Programming a Kenwood tk260 handheld

F

finolty

Member
Hello all. Stumbled on this forum through a google search. I had a novice license many years ago but never persued it (too busy with family and small biz I run). Still have a Collins 75A4 sitting in the attic. Maybe someday...

Anyway, I'm looking for info on software and hardware to program a Kenwood TK260 VHF handheld. I'm an unpaid volunteer at a local stock car track, and they have 14 of these in fair to rough shape. I'm the only one out there with any kind of electronics background, so I'm trying to help them for little or no cost to them. I'm also working on the P.A. system, but that's another topic. I know these radios are fairly old, but they work well for how they're using them, and they want to stick with them.

I'm now in the process of replacing the headset sockets on several of their radios (kind of microsurgery for someone like me). To do this, I need a test radio to test the units I'm working on to verify TX & RX after I finish soldering the sockets in place.

I purchased a used TK260 on Ebay and I want to use it as my test radio, but it needs to be programmed. I also listen to the track officials on site during racing (have been using a bearcat scanner), and need to know when someone has radio trouble, so I need a radio that's programmed to the track freqs. so I can talk to them direct. I need to know where I can get the software and a programming cable

I've seen several cables on Ebay, but a check with other forums reveals several problems users have had with aftermarket cables. Do I need to buy the stuff from Kenwood in order to get something that'll work? Also, the software I've seen won't run on anything newer than Windows 98. I may be able to find a Win98 machine, but would rather use something newer. Anyone have any ideas?

I appreciate any help you can offer. Reply here or finotey@hotmail.com
Thanks.
fin
 
There are maybe two things you could do here.

1) Obtain the programming software from Kenwood and purchase the registration key from them, but from what your saying there may be compatibility issues with the operating system you use.

2) Find out what frequencies you need programmed in and pay Kenwood (or any other company that can do the job) to program them up for you.

If it's a one off programming job then suggestion two might be the best way to go.

You can normally get old laptops off ebay for next to nothing that are loaded with Win98, so if you did plan to change the frequencies from time to time this may work out more economical.

73, Mark.
 
Thanks for the reply. Right now it is a one shot need, but I have a feeling there will be more "used" radios added to the arsenal as they age, so purchasing the software is probably the way to go. I looked around the basement collection today and did find a WIN98 machine that still works, so I do have a computer.

I see that something called a cloning cable is also available, but I fail to see how connecting one radio to another will clone it without some kind of software help, especially on something this old. Maybe I'm wrong there.

I see that the 260 was replaced with a 2160. Lots more features. Wish the racing people had the money to upgrade, but with all the other projects going on at the track, I gotta dance with the girls I got. From what I see, most other tracks have gone to the UHF radios. Lots of those available used--and some are user programmable.

I'll see if I get any more replies. I appreciate your time.

fin
 
Hi again fin

If there is a cloning cable for the '260 you may be in luck.

You will need to check in the owners manual/instruction manual about this, but many handhelds can be cloned one to another by using a cloning cable.

So, if you pay to have one programmed up you can copy it for free to all the others.

Normally you just plug the cable in to the two units (very often the microphone socket is used for cloning), and then hold down certain buttons as you power up the sets.

Some cables are one way, but others can clone in both directions so you need to make sure that you don't clone from the unwanted unit.

The ones that use the microphone socket for cloning sometimes use data (true serial data), though I have seen ones that actually feed audio tones (similar to DTMF) between units.

Another method for cloning sometimes invloves one radio actually transmitting data to the unit to be programmed.

I would have a look around for an owners/users manual first. It may end up costing less than you originally thought.


73, Mark.
 
Hi fin

I've done a little bit more digging around and found out the following info about your units.

The cloning cable is the KPG-22 (there is a diagram of the cloning cable on page ten of the workshop manual, so you could easily make up your own).

The programming software is KPG-56D

The radios do clone from microphone socket to microphone socket without any additional software.

Best of all, if you can obtain a Kenwood TK-270G you can program the TK-270G without a PC (using what Kenwood call the self programming mode), and then clone all of your TK-260's from the '270 :)

All of this info is in the workshop manual for the radio.

Hope this info helps (and saves you some money too!)

73, Mark.
 
Mark: Got the manual downloaded, I really appreciate the effort and information you gave me. The racetrack owner thanks you as well. I believe I'll do as you mentioned and get a 270 and proceed with the programming and then the cloning--that information was very good to get. It's probably the simplest and most cost effective way to do it. The radios are so well built they last almost forever. The only problems we've had, other than batteries, stem from people getting rude with handling the headsets and loosening the connections in the dual phone jacks on the radio. Then, either the carrier or the audio cuts in and out. I've replaced several of the dual jacks, but by the time you get everything apart and back together, it's about an hour and a half job. The soldering is so microfine that I don't expect to have success every time I work on one--there are 10 solder points on the jack housing, and some are very difficult to access. You've got to take the entire radio apart and work on the board in a Panavise. I've got all winter to make something work with the programming. Maybe I'll also get back into the amateur radio thing, who knows. We do have an amateur club in the area--I'll check it out.
Thanks again.
fin
 
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