Kenwood Tm-271a/e Transceiver Instruction Manual

							© B62-1738-00 (K,E,M2,M3)
09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
INSTRUCTION MANUAL
144 MHz FM TRANSCEIVER
VHF FM TRANSCEIVER
TM-271A
144 MHz FM TRANSCEIVER
TM-271E
TM-271MENU 
						

							THANK YOU!
Thank you for choosing this KENWOOD transceiver.
KENWOOD always provides Amateur Radio products
which surprise and excite serious hobbyists.  This
transceiver is no exception.  As you learn how to use this
transceiver, you will find that KENWOOD is pursuing
“user friendliness”.  For example, each time you change
the Menu No. in Menu mode, you will see a text
message on the display that lets you know what you are
configuring.
Though user friendly, this transceiver is technically
sophisticated and some features may be new to you.
Consider this manual to be a personal tutorial from the
designers.  Allow the manual to guide you through the
learning process now, then act as a reference in the
coming years.
KENWOOD believes that this product will satisfy your
requirements on both voice and data communications.
MODELS COVERED BY THIS MANUAL
The models listed below are covered by this manual.
TM-271A:144 MHz FM Transceiver
TM-271A:VHF FM Transceiver
TM-271E:144 MHz FM Transceiver
MARKET CODES
K:The Americas
E:Europe
M
n:General
(Where “n” represents a variation number.)
The market code is printed on the bar-code label of the
carton box.
Refer to the product specifications {pages 71 ~ 72} for
information on the available operating frequencies within
each model.  For accessories supplied with the model,
refer to page 1.
FEATURES
•Weather Alert Radio function checks the 1050 Hz tone from
NOAA (U.S.A./ Canada only).
•Menu allows for easy control and selecting of various
functions.
•Up to 200 memory channels to program frequencies and
other various data.  (Up to 100 memory channels if Memory
Channel Names are assigned to the channels.)
•Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System (CTCSS) or
Digital Code Squelch (DCS) rejects unwanted calls from
other stations.
•Equipped with an easy-to-read large LCD with
alphanumeric display capability.
•TNC (E market models only)
•Free PC software (Memory Control Program) is available to
program the frequency, signalling, and other settings of your
transceiver.  The MCP can be downloaded at:
http://www.kenwood.com/i/products/info/amateur.html 
						

							i
PRECAUTIONS
Please observe the following precautions to prevent
fire, personal injury, and/or transceiver damage:
•Do not attempt to configure your transceiver while
driving; it is simply too dangerous.
•Be aware of local laws pertaining to the use of
headphones/headsets while driving on public
roads.  If in doubt, do not wear headphones while
mobiling.
•Do not transmit with high output power for
extended periods; the transceiver may overheat.
•Do not modify the transceiver unless instructed by
this manual or other KENWOOD documentation.
•Do not expose the transceiver to long periods of
direct sunlight nor place it close to heating
appliances.
•Do not place the transceiver in excessively dusty,
humid or wet areas, nor on unstable surfaces.
•If an abnormal odor or smoke is detected coming
from the transceiver, turn OFF the power
immediately.  Contact a KENWOOD service station
or your dealer.
•This transceiver is designed for a 13.8 V power
source.  Never use a 24 V battery to power the
transceiver.
NOTICES TO THE USER
One or more of the following statements may be applicable:
FCC WARNING
This equipment generates or uses radio frequency energy.  Changes
or modifications to this equipment may cause harmful interference
unless the modifications are expressly approved in the instruction
manual.  The user could lose the authority to operate this equipment if
an unauthorized change or modification is made.
INFORMATION TO THE DIGITAL DEVICE USER REQUIRED BY
THE FCC
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits
for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules.
These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against
harmful interference in a residential installation.
This equipment generates, uses and can generate radio frequency
energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the
instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
However, there is no guarantee that the interference will not occur in a
particular installation.  If this equipment does cause harmful
interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined
by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to
correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
•Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
•Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
•Connect the equipment to an outlet on a circuit different from that
to which the receiver is connected.
•Consult the dealer for technical assistance.
When condensation occurs inside the transceiver:
Condensation may occur inside the transceiver when the room is
warmed using a heater on a cold day or when the transceiver is
quickly moved from a cold location to a warm location.  When
condensation occurs, the microcomputer and/or the transmit/receive
circuits may become unstable, resulting in transceiver malfunction.  If
this happens, turn OFF the transceiver and wait for a while.  When the
condensed droplets disappear, the transceiver will function normally. 
						

							ii
CONTENTS
SELECTING A  FREQUENCY.................................. 15
VFO M
ODE.......................................................... 15
MHz M
ODE.......................................................... 16
D
IRECT FREQUENCY ENTRY...................................... 16
CHAPTER
5MENU SETUP
WHAT IS A MENU?................................................. 18
MENU ACCESS...................................................... 18
MENU FUNCTION LIST.......................................... 19
CHAPTER
6OPERATING THROUGH REPEATERS
OFFSET PROGRAMMING FLOW........................... 22
PROGRAMMING AN  OFFSET................................ 23
S
ELECTING AN OFFSET DIRECTION.............................. 23
S
ELECTING AN OFFSET FREQUENCY............................ 23
A
CTIVATING THE TONE FUNCTION................................ 24
S
ELECTING A TONE FREQUENCY................................. 24
AUTOMATIC REPEATER OFFSET.......................... 25
TRANSMITTING A  1750  Hz TONE.......................... 25
REVERSE FUNCTION............................................ 26
AUTOMATIC SIMPLEX CHECK (ASC).................... 26
TONE FREQUENCY ID SCAN................................ 27
CHAPTER
7MEMORY CHANNELS
NUMBER OF MEMORY CHANNELS...................... 28
SIMPLEX & REPEATER OR ODD-SPLIT
MEMORY CHANNEL?............................................. 28
STORING SIMPLEX FREQUENCIES OR
STANDARD REPEATER FREQUENCIES............... 29
STORING ODD-SPLIT REPEATER
FREQUENCIES....................................................... 30 SUPPLIED ACCESSORIES...................................... 1
WRITING CONVENTIONS FOLLOWED
IN THIS MANUAL...................................................... 1
CHAPTER
1PREPARATION
MOBILE INSTALLATION........................................... 2
DC POWER CABLE CONNECTION.......................... 3
Mobile Operation.................................................. 3
Fixed Station Operation........................................ 4
Replacing Fuses................................................... 5
ANTENNA CONNECTION......................................... 5
ACCESSORY CONNECTIONS................................. 6
External Speaker.................................................. 6
Microphone........................................................... 6
PC Connection..................................................... 6
CONNECTING TO A TNC (E M
ARKET MODELS ONLY).... 7
CHAPTER
2YOUR FIRST QSO
CHAPTER
3GETTING ACQUAINTED
FRONT PANEL.......................................................... 9
DISPLAY.................................................................. 10
REAR PANEL.......................................................... 12
MICROPHONE........................................................ 12
M
IC KEYPAD DIRECT ENTRY...................................... 13
CHAPTER
4OPERATING BASICS
SWITCHING THE POWER ON/OFF........................ 14
ADJUSTING THE VOLUME..................................... 14
ADJUSTING THE SQUELCH.................................. 14
TRANSMITTING...................................................... 15
S
ELECTING AN OUTPUT POWER................................. 15 
						

							iii
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
SCAN RESUME METHOD...................................... 45
CHAPTER
9SELECTIVE CALL
CTCSS AND  DCS................................................... 46
CTCSS.................................................................... 46
S
ELECTING A CTCSS FREQUENCY............................ 47
CTCSS F
REQUENCY ID SCAN................................. 48
DCS......................................................................... 48
S
ELECTING A DCS CODE......................................... 48
DCS C
ODE ID SCAN.............................................. 49
CHAPTER
10DUAL TONE MULTI-FREQUENCY
(DTMF) FUNCTIONS
MANUAL DIALING.................................................. 50
DTMF M
ONITOR.................................................... 50
DTMF TX H
OLD................................................... 51
AUTOMATIC DIALER.............................................. 51
S
TORING A DTMF NUMBER IN MEMORY...................... 51
C
ONFIRMING STORED DTMF NUMBERS...................... 52
T
RANSMITTING A STORED DTMF NUMBER................... 52
A
DJUSTING THE DTMF TONE TRANSMISSION SPEED...... 52
A
DJUSTING THE PAUSE DURATION.............................. 53
DTMF LOCK............................................................ 53
CHAPTER
11AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS
APO (AUTO POWER OFF)..................................... 54
BEAT SHIFT............................................................ 54
S-METER SQUELCH.............................................. 54
S
QUELCH HANG TIME.............................................. 55
BEEP FUNCTION.................................................... 55
BUSY CHANNEL LOCKOUT................................... 56
RECALLING A MEMORY CHANNEL....................... 30
U
SING THE TUNING CONTROL.................................... 30
U
SING THE MICROPHONE KEYPAD............................... 31
CLEARING A MEMORY CHANNEL......................... 31
NAMING A MEMORY CHANNEL............................. 32
MEMORY CHANNEL TRANSFER........................... 33
M
EMORY \ VFO TRANSFER.................................... 33
C
HANNEL \ CHANNEL TRANSFER.............................. 33
CALL CHANNEL...................................................... 35
R
ECALLING THE CALL CHANNEL................................. 35
R
EPROGRAMMING THE CALL CHANNEL......................... 35
WEATHER ALERT (K M
ARKET MODELS ONLY)............. 36
P
ROGRAMMING THE WEATHER RADIO FREQUENCY......... 36
E
NABLING A WEATHER ALERT.................................... 36
CHANNEL DISPLAY................................................ 37
CHAPTER
8SCAN
NORMAL SCAN...................................................... 40
B
AND SCAN........................................................... 40
P
ROGRAM SCAN..................................................... 40
MHz S
CAN........................................................... 41
MEMORY SCAN...................................................... 42
A
LL-CHANNEL SCAN................................................ 42
G
ROUP SCAN......................................................... 42
CALL SCAN............................................................ 43
PRIORITY SCAN..................................................... 43
P
ROGRAMMING A PRIORITY CHANNEL.......................... 43
U
SING PRIORITY SCAN............................................. 44
MEMORY CHANNEL LOCKOUT............................. 44 
						

							iv
FREQUENCY STEP SIZE....................................... 56
DISPLAY BACKLIGHT............................................. 57
P
ERMANENT BACKLIGHT........................................... 57
A
UTOMATIC BACKLIGHT............................................. 57
LOCK FUNCTION................................................... 58
DATA COMMUNICATION SPEED........................... 58
TUNE ENABLE........................................................ 58
MICROPHONE PF KEYS (K
EYPAD MODELS ONLY)...... 59
NARROW BAND FM OPERATION.......................... 60
POWER-ON MESSAGE.......................................... 60
PROGRAMMABLE VFO.......................................... 60
TIME-OUT TIMER................................................... 61
CHAPTER
12MICROPHONE CONTROL
MIC LOCK............................................................... 64
CHAPTER
13OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES
CHAPTER
14TROUBLESHOOTING
MAINTENANCE...................................................... 66
G
ENERAL INFORMATION............................................ 66
S
ERVICE................................................................ 66
S
ERVICE NOTE....................................................... 66
C
LEANING.............................................................. 67
RESETTING THE TRANSCEIVER.......................... 67
I
NITIAL SETTINGS..................................................... 67
F
ULL RESET........................................................... 67
VFO R
ESET.......................................................... 68
TROUBLESHOOTING............................................. 69
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX 
						

							1
SUPPLIED ACCESSORIES
After carefully unpacking the transceiver, identify the
items listed in the table below.  We recommend you keep
the box and packaging for shipping.
A market area code (K, E, M2, or M3) can be found on
the label attached to the package box.
y r o s s e c c Ar e b m u N t r a Py t Q
e n o h p o r c i Mt e k r a m 2 M
) 0 3 - C M K (X X - 4 2 6 0 - 1 9 T
1
t e k r a m 3 M , E , K
) c i M F M T D (X X - 1 4 6 0 - 1 9 T
r e w o p C D
e l b a ct e k r a m 3 M , 2 M , KXX - 1 1 1 2 - 0 3 E
1
t e k r a m EXX - 2 5 4 3 - 0 3 E
e s u Ft e k r a m 3 M , 2 M , KXX - 7 1 0 0 - 1 5 F
1
t e k r a m EXX - 4 2 0 0 - 2 5 F
t e k c a r b g n i t n u o MXX - 2 6 6 0 - 9 2 J1
r e g n a h e n o h p o r c i MXX - 4 8 5 1 - 9 1 J1
t e s w e r c SXX - 5 9 3 0 - 9 9 N1
) y l n o t e k r a m E , K ( d r a c y t n a r r a W—1
l a u n a m n o i t c u r t s n IXX - 8 3 7 1 - 2 6 B1
WRITING CONVENTIONS FOLLOWED IN THIS MANUAL
The writing conventions described below have been
followed to simplify instructions and avoid unnecessary
repetition.
n o i t c u r t s n Io d o t t a h W
s s e r P] Y E K [.es a e l e r d n a s s e r PY E K.
s s e r P
) s 1 ( ] Y E K [.d l o h d n a s s e r PY E Kr o d n o c e s 1 r o f
. r e g n o l
s s e r P
] 1 Y E K [,] 2 Y E K [.s s e r P1 Y E Ke s a e l e r , y l i r a t n e m o m
1 Y E Ks s e r p n e h t ,2 Y E K.
s s e r P
] 2 Y E K [ + ] 1 Y E K [.d l o h d n a s s e r P1 Y E Ks s e r p n e h t ,
2 Y E Ko w t n a h t e r o m e r a e r e h t f I .
n i y e k h c a e d l o h d n a s s e r p , s y e k
n e e b s a h y e k l a n i f e h t l i t n u n r u t
. d e s s e r p
s s e r P
] [ + ] Y E K [., F F O r e w o p r e v i e c s n a r t e h t h t i W
d l o h d n a s s e r pY E Ke h t n r u t n e h t ,
g n i s s e r p y b N O r e w o p r e v i e c s n a r t
] [. ) h c t i w S r e w o P ( 
						

							2
1
PREPARATION
2Position the transceiver, then insert and tighten
the supplied hexagon SEMS screws (4) and flat
washers (4).
•Double check that all hardware is tightened to prevent
vehicle vibration from loosening the bracket or
transceiver.
•Determine the appropriate angle of the transceiver,
using the 3 screw hole positions on the side of the
mounting bracket.
MOBILE INSTALLATION
To install the transceiver, select a safe, convenient
location inside your vehicle that minimizes danger to
your passengers and yourself while the vehicle is in
motion.  Consider installing the unit at an appropriate
position so that knees or legs will not strike it during
sudden braking of your vehicle.  Try to pick a well
ventilated location that is shielded from direct sunlight.
1Install the mounting bracket in the vehicle using the
supplied self-tapping screws (4), flat washers (4), and
spring washers (4).
•The bracket must be installed so that the 3 screw hole
positions on the side of the mounting bracket are
towards the rear of the bracket.
          
Self-tapping screw
(5 mm x 16 mm)
Flat washerSEMS
screw
Spring washer 
						

							3
1
4Confirm the correct polarity of the connections, then
attach the power cable to the battery terminals; red
connects to the positive (+) terminal and black
connects to the negative (–) terminal.
•Use the full length of the cable without cutting off excess
even if the cable is longer than required.  In particular,
never remove the fuse holders from the cable.
5Reconnect any wiring removed from the negative
terminal.
6Connect the DC power cable to the transceiver’s
power supply connector.
•Press the connectors firmly together until the locking tab
clicks.
DC POWER CABLE CONNECTION
Locate the power input connector as close to the transceiver as
possible.
MOBILE OPERATION
The vehicle battery must have a nominal rating of 12 V.
Never connect the transceiver to a 24 V battery.  Be sure
to use a 12 V vehicle battery that has sufficient current
capacity.  If the current to the transceiver is insufficient,
the display may darken during transmission, or transmit
output power may drop excessively.
1Route the DC power cable supplied with the
transceiver directly to the vehicle’s battery terminals
using the shortest path from the transceiver.
•If using a noise filter, it should be installed with an
insulator to prevent it from touching metal on the vehicle.
•We recommend you do not use the cigarette lighter
socket as some cigarette lighter sockets introduce an
unacceptable voltage drop.
•The entire length of the cable must be dressed so it is
isolated from heat, moisture, and the engine secondary
(high voltage) ignition system/ cables.
2After the cable is in place, wrap heat-resistant tape
around the fuse holder to protect it from moisture and
tie down the full run of cable.
3To prevent the risk of short circuits, disconnect other
wiring from the negative (–) battery terminal before
connecting the transceiver.
Red
Black
Fuse holder
Fuse holderFuse holder