Kenwood TH-F6A
I have a Kenwood TH-F6a triband handheld. I upgraded it with a Comet antenna when I bought it around 2007. It was my first ham radio purchase.
TH-F7E mod
6/30/18 Today I did the mod to extend transmit frequency range, so that I can use MURS bands. Now I can talk to my non-HAM spouse. Turns out this was easier than getting her licensed. I already have 2 ICOM IC-F11's set up for MURS, this gives me a total of 3 HT's usable for MURS operation.
I followed the instructions found here: (Take your pick!)
http://vss.pl/mods.dk/mods.php3-radio=kenwood&model=th-f6&selectid=2161.htm
http://www.hampedia.net/kenwood/th-f6-a-modifications-extended-transmit.php
http://w4zt.com/mods/thf6/mods.html
I am really glad this hack involves REMOVING components, because they are so small I doubt I'd ever be able to install one of those diodes and get the polarity right.
Programming
I realized I want to program the scanner with repeater frequencies etc. and what a pain it is to do by hand, so I bought an RS232 programming cable (eBay for $14 including shipping).
Programming by hand (no computer available)
RTFM -- it's really not that hard, but not worth copying the myriad documentation already out there.
Programming with a computer
http://w4zt.com/mods/thf6/mods.html
When I use the Mac, I use a generic USB-RS232 cable, I have a couple; one shows up in Windows as a Prolific 2303. (*Double check the Device Manager serial port to see what com port it's on and change it if you need to.)
Don't forget the radio has to be set up to talk to the computer over the SP/MIC jack. By default it's set to talk to a Speaker/Mic. (Who would have thought.) User manual page 45.
- Push MNU
- Turn knob to select SP/MIC menu
- Select PC
- Push MNU to save or PTT to cancel
Set back to SP/MIC when done if you have a speaker/mic like I do.
Grig + Hamlib
I just fired up grig ("apt-get install grig") for the first time. I am running on a Parallels VM called "Xubuntu Cinnamon" in my MacBookPro, Plover.
The command I used was: grig -m 219 -r /dev/ttyUSB0 In the radio I had to switch (MNU button) the setting from SP/Mic to PC to get it to use the SP/Mic jacks as a serial port.
I can see some settings but grig does not seem to do much.
At least I know the serial port is working and that Windows 7 + Kenwood MCP program is faulty. I can tune the radio. Have not been able to make it do anything useful.
Kenwood's software
Windows program is downloadable from http://www.kenwood.com/i/products/info/amateur/software_download.html
"Memory Control Program MCP-F6/F7 Version 1.01" Still current as of Sept 2015
MURS notes
Refer to the FCC page on MURS, https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/multi-use-radio-service-murs The Wikipedia entry is good too.
I put all 5 MURS channels into the Kenwood on memory locations 60-64.
I put the two wideband channels 4 and 5 into the ICOM radios on locations 1 and 2.
Normally I put the ICOMs on memory position 1 and the put "MURS4 Bl" (slot 63) on the Kenwood on Band B which is low power. Use A BAND for high power if you want 5 watt transmit (just for emergency operation).
CTSS note: "MURS4 Bl = "Blue Dot" and "MURS5 Gr" = "Green Dot". The Kenwood can't do 2.5Khz narrow band so I use the wideband Blue and Green Dot frequencies. Since those are often used commercially, to avoid hearing transmissions from CostCo or whatever I put a CTSS tone of 100.0 Hz on so that I only hear transmissions from my own radios.
The ICOMs are programmed for 2 watts on channels 1 and 2, the legal limit.
Antenna ideas
Wide band receive http://www.bobsamerica.com/TH-F6A.html
Documentation
This is a very interesting page on the TH-F6A; including several manuals and full schematics. http://www.hampedia.net/kenwood/th-f6a.php
Here are another ham's notes: http://www.brenemanlabs.com/Thf6a.htm
