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Kenwood TK-290 Radio found - What now?

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:39 pm
by jeepin4
Hi everyone. Apart from quite a bit of CB radio experience, I am a definite "newbie" to other radios and frequencies.

I work construction for a living, and found a Kenwood TK-290 radio on the job. I have contacted everone I can think of (including utility companies), but nobody so far has claimed the radio. The battery is dead, so I cant even call anyone on it.

I have been trying to read up on what exactly it does and options it has, and one of my questions is about the password feature. I read that when it is powered off and back on, you need to enter a password to use the radio? Is this true? Is there a way around this? My concern is that I dont want to buy a battery charger for it, if it wont do me any good. Ideas?

From what I read, its an expensive radio, so I would hate to have to toss it. What should I do with it?

Thanks.

Joe
Jeepin4

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:45 pm
by azFIREguy
what do you want for it? as for the password there is no way around it "if it has been enabled into the radio." If you want to see it let me know :D :D

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 8:52 pm
by VE9MP
Pfft.........a TK-290? Well, I'll give ya 20 bucks and take off your hands :D

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:33 am
by d119
Don't let these guys fool you. Shame on you people.

The TK-290 is a VHF portable radio that operates between 136-174MHz. It's useful for amateur radio, public safety, or anything else in that VHF frequency spread. You could use it on certain MURS frequencies license-free if you have a radio to match it with.

With a DTMF keypad (0-9, * and # keys on the front), it's worth about $250-300. Without the keypad, it's worth $200-250.

Did you try turning it in to your local police department for the usual 30-day hold on found property? Not sure what it is in your state...

As for the password, that's an *OPTION* that I've never seen anyone use. Most likely if you recharge the battery, there won't be a password when you turn it on.

As far as reading/reprogramming the radio, there may be a password involved in that.

TK-290's use the KSC-24 (for NiCd/NiMh) or KSC-20 (NiCd) desktop rapid battery chargers.

If you have any questions about the radio and want honest answers, feel free to private message me using the PM button.

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:52 pm
by phreak
reprogramming should work unless both paswords are set, which I doubt.
The RIB can be built if you have experience soldering and the RSS can be found on line for cheap or free from the russian sites. I would saay bring it in an have it programmed for 20 bucks unless you are going to constantly program the radio.