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Reviews For: Kenwood TM 241

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Base/Mobile (non hand-held)

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TM 241
Reviews: 42MSRP:
Description:
2m FM Transceiver
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.universal-radio.com/CATALOG/fm_txvrs/tm241a.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00423.5
N5BEW Rating: 2001-09-16
Display problem Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I picked one up recently and everything checked out just fine for about a day then the display started to flake out. Checking into the problem here I discovered the reviews of the radio and its problem. I disassembled the whole front and applied some "Pro-Gold" contact renewing stuff made by "Caig" onto the connectors of the display and that has so far completely cleared up the crazed display. Other than that problem this is a nice solid little mobile. The "Progold" stuff also fixed an erratic bandswitch on my old Drake tr-4c.
KG4LIZ Rating: 2001-09-16
Display Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought this at a HamFest in December of 2000.
This is the sharpest radio I have seen on the market but the Display.....??!??!???
Some time the displays wacks out on ya??
what should I do?? I highly reccomend if you know how to fix the problem...Great Rig for features..Wwouldnt give it....just want to get the display fixed.

if anyone can help me out? please email KG4LIZ@aol.com

thanks and 73
Danny.KG4LIZ
N5YCN Rating: 2001-05-02
Thought it was dead! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I never knew about the display problem. I've had this radio since 1991 and a couple of years ago the display went nuts. I thought the onboard battery was dead so I put the thing back in its box and its been in storage for 2 years. Took it out and cleaned the connections mentioned in these reviews. Lo and behold...ITS ALIVE! Thanks for the info, I can't believe it works again.
N1JCT Rating: 2001-05-02
piece of junk Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the TM241A new as my first radio after receiving my Tech license. I had nothing but trouble: had the display repaired 3 times, power transitor burnt out, replaced the mic once and now having troubles with it again.
I take care of all my stuff but his radio is awful.
I was told by a one of the ham gear supply houses that this radio was built for a while from an alternative manufacturing house and that the quality went right downhill!
Others I have spoken to said the TM-241A and the previous 231A were ok radios.
I contacted Kenwood several times. They did nothing for me. They said it must be operator abuse because they had no problems with he radio. No Way!

I'm looking at buying a new dual band mobile. It won't be a Kenwood.!
N3VUZ Rating: 2000-09-20
Nice Basic Rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I seem to be lucky as to have gotten a rig which does not have the display/connector seating problem. This unit has worked flawlessly for the 5 years that I've used it.
K1VV Rating: 2000-09-05
WD-40 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
WD-40.... oil or no oil ... it works and that is all that matters ... the 241 is almost 7 years old .. this display problem is common with this radio ... we have had to clean the display jack/plug 3 times ... and it has returned the display to normal operation ... until some one else comes up with a better fix .. we will continue to use WD-40.

----------------------
Earlier 4-star review posted by K1VV on 2000-06-02

We have had our TM241 since Aug 1993. After about 3 or 4 years the display went nuts... all kinds of garbage... the radio still worked but you could not tell what frequency or memory you were on. We called Kenwood service and they said it was the 9 pin interface plug between the display board and the main board, and they it could be fixed by making a hard wire soldered connection between them . They would NOT give a quote on what they would charge to fix it.
We proceeded to take off the knobs from the front display and the mounting screws .. the front display panel pulls away and you can see and get access to the 9 pin plug and jack that makes the connection to the main board. With a magifying glass and a very small needle we just LIGHTLY lifted the 9 pins one by one to give them a more firm contact with the opposing plug. We then took some WD40 on a tooth pick and gently rubbed and cleaned the contacts on both the plug and jack. We reassembled the front panel and knobs to the radio. Turned it on and low and behold the display was working again !! We have had to do this a second about a year ago.. the radio is seven years old and still going strong. Many 2 meter rigs from seven years ago have been long gone in the junk pile for several years. This is a good radio for the time it was built. Good Luck .. it is an easy fix.
73 Whitey K1VV
W0RW Rating: 2000-06-03
Don't Put WD40 on Connectors. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
When fixing connectors don't put WD-40 on your
connectors. WD-40 is oil.
You need a good electrical connection and the oil
adds a film of insulation that the connector
fingers have to wipe through.
Clean the fingers with alcohol.
de w0rw Paul (Components Engineer
OM2TW Rating: 2000-06-02
TM241 - display, power. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased TM241E about 5 years ago. First of all, neverending problems with display. About 3 years ago has burned second layer on the PCB (U+ for the processor). I have also problems, when I use power amplifier on HF. When I key my HF station, TM241 switch to the transmit mode too. I have tried grounding, filters, ferit cores...it helps...but with more that 1kW is the problem back. So, my previous station (old timer) IC-240 was much better...also the output power described in user manual is not real...I measure 28 Watt output power...
N5NJ Rating: 2000-06-01
Solid - once you fix the display Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The display problem is caused by oxidation on alternate pins of the connector that the display plugs into. For some reason, the pins are not all soldered. I soldered them carefully with a tiny iron and it has worked perfectly ever since.
N9KRS Rating: 2000-06-01
Good solid 2m mobile Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned 3 of these radios and I've had two problems:

1. Garbage display. I sent a 241 back to Kenwood Service for this. According to the service ticket, all they did was re-seat a connector. I'm guessing that if a guy is careful, this fix could be applied without having to send the radio back to Kenwood. There's probably some connector between the display board and the main board that just needs to be re-seated to make the garbage go away.

2. Some 241's will not store a frequency in some memory channels if the VFO step size is 15kHz. If you are having similar problems, just change the step size and try it again.

Other than these issues, my 241's have been good, solid, trouble-free performers!