TS-820S - not the usual display problem

[KA9INV]

Hello all,

I am having a strange problem with the DG-1 display... it has all of the normal symptoms that people normally complain about, except that I have cleaned the contacts and have reseated the connector a number of times, to no avail. Additionally, when the display does decide to function correctly, a strange thing occurs: the display shows a frequency BELOW the selected band, not above! For instance, if the dial shows 100 and I'm on the 40m band, the digital display will say that I'm on 6.900.0 instead of 7.100.0!

I am a relatively new ham who just upgraded to General class, and this is my first HF rig. I honestly cannot figure out what the problem is, and I hope I'm not missing something obvious. My apologies if this is somewhere else on the forums, although I searched and didn't find anything quite like this.

Anybody with a little more experience than I care to offer some possible solutions?


Thanks and 73s,

Sal KA9INV

[KE4DRN]

hi sal,

Do you have a copy of the manual ?

Have you tried to tune WWV on 20.000
and then adjust the dial ?

Just hold the vfo knob with one hand
and adjust the outer ring with the other.

73 james

[KA9INV]

Yes, I do have the manual. Unfortunately, since my last post, the display doesn't seem to be working at all anymore, and now instead of static all I hear is this strange buzz. I'm really hoping that can be attributed to a poor ground.

At any rate, I cannot calibrate the dial without the digital display working. The rig is wired such that if the display goes out, so does the receive. (Kind of a bummer, ain't it?)

I'm going to have to take it to the nearby ham shop to see if they can repair it... my soldering abilities are a little less than adequate at this point. From the things I've been sent via email, it's not looking like it's something I'd be able to fix myself.

If anybody can tell me for certain what's going on, though, I'd be glad to hear it!


Thx and 73,

Sal KA9INV

[KE4DRN]

Hi Sal,
 
Have you joined the kenwood group on yahoo ?

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TS-520_820_530_830/

Lots of good help there to get you on the air !

73 james

[KA9INV]

Yes, I did not long ago... strangely enough, the strange buzz disappeared on its own. It could not have been the plug for the remote VFO missing, because I have the remote VFO connected!

Anyway, that's working now. All that's left is that darned display. And according to what I've seen over there on the 520/820/530/830 group, there is a website that has almost any mod that could be done to the DG-1. I will implement some of those and see if it doesn't fix the problem.

For the benefit of anyone else who might be interested, the link is here:

www.radiomods.co.nz/kenwood/kenwooddg1.html

N

[KE4DRN]

hi sal,

Please check the all theground screws on the circuit boards, they can loosen up over time.  This can eliminate the hum or buzz you may have experienced.

73 james

[KA9INV]

Thanks to all the folks who answered... yes, one of the screws was loose; the hum is gone. That was stupid of me. Hihi.

At any rate, I noticed something rather interesting about this problem I'm having - I turned the light out while my rig was on and my display was out, and I could actually see the display glowing a little! And I have a plug in the back of the rig with pins 8 and 9 shorted, so that isn't the problem... the display still occasionally comes on, but much more rarely now. I've cleaned the connectors, so that can't be it. I went through with my father and checked all the solder connections, and there doesn't seem to be a fault.

Does anybody have any clue what the problem might be? Or is it time to send her in to Kenwood and hope they can fix it?