When a plug other than the PG-2V or PG-3C is inserted into the DC IN jack, the ground side of the jack may not disconnect. This may cause the external DC power to be supplied directly to the internal battery which results in overheating the battery and blowing the fuse. To protect the battery, replace the fuse with a protection diode, part number ERB83-004.

Note models with serial numbers greater than 801XXXX allready incorporate this diode as D16.

This modification may be performed under warranty.
Time required for this change is 1/2 hour or less.



19-07-1998 TH-215A to TNC

The hook-up of a th-215a to my pac-comm tiny 2 tnc was very easy. There are no components involved in the connection. All you need are two phone plugs: 1 sub mini, and 1 stereo(3 conductor) mini.
Both available from radio shack,two to a pack.
if you have a kenwood speaker mike, then the instruction sheet will contain a drawing showing the basic connecting lines. if not, heres how its done:
The sub-mini is the speaker plug. The center pin goes to the speaker pin on the 5 pin din on the tnc, the shaft is the ground.
On the mini stereo plug, you dont use the center pin, just the two shaft connections. the short shaft goes to mike, the long shaft is the push to talk......thats it, four wires to the connector that goes to the tnc plug, and youre in business!!

One very very important thing-----always make sure that all battery save functions on the handy talkie are off. if it isnt, a slight delay in receiving will cause retrys from the station sending to you, and will delay packet reception at your end. please make careful note of this. Any questions, reply to K2JOV, HARRY, at N2ELC-4 BBS in n.j......good luck!!



19-07-1998 KENWOOD TH-215A out-of-band mod

1. Remove two screws from belt clip
2. Remove 4 screws from back of radio
3. Slide front assembly off
4. Locate set of 4 jumpers:
   

                                 (top front inside)
                     +--------------------------------------+
                     |                                      |
                     |                                      |
                     |         +--------+                   |
                     |         |        |                   |
                     |         |        |                   |
                     |         +--------+                   |
                     |                                      |
                     |                      +--------+      |
                     |                      |        |      |
   J4: intact        |           J4 o---o   |        |      |
   J3: cut           |           J3 o) (o   +--------+      |
   J2: cut           |           J2 o) (o                   |
   J1: cut           |           J1 o) (o                   |
                     |                                      |
                     |                                      |
                     |                                      |
                     |                      SPKR            |
                     |                                      |
                     |                                      |
                     |             mic                      |
                     |                                      |
                     +--------------------------------------+
   

5. Reassemble radio.
6. Reset microprocessor: Turn radio on while simultaneously pressing both _F_ key and _ENTER_ key. <

>In a sample population of about 60 amateurs in this town, three of us
>own Kenwood TH-215A HT's, all purchased separately at different times
>from different sources....

>ALL THREE have developed an audio problem in the last eight months:
>the audio (both from the microphone and from the keypad) simply
>disappears at unpredictable intervals.  And all three can be "fixed"
>by WHACKING the HT with the palm of one's hand--until it happens again.

  J1  J2  J3  J4      RX           TX      step     DTMF     TONE
__________________________________________________________________________

  1   1   1   1    144-146Mhz     <==      20k       YES      38 tone

  1   1   1   0    141-163Mhz    144-146    5k       YES      38 tone

  0   1   1   1    144-146Mhz     <==       5k        NO      TONE1750hz

  1   0   1   1    144-146Mhz     <==       5k        NO      1750 hz

  0   1   1   0    144-146Mhz     <==      12.5k      NO      TONE/1750hz

  1   0   1   0    144-146Mhz     <==      12.5k      NO      1750 hz 

  0   0   1   1    144-148Mhz     <==       5k       YES      38 tone

  1   1   0   1    141-163Mhz    144-148    5k       YES      38 tone

  0   1   0   1    141-163Mhz    141-151    5k       YES      38 tone

  0   0   0   1    141-163Mhz     <==       5k       YES      38 tone

  0   0   1   0    134-148Mhz     <==       5k       YES      38 tone

  1   0   0   1    154-174Mhz     <==       5k       YES      38 tone 

The transceivers mentioned above can be mechanically improved by adding a bracket assembly to the volume and squelch controls. The bracket assembly is being used in current production and is available for older units from the Kenwood Parts Department.

Bracket Ass'y (W05-0235-00)

1. Disconnect the battery pack and antenna.
   
   
2. Remove the 7 screws from the panel of the transceiver (Figure 1).
   
   
3. Lift the front panel from the transceiver and lay it to the right side.
   
   
4. Disconnect the 2 flex cables and remove the 3 screws from the IF unit (Figure 2).
   
   
5. Pull the top panel off and the remove the IF unit.
   
   
6. Remove the knobs and black cloth from the volume and squelch controls.
   
   
7. Inspect the controls to insure they are mounted flush to the board. If they are not flush, completely desolder and resolder the controls.
   
   
8. Insert the bracket over the controls and tighten the nuts (tighten the nut on the volume control first). See figure 3 for the bracket assembly view.
   
   
9. Assemble the transceiver be reversing steps 1 - 6.

This modification may be covered under warranty.
Time required for this modification is ½ hour or less.



16-04-2000 TH-215/415 TX signal-To-Noise ratio improvements
Author: Trio-Kenwood Communication, inc.

The TH-215/415 transmit signal-to-noise ratio is typically 30 dB. This ratio is more then sufficient for routine operations. For those users who would like to obtain additional performance, the following modification will provide an improvement of 5 to 8 dB.

Required parts:

47 ohm 1/10 watt chip resistor       (RK73FB2A470J)
220 ohm 1/10 watt carbon resistor    (RD14BB2B221J)
22 µF 6.3V Electrolytic capacitor    (CE04CW0J220M)
1 µF 50V Electrolytic capacitor      (C90-1248-05)

1. Disconnect the battery and antenna.
   
   
2. Remove the 7 screws from the back panel of the transceiver (figure 1).
   
   
3. Lift the front panel from the transceiver and lay it to the right side.
   
   
4. Disconnect the 2 flex cables and remove the 3 screws from the IF unit (figure 2).
   
   
5. Pull the top panel off and then remove the IF unit.
   
   
6. Remove the 8 screws from the RF unit and unplug connector CN2 (figure 3). Remove the RF unit from the back cover.
   
   
7. Locate R50 (TH-215) or R60 TH-415) on the foil side of the RF unit (figure 4). Replace the resistor with a 47 ohm chip resistor.
   
   
8. On the component side of the IF unit, add a 1 µF capacitor as shown in figure 5.
   
   
9. Also on the component side, cut one foil, add a 220 ohm resistor, and add a 22 µF capacitor as shown in figure 6.
   
   
10. Assemble the transceiver by reversing steps 1 - 6.

>

This is an optional change that may not be covered under warranty.
Time required for this modification is 1 hour or less.



21-04-2000 TH-205/215/315/415 PTT knob installation procedure
Author: Kenwood Communication, inc.

The original plastic knob (K29-3054-15) has been replaced with a rubber knob (K29-3054-35). The PTT mounting guide on the front panel must be removed to allow the new knob to be installed. The following procedure will explain the installation procedure.

1. Disconnect the battery pack and antenna.
   
   
2. Remove the four screws from the back panel.
   
   
3. Carefully lift the front panel up and lay it into the right side of the body of the transceiver.
   
   
4. Disconnect the front panel from the body of the transceiver.
   
   
5. The plastic PTT knob is held in place with three tabs. Press in the bottom tab and then push the knob out of the front panel.
   
   
6. Push in the guide to crease it's two legs where they join the front panel.
   
   
7. Wiggle the guide back and forth until it breaks off the front panel. Discard the guide and plastic knob.
   
   
8. Install the rubber knob on the front panel. The side with the square tab goes toward the bottom of the front panel.