gmane.recreation.radio.hardware.kenwood.th-f7e

Re: SSB Frequency Offset

Bruno Tréguier — 2008-11-22T23:57:28

Hi Wolfgang, Despite what others say, I don't think this is the way things work, so I wouldn't call this a "normal" behaviour. However, due to the little size of this receiver (which to my knowledge is the only pocket receiver with SSB and CW modes), I don't find that surprising at all. In fact correctly receiving the other modes (AM and FM) require less accuracy, and the reduced size of the TH-F7's cabinet probably has something to do with that as well. Given that as USB and LSB are "receive-only" modes, it is not so important, as long as they are stable, after all. I made the test myself, and what happens here is that I get the same behaviour as you in USB (the displayed frequency is too low by 2 kHz), but not in LSB. In that latter case I cross the zero beat exactly when the displayed frequency matches the transmitter's. In CW mode, I'm off by 1 kHz. I made the test on 2 différent bands: 2 meters, and 80 meters, and the results are pretty much the same. Here they are: Transmitter's frequency: 3550 and 145025 Receiver's display for a "zero beat" condition: LSB: 3550 and 145025 (perfect) USB: 3548 and 145023 (2 kHz too low) CW: 3549 and 145024 (1 kHz too low) What I think is that my TH-F7 receiver is misaligned in USB, and yours seems to be misaligned in both SSB modes. Whatever lateral band you're set to receive, anyway, *by convention*, the displayed frequency is (or at least should be) the frequency that would be transmitted if it hadn't been suppressed, so with an unmodulated AM or FM transmission (a plain carrier, in other words), that should be exactly when you get to the zero beat. The only notable exception to this scheme is the CW mode, for which most receivers have an option to choose the frequency display mode: either you set your receiver to display the transmitter's frequency when the beat frequency matches the pitch you chose for your CW reception (this is the most frequent case), or you set it to display the transmitter's frequency when you get to the zero beat (unfrequent). In the case of the TH-F7, it seems that you don't have any choice: you're in the second case, the most unfrequent one. Or in my case I perhaps could say that, as I'm off by 1 kHz, the displayed frequency is ok for a 1 kHz CW pitch ! ;-) Would other readers of this list be so kind as to make the same test on their sides and tell us the result ? Thanks ! Bye & 73's Bruno - F8FIV ------------------------------------

Re: SSB Frequency Offset

Malcolm Granville — 2008-11-22T14:32:19

Sounds quite normal to me, as you are tuning either the upper or lower sidebands within the audio bandwith of the signal.. If you have ever resolved a sideband signal using an old AM receiver with a BFO (showing my age) you will see what I mean. malcolm gi8afs ----- Original Message ----- From: bluxerwj To: ken_th-f7e< at >yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2008 12:39 PM Subject: [ken_th-f7e] SSB Frequency Offset My TH-F7 has an 2 kHz offset in SSB Modes I have to tune 2 KHz higher in LSB mode and 2 kHz lower in USB Mode to get the "zero beat" of a carrier. Is this a normal behavior of the radio in SSB Modes? Please can anybody confirm or comment this!? Best 73! and tnxs de DG7RJ (Wolfgang)

Re: SSB Frequency Offset

bty863644 — 2008-11-22T13:02:59

Helo wolfgang. Yes it is. I have since sold mine. Regards Charles --- In ken_th-f7e< at >yahoogroups.com, "bluxerwj" ...> wrote: ------------------------------------

SSB Frequency Offset

bluxerwj — 2008-11-22T12:39:35

My TH-F7 has an 2 kHz offset in SSB Modes I have to tune 2 KHz higher in LSB mode and 2 kHz lower in USB Mode to get the "zero beat" of a carrier. Is this a normal behavior of the radio in SSB Modes? Please can anybody confirm or comment this!? Best 73! and tnxs de DG7RJ (Wolfgang) ------------------------------------

Re: Have I done the right thing?

kav — 2008-10-28T21:05:05

Hello It sounds to me like one of two things. Either operator error, by which I only mean you haven't got the hang of which VFO's receive which bands best (coz they are different) or a faulty unit. I can't fault mine on most of the things you mention. Air band is excellent (both VHF and UHF). HF is a bit off frequency (confirmed on HF Ocianic set channels) but it played ham bands very nicely when hooked up to a 9ft whip on a moving vehicle. VHF broadcast is perfectly useable. VHF/UHF "scanner" frequencies seem to be fine and it makes a very serviceable 2 n 70 handheld (funny that!) I only have one sub 1mhz broadcast in there, I think it's Five Live or something on 695(ish)khz but it picks up fine. I've never looked for 350mhz TV audio coz I've never heard of it but PMR is audible in that region.I thought TV was from 470 to 800 with the audio on a six megz split. Since it's a few years since I left the TV trade I thought I'd better check that last statement so I switched on my scanner and turned the lovely big tuning dial through 470up. Indeed I did find TV audio so I dug out the F7 and prodded a few keys. As I type this I have TV sound on 477.3 with no problem on the F7/factory antenna on the desk.... and the signals are almost as strong as the scanner/loft mounted discone! 501.3 and 525.3 also produced solid TV audio and I dare say there'd be others if I looked. So, I'd maybe give it a few days concentrated use just to make sure it's not something you're doing...or not doing. Try different antennas if available and different locations. Switch off one receiver whilst testing the other as they can severely desense each other on certain frequency pairs... and see how it goes. If after all this you still think it's deaf then send it back. As an asside, me and a mate have tried to work each other from all over the country on some moneys worth of HF gear and have never made a successfull job of it. I bought the F7 to take to NYC a few years ago and within minutes of touch down had worked that same station back here with two watts of VHF. Now I know IRLP did the hard part but the F7E still reached the node through some pretty hefty superstructures and for that I love it dearly. I've used a few handhelds over the years and none have even come close to this one. Hope you get yours sorted coz I love mine to bits. Regards Oh, one other thing I just remembered....make sure the built in attenuator is switched off! ------------------------------------

Re: Have I done the right thing?

Malcolm Granville — 2008-10-26T23:33:07

Sounds like something not quite right. I had mine connected to my cobweb antenna about 6 feet off the ground and 20m quite lively, a lot of Stateside armchair copy (I'm in Ireland). Give the HF bands another chance (20m during the day), there have been some very quiet periods. Mine is OK on airband, btw below118 is for navaids and you will only hear beacons. I use it mobile with a quarterwave magmount on 2, no problem - although A is more sensitive than B. Its small enough to use like a hand mic. For hand use I have replaced the stock antenna with a Diamond SRH519 which is a great improvement. I agree with Tony, the top knobs are the wrong way round., I often lose the channel when reaching for the volume. rgds malcolm gi8afs ----- Original Message ----- From: bty863644 To: ken_th-f7e< at >yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2008 3:51 PM Subject: [ken_th-f7e] Have I done the right thing? Have I done the right thing? That is buying a TH-F7E it seems very very deaf on the uk tv audio frequencies "using a discone" Kenwood must assume it receives there as they list the frequncies in the manual. 250- 350mhz am hopeless. Also the hf frequencies using a 20ft wire antenna`hopeless with int ant off. MW wave using the in built ferrite not bad and the vhf air except below 118mhz am. Any body in the UK comment please? Regards and thanks Chas

Re: Have I done the right thing?

bty863644 — 2008-10-26T19:44:49

Hello Tony tnx for the reply. I plan to send it back only bought friday at the Leicester rally. I did actually have on when they first came on the market. That wasn't too hot but that was at least five years`ago. You must live nr Droitwich. Regards Chas GM4WIE. Thought they might have done some mods. But obviously not--- In ken_th-f7e< at >yahoogroups.com, Tony Dixon ...> wrote: very ferrite but transmitter. can't 1300MHz" wish the ------------------------------------

Re: Have I done the right thing?

Tony Dixon — 2008-10-26T19:29:46

In message eGroups.com>, bty863644 virgin.net> writes Yes it's certainly seems a bit deaf to me. I get the TV sound OK but 198khz, radio 4 cannot be heard even when driving past the transmitter. VHF broadcast band seems OK but I don't listen around 118MHz so can't comment. For Kenwood to describe it as "coverage from 100kHz to 1300MHz" seems a tad exorbitant. However on 2m and 7cm as an amateur handheld its terrific. I just wish they had put the volume control as the centre knob and the outer as the frequency control. Cheers

Have I done the right thing?

bty863644 — 2008-10-26T15:51:21

Have I done the right thing? That is buying a TH-F7E it seems very very deaf on the uk tv audio frequencies "using a discone" Kenwood must assume it receives there as they list the frequncies in the manual. 250- 350mhz am hopeless. Also the hf frequencies using a 20ft wire antenna`hopeless with int ant off. MW wave using the in built ferrite not bad and the vhf air except below 118mhz am. Any body in the UK comment please? Regards and thanks Chas ------------------------------------

Re: USB to RS232

kav — 2008-09-25T18:51:55

Hello Once you get to know it the Kenwood proggy is quite serviceable. Yhe only other one I've seen is LINK 700. As the name implies it does the TM-D700 but it does the f7e and several others as well. You can also convert between them which really is rather handy. I have an install file if you can't find it on line. Regards ------------------------------------

Re: TH-F7E, VFO B deaf on VHF

Fred — 2008-09-15T21:03:21

Well, such antennas are a compromise and those radios are made to work with them whether belt worn, hand held or with speaker/mic. Kenwood make plenty claims about how tough their product is but obviously wouldn't cover unapproved accessories and mods. Best to return yours under warranty instead of guessing yourself into rejection. Legitmate failure is quite likely and it's for the repairers to find otherwise and tell you why. Also, should my own radio ever need repair I'll have the high power setting reduced to 3 Watts for cool running, reliability and extended battery duration between charges. Regards, Fred. --- On Mon, 15/9/08, Robert Elsinga elsinga.net> wrote: From: Robert Elsinga elsinga.net> Subject: Re: [ken_th-f7e] TH-F7E, VFO B deaf on VHF To: ken_th-f7e< at >yahoogroups.com Date: Monday, 15 September, 2008, 5:58 AM Fred, On 9/15/08, Fred yahoo.co. uk> wrote: I remember seeing something about deafness (but on 70cm) caused by a high voltages arising due to a mismatched antenna. Perhaps a similar cause? The centre pin of the antenna doesn't seat very deeply into the damnable SMA socket. I use the stock antenna on a SMA connector which is in fine shape. And I read the same message about the A VFO going deaf on 70cm and a damaged MOSFET as a cause. But I wonder: the atching of the antenna is very much dependend on wether you hold it or not, if it is on your belt (and next to your body-mass), etcetera. If the RF amplifiers are prone to damage by a mismatched antenna, then this coulod also happen when transmitting on high power on amateur frequencies. That would be sort of.... bad... wouldn't it? Hope you get it fixed economically. I think about returning it to Kenwood trying to get it fixed under warranty... but I will ask first if this sort of damage is covered. Regards, Fred. --- On Sun, 14/9/08, Robert Elsinga elsinga. net> wrote: From: Robert Elsinga elsinga. net> Subject: Re: [ken_th-f7e] TH-F7E, VFO B deaf on VHF To: ken_th-f7e< at >yahoogro ups.com, THF6A< at >yahoogroups. com, TH-F6A< at >yahoogroups. com, kenwood_th-f6< at > yahoogroups. com Date: Sunday, 14 September, 2008, 4:25 PM Robert Elsinga wrote: Looking at the schematics, my best guess is that Q64 (a 3SK320 lN CHANNEL DUAL GATE MES TYPE UHF BAND LOW NOISE AMP/ MIX) could be non-functionable. Since it is the 108-265MHz RF amplifier, that could be the problem of very bad reception on VHF... and since it works from 108 to 265MHz, it could explain why FM radio and UHF are still working fine (bot bands us a seperate 3SK320. What could have caused this?

Re: TH-F7E, VFO B deaf on VHF

Robert Elsinga — 2008-09-15T04:58:17

Fred, On 9/15/08, Fred yahoo.co.uk> wrote: I use the stock antenna on a SMA connector which is in fine shape. And I read the same message about the A VFO going deaf on 70cm and a damaged MOSFET as a cause. But I wonder: the atching of the antenna is very much dependend on wether you hold it or not, if it is on your belt (and next to your body-mass), etcetera. If the RF amplifiers are prone to damage by a mismatched antenna, then this coulod also happen when transmitting on high power on amateur frequencies. That would be sort of.... bad... wouldn't it? Hope you get it fixed economically. I think about returning it to Kenwood trying to get it fixed under warranty... but I will ask first if this sort of damage is covered. Regards,

Re: TH-F7E, VFO B deaf on VHF

Fred — 2008-09-15T01:24:58

I remember seeing something about deafness (but on 70cm) caused by a high voltages arising due to a mismatched antenna. Perhaps a similar cause? The centre pin of the antenna doesn't seat very deeply into the damnable SMA socket. Hope you get it fixed economically. Regards, Fred. --- On Sun, 14/9/08, Robert Elsinga elsinga.net> wrote: From: Robert Elsinga elsinga.net> Subject: Re: [ken_th-f7e] TH-F7E, VFO B deaf on VHF To: ken_th-f7e< at >yahoogroups.com, THF6A< at >yahoogroups.com, TH-F6A< at >yahoogroups.com, kenwood_th-f6< at >yahoogroups.com Date: Sunday, 14 September, 2008, 4:25 PM Robert Elsinga wrote: Looking at the schematics, my best guess is that Q64 (a 3SK320 lN CHANNEL DUAL GATE MES TYPE UHF BAND LOW NOISE AMP/ MIX) could be non-functionable. Since it is the 108-265MHz RF amplifier, that could be the problem of very bad reception on VHF... and since it works from 108 to 265MHz, it could explain why FM radio and UHF are still working fine (bot bands us a seperate 3SK320. What could have caused this?

Re: TH-F7E, VFO B deaf on VHF

Robert Elsinga — 2008-09-14T15:25:07

Looking at the schematics, my best guess is that Q64 (a 3SK320 lN CHANNEL DUAL GATE MES TYPE UHF BAND LOW NOISE AMP/ MIX) could be non-functionable. Since it is the 108-265MHz RF amplifier, that could be the problem of very bad reception on VHF... and since it works from 108 to 265MHz, it could explain why FM radio and UHF are still working fine (bot bands us a seperate 3SK320. What could have caused this?

TH-F7E, VFO B deaf on VHF

Robert Elsinga — 2008-09-13T09:48:51

Hi! I already posted this problem before and thought is was explained by interference from VFO A. But now I'm running into the same problem again and it's getting weirder... Setting: TH-F7E, MARS/CAP modded by dealer, single VFO mode Problem: when receiving a 163.x MHZ VHF frequency on VFO A, I get an S9 reading. However, the same frequency only comes in on VFO B just over the background noise, say S1 or S2 max. On UHF there is no dramatic difference. If VFO A was deaf outside the amateur bands, that would be logical, but the situation is the opposite. I read the article at http://article.gmane.org/gmane.recreation.radio.hardware.kenwood.th-f7e/21 where this occurred on UHF, but that affected BOTH VFO's. It was caused by using high power at 446MHz. Can anyone explain this? Could this be caused by Tx on VHF with high power? I use my F7E as a scanner also, using both VFO's at the same time (to compensate for the lousy scanrate), and since the HT is on my belt I could have triggered the PTT button accidently (but not for a long time I guess).

Re: Re: USB to RS232

Andrea Fontanini — 2008-09-08T11:16:27

I use: http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-Programming-Cable-for-Kenwood-TH-F6A-TH-F7E-TH-G71A_W0QQitemZ360084896197QQihZ023QQcategoryZ40059QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem and it's work very well. '73 IV3ZXO --- On Sat, 9/6/08, Tony Dixon tonev.co.uk> wrote: From: Tony Dixon tonev.co.uk> Subject: Re: [ken_th-f7e] Re: USB to RS232 To: ken_th-f7e< at >yahoogroups.com Date: Saturday, September 6, 2008, 2:18 PM I had one from eBay, one from eBuyer and one from a rally. None worked. Apparently not all the pins in the RS232 are implemented in some cables. This one came as a recommendation from G4TUT as working with his Yaesu VX-2E. And it's fine with the TH-F7 as well. Tony G4CJC In message eGroups.com>, davebb123456 ntlworld. com> writes

Re: Re: USB to RS232

Tony Dixon — 2008-09-06T14:18:10

I had one from eBay, one from eBuyer and one from a rally. None worked. Apparently not all the pins in the RS232 are implemented in some cables. This one came as a recommendation from G4TUT as working with his Yaesu VX-2E. And it's fine with the TH-F7 as well. Tony G4CJC In message eGroups.com>, davebb123456 ntlworld.com> writes

Re: USB to RS232

davebb123456 — 2008-09-06T12:09:29

hi i got a usb cable for less then £10 of ebay dave 2e0dmb ------------------------------------

USB to RS232

tdx2002uk — 2008-09-06T11:03:39

I have finally found a USB to RS232 connection that works. Maplin are selling them for £12.99. I've had 3 others from various sources ranging from £3 to £9 which did not work. But this one does, so now I can programme my TH-F7 from my computer, which like all modern ones, does not have an RS232 port. Does anyone know of a better programme than the Kenwood one? 73 Tony G4CJC ------------------------------------

Re: mic/spkr plugs

Steve — 2008-08-17T01:35:50

I never had any trouble here, with the Kenwood headset (don't recall the number (SMC something). I have, however, had this trouble with Radio Shack plugs. I "fixed" the plug, not the radio (cheaper).

mic/spkr plugs

Ted Avery — 2008-08-14T20:09:32

Hi Are the mods on the mic speaker plugs to allow the plugs to go further in, or are they to allow the plugs to get into the plastic case? I actually took the case apart and reamed out the case to get the plugs in till the faces mated together. I know, butcher! But i am an engineer who doesn't mind playing with his gear. Do the plugs not go in far enough in their original form? Regards G3WBB ------------------------------------