How to connect "QRM Eliminator" to Kenwood TS-890

Connect the PTT line from the QRM Eliminator to the REMOTE connector on the rear panel of the Kenwood TS-890 with the supplied 7 pin DIN connector.

Connect ground to pin 2 (COM) and the middle line to pin 4 (MKE).

Go to the MENU and on the right side of the screen push the LINEAR AMP button. Press MORE to rotate the menu options if  the LINEAR AMP button is not present.

In the LINEAR AMP menu set:

Linear Amplifier             to   On
Internal Relay Control   to   On
Keying Logic                   to   Active Low

Do this for HF and the 50 MHz band. 

How to remote control your Kenwood TS-590, TS-890 etc. over the internet if port 60001 is blocked by your internet provider

Kenwood transceivers like the Kenwood TS-590, TS-890 can be remotely operated over a network with free software (ARCP) that is downloadable from the Kenwood site.

Ping the other side to check if there is a connection and first make sure a ping is returned before proceeding.

The network ports used by ARCP are 60001 TCP and 60000 UDP.

There could be difficulties trying to remote control your rig over the internet with ARCP because some, many or all internet providers block port 60001.

There are several ways to remedy this "port block" problem.

1. Use a VPN. A VPN uses its own port and tunnels all the ports u want to use through this VPN port. A VPN is often not free.
   
   
2. Use a remote desktop. Setup everything on a computer right next to the rig and open that desktop remotely. Search the internet for free VNC. VNC uses ports too but you can configure them to use any port you want.
   
   
3. Redirect port 60001. It is possible to redirect port 60001 to a port of choice that is not blocked. If you search the internet there is a free service available. This works in combination with a dynamic DNS service. Locally you will have to configure your router to accept the port of choice and reroute it to 60001.
   
   
4. Use other remote control software for your rig that does not use blocked ports. Open890 can be used with the TS-890 and not only has very nice features but is free and works on any computer that has an internet browser.

Some tips and tricks for the Kenwood TS-590S

• If you need very low TX output for modes like WSPR you can use the  DRV output. Push the DRV button and for TX the DRV output will be used and that is about 1 mW depending on the TX power setting. For RX the normal antenna will be used.
  
  
• Listening to AM broadcast stations you can set the bandwidth control up to 5 kHz wide but beware this is per sideband so in AM the bandwidth is actually twice that wide. Normally a broadcast in AM is 9 kHz wide so the 10 kHz available is more than enough.
  
  
• The option to buy a TXCO from Kenwood is expensive. A cheap Chinese TCXO works too and only costs about 12 euro. Search for them on eBay or AliExpress. The cheap price has the disadvantage that this cheap TCXO introduces extra noise to the receiver especially on 50 MHz. 

  

  Cheap Chinese TCXO

  
  
• The power output varies according to the voltage given by the power supply. The manual states that 13.8 Volts of power is needed. On 12 Volts the rig only gives a maximum of 50 Watts. Full power of  100 Watt output is reached with a power supply of 14 Volts.
  
  
• Remember that as the manual states the on-board power meter gives an average power reading in SSB.
  
  
• To send recorded audio messages without touching the PTT or send button, set the VOX to On and VOX level to 0.
  
  
• To expand the transmit range of the transceiver remove resistor R900. The expanded transmit  range is 0 to 30 MHz. There is no TX between 30 and 48 MHz. 

How to expand the transmit frequencies on a Kenwood TM-D710GE (aka Mars cap)

The Kenwood TM-D710GE originally comes with a large receive range of 118 MHz all the way up to 1300 MHz. (Interrupted from 524 MHz to 800 MHz) It has a small transmit range of 144 to 146 MHz and 430 to 440 MHz.
To expand the transmit range from 136 to 174 MHz and from 400 to 470 MHz you will have to turn off the radio, then open the set with 8 screws and remove the resistor labeled W601.
With the front of the radio facing you it is on the lower left hand corner. Closest to the control head on the left hand side of the radio.

The green wire in older radios

In the popular youtube videos doing this mod on older versions of the radio this is a green wire.

After removing the resistor and turning the transceiver on it will reset to the default settings so it is a good idea to save all settings and memory banks beforehand to a file. This can be done with both MCP-6A or CHIRP.

Here are some more hints and tricks concerning this radio.

Kenwood TM-D710GE hints, tips and tricks

This radio is not in production anymore.

APRS

The Kenwood TM-D710GE has a GPS built inside the head so you can put an APRS beacon on the air without the wire hassle.
The internal GPS  has to be turned on with the GPS button after which the iGPS icon appears. Here are some hints and tricks that are not in the manual.

• After the GPS searches for satellites, finds a few of them and gets a lock/fix the iGPS icon will start to blink.
  Mostly on other hardware this is shown the opposite way and the icon starts to blink if a fix is needed. So keep in mind, blinking is good as it shows the internal GPS has a lock/fix.

• 
  The internal GPS in the control head of the rig, placed in front of the hand brake, has a very good reception as it even keeps tracking inside my garage outfitted with only a small roof window. Its summer here so the car has no roof.

• Default smart-beaconing settings are good as they are. 
  
  
• In the Netherlands digipeating is not allowed with a normal licence, you need an "unmanned station licence" to do digipeat on air so set all digipeat options to off.

• The rig shows GPS coordinates in minutes or degrees but also shows a very useful Maidenhead locator. After the GPS has a fix and the iGPS icon is blinking press the POS button and the Maidenhead locator is on the bottom line. Navigate trough the pages with the left and right arrow keys.

Here is an actual readout on a google map from my transceiver.

Other hints, tips and tricks

•  If you leave the head in the sun the display will turn black. If it cools down it will turn normal again.

• Note that the problem with the ceramic filter in the 2nd IF stage that is present in older versions of this radio has been solved by Kenwood in this Kenwood TM-D710GE. 

• The transmit frequency range of this radio can be expanded by removing resistor W601 as described here.
  
  
• There are two VFO's in this rig, one on the left and one on the right called A and B.
  VFO A is unable to transmit or receive on 800 to 1300MHz.
  VFO B is unable to transmit or receive on 118 to 136MHz. 
  This feature is important if you want to do APRS and air-band scanning at the same time. To use air-band and APRS simultaneously set B as the data band so that the APRS is on the B side. 
  If you want to do APRS and listen to the 23cm HAM band for a duplex use the A side as data band.
  The range the radio can do on side/VFO A and side/VFO B is:
  
  

  A	118 MHz	118.000 MHz through 135.995 MHz AM+FM
  A	144 MHz	136.000 MHz through 199.995 MHz FM
  A	220 MHz	200.000 MHz through 299.995 MHz FM
  A	300 MHz	300.000 MHz through 399.995 MHz FM
  A	430 MHz	400.000 MHz through 523.995 MHz FM
  B	144 MHz	136.000 MHz through 199.995 MHz FM
  B	220 MHz	200.000 MHz through 299.995 MHz FM
  B	300 MHz	300.000 MHz through 399.995 MHz FM
  B	430 MHz	400.000 MHz through 523.995 MHz FM
  B	800 MHz	800.000 MHz through 1.299.995 MHz FM

  
  
• In the summertime the GMT settings for the rig are +2:00 in the Netherlands.
  In the wintertime the GMT settings for this rigs are +1:00 in the Netherlands.
  
  
• To connect to the TNC you need to make a serial connection with the COM port on the head of the rig, not the pc port on the brick. It is the same cable as the PC port.
  
  
• Even though all brochures of this rig claim it can decode DTMF and can be remote controlled by DTMF it can not decode DTMF at all. On 08/31/18 Kenwood announced that radios with serial numbers B8610001 and up no longer feature DTMF decode capability. (The decoding chip is not in the rig anymore.) This means the TM-D710GE does NOT support remote control with DTMF via a HT or EchoLink functionality. The TM-D710GE is not able to remote control the TS-590S or TS-890S.
  
  
• The Kenwood TM-D710GE does NOT have any repeater function and does not do crossband repeat. (The TM-D710GA does.) However, this can be changed by placing a 0 Ohm resistor/jumper from PAD0 to PAD2 as shown in the picture below.
  
  
  
  
• The Kenwood TM-D710GE does NOT have weather channels or weather channel alert. (The TM-D710GA does.)
  
  
• The TM-D710GE has a TNC build inside that has a mail/message-box option. Other packet radio stations can connect to your TNC with packet radio and leave a message for you.
  
  
• The Tone function only works with transmit. Use CTCSS if you also want to use a Tone for receive. For simple repeaters Tone is good enough but on combined digital repeaters use CTCSS so you do not have to listen to the digital blerps.
  
  
• Send Email over the APRS network by pressing the "MSG" button then "NEW". set EMAIL in the TO field and start the message with the Email address, a space and then the message. (You can not send Email from PC to an APRS station.)
  
  
• Don't forget to check out if there are firmware updates that give extra fun. The latest panel firmware update increases the amount of rigs shown in the APRS list.