This is where I’m keeping notes about my experiences running a TS-2000for well, everything it does.

Serial numbers

Where can I find the model number and serial number on my Kenwood product? The manufacturing number is typically embossed on the underside of your machine. It will consist of four numbers and a letter, for example 09H25. You may need a good light source to see it, but it. Kenwood Lookup Code For The Some serial numbers use a numerical code for the decade of production followed by a numerical code to indicate the year and week. Kenmore serial numbers are usually found stamped on the back or inside of the appliance on a metal or laminate plate. Kenwood Lookup Serial Number Lookup Kenwood.

Kenwood serial numbers issued from 1999 come in 2 formats. The format used from 1999 until approximately August 2008 is numeric:

First digit is the year code, add 1998 to get year. If first digitis 0 add 10 to 1998. Next 2 digits are the month code starting with01 which is April (beginning of Japanese tax year).Months 10,11 & 12 will be Jan, Feb, Mar of the next year so add 1 to the year.

The format adopted from approximately August 2008 is alphanumeric:

The first character is the decade A=2000, B=2010, C=2020.The second character would be the year of the decade from 0 to 9.The third character is the month. 1-Jan, 2-Feb, 3-Mar, …., 9-Sep, A-Oct, B-Nov, C-Dec.

Download pdf of dravyaguna vigyan by dr. prakasdh l hegde. Some examples:

301xxxxx = April 2001
311xxxxx = February 2002
313xxxxx = April 2002
810xxxxx = January 2007 - Beginning of defective filters
909xxxxx = December 2007
910xxxxx = January 2008
001xxxxx = April 2008
005xxxxx = August 2008
A88xxxx = August 2008
A8Bxxxx = November 2008
A91xxxx = January 2009
A98xxxx = August 2009 - End of defective filters
A9Cxxxx = December 2009 - Beginning of MOSFET finals
B02xxxx = February 2010

HF - RX sensitivity issues

There’s been a lot of discussion around the TS-2000 RX sensitivity compared to other radios.Here’s at least one piece of research into what may be going on.

And a local copy of the above page:

There are other threads about S-meter calibration being not quite equivalentto other rigs and tweaking that; that’s less interesting/important.

VHF/UHF - RX sensitivity issues

There’s also been a lot of discussion around TS-2000 RX sensitivity on VHF/UHF.

And local copies of the above pages:

Kenwood Serial Number Database

This was apparently fixed in later TS-2000 releases (TODO: which year?)

Filter board failure - attenuated signals, static crashes

Another fun one - failure in a filter board component causing multiple filterdiodes to be pulled down, causing noise.

Filter failures

There was also an issue with how some ceramic filters were fitted.Kenwood didn’t use a DC blocking capacitor on one side of the filterand they eventually fail.

Many TS-2000’s (Including the X model) in the serial number range 810xxxx - A98xxxx(dates January 2007 - August 2009) were produced with defective filters.

Finals replacements

There were issues with the TS-2000 finals.

They were initially BJT finals like previous HF rigs, but they were migratedto MOSFETS around 2008. Note that it’s not possible to retrofit MOSFET finalsto an older rig as other board changes have occured elsewhere.

PLL unlock

So, there are two PLL paths (at least) for VFO frequency synthesis.One for HF/6 and one for VHF/UHF. Although the chips can and do fail,someone noticed a fun mechanical issue that leads to PLL unlock.

Problem solved, I removed the cover from I/11 on the C/11 board to check voltages on connector CN514

all voltages were present and correct and the radio came back to life :) Put the cover back on and it went back to unlock and 0 volts on TP505. Took the cover back off and it came back to life, tapped on components and it would not go into unlock. Put the cover back on and as I put the last screw in it quit and went into unlock, I pulled the cover back off and screwed the screw back in without the cover and found that the screw when screwed all the way down was going right into pin 1 of CN514 and shorting it out, That is why TP505 was at 0v.These were the original factory screws. So if you have a rig with 0 volts on TP505 check the cover screws on I/11 on board C/11.73MichelleWB8QGR

Another fun one - covered in http://pa3guo.com/pll_unlock.html:

Intermittent trimmer cap
VCOs need resoldering
shield plate hitting the +8v line intermittently
i2c bus near noisy / RF signal paths
Overly long coax/filter leads, potentially intermittently shorting against the chassis/ground

A local mirror is here:

Rig control

You can’t control TX of the rig through CAT control if you want audio to comein through the ACC3 jack. There’s a specific PTT line that is “use this audioinput line and mute the MIC” which you have to use.

UT-20 / 1.2GHz calibration

When installing the UT-20 and calibrating it, beware that you need to doit with the shield on!

Kenwood Serial Number Decoder

The values from another radio would be just ballpark, better to do a correct alignment once than try to plug in values and then have to change them.

On the shield if you ordered F10-2366-03 that is the outer shield. Listed in the Tx/Rx-3 parts list under #506 are the rest of the shields that are required. Operating or testing the tx without them can damage the preamp device and they are hard to find. I found out the hard way.

Clif Holland KA5IPF

Documentation

Guy:

I have always thought that it was fairly easy to tell how old a Kenwood
radio was by it's serial number and for the most part, I think I am right.
Let's say you have a TS-850 or TS-870 and the serial number is in the 8
million range, that is 800134. This would indicate that hte radio was made
in 1997. The first number minus 1 seems to equal the last digit of the year
in which the radio was made. In the case of other radios you must be fairly
aware of the years during which the radio was made. In other words an 8
million serial number on a TS-940 means that it was made in 1987 becuase
they weren't made after 91 or so.

Now the dillemma. The TS-940 has a serial range of 10 million (1989) during
which some very significant changes were made to the design of the radio,
such as soldering in the eprom to eliminate erratic problems. You naturally
want to get that latest serials that exist for a certain radio to get the
most recent updates to its design. I recently acquired one with a serial
number of 20 million. ???

Farming simulator 2019 demo download. Does anybody have a clue as to when this radio might have been made? Am I
to assume 1991?

Is this method of determining age accurate for Kenwood?

Kenwood Serial Number Lookup

Larry AD0G