From: wa2ise
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc

Subject: TS850S features and mod file (long)

Keywords:features, mods

Date: 26 Oct 91 03:36:01 GMT

Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories

Lines:291





copied from packet:

This was a 4 article set that I merged into one long article.  Talks about

various features and mods for this radio

begin article:



From: ka2raf
To: 850mod
#Subject: TS850S mods 1



Having lived with Kenwood's TS-850S tranceiver for 5 days, here are some of my

observations:



. While the manual shows 35 power-on front panel adjustments, there

  really are 36.  Function number 35 is set from the factory to the

  OFF state.  Well, what exactly is this unknown function?  Well

  Bunkies, this enables the tranceiver to transmit on 27.500 through

  28.000 mhz!  Do yourself a favor, and set this option to ON for TX

  inhibit!  DO NOT JEAPORDIZE YOUR LICENSE!  Why in the world did

  the factory allow this???  Maybe they don't want the Chicken

  Banders butchering up the rigs....



. Tone control.  The setup only allows Burst or Continuous

  modes, there is no way to turn it OFF, even though the manual

  indicates there is a way.



. Quick memory function.  You MUST pass through either the VFO A or

  VFO B registers to program these..  You cannot go from standard

  memory to quick memory directly.



. My 850S came out of the box running low power (50 - 75w PEP), so

  I called the local ham radio dealer inquiring about service manual

  availability.  Well they had them in stock, but at a price of $50.00!

  Unbelievable!  Kenwood wants fifty dollars for (in the continuing

  Kenwood tradition) a terribly organized, incomplete, and horrible

  reading manual!!!  Well, I dug into the schematics and opened up the

  the radio, here's a list of items that might be of interest to some:





  RF Board Controls

  -----------------

  VR  - RX BAL

  VR  - TX BIAS

  VR  - TX BAL

  VR  - TYP (50W output power adjust, used with S1 below)

  VR  - MIN (?????) /  internal antenna tuner

  VR  - TUN (Tune mode power adjust)

  VR  - VSF (THIS IS THE 100W POWER OUTPUT CONTROL)

  VR  - SWR Protect activation

  VR  - PWM (Forward power meter calibration)

  VR1  - RWM (Reflected power meter calibration)

  VR1  - AL0 (ALC meter zero)

  VR1  - ALM (ALC meter calibration)

  VR1  - CPM (Processor meter calibration)

  VR1  - ALG (ALC gain adjustment)



  S  - All Band Power Down Switch (Decreases power to 50 watts)





  IF Board Controls

  -----------------

  VR      -

  VR      -

  VR      -

  VR      - Beep volume

  VR      - Sidetone volume

  VR      - Processor adjust

  VR      - ?????

  VR8  & VR9  - ?????

  VR1      - ?????

  VR1      -

  VR12 & VR13 - S Meter adjust

  VR14 & VR15 - AGC adjust

  VR1      - Notch filter adjust





. PLEASE NOTE!

  Most of these controls are 1/8" pots, so if you intend to adjust

  them use a VERY SMALL non-metallic tool.



. My 850S also came out of the box with the RIT/XIT control not dis-

  playing 0.00 khz at fiducial (12 o'clock position) center.

  Behind the front panel in the upper right corner is the control

  for center adjust.  It just needed a wee bit of tweaking...

  Along with this control on the circuit board are the master adjust-

  ments for the SSB slope tuning (High Cut and Low Cut).



. When both top and bottom covers are removed, on the left-hand side

  is the FM board.  There are 3 (three) pots on the board.  They are

  FM Wide (12khz) deviation, FM Narrow (6khz) deviation, and FM Mic

  gain.





Author's note: I cannot say whether ALL the information above is accurate.

I do not purport to be an electronics wizard, but am just an

Amateur radio operator who wants to get the most enjoyment

out of his equipment



Let's beat the ridiculous cost of poorly written service manuals!  Add to this

document and please circulate it!



73,

Jan - KC2CT



#Subject: TS850S mods 2



  More Observations As Of 6-26-91 - KC2CT

  ---------------------------------------



. FM mode defaults to WIDE (12khz).  This is WAY too wide for accessing

  any 10m repeater.  Hit the 455khz filter button again for FM-N

  (narrow).  This will set the IF to 6khz width, and you be able

  to work FM 10m stations.  Note: The 8.83 filters are NOT

  selectable in FM mode.



. Memory scrolling via M CH./VFO CH.  You can bypass all unused

  channels if you press the 1 mhz button.  With the button active,

  only stored memory channels will be displayed as the knob is

  rotated.



. Tuneable memories.  Out of the box, the radio is set up for non-

  tuneable memories.  Just bring up setup function xx on the display,

  and set it to ON, and ALL memories can be tuned via the VFO. When

  use the M.CH/VFO CH. switch you will be returned to the original

  frequency & mode setting in the memory.



. It may or may not be obvious to some, but the radio is capable of

  cross-band and/or cross-mode operation.  Just pump the required

  modes and frequencies into memory channels or VFOs, and you're

  off and running.  Hope you have a very broadbanded antenna!



. CW message storage is lost when you power off the radio.  I didn't

  order the DRU-2 option (yet), so I don't know whether these messages

  will be saved.  You'd think that with everything else that is stored

  in RAM and backed up by battery, that Kenwood would have made pro-

  visions to keep recorded messages alive also.  A modification????



. When adding additional filters, is is necessary to set the

  corresponding switch on.  Under the hatch on top, is a 4 position

  dip switch.  The manual shows a picture of it, but makes no mention

  of their settings.  This switch is necessary to inform the micro-

  processor of the filters' absence or presence.  ON is for presence,

  OFF is for absence.  Below is the switch diagram:



   -----

   | = |  <-- YK-88C-1, YK-88CN-1, YK-88SN-1

   | = |  <-- YK-88CN-1, YK-88CN-1, YK-88SN-1

   | = |  <-- No Function

   | = |  <-- YG-455C-1 or YG-455CN-1

   -----

   O   O

   N   F

       F



#Subject: TS850S mods 3



  More Observations As Of 6-30-91 - KC2CT

  ---------------------------------------



  Well here I am again with more stuff on the 850S...



. I received the DRU-2, voice recording unit this week, and installed

  it.Here's what I found:



. The unit comes with a lithium battery for backing up the

  voice messages when the rig is powered off.



. The initial state of the DRU-2 is:



  Message 1 -  8 seconds

  Message 2 -  8 seconds

  Message 3 - 16 seconds



  You can halve the sampling rate via front panel setup

  control xx.  This will effectively DOUBLE the time of

  of each message, however, the quality of voice repro-

  duction will suffer because of the lower sampling rate.



. On playback of the messages, the microphone IS NOT

  disabled, so be quiet when you're transmitting stored

  messages.



. Use the MONI function to hear what you've recorded and/or

  are transmitting, and the MIC gain control to keep the

  ALC in range, as the DRU-2 drives the radio much harder

  than the microphone input.



. The high boost function and speech processor are available

  to the DRU-2 during transmit.



. I also got the VS-2 voice unit.  The voice is the same as the

  older VS-1 for the TS-440, and TS-940, but the unit is in a smaller

  package.  It will speak the frequency in either English or Japanese.

  There is a volume control pot on the bottom of the board which

  should be adjusted PRIOR to screwing down the VS-2.  The output on

  my unit was very low, until I tweaked it up.  Also there are jumpers

  on the board to speed up the voice playback...  You'll need to

  consult the instruction page for the VS-1 for speeds, as there is

  nothing mentioned in the instructions for the VS-2.



. A note on output power of the rig.  The radio uses 2SC2789's...

  These devices are rated as 100 watt devices Kenwood is running

  the finals VERY conservatively.  When playing around with output,

  I had the rig dead-keying 175 watts, but backed it down to 100

  watts, as I didn't want to blow up the rig, but I was definitely

  smiling as the Birds' meter swung with a 250 watt slug!



. The ROM chip on the digital board is socketed.  Kenwood had problems

  with early 440's and 940's with poor soldered connections.  While

  it's a nice idea to allow removal and replacement of the ROM to

  add features/fix bugs, this might become a problem area in the

  future.



. Hidden function!!!  If you turn on the radio while holding down

  the VOICE button, EVERY button on the radio will acknowledge its

  function via morse code!  This is a terrific feature for sightless

  hams!  I can't understand why it is not mentioned in the owners

  manual or marketing literature!



#Subject: TS850S mods 4



  Still MORE Observations - KC2CT - 07-05-91

  ------------------------------------------

  Well if you've been following this brief series, you probably

  know by now, that despite any criticism, I really LOVE my 850S!

  I've really dug into the guts of the radio, and truly find it

  a pleasure to explore and operate..Well here's a few other

  items that should be of interest to other hams:



. ALL BAND TRANSMIT

  -----------------

  Kenwood markets this radio worldwide, and has made provisions

  to allow the radio to transmit between 1.625 mhz and 29.999 mhz.

  I am providing this modification for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY!

  DO NOT TRANSMIT OUT OF BAND, THIS WILL JEAPORDIZE YOUR LICENSE,

  AND HAVE THE FCC, AND/OR INTERNATIONAL AUTHORITIES KNOCKING AT

  YOUR DOOR!!!



  The All-band transmit modification requires the removal and re-

  location of a diode on the the digital board which is located

  behind the front panel.  The US version of the radio has diode

  D11 installed, and diode D9 removed.  D11 must be removed, and

  installed in the D9 position.  This modification IS NOT for the

  faint of heart, as it entails removing the front panel, and the

  digital board.  Note that the digital board has solder holes that

  are through-soldered; that is, there are circuit traces on both

  sides of the board, so make sure that ALL solder is removed from

  the holes.  This modification will also allow the antenna tuner

  to tune anywhere the receiver is tuned.  This modification should

  ONLY be performed by those familiar with soldering and de-soldering

  techniques, and requires patience, and dexterity.



  ----- more on the D11 mod from the UK ----

  This mod concerns the UK kenwood TS850S on the circuit board

  behind the front panel lies a bank of diodes numbered

  d1-d11 all diodes are there except for diode d10 to unlock the

  UK ts-850s to full transmit, just cut or remove diode d11

  perform full cpu reset,,when powering unit after modification

  for full reset press and hold A=B while turning on unit ......

  thanks   Pred :)





. Broadcast Band Sensitivity

  --------------------------

  BCB sensitivity REALLY suffers as a 24db attenuator is inserted

  when band-switched.  This attenuator circuit is very similiar to

  the TS-430/440.  Possible modification?



. Additional Front Panel Functions

  --------------------------------

  Pressing SCAN + TX-M.CH will set the radio into its extended

  function mode.  These options can be scrolled via the M.CH/VFO CH.

  switch.  The following are the extended functions:





  00 - This is the ROM Checksum displayed as a 4-digit hexadecimal

       number  This cannot be changed.



  01 - Allow filter selection in transmit. Initially set OFF.



  02 - Antenna tuner power down.  Initially set to OFF.



  03 - Antenna tuner non-stop mode.  When set to on, the antenna

       tuner will not stop when the lowest VSWR is found.  Initially

       set to OFF.



  04 - Store mode, and filter settings prior to changing bands, or

       channels.  Initially set to ON.



  05 - Display -HELLO- on digitial display, and send it in Morse

       code on power up.  Initially set OFF.



  06 - Turn full LCD display ON on power on.  Initially set OFF.



  07 - Turn Subtone ON or OFF.  Initially set ON.  Note that even

       when set off, the TONE indicator will be lit on the display.



  08 - Unknown. Initially set OFF.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note:I haven't tried or verified any of this, proceed at your own

risk.  And do not transmit outside of legal bands.  WA2ISE





From: ka3pgn
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc

#Subject: Re:TS850S features and mod file (long)

Keywords:features, mods

Message-ID: <1991Oct27.110247.18517
Date: 27 Oct 91 11:02:47 GMT

References:<1991Oct26.033601.11100
Organization: Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC

Lines:150





I really appreciated your remarks about the 850. I've owned mine for

about four months now and one of the first things I did was to disable

the broadcast band attenuation.

Being an avid BCB DX'er, I found this little device quite an annoyance!

So, the first day out of the box, I did away with it and very easily at

that.



HERE ARE THE STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO DISABLE THE BROADCAST BAND

ATTENUATION FOR THE KENWOOD TS-850S. This mod greatly improves the

sensitivity and likewise the reception on the AM broadcast band.  

No noticable unwanted side effects have occured following this procedure.

I live within three miles of a 5,000 watt broadcast station on 1150 kc's

and am able to listen to stations on either side of that station. There

is some splatter but using the notch filter and the attenuation on the

front of the radio takes care of that for the most part. This is *NOT*

complicated and can be done in fifteen minutes. Only one caution here:

you WILL BE SOLDERING TWO POINTS ON A CIRCUIT BOARD THAT IS LOADED WITH

SURFACE MOUNTED COMPONENTS!!! There is little room to work on the board,

so be very careful with your iron! If you don't feel comfortable soldering,

get someone else to do it as you can cause a solder bridge and ruin your

radio without even trying. With that in mind, here goes:



1) remove the eleven screws that secure the bottom cover to the rig.

   the six ones on the sides and the five on the bottom cover itself.

2) remove the bottom cover. there are no wires attached to the cover.

   lift it right off. leave the top cover of the radio ON.

3) locate the RF BOARD. it's number is:X44-3120-00. this is the board

   where you plug the optional filters into. with the open radio in front

   of you, and the front of the radio facing you, the RF BOARD is the

   one on the left. (there are only two boards under the bottom cover)

4) locate the chrome like shield on the rear of the RF BOARD. it's made

   out of shiney steel. remove the four screws that hold this shield to

   the board.

5) remove the shield by lifting the front of it up while sliding it

   forwards, towards you. watch out for all the little wires and ribbon

   cables going to and from the RF BOARD.

6) look at the rear of the board and towards the left corner.(the radio

   is stil facing you upside down) notice two I/C's numbered IC1 and IC2.

   directly behind the I/C's are a bank of adjustable coils in metal cans.

   there are nine of these coils in a group. directly to the left of these

   coils are many green and red inductors which are standing up. they look

   like resistors but they're really small coils.

7) these inductors are part of the bandpass filtering for each of the bands

   on the radio. the capacitors and resistors that complete the bandpass

   filtering are on the other side of the board and are of the surface

   mount type. you are only concerned with the bandpass filter for the

   .5 to 1.6 band. notice the numbers for the inductors. find L8 and L9.

   they are right at the edge of the board in the left rear corner

   you will notice that .5 - 1.6 is stamped right next to L9.

   BINGO! you have found the part of the circuit that you will modify.

8) look at where the .5 - 1.6 is stamped on the board next to L9. you

   will see two bronze or gold solder points there directly next to the

   numbers .5 - 1.6 . there is nothing soldered at those two points.

   this is where you will solder a jumper wire between the bronze points.

   do NOT confuse it with the other two solder points with the line

   running in between them next to the phillips head screw!!! you want the

   two points that are spaced very close together that is right next to

   L9.

9) you will have to do the soldering on the OTHER SIDE OF THE BOARD.

   remove the nine phillips head screws that hold the RF BOARD to the

   chasis.

10) on the back of the radio, look for the switch stamped SW 1. it's right

    below the grounding post and has the two postions:INT and EXT. remove

    the two screws that hold the switch to the back of the rig. the switch

    is soldered to the RF BOARD and you wont be able to lift the board up

    until the screws are removed.

11) unplug enough cables from the board so you'll have enough room to lift

    the RF BOARD up to solder the jumper. there is no need to remove the

    board from the rig. slide it towards the front of the rig until the

    switch SW 1 clears the back of the rig and lift the left side of the

    board up and prop it up with a small block of wood.

12) locate the bronze solder points on the underside of the board.

    there will be a small amount of solder at these two points on the

    underside of the board.

13) bend a small jumper out of wire that fits the two bronze points on top

    of the RF BOARD. you will place the jumper on the top and solder on the

    underside of the board. with a pair of needle nosed pliers, place the

    jumper into the holes and simply heat up the existing solder on the

    underside until the jumper slips down farther into the holes.

    you'll notice the large amount of components on the underside versus

    the lack of components on the top of the board. be carefull when

    heating the solder on the two points. you don'y want to disturb the

    surface mounted parts or cause any excess solder to run  onto them or

    the foil nearby.

14) you are now done. re-assemble in reverse order, plugging the wires

    back in carefully, making sure they don't get plugged into the wrong

    place. also, avoid pinching them when replacing covers.





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                 FRONT OF RADIO



Sorry, that's the best art work I can do. The purpose of the jumper is to

bypass the two 150 ohm resistors that are in series after the bandpass

filter. The resistors add between 20 and 25 db attenuation to the AM

broadcast band. For some reason, Kenwood thinks that the receiver would

become overloaded by strong nearby broadcasting stations, which would

cause distortion. I simply don't find that to be the case. It's funny,

Kenwood already had those two points there on the board, but without the

jumper......it seems to me that they had anticipated the need to bypass

the attenuation in Europe or Asia. Thus, all export models going to the

states were missing that jumper. Who knows? I can't find any other reason

for the jumper points to be there.



Anyway, you'll notice an immediate increase of signal strength. You'll

hear stations that you never knew were there! As I said, if you are

bothered by strong stations in your area, try using the 6 and/or 12db

attenuation buttons on the front of the rig.

I'll be glad to assist in any way possible. You can e-Mail me or feel

free to call at the radio station. Have fun DX'ing!



Dave







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