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Programming and tuning the TK-730

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 1:35 pm
by k6whp
for a while I have had a decent Kenwood TK-730 VHF radio and I wanted to program it to the ham bands. A little back story: did get a brand new TK-730G off of eBay and found that this was not able to be programmed +below 145 MHz. (PLL went out of lock.) This model is a *Canadian* model -- i.e., no FCC label; "DOC" tag instead. This *will* take frequencies -- even down to 139.xxx MHz -- without going out of lock. However, the power below 146 MHz is greatly diminished. As an example:

139.800--4 Watts
141.000--5 Watts
141.600--5 Watts
143.600--7 Watts
143.700--7 Watts
144.600--7 Watts
149.300-18 Watts
150.300-24 Watts
150.600-24 Watts

Bottom line: is it possible to re-tune the final stage to handle the 2m band (and slightly below) so I can get the normal power out? Any advice, URLs, references, copies of service manuals, or just plain sympathetic shoulders to cry on most welcome.

72,

k6whp