New to us HF Radio for the New Place...

Sent off an eMail to a fellow @KenwoodUSA that I have been corresponding with on this project... I got the RC-2000 Remote Control Head hooked up yesterday, but it has a lot fewer buttons and controls than the PC Program, or the Front Panel... So I was asking if there was a Operations Manual for the RC-2000... There is nothing about the operations of the RC-2000, in the Main Radio Operations Manual, or the PC Control Software Manual, and nothing on the Kenwood Manuals WebSite Dowload list.... He got back to me this afternoon, with the RC-2000 Operations Manual in PDF Format.. It really helped find where they hid all the Settings and functions...
I really appreciate the Customer Service I received from KenwoodUSA... on this project...

 

We went up to the new Place today, and I installed the TM-D710GA and the Control Head for the TS-480HX next to my chair, in the Main Room... I can only run the 710GA at the 20 Watt level on TX, because the power wires are to small to support the Current Drop at the 50 Watt Level... I will befixing that issue on the next trip up... as well as installing the TS-480HX... I am using the old Marine Vhf Antenna that was just stuck in a Tree, for now... I also took up my 500’ spool of Beldon 9913 Coax and two Male N Connectors, and two PL259 Teflon insulater Connectors, and installed a PL259 on the free end, getting ready to install the Dual Band Verticle Antenna, with one run up a 40’ 1 1/2” Galvinized Pipe. I will mount the Wilson 4G Booster Antenna, just under the Dual Band Antenna, and install a second run of Beldon 9913 Coax for it, using male N Connectors, on each end.. then stand the pipe up next to the corner of the cabin, and tie it to the eves, with a slip- Mount so I can aim the 4G Booster Antenna for best signal from the Cell Tower which is 15 miles away, on Hoonah Mountain...

 

Pulled the Kenwood TS-480HX out of the Main Radio Room this afternoon, in preperation for moving up to the New Place... Installed the Kenwood TS-2000x in it’s place, and tested the AutoTuner on 40 meters.... (7225.0Khz) Looks like it is working just fine... Hooked up the RC-2000 Remote Control Head, and will work on testing it’s functions, tomorrow, after Church... Looks like Mr Wx is calling for Blue Sky Sunshine most of next week, so maybe I can get one day to go up and replace the 12Vdc Power Wires with some #4, and install the Kenwood TS-480HX, in preperations for the Antenna Instalation, later this summer...

 

Ok, I was on eBay last week, and there was a guy selling a TM-D700 Control Head, which will also operate. TS-B2000 HF/VHF/UHF Radio... So I sent him an offer, and he counter-offered, and we cooked a deal... It arrived today in the Mail, and low and behold, it wasn’t just a Control Head, but a Complete TM-D700 Radio System... All I thought I was buying was just a Control Head... So now i have a TS-B2000 complete System, AND a spare TM- D700 T/R Unit... OR what I might do is use the one Control Head to Control BOTH T/R Uniits (TS-B2000 & TM-D700) by putting a 4 Pole Double Through Switch in the Control Cable... I will have to play with this over in the shop, and see if that makes sense... I bet I could get $1000+ for such a working setup with the both Kenwood Remote Control Programs and Remote Computer Interface Cables as well as the R/T Software for both Systems... Choices... lots of Choices....

 

Spent three hours up at the new place... Installed the #4 DC Wires for the new 12Vdc Comms Buss... System now feeds the TM-D710GA, TS-480HX, Wilson 4G Booster, a 12Vdc Lighter Socket, and ties into a 35Amp 13.5Vdc Regulated Power Supply/Charger.... I installed the DualBand VHF/UHF Antenna, and the 4G Cellular Directional Antenna on the top of the 20Ft section of 1 1/2 “ Gavinized Pipe, and connected 60Ft of Beldon 9913 to the DualBand Antenna and planned to do the same for the 4G Antenna, but had issues with the Crimp N Connector, so stopped there, and brought the roll of 9913 back home, and will use Soldered N Connects for that run... Will add the second length of pipe, install the 4 G Coax run, and mount the Antenna Pipe to the side of Blue Cabin and run the two Coax runs up thru the floor to the TM-D710GA, & Wilson 4G Booster, respectively... Once that is done I will start on the TS-480HX Dipole Antenna for Ant Port1... I found a multiband trapped Dipole in my old Radio stuff... It needs a bit of refurbishing, but should be workable very quickly... and needs NO Earth Ground, to operate, with the Roller Inductor Tuner I have for the HF Radio System.... The Antennas are tempoary, until I get the Tower put up later this summer...

 

Just to clear, the Box Shelves were part of the Cabin, installed by the previous Owner, who is a good Carpenter..... I just choose to use those to install the Comms Center on, as it is near the easy chair that I will be using to sit in while in the Front Room...

 

That lamp hasn’t been lite, in about twenty years... All our Oil Lamps are decrative in nature, these days, but are the third or fouth backup for afterdark lighting... Oil has largely been replaced with LED low voltage lighting, out here in the Alaskan bush, for after dark lighting... We have all the Alladin’s, Hurricane, Railroad, and other Oil Lamps, as well as some of the BlueFlame Kerosene Heaters, that were the staples, back 40 or 50 years ago... They are, like I say, the third or fourth backups...

 

The latest from the new Place, and the Comms installation.... Well, I totally messed up last Thursday, when I went to install the TS-480HX HF Radio at the cabin... When I installed the twin Power Connections to the #4 12Vdc Buss, I apparently missed that I had the Polarity Backwards.... and just didn't notice, or verify it... so when I went to plug in the twin Power Cables, there was a Spark, and then Nothing.... Crap, brought the radio back home, and checked everything I could, Fuse, Switches, etc, but still No Joy... So on to PLAN B... I still have the TS-B2000 w/ Control Head, so Tuesday we spent 4 Hours up there, and I installed the B2000, and a 35Amp Regulated 12Vdc Power Supply that will charge the two T105 Batteries that power the 12Vdc Buss, when a Genset is running, and the 130 Watt Solar Panel is keeping thing charge in the mean time... I have. a second 120 Watt Solar Panel to install on this System, along with an MTTP Charge Controller, which should be enough to keep things hot, when a Genset is NOT running.... Since the B-2000 has an AutoTuner, builtin, no need for the Manual Antenna Tuner for HF... I left the TS-480HX Power Wiring, but with Correct and Texted Polarity, this time... The TS-480HX left here on it’s way to Kenwood Service on the Mail plane this morning...
Turns out that the TS-B2000 was a nice upgrade, even if it only has 100Watts of HF Power... If I supply Separate VHF & Uhf Antennas for both it, AND the TS-2000x here at home, I can run the B2000 as an HF Remote Base using the Kenwood Sky Command II System , and the TS-2000x as the Control Station... OR Vise-Verse, between the two Radios... “Now That is Way Cool”

I also installed an Icom Aircraft Handheld that will let us hear, and talk to, any Aircraft in the area... This radio is on the right side of the Top Shelf...
The Control Head for the TM-D710GA is in the Window, along with my TH- D72a Handheld.. that is our Comms there, now... The T/R Unit is on the bottom Shelf on the left Side...
You can see the B-2000 T/R Unit, mounted on the wall under the right side of the Bottom Shelf, and the Control Head on the Face of the left side of the bottom Shelf... The Main Receiver Speaker is on the wall under the Right lower corner of the window, and the Secondary Receiver Speaker is on the top of the right side of the middle shelf...
The Wilson 4G Cell Booster is behind the two cans of Diet Dr Pepper, on the top of the middle Shelf...

The only thing left to do is erect the 40’ Pipe Antenna Mast, run the Coaxes into the. Radios, and get them connected up... Next Dry Day, when neighbor can come help...

 

Handy lookin' nest for next time your back tells you to sit down. Complete with monkey to keep you company when chick is in Rochester.

 

Yea, That is the plan, and the idea... and once we get the Pipe Mast up, it will be the reality... AlaskaChick moves up there, on Thursday, and the folks arrive on Friday...

 

Update Time.... The Kenwood TS-480HX is back from Kenwood Service... Well, $500US later and it works again... Just stupid thinking, and NOT double checking the Main Power polarity, was the cause of this issue... So now, time. to get on with the Antenna work... First barge is due tomorrow, at 9Am, so My day is booked at least most of the day... So Saturday will be the day to get the Antennas up... Then on to the Testing, and validation... Looking for Good RSLs from the 4G Cell Booster System, on the HotSpot, AlaskaChicks Cellphone, and her Apple Watch... Then test the MultiBand Inverted-V HF Antenna by using the TS-B2000’s Autotuner to make sure it tunes all the HF Ham Bands, with a reasonable SWR.... Then when I get back to the Old Place, do Path Checks, on both Vhf & Uhf Bands on the Kenwood TM-D710GA, at the New Place, and the TM-D710A at the Old Place.... With 50 Watts on both ends, I do NOT expect any issues... It. will be nice to have solid Comms, when She is up there, and I am down here...
Once that basic validation is done, then we need to get the MacBook setup up at the New Place, and connected to the Kenwood TM-D710GA on both the APRS Comm Port, and the Remote Control Port, so we can send Packet Data back & forth between the two Places... This gives us a Not Real Time Messaging System, between the two places, as well as Remote Control Capability of each Places Comms System from the other, via the Cellular Internet IP Connections... And finally, get Vhf & Uhf Antennas on both the TS-2000x at the Old Place, and the TS-B2000 at the New Place, and get the Kenwood Sky Command Ii, Control System configured, so each of them can be used to Remote Base Operate the other Radio System. Somewhere in there, after the Cellular 4G is operational, then I will install the TP-WND423ND Client Access Point that will bring the Cellular HotSpot IP Internet to the Wired Ethernet System I want to put in around the New Place, between the two Cabins, the PowerHouse, the Garage, and the two Shops. This will give the previous Owners, solid Internet Access, for the time that they are here, and for Guests, when they are not here... as well as IP Connections for such things as PowerHouse Control & Monitoring, when I get around to the project, of rebuilding and Converting the Powerhouse over to Diesel Power Generation... One other project just occurred to me. I need to setup a WebCam up at the New Place to watch it, when we are NOT there, that can be monitored via the Cellular IP Internet Connection, via a IR PTZ WebCam.... Lots of Ideas, and not enough, hours in the day, to get it all done...

 

So, we put up the Pipe with the Antennas mounted on it, yesterday... Almost had it crash to the ground, when the bracket at 25 ft failed, during installation, but AlaskaChick, saved the day, and held it in place while we designed a new and better bracket... Tomorrow, the plan is to go up and get the Coaxes run into the Cabin and get them connected to their respective Radios, and the 4G Booster... Then get the HF Inverted V Wire Elements stretched out to their respective Anchor Points, and begin the Testing and Validation Routines for each System.. I will take pictures, and post them tomorrow afternoon...

 

As promised, here are the Pictures of the Antennas, up at the New Place....

The Vertical is the DualBand Vhf/Uhf for the Kenwood TM0D710GA... Then just under it is the Log Periodic for the Wilson 4G Booster... and then under that is the MultiBand HF Dipole for 80-10 Meters that is connected to HF ANT1 on the Kenwood TS-B2000 Hf Radio... I connected the Old Fiberglass Vhf Whip, that is mounted up in a Tree, behind the Cabin, to the Vhf Port on the TS-B2000 and it is sitting on 122.9Mhz with is the EnRoute Aircraft Frequency for this area...

AlaskaChick's IPhone shows One Bar and 4G when it is sitting on the Inside Booster Antenna... This seems to be enough to make Phonecalls, and when she turns on the Phones Hotspot, she has solid Internet over at her iPad, and iWatch... I just called her, and she was down at the other cabin, and answered on her iWatch, so she now has acceptable Comms, at the New Place.... We will validate the Vhf/Uhf stuff tonight with a neighbor who lives 5 miles up the Head of the Inlet... So Good News so far... Comms are working..



Ok, We tested the VHF/UHF frequencies tonight.. Results are Vhf is solid, lots of signal in both directions... Uhf not so much.. I can hear her, but not well, and she can not hear me at all... I suspect that it is an Antenna issue, on my end... The Antenna on this end is a Morad special 146HD Antenna, and NOT a DualBand Antenna... So back to Amazon, and buy a nice High Gain DualBand Base Antenna... Done and Done....

 

Update: Got the new VHF/UHF DualBand Antenna on the MailPlane, today... Got the Electrician to bend me a 18” Offset 1” EMT Pipe, and I Stainless Steel Hose Clamped it to a mast that held the Scanner Discone Antenna, and the Wilson Cellular 4G Booster Antenna here are the Main Cabin... I didn’t have the 1/2” Wood Paddle Dillbit to drill the hole thru thru to bring the Beldon 9913 into the Kenwood TM-D710A DualBand Radio, but that gives me something to do tomorrow...



This allows me to use the Old Vhf Antenna, that was connected to the Kenwood TM-D710A, to the Vhf Antenna Port on the TS-2000x Backup Radio... That only leaves me with finding a cheap Uhf Only Antenna for the Uhf Antenna Port Port on the TS-2000x to complete all the Antenna work at this Main Cabin...

 

Did the install of the coax, this morning, and then started doing the testing of the new Antenna.. Looks like it solved the UHF Issue 100%... I can chat with AlaskaChick at the Blue Cabin using one Watt on each end with full Quieting, and full Receive RSL... I can do the same on Vhf with the Hoonah Mtn. Repeater... This is a whole lot better than the Old Antenna on Uhf... where i could just barely hear her, @50 Watts, and she couldn’t hear me at all.... We now have GREAT Comms between the two places, and even using HTs, on one end... That was the goal for the Comms System, and it has been reached... I did run out of Teflon Insulated PL259s, so until the new order gets here, on Friday, I can’t finish putting the Old Vhf Antenna on the TS-2000x Vhf Antenna Port...

 

What I like about the 2000 is that it does everything but 220M (which hasn't a lot of use 'round deez pahts.) That's even better than the 590. When I finally get around to it, the 480 goes mobile and a new base rig will happen. But first the new wheels have to get under me.

 

When you get closer to jumping, there are a bunch of copykat Rigs out there that came out after the TS-2000... It is now unsupported, because of the age of the design... However they are still holding their value...