R-5000_handbook_WB2FCR_2010.pdf

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION. 1 MODIFICATIONS - Modifications that enhance radio performance and ease of use. PERFORMING MODIFICATIONS. 2 CARRIER SCAN vs. TIME SCAN. 2 EXTENDED FUNCTIONS. 4 AM BROADCAST SENSITIVITY. 6 ADJUSTMENTS - Internal adjustments that the user can set for personal preferences. SCAN SPEED. 7 SCAN RESUME. 7 BEEP LEVEL . 7 OPTIONS - Useful options and how to install them. IF FILTERS . 8 FILTER TYPES. 8 INSTALLING FILTERS. 9 EXTERNAL SPEAKER . 10 DC POWER CABLE KIT. 10 VOICE SYNTHESIS UNIT . 11 VHF CONVERTER. 11 REMOTE CONTROL - How to configure the R-5000 for remote control and how to use it. REMOTE CONTROL MODIFICATION . 12 LEVEL CONVERTER. 13 REMOTE CONTROL SOFTWARE. 14 REMOTE INTERFACE INFORMATION. 14 REMOTE CONTROL COMMANDS. 15 SERVICE BULLETINS . 26 APPENDIX A - Addresses of interest. 27 APPENDIX B - Remote control programs. 30 APPENDIX C - CMOS handling procedures. 33 INTRODUCTION The Kenwood R-5000 Communications Receiver is truly an advanced high performance radio. It features great sensitivity, dynamic range, high stability and superb interference reduction. It is an all-mode (SSB, AM, FM, FSK) receiver designed to work from 100 kHz to 30 MHz. Coverage of 108 to 174 MHz is possible with the optional VC-20 VHF Converter. The R- 5000 also has a 100 channel memory, dual VFOs, selectable IF filters, two noise blankers, and built-in dual clocks. I have found the radio to be an excellent performer in listening to shortwave broadcasts, utility stations or monitoring any other type of HF transmission. It has excellent audio quality for continuous broadcast listening while the versatile notch filter and noise blankers can make DXing a breeze. With several IF filters to choose from, the user can customize his or her radio to suit their monitoring needs. This book was written to assist the owners of the R-5000 in enhancing their receivers. I have collected all of the items outlined here over the years I have owned my receiver. Some of the information was easy to find on the World Wide Web, talking to fellow owners, etc, other information was more difficult. I started to compile all this information into one document just for my own personal quick reference book. After it continued to grow, I thought that others could benefit from all this hard work. I just wish someone had done this before to save me the trouble. I hope at least some if not all of this information is useful to you. Happy monitoring! Dave Corney, WB2FCR Permission for non-commercial use of this document, in whole form only, is granted. It may be mechanically or electronically copied, stored and/or downloaded provided each of the following conditions are met: ? No charge is made for a copy of this document ? No partial reproductions - the whole document must kept together especially this page ? Full credit is given to the author Kenwood is a trademark of Kenwood U.S.A Corporation Rev A. 1/95 - Changed to Microsoft Word format. Updated KENTROL address Rev B. 1/98 - Added World Wide Web addresses Rev C. 2/99 Word 97 format, updated Appendix B and World Wide Web addresses. Rev D. 10/03 Word 2000 format released to public domain 1 MODIFICATIONS There are several configurable options that a user with electronic skills can add/change on the R-5000. These modifications vary in their usefulness, some actually degrade the standard functions. Some are sold by radio dealers as high priced options, but are easily done by the user with a little information. Some of the options that I have found are described in detail below. PERFORMING MODIFICATIONS Most of these modifications involve simply cutting a diode or zero ohm jumper. Zero ohm jumpers look like resistors with no color codes on them. They have no resistance (hence the name zero ohm) but are used to make it easy to make or break continuity between two points in a circuit. These diodes or jumpers are vertically mounted with one end (the diodes anode end) looping up. This makes enabling and disabling the option easy. To enable a particular option you can cut the loop and move the wires to one side. To disable the option in the future, you can simply re-solder the loop together. Before you start, first understand that any modifications you do will void your warranty. Second the R-5000 has delicate wires and fragile circuit boards, please take care when handling them. Also the receiver has many CMOS parts that very sensitive to static electricity. Use proper CMOS handling procedures. Appendix C has information on CMOS handling. Please do not attempt any modifications unless you know what you are doing. If in doubt, ask an experienced technician for assistance. The author assumes no liability for the effectiveness or consequences resulting from these modifications. CARRIER SCAN vs. TIME SCAN The R-5000 has a scan function that allows the operator to scan channel groups (Memory Scan) or scan between two designated frequencies (Program Scan). Refer to the instruction manual for details on how both work. The standard scan function is called Time Operated Scan. The operator initiates scanning by rotating the squelch knob until the audio is muted. Then either Memory Scan or Program Scan is started. The radio will stop scanning when squelch is broken by an signal and the busy light comes on. The receiver will automatically return to scan after approximately 5 seconds whether or not the signal is still present. The R-5000 can be modified for Carrier Operated Scan. This mod allows the receiver to return to scan only after there is no AM or FM signal. This modification involves cutting jumper W64 on the IF board. Figure 1 shows the location of W64. 2 3 When used with the Scan Busy Stop modification (see page 5), this modification makes the scan function in the R-5000 much more effective. Time Operated Scan stops on an active channel only for 5 seconds, then resumes scanning. This means you would miss the rest of the transmission if it last more than 5 seconds. Carrier Operated Scan will not resume scanning until the signal goes away, much like the scanners people use to listen to police and fire calls. With this modification you wont miss a thing! EXTENDED FUNCTIONS The R-5000 has several option jumpers that allow you to change how the receiver functions. These jumpers are vertically mounted diodes located on the Control PWB attached to the front panel. The diodes are labeled D65 to D69 and D72. Figure 2 shows the location of these diodes. Frequency Resolution Diode D65 controls the resolution of the frequency display readout. The standard resolution is 10 Hz. With D65 cut, the display resolution is 100 Hz. The receiver still tunes in 10 Hz increments. I dont see any reason to decrease the display resolution, so this option has very limited applications. Mode Key Read Back Diode D66 controls the read-back function of the mode keys. The standard function causes the receiver to generate the Morse code letter corresponding to each mode when a mode key is pressed. Visually impaired operators can then hear which mode they select. With D66 cut, the receiver generates a single beep to acknowledge a mode key press. Most operators get annoyed with the constant beeping, so you can cut this diode and save your sanity. The Adjustment section details how to turn off the beeping completely or adjust the volume level. 4 FM Mode Step Frequency Diode D67 controls the step frequency in FM mode when the step switch is on. The standard step frequency is 2.5 kHz. With D67 cut, the step frequency is 500 Hz. This modification is only for HF-band FM mode. When the VC-20 VHF option is installed, the step frequency is already 500 Hz with the step switch on. There is little FM activity on HF. Unless you know of specific FM transmissions where you need to step in 2.5 kHz increments, this option should be left alone. Scan Busy Stop Diode D68 controls the busy stop in scan mode. The standard scan will stop when the busy light comes on only in AM or FM modes. With D68 cut, the receiver will stop scanning when the busy light comes on in all modes. This allows you to use the scan function in SSB, CW and FSK mode also. Great mod for utility monitoring like military, aircraft, and government agencies. These guys transmit for a short time (10 seconds or less) and you would miss most of the transmission if you try finding them with the tuning knob. You can load up the channels with frequencies and let the receiver scan through them. The radio will stop on the active channels so you can catch the action, and start scanning again when the activity has stopped on that channel. Memory Channel Scroll Diode D69 controls how memory channels are stored and selected depending upon whether you are storing a new channel or stepping through channels already programmed. The standard function allows you to step through all the channels (either empty or programmed) whether you are programming a channel or selecting a channel to monitor. With D69 cut, you can only step through the programmed channels in memory mode and the empty channels are skipped. You will scroll through only those channels with frequencies in them by using the knob or step keys. Also, with D69 cut, when you are programming a channel and have pressed the M.IN key, you can only scroll through the empty channels. The channels already programmed are skipped. This option helps you to manually scroll through the channels faster and makes finding an empty channel to put a new frequency into a whole lot easier. Memory Channel Program Diode D72 controls how channels that are already programmed are overwritten. The standard function allows you to program channels even if they are already programmed. With D72 cut, you cannot program a channel that already has information programmed into it. The only way to erase a channel is to clear the channel as described in the instruction manual. Used with the Memory Channel Scroll above, this option prevents you from over writing a channel with previously-stored important frequencies. If you program and reprogram channels a lot, this modification is great, but programming the channels using a computer is faster and easier. See the Remote Control section for computer programming tips. 5 AM BROADCAST SENSITIVITY The R-5000 has excellent sensitivity in the HF band. The sensitivity in the AM broadcast band is acceptable for most. If you are a hard-core AM broadcast DXer, you can increase the sensitivity in this band slightly. The input filter for this band has an attenuator on its output consisting of R9, R10 and R11. Cutting either R9 or R11 will decrease the amount of attenuation and increase the gain. Be aware that this increase in gain can have a negative effect on strong signal levels in urban areas. A nearby AM broadcaster will have a tendency to overload the front end of the radio, which will result in interference in the receiver. The strong AM broadcast signal will not be properly attenuated and will punch its way through the front end. This interference will block reception of weak signals and the nearby AM broadcast signal could show up all across the band at various intervals blocking other stations. 6 ADJUSTMENTS The Kenwood R-5000 has a couple of internal adjustments that the user can set for personal preferences. These are outlined below. SCAN SPEED The speed at which the receiver scans between channels or frequencies can be changed. The adjustment for this is a trimmer pot found on the Switch Unit X41-3000-00 A/8 board. This board is located behind the front panel where the squelch knob is mounted. The scan speed can be adjusted using trimmer VR2. If the receiver scans too fast or too slow for your liking try adjusting this trimmer. SCAN RESUME The time it takes for the receiver to resume scan can be adjusted. The adjustment for this is another trimmer pot found on the Switch Unit X41-3000-00 A/8 board. This board is located behind the front panel where the squelch knob is mounted. The resume time can be adjusted using trimmer VR3. If the receiver returns to scan too fast or too slow for your liking try adjusting this trimmer. BEEP LEVEL The level of the beep sound or mode key read back can be adjusted using VR8 on the IF board. It can set to extremely loud or no beep at all. Note that you can also disable the beep by cutting D9 on the Control PWB, but turning VR8 all the way down is a less destructive method. If the constant beeping of the radio every time you press a button is driving you nuts, try adjusting this trimmer. 7 OPTIONS IF FILTERS Adding filters of different bandwidths will help you receive signals in a crowded signal area. The smaller the bandwidth, the less a signal on an adjacent fre