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#1
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Programming a Kenwood TK-690 VHF Transceiver
Hi Gang,
I am trying to work a circuit that I can use to program a VHF receiver. I'm going to use the Maxim MAX232 IC to do the TTL to RS-232 voltage conversion, and this is very common. The trick I have to accomplish is to take the TXD and RXD (transmitted data/received data) on the TTL side of the chip, and combine it into 1 line going to the radio. MAX 232 Chip Combiner -------------- |-------| | | | | | TXD |--------------------| | | | | out|----------RADIO Data Line | | | | | RXD |--------------------| | | | |-------| -------------- Most interfaces are full duplex and they don't split up the TXD and RXD signals. On this particular Kenwood radio, they do. There is still data beng sent to the radio, and data received from the radio. It is just using one line as the pipe for both data lines. I was thinking two transistors and a blocking diode. Anybody have any ideas? Kenwood sells a cable that does this, but it's expensive and I am trying to find a homebrew solution. All I need is the combiner circuit. I already have the schematic for the MAX 232 circuit. This is 5 volts TTL. The radio is a Kenwood TK-690H. Thanks in advance for any help. Mike |
#2
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I'm assuming you have no control line on your side to set the dataflow
direction, but that the radio enables its transmitter when required, and sets it to HiZ when receiving. It's possible that some obscure control character(s) or other RS232 line sets data direction, but let's assume the arrangement is simple (does your manual say anything about this?). Simply tying the RXD line directly to the radio data line, and the TXD line to that with a 3K or so resistor ought to work. Anything you send will be echoed on your RXD line if you use this scheme, but under our simplicity assumption it is likely the Kenwood cable does this as well. Note that I'm assuming RXD is the input to the MAX 232 and TXD is the output. RS232 nomenclature is ambiguous. Regards, Glenn Dixon AC7ZN |
#3
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Oopsie, didn't read your post carefully enough--the radio uses TTL
levels so the MAX 232 is near the radio? I assumed the data line was RS232 levels (dumb me--you said TTL twice). Lets see....well something around 3K may still work, though the data line would have to be short... Glenn |
#4
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This is not answer to the question but another way of achievieving the
result: I am assuming that the Kenwood I/F is similar to the Icom. Icom is also selling a quite expensive I/F. I did not want to buy the I/F and I was not in the build-my-own mood either. My solution: I used a USB to serial converter and removed the level converter (it was not a MAX232). One of the Belkin USB-to-serial adapter I already had is bulky enough to allow me to do the surgery very easily. The plastic shell opens w/o problems. Since they are many uses for a serial adapter w/ "TTL" levels, I wired the input of the level converter to the 9-PIN connector. This adapter is used to configure an IC706 MKII. My laptop has no serial line so I had to use a USB converter anyway. The cable from the DB9 to the IC706 combines RX and TX as described earlier. Good luck. "pinpassion" wrote in message oups.com... Hi Gang, I am trying to work a circuit that I can use to program a VHF receiver. I'm going to use the Maxim MAX232 IC to do the TTL to RS-232 voltage conversion, and this is very common. The trick I have to accomplish is to take the TXD and RXD (transmitted data/received data) on the TTL side of the chip, and combine it into 1 line going to the radio. MAX 232 Chip Combiner -------------- |-------| | | | | | TXD |--------------------| | | | | out|----------RADIO Data Line | | | | | RXD |--------------------| | | | |-------| -------------- Most interfaces are full duplex and they don't split up the TXD and RXD signals. On this particular Kenwood radio, they do. There is still data beng sent to the radio, and data received from the radio. It is just using one line as the pipe for both data lines. I was thinking two transistors and a blocking diode. Anybody have any ideas? Kenwood sells a cable that does this, but it's expensive and I am trying to find a homebrew solution. All I need is the combiner circuit. I already have the schematic for the MAX 232 circuit. This is 5 volts TTL. The radio is a Kenwood TK-690H. Thanks in advance for any help. Mike |
#6
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Hi,
Thanks everybody for the help and suggestions. I have heard through other users of the Kenwood 90 series radios that the factory cable has the MAX232 chip within one of the connectors, as well as a data combiner circuit that sends/receives information over 1 data line through the radios microphone connector. The radio deals with 5 volt TTL signals and not the 12 volt rs-232 voltages. If you open your factory cable, you will probably see these circuits and can verify what I have heard. Mike |
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