands for both VFOs were > at the smallest step (5 kHz), and that I had VFO B set for high power > (5W). > > I started with the AO-27 pass at 2102 UTC. A very high pass here, with > maximum elevation of 80 degrees. I worked 7 stations in 7 minutes, and > received good reports on my audio through the satellite with the new > radio. The only issue I had in hearing the downlink wasn't due to the > radio - I had to move the antenna around as it passed over my head, and > there was a moment or two where the downlink audio was less than ideal. > I had to switch VFOs when tuning the receive VFO, something I don't have > to deal with on my IC-2820H mobile radio or when I use memory channels in > a non-full-duplex radio, but that was not a problem. > > The second pass I attempted with the TH-D72A was on AO-51 around 2322 > UTC. This was also a high pass, with maximum elevation of 63 degrees out > here. I had a little bit of difficulty hearing the satellite in the first > minute or so of the pass while transmitting, which could have been related > to how I was holding the antenna (Elk log periodic). I found during this > pass that I had to twist the antenna to clear up any receive issues while > transmitting. I think I might have heard the slightest desensing during a > couple of my transmissions, but that could have been related to how my > antenna was oriented toward the satellite. I logged 10 QSOs on the AO-51 > pass, which wasn't bad for all the activity on there. > > As I posted earlier and said on the air, the TH-D72A is the real deal as > a dual-band HT for full-duplex FM satellite operation. It does what the > DJ-G7T could not do, and I didn't even have to use the expanded manual on > the CD that came with the radio to get it set up for satellite work. I > also set it up to work on APRS, which took little time to do. I have not > tried it with a computer, to see if it will work as N8MH asked earlier. > Packet is actually something I was not very interested in for this radio - > FM satellites first, APRS next. The radio's GPS took only a few minutes > to pick up signals when I first activated it. > > I do not have test equipment to quantify how well the TH-D72A's receiver > is and how it compares to other radios. From playing with it last night > and today, I know the receiver is on par with the IC-2820H I usually run > on FM birds. Excluding transmitter power, the only thing the 2820 has > over the TH-D72A is its separate knobs for each VFO. It also compares > favor
