Spent the last couple days trying to assemble an area for information on the TK-630H radio.
Back in January 2009, The PCARS Radiogram published an article I penned concerning the 6m “Magic Band” and the Kenwood TK-630H commercial radio. The radios were starting to show up on the used market at hamfest’s and on eBay. I discussed what to models to look for, and offered some programming suggestions for those willing to scout around and acquire the needed parts. (Link: http://www.portcars.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/pcars-jan2009.pdf)
And here it is January 2014, and I’m still writing about a 1993 model commercial radio. What’s the fascination? Why am I revisiting a 5 year old article about obsolete technology? Read on…
My employer for the past 30 years has been the State of Ohio. Specifically, the Ohio Department of Transportation. (ODOT) I’m the radio technician for District 4 here in Northeast Ohio.
ODOT was one of the first agencies to utilize mobile 2-way radios, with the Portage/Summit/Ashtabula/Trumbull /Mahoning/Stark county areas being the first ODOT “pilot” program starting about 1956. It was “modern” technology back in the day. (Before cell phones, pagers, text messaging… or even solid state!) The frequencies to use in the late 1950’s were VHF. (Very High Frequency, which by todays standard isn’t very high at all!) While over the years most agencies and commercial entities left Low band VHF decades ago, ODOT has remained on Low Band VHF FM, very close in frequency to our beloved amateur 6 meter FM band.
ODOT owns and uses several hundred TK-630H (and other brands of) radios in service in it’s snow plows and other vehicles.
That is all about to change.
This past July 2013, ODOT announced that we will begin transitioning to the statewide Multi Agency Radio Communications system, also known as MARCS. It is ODOT’s goal to totally abandon it’s LOW BAND infrastructure before the end of 2014. While most other state agencies have already transitioned to the MARCS system, ODOT has been the largest holdout because of the HUGE amount of vehicles and radios involved. ALL of these radio units will become functionally obsolete and will be retired this year.
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While I myself don’t have any official capacity to distribute any of these surplus units, (I have to adhere to rules, protocol and ethics) there WILL be SEVERAL HUNDRED of these radios to be uninstalled and disposed of by ODOT in the VERY near future. I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t start seeing these units making their way into the Amateur Radio community. All of this will make for a very BUSY time for me as an ODOT radio technician, but a very EXCITING time for seeing Amateurs snatch these radios up and get on 6m!
I guess now would be a GREAT time to remind folks that Northeast Ohio has many wonderful 6m repeater systems in place. I easily filled my basic 32 channels of my surplus TK-630H with frequencies.
One area repeater based in Akron is VERY high profile with multiple inputs in Akron, Massillon, Richfield and Stone Creek blanketing Portage, Summit, Wayne, Holmes and Medina counties as well as the surrounding areas. (The N8XPK Repeater system on 53.170(RX) / 52.170(TX) with PL tones selecting the different inputs: 107.2 (Massillon), 110.9 (Loudonville), 123.0 (Stone Creek) and 136.5 (Richfield.) It’s a comfortable family type repeater. They even have been holding a net there on Sunday nights at 7PM yielding 30+ check- ins from all over Ohio.
A nice surplus 100Watt 6m radio would REALLY be a nice addition…
With all of that being said, there has always been a hurdle of gathering equipment AND information. While there appears that there will be no longer be a shortage of surplus equipment to be had, there is an informational hurdle to those unfamiliar with commercial radios. Since I’ve spent the last 20 years installing, repairing, adjusting, programming and learning about the Kenwood TK-630 radio, I thought it might be helpful to contain this information and make it available to those wanting to experiment with these surplus units.
Now is the time to explore 6 meter FM and the 50-54MHz band!
I’m putting together a group of individuals interested in exploring these surplus radios, and have published an Internet webpage dealing with all facets of the TK-630H radio. You will have available information on how to assemble, modify, install, program, repair, retune and get the radio converted for Amateur Radio use, particularly here in Northeast Ohio. I’d like to invite folks to check out: The TK-630 Project at http://630.zzruss.com. There are a number of rare manuals and loads of information I’m adding daily. There is a question and answer discussion area, and hams can also contact me there. As the months continue, I hope to include how to guides, videos, pictures, channel programming templates, software and more.
With Northeast Ohio having a FANTASTIC (but little known) 6m repeater infrastructure already in place, I can see great things ahead for those wishing to learn and experiment with 6m FM without breaking the bank.
Russell J. Anderson, Sr. – KB8DPN
Email: russ@zzruss.com
The TK-630H
