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Author Topic: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit  (Read 1021 times)

NT6U

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Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« on: April 24, 2022, 06:20:10 PM »

 I un packed my KW 890 yesterday.  Radio sat in factory box/s for 10 months while I erected a LM 470 tower with Optibeam OB 11-3.

I hooked up radio, turned on and just white noise from radio, no signal received on ham or AM commercial bands.  No transmit as well on ham bands.  TX light shows TX, however 0 output on external meters or KW 890 meter.

I hear no noise difference switching from ANT 1 to ANT 2.  Ant 1 -there is an OB 11-3 and a JK 40 dipole at 75 feet and yet I hear nothing, Ant 2 has nothing hooked to it and white noise never changes.   Got out the KW 940, plugged it back in & everything works fine, even receive AM radio bands. 

I did 2 factory resets on 890, checked and re-checked antennas ports and switches on radio.  It is not on the receive antenna.  All filters are wide open.  I checked all the items in manual for no received signal & I'm operating per manual.  Giga parts has 10 day return so return is non option.

Is there something I'm missing before I call Kenwood service Monday?
Thank you for any advice or suggestions in advance.
Greg
NT6U
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AK5B

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2022, 06:33:43 PM »

I bet it has something to do with sitting in the box without being hooked up to a power source---some kind of memory battery, perhaps?  I have a TS890S and no problems at all.  Hope you get it sorted w/o having to send it in.

73,

Jeff
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NT6U

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2022, 06:40:48 PM »

I have a TS890S and no problems at all. 

73,

Jeff
I am assuming yours was plug & play upon opening?  Nothing to set up?
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W9IQ

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2022, 06:42:41 PM »

Try receiving on the 890 with no antenna connected while transmitting on your 940.

- Glenn W9IQ
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- Glenn W9IQ

God runs electromagnetics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the wave theory and the devil runs it on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by the Quantum theory.

AK5B

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2022, 07:35:26 PM »

Correct, and it was a week or so before I turned it on for the first time. I had to let it sink in that I had it sitting on my desk as well as read the owner's manual a bit.  Came to life as expected.

73,

Jeff
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VK6HP

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2022, 09:33:01 PM »

Greg,

Sorry to hear you're having issues with the new radio.  My 890 required no setup out of the box for normal operation.  It sounds like you've checked at least a couple of the common traps, including the rx antenna and probably the transmit DRV button.  I would also make sure the ATU is off although in the rare cases where people seem to have hardware trouble with the ATU it produces different symptoms than those you're seeing.

On the surface, and if it is a hardware issue, the symptoms you describe could be a problem in the shared tx-rx LO/conversion chain stages. I would pay attention to the bandscope display behaviour since it's a parallel SDR which, while sharing some of the early stages with the main hybrid receiver, is not dependent on some later conversions.

Another thing you could try is to feed some signal into the RX antenna port, since selecting the RX antenna bypasses some of the RF switching associated with the main connectors.  But it's grasping at straws a little, given the reported TX problems as well.

I assume that the bandscope and controls appear to operate normally?  If the bandscope is set to centre mode, and the appropriate menu item is selected, you should be able to see your own RF signal as you speak into the mic. You can hear the audio in 'phones with the monitor ("moni") selected and the AF gain adjusted appropriately.  From what you're describing the issue may be at a high enough level to prevent these checks but it's always worth checking, if only to learn e.g. whether any audio or DSP stages are running despite possible conversion/RF difficulties.

73, and good luck,
Peter.
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K1VSK

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2022, 05:17:14 AM »

I bet it has something to do with sitting in the box without being hooked up to a power source---some kind of memory battery, perhaps?  I have a TS890S and no problems at all.  Hope you get it sorted w/o having to send it in.

73,

Jeff

New radios often sit much longer than that in transit and on shelves in inventory prior to being sold.

Get a local ham to review what you did with all relevant controls . No offense but maladies such as this are often operator error.
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W9RAC

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #7 on: April 25, 2022, 05:42:28 AM »

I have a 990s bought it when they first came out. Nothing I know of would cause such a symptom considering the 940 played perfectly under the same circumstances. I am curious however so please post what Kenwood has to say about it. 73 Rich
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K4WH

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #8 on: April 25, 2022, 07:27:53 AM »


Really sorry to hear that.  Just got a used one locally only 3 months old last Tuesday. Did a factory reset and no issues.  Probably a call to Kenwood on this one is the best way.  Have had almost every major radio made since the 1950's and this is one of the most complex set of features I have ever seen on a rig, maybe even more than my Flex radios.

Please come back and let us know what the result is.  Hope it's simple.
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NT6U

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #9 on: April 25, 2022, 06:35:47 PM »

Thanks for the condolences.  I have heard nothing back from Kenwood.  Nobody answers the phone anymore (urrg), left a VM to Kenwood USA (310) 639-4200.
I also sent a Email requesting support, nothing heard back yet.  I should respectfully give them a few days to respond, messages sent 4/25/22 early morning.
I will keep you posted as to the outcome.   As a Kenwood owner, I would also want to know what was wrong if you were the one in the barrel on this one.
73
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WA8NVW

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2022, 05:12:43 PM »

GREG -
I don't own either model of Kenwood rig, but just a thought: Does your 'dead' 890 have a separate input jack for a receive-only antenna?  If so, make sure you have the receiver set to use the main transmit antenna input for receive.  Easy to overlook, especially if an internal switch or jumper is involved and you last looked at it ten months ago.
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NT6U

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #11 on: April 27, 2022, 01:46:37 PM »

GREG -
Does your 'dead' 890 have a separate input jack for a receive-only antenna?  If so, make sure you have the receiver set to use the main transmit antenna input for receive. 

Yes.  There is a separate receive-only antenna.  Thank you for asking.  Unfortunately I have checked that box numerous times hoping that was the case.
The manual explains the use of the receive antenna very well.
73
Greg.
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K0UA

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #12 on: April 27, 2022, 01:49:47 PM »

And when you did the test that Glenn suggested with the 940 transmitting on the antenna and the 890 with no antenna connected, what did you hear?

This is a makeshift signal generator and the signal should be about S9 or even a little greater in my experience.
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73  James K0UA

K0RS

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #13 on: April 27, 2022, 05:38:17 PM »

You're in the backyard of Kenwood's west coast repair facility:

Email:   support@fthgroupinc.com
Address:   20801 Currier Road
City of Industry, CA 91789
Phone:   626-333-2435
Fax:   626-333-2407

https://www.fthgroupinc.com/service/welcomecomm.php

Why don't you just drive it over there and ask them WTF?  If it's truly a warranty issue, they'll take care of it.
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K4WH

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Re: Kenwood TS 890. Brand New- No Receive & No Transmit
« Reply #14 on: April 27, 2022, 06:10:46 PM »


Greg, K0RS had a great idea.  If you don't want to do that, then call GigaParts.  Tell them the story, and ask them if they want you to send the radio back to them, or get an RO and send it to kenwood.  Maybe just maybe GigaParts can tell what is wrong ( I doubt it ).  I assume you are the original owner, with a bill of sale, that has the serial number, date etc. Did you fill out the warranty card  ??  Might see if it's OK to do that now. 

Lots of good ideas posted here, and you seemed to have read the manual and tried a bunch of stuff, and it's still not working.

Time is running out for you.  Companies like Kenwood and GigaParts are short of service people, support sales etc ..  I bet if you go one day past that sales date or actually the received date,  you will loose all chances of getting a free repair, or new rig ( slim chance ).  Join the 890s user group and see if you can see that some people have had to pay for service and parts.  It will hurt.

I think everyone reading your story feels sorry for you.  But now, it's your choice.  Wait to long and go past that one year mark and have no recourse and everyone will say,  we told you so. 

Your choice, best of luck.
















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