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Reviews For: Kenwood TM-D710A

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

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TM-D710A
Reviews: 73MSRP: 599.95
Description:
The TM-D710 Data Communicator 144/440 MHz Dual Bander has the following features:
• APRS Ready
• APRS Weather Station ready
• KSS II+ (kenwood Skycommand II+)
• NMEA 0183 GPS I/O port
• Built-in 1200/9600 bps TNC
• Echolink Ready
• High RF Power Output (V/U: 50 watt)
• 1000 multifunction Memory Channels
• Dual Receive on same band (V+V, U+U)
• NOAA Weather Alert/RX (US Only)
• Voice Guidance & Storage option (VGS-1)
• MCP Compatible with ARRL "TravelPlus"

Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00734.2
M6GOM Rating: 2011-11-18
Easy to set up. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Had a 710 for a few weeks now. It was easy to set up and get on the air. Where I am there is a hole in APRS so I wanted to set it up as a digipeater. Took about 15 minutes to get it going including adding my call to the path.

I had a 8 pin mini DIN plug that came with my TS480. I used that to make up a programming lead for both the head and main body. Works just fine. I can also use the same lead on my TS480 as well. So if anyone has a TS480, TM-V71 you can use the same cable on your TM-D710 as well.

People have mentioned the filters. Kenwood implemented the filter modification about a year ago and installed a SMD capacitors to decouple the DC from the filters. I checked mine and it has indeed got the filter modification so anyone buying a new TM-D710 or TM-V71 no longer needs to worry about the filters packing in.
G4OER Rating: 2011-11-08
Very pleased with my new purchase Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It arrived this morning so early days. So far, love it, loads of features to keep me occupied in the winter months.
More info to follow after I've had more experience.
WX0NWS Rating: 2011-07-27
Excellent Radio Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This is an excellent radio and workes great in mobile operation.

PROS:
*WX alert feature goes off no matter what you're doing, you do not have to be scanning the WX channels or anything. It works just like a NOAA WX radio when the feature is turned on. Yaesu radios are different, you have to scan to get the alert...but not with this radio, it's automatic.
*Green/Amber display color
*Easy menu and programming


CONS:
*Green Light Labs GPS-710 is the way to go for APRS operation, unfortunitley it costs $129
*The mic needs to be replaced with an MC-53DM because the supplied (MC-59) is too big and bulky

73 DE WXØNWS Donnie
W5PFG Rating: 2011-07-25
Nice upgrade to D700 Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've been running the Kenwood TM-D710 in my car with Green Light Labs GPS-710 for several months. For APRS tracking, you can't beat that combination for simplicity.

I have been an ardent D700 supporter for many years. I figured the D700 would be hard to beat. Kenwood proved they could add features that enhanced operations and upgraded functionality.

I'm not convinced the D710's radio is superior to the D700 at this point, having not owned it very long, but I will say it surpasses any of my more recent-vintage Yaesu mobiles.

My biggest complaint is that Kenwood did not supply either an on-board DB9 serial connector or USB interface. You need to purchase a cable for programming it. Fortunately I found a $5 source for this cable rather than Kenwood's $39 cable (same pinouts.)
WR9G Rating: 2011-07-12
Damn IF Filters Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The older Kenwood TM-D710A will need the filters replaced. Such a shame on a otherwise fine radio.
KE7VXP Rating: 2011-05-27
Quirky, but very good. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned this thing for at least a year and I really like it. True, it has a learning curve and lots of "non-obvious" features, but it performs very well and has been perfectly reliable. I use the dual watch for voice comms on one side and APRS on the other. Once up on the learning curve it is second nature to work. I added the Greenlight GPS module which works perfectly. This is a well thought out product I highly recommend. Not one contact has ever complained about my signal or audio. Solid comms.
VK3CRG Rating: 2011-05-19
Very Good so far! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ok..first things first...

To those whinging that the TM-D710 suffers from severe intermod from two-way radios, pagers etc... READ THE MANUAL!!! Not just the abridge paper manual...but the one on the CD that comes with the radio!!!

There is a setting in the RX/TX Manual that is specifically designed to deal with eliminating intermod. It's abundantly clear reading a few other reviews from people that have sold their TM-D710's in disgust as there is intermod etc.. that they DIDN'T READ THE MANUAL!!!

For the record - if you're having intermod issues...go into your TX/RX Menu... and activate "AIP" (Advanced Intercept Point"). It's menu items 103 (for VHF) and 104 for (UHF). This slightly alters the gain on the first IF stage of the receiver & eliminates intermod and pager noise etc on the band that you active the AIF on.

Yes you do lose a little sensitivity - but it works very well. It's not just an attenuator.

I just wanted to clear that up first - it pays to READ THE MANUAL!

Now the radio... I've had it for a few days and so far - I really like it. I was not going to spend $50 on a programming lead so I made one my self out of an old computer lead and D-9 connector. The wiring configuration is in the manual provided and it's dead simple to build.

I've found that once you've uploaded a configuration to the radio - if I wish to make a change via the software, i do need to close the memory management program on the computer and re-open it otherwise I get a "no comm port" error but that's not a big deal.

The free software on the Kenwood website makes programming the radio MUCH simpler so I'd definitely recommend doing it that way.

I use the radio in a base situation (not in my car) and I've been told the audio is fine on air - but a bit concentrated on the mid-range. This seems to be normal for all new radios to prevent wind and engine noise in cars - however it would be nice of Kenwood had recognised that not everyone will use it in the car (even their manual has a 'how to set up the radio for base station use" section) and put in a menu option to increase the bass and audio quality if you're using it for home use. I'm going to buy a MD-60 Kenwood mic and see if that helps.

Thankfully Kenwood (unlike Yaesu and some Icoms!) have designed their base station microphone to work with ANY of their base or mobile rigs (according to their website) so the MD-60 can just plug directly into any of their radios. Well done on that!

The only stupid things I've so far found are...

* Having the RJ connector to the head unit on the left side of the head unit. It looks messy have a connector sticking out the side of this really nice big screen...why not have it on the back out of sight?

* Having to plug the microphone into the base unit instead of the head unit - Kenwood - what WERE you thinking!!?? Yes you can easily and cheaply extend the mic cable with a standard cat cable (with a ferrite near the end that plugs into the radio to prevent any RF feedback issues) and a female-female adapter but mounting this radio in a car would be a pain as you have to run a separate cable for the head unit and the mic - stupid! Why not do it like the Yaesu 8800 where the mic just plugs straight into the head unit..one neat cable carries both the head unit data and the audio from the mic?

*I'd like to see a few different font choices - some of the writing is pretty small - yes there is a lot of info to display - but it would not be hard for Kenwood to offer an number of choices in how you want the screen configured (via a firmware update)

*and Kenwood PLEASE add a menu item that lets you setup the radio for either CAR use or BASE use - and change the mic EQ to suit both applications. I am not Police Dispatcher and I want my audio to sound full...that is with a few lows (bass) in it...not just mid - frequencies. Yes this is great when you're in a car and you don't want background noise, but for home (base) use - there is no reason why you could not offer a nicer on air sound for base use.

Kenwood supply two stand for the head unit. One for use in a car and one for base use which has a big stable flat base for sitting on your desk, So they know the radio will be used quite often for base use - so please offer a mic EQ setting for base use!

It's a really nice radio and for what I want it works pretty well. I'm not into APRS etc.. I just wanted a nice radio with a big display and I've got that.
SV2CLJ Rating: 2011-05-13
TOKO Filters Failure - Reset the Location & Callsign Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After 14 months of use the tranceiver has a problem with losing the callsing at aprs,also lose the locations of the stored QTHs,& After that and a month later the Right side of the TRX got "Deaf" !
The well known problem of the TOKO Filters Hit the receiver, and i must replace them , also make the recomended modification of SV8YM.
But the problem with the reseting will remain.
I make many times "Full Reset" , also upgrade the Main , TNC & Display Firmware, but the problem remains!

best 73's de Thomas SV2CLJ
KE7WNB Rating: 2011-05-02
An excellent dedicated amateur transceiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
While this is my first mobile rig, I have a base station and 2 HT's so I knew what I was looking for when I purchased the TM-D710A.

In my opinion the D710 is a true ham radio. It has what you need to do amateur radio, and nothing else. It's wide band receive starts in the aircraft band and goes up to 1.2 GHz with the expected gaps for cell frequencies, etc. There is no coverage of the AM and FM broadcast bands, but then that's what we have a car stereo for.

The printed manual is very basic and covers just enough to set the radio up and tune a frequency. Items like programming memories and setting up APRS, Packet, and Echolink are left to the pdfs included on the CD. There is also and extended APRS/Echolink document on the kenwood site that covers those operations with more explanations.

All the manuals are a little vague on some things. For instance, which port to plug the computer interface cable into depends on what you're trying to do (program the radio vs access the TNC). But since we're radio hobbyists we should be able to figure that out fairly quickly :)

Heres a quick pro/con wrap up:
Pro:
-50W on 2m and 70cm.
-TNC allows APRS, PACKET or Echolink.
-APRS and PACKET can be run on the A or B VFO.
-The 1000 memories are shared and available on both sides
-GPS is through a generic port. Any gps reciever with NMEA and serial I/O can work with this radio
-Two programmable audio jacks are on the transceiver for external speakers. You can connect 1 or 2 speakers to the radio and set which channel is heard on which speaker.
-Standard cables used for the mic and control head. Easy to buy extensions, if the supplied cables are to short

Con:
-Only one bracket for the control unit, yet 2 baseplates. It would have been nice to have 2 brackets. One for the car mount and one for the desktop mount.
-I wish there was also a light to show RX/TX. It is on the display but isn't easy to see when your driving.

All in all a great radio. It is a basic tranceiver with built in TNC with enough I/O options to make it easy to add aftermarket solutions to in order to add any features you want (GPS mapping for example)
K0WJ Rating: 2011-04-18
The Best of the Best Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had the TM-D710 long enough now to review it. It is, by far, one of the best radios I've owned and a great improvement over my previous radio (which I still have), a TM-D700. I use it almost daily (K0WJ-1) with APRS (Green Light Labs GPS-710) as well as for normal VHF/UHF FM voice traffic. It was simple to program as the menus are very logically laid out. To use it as a digi takes two seconds to implement. The FREE Memory Control Software (MCP-2) is easy to use. The Program Memories (different from standard memories) enable you to store different radio and, especially, APRS configurations (Parked with digi on, moving with digi off, etc.) which can then be recalled with two button pushes. Firmware updates show me a real willingness on Kenwood's part to listen to the user community and these firmware updates couldn't be simpler to install.

You can't go wrong by purchasing a Kenwood TM-D710.

73,
Lon, KØWJ