Kenwood TH-D7 replacement

the rocketry show
the model rocket show
Shop deals on ebay
madcow rocketry
The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
troj said:
Mini-USB...unless there's an interface offered, I forsee a lot of folks being unable to hook them up to their handheld GPS units.

-Kevin
Click to expand...
The article says the TH-D72 has a built-in gps.
 
There is no mention of a mapping display. So, if it is really USB and not a pseudo-serial-port as some handhelds use, it will be difficult to hook it up to a mapping display... :(
 
I have heard rumors of a mapping display. Even so -- lack of a true serial port is disappointing, but I think something I could live with as I didn't see much value in connecting a handheld GPS.

Now, about the price.......I'm sure it will be in the $400 range to match Yaesu's price of the 8GR.

-- Greg
 
Troj

It might be possible to use a USB to RS-232 converter.

Bob
 
bobkrech said:
It might be possible to use a USB to RS-232 converter.
Click to expand...

Bob, while that's true, it would mean two extra pieces of stuff hanging off your belt if you wanted to feed the waypoints to a handheld GPS device (as opposed to the one extra thing with the TH-D7).

Here's a dream: the new transceiver will have a great big LCD that would display Garmin street and topo maps directly, internally!
 
I like the idea expressed earlier of allowing the user to buy a "text only faceplate" or spend more money on a "mapping faceplate."
 
The idea of two faceplates is a neat one, but I see one serious downside -- expense. Twice the inventory to be maintained, which means the cost of production/inventory is spread across two models, instead of just one.

It'll be interesting to see what comes out!

Wayne's idea of something that will display Garmin maps is an interesting one, though I'd expect to have seen a release of some sort already, if Garmin was in on it.

-Kevin
 
bobkrech said:
It might be possible to use a USB to RS-232 converter.
Click to expand...

I've used the RS-232/USB converter that Parallax.com sells

https://www.parallax.com/Store/Acce...ortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/378/Default.aspx

($15) for quite a few somewhat specialized devices, from BRB transmitters to APRS trackers (Opentracker, Tinytrak) to the MAWD data download stuff. Not all RS-232/USB converters have the right connections - there are apparently quite a few out there that simply don't work for any of the kinds of purposes we're using them for.

That being said, the problem with using USB-connected Garmins is not simply that the connector is USB. There's also a proprietary software interface, not simply output of simple text NMEA strings. When I connect my old Garmin Etrex Legend and start up a terminal program, I get nice near NMEA strings in the terminal window. When I do the same with my Etrex Vista (USB), I get nothing, and as far as I know, I'm not ever going to get anything, unless I get proprietary information about the data format (I guess I haven't really looked yet, though, so maybe?).

Now, I know we're talking about GPS output from the new radio here, but the same may well be true: even if you connect a converter, you can't use the data unless they're in a usable format. This is why I've never regretted buying an old small-memory, black-and-white, not-very-sensitive Etrex Legend: I can get under the hood easily, and mess with the innards. For example, if you want to set a waypoint, you just send a $GPWPL string with the coordinates and the waypoint name, and it appears in the Legend just as though I'd entered it with the Legend's buttons.
 
sylvie369 said:
That being said, the problem with using USB-connected Garmins is not simply that the connector is USB. There's also a proprietary software interface, not simply output of simple text NMEA strings. When I connect my old Garmin Etrex Legend and start up a terminal program, I get nice near NMEA strings in the terminal window. When I do the same with my Etrex Vista (USB), I get nothing, and as far as I know, I'm not ever going to get anything, unless I get proprietary information about the data format (I guess I haven't really looked yet, though, so maybe?).
Click to expand...

My eTrex Vista has a menu item where you can select either the Garmin proprietary format (for loading maps) or NMEA for interfacing with other devices. Have you looked in your setup menus to see if you can configure it for NMEA?

Some USB devices are clients and some are servers. All the GPS devices that I'm aware of are clients and require a server to control them. And all the RS-232<->USB devices that I'm aware of require a client on the RS-232 side and a server on the USB side. That means using a laptop on the USB side. Some embedded computer boards now act as USB servers.

I'm not aware of an adapter cable that will act as a USB server to talk to a USB GPS and then spit the data out of the serial side. I've always resorted to a single board computer to do that. If anybody knows of an interface cable that does that I'd love to hear about it.

There are some GPS units that evidently use a USB connector but the manufacturer has also implemented a RS-232 mode. So you can have the GPS spit RS-232 NMEA sentences out of that connector and then you just need a cable that has a USB connector on one end and an appropriate RS-232 connector on the other end. I haven't played with that type of unit. Sounds a bit scary to me. I'm not sure what happens when you plug into a USB port and the gizmo is sourcing RS-232 Voltage levels. Maybe it auto detects?
 
WillMarchant said:
My eTrex Vista has a menu item where you can select either the Garmin proprietary format (for loading maps) or NMEA for interfacing with other devices. Have you looked in your setup menus to see if you can configure it for NMEA?
Click to expand...

My eTrex Legend has that - my Vista does not, as far as I know. On the Legend, it's the Setup/Interface menu where you change the interface. Is it somewhere else on the Vista? I'd love to be able to communicate with mine. I suspect, though, that we're talking about different models.

The Legend defaults to the proprietary format, so I did learn all about changing interface settings on that one.
 
sylvie369 said:
My eTrex Legend has that - my Vista does not, as far as I know. On the Legend, it's the Setup/Interface menu where you change the interface. Is it somewhere else on the Vista? I'd love to be able to communicate with mine. I suspect, though, that we're talking about different models.

The Legend defaults to the proprietary format, so I did learn all about changing interface settings on that one.
Click to expand...

Bummer, you must have the Vista H which comes with the USB port. Mine's the plain vanilla Vista.
 
WillMarchant said:
Bummer, you must have the Vista H which comes with the USB port. Mine's the plain vanilla Vista.
Click to expand...

Ah, that's what I thought. You have one with a serial interface, like my Legend, rather than a USB interface. I believe that all of the serial Garmins have the same straightforward system the Legend has for communicating with NMEA strings through simple serial. I don't know if any of the USB interface Garmins can be set to simply output NMEA strings (or take them as input). Apparently there is software out there to do this:

https://www.gpsbabel.org/htmldoc-development/fmt_garmin.html

but I doubt it would be of much help in rocket location. And of course this is completely different from the current question, which (I think) has to do with the GPS data format output by the new Kenwood (assuming GPS data ARE output).
 
WillMarchant said:
There is a new Yahoo group called [email protected] for this radio. https://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kenwood_TH-D72 should get you there.
Click to expand...

Thanks for turning us on to the new Kenwood group. Some info and pix from Dayton posted on there....
*****************
From Lynn Deffenbaugh (can't remember his callsign):

1000 Memory Channels
8 Character Alpha-designator
Logger: track from APRS (KMZ format) downloadable via USB
Built-in GPS but can accept external as well
Standard RS-232 like the D7
LiON battery
TNC functions - Speculation is that it will be 710-similar
Has SkyCommand capability
AvMap compatible
Field upgradable firmware via USB

Pix at: https://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kenwood_TH-D72/photos/album/386712707/pic/1019223633/view

Port info (on the side - see the pix)
Mic spk. * Mini usb. * 2.5 mm rs 232. *Like d7

https://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kenwood_TH-D72/photos/album/386712707/pic/435816597/view

and even more photos from a different source:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/daveclausen/sets/72157623937113809/

the radio will have dual receive (V+U, V+V, U+U, U+V).

Antenna connector is an SMA. Dave's photos don't show the ports with
the covers off--the USB port is a mini-USB (as I recall) and the
serial port just below it is 3-conductor sub-miniature phone jack
(same as the GPS port on the TH-D7).

Availability - probably November or thereabouts (doesn't seem to have been submitted to the FCC for approval, yet, and that process takes a few months).

***********

I want one!
 
Last edited:
WillMarchant said:
I got my hands on a TH-D72A and it is an awesome radio!
Click to expand...

Santa arrived at the Day hacienda a little bit early, bringing a couple of boxes from Kenwood last night. Yep, it IS a nice little radio. Got the rapid charger, so at least I didn't have to charge it up for 8 hours before I could play with it!
 
n5wd said:
Santa arrived at the Day hacienda a little bit early, bringing a couple of boxes from Kenwood last night. Yep, it IS a nice little radio. Got the rapid charger, so at least I didn't have to charge it up for 8 hours before I could play with it!
Click to expand...

Uh, I thought it was a mistake when I heard that Santa got mugged outside your house... :wink:

Let me know how you like the rapid charger. I decided not to spring for that but did get a BT-15 alkaline cell battery pack.

My TH-D7 accessories will fit the new radio. Cool! :clap:
 
I'm thinking about picking one up -- need to make sure it's compatible with my gear! Am I correct to assume that this radio has user upgradeable firmware? I'd hate to be stuck with a lemon just for deciding to become an "early adopter".

-- Greg
 
bigredbee said:
need to make sure it's compatible with my gear!
Click to expand...

What gear?

It is quite happily decoding BeelineGPS packets as I type.

I haven't had a chance to hook it up to my Garmin GPS yet to make sure it displays the BeelineGPS as a waypoint on the external GPS. But I'm confident that will work as reported by others. I'll try that later.
 
Does it still display the BRB altitude on the main "page" when it decodes the packet?
 
bigredbee said:
Does it still display the BRB altitude on the main "page" when it decodes the packet?
Click to expand...

They both display "/A=000133*" for a while after the BeelineGPS gets initialized. The new unit displays the altitude for a longer time than the old unit. The old unit drops back to the front page displaying the channel info and showing the "dp KC6ROL" message. The D72 does as well, it just takes a little longer. And then the D72 likes to pop up the altitude display more than the D7.

This seems to be dependent upon whether the packet gets decoded.

I probably need to hook both handhelds up to computers and log the data to see who is catching more. The D72 has an adjustable squelch. I wonder if that's an issue?
 
WillMarchant said:
Uh, I thought it was a mistake when I heard that Santa got mugged outside your house... :wink:
Click to expand...

Well, I was about to beat the UPS guy with a baseball bat for making me wait. I rushed home, expecting to see the box from HRO on the porch, but... no... nada! Check on the tracking page, and it still showed as "out for delivery". Gadz! They didn't show up until almost 8 p.m., and I had about given up on a Tuesday delivery!

WillMarchant said:
Let me know how you like the rapid charger. I decided not to spring for that but did get a BT-15 alkaline cell battery pack.
Click to expand...

So far, my impression is good. It IS quick.... has a laptop style power supply for the charger. Very robust.

I'm still waiting for the alkaline pack and the 1800 mAH battery. Hopefully it'll show up soon.

Having fun with the HT - figured out how to mute the APRS noise go away while still decoding the packets (set the CTCSS to 100.0 for the "Voice Alert" that Bob WB4APR is suggesting.
 
I have a Big Red Bee GPS unit. As Will Marchant stated he was downloading APRS info from the BRB unit. The Kenwood 72 also has a built in GPS unit.

My question to Will Marchant (or anyone else) is once you get the rockets ground position can you input that into the Kenwood and track it to the rocket (like my garmin unit)??

At $500 for the Kenwood I don't want to buy something that I can't totally use.
 
Hi Jim:
The Kenwood has a page where it will show you the range and bearing to any of the APRS beacons it has received. The bearing display is "North up" so you just need to rotate until you're facing North and then the needle on the Kenwood display points to your rocket.

The Kenwood will also display the latitude and longitude of the last received packet. You can manually type those into another GPS if you want.

The Kenwood TH-D71A will connect to your external GPS with a serial cable (no, you're out of luck if your external GPS has only USB) and will display the position of the last packet heard on your external GPS. At least that is what people on the web are reporting and is consistent with my experience with the TH-D7A(G). I'll try to replicate that myself this weekend.

You might look around your area to see if one of the local ham radio stores has one you can play with. Or try contacting the local ham clubs to see if somebody has one. If you get to the Washington DC area let me know and you can try mine.
Happy Holidays,
Will
 
gorillamotors said:
I have a Big Red Bee GPS unit. As Will Marchant stated he was downloading APRS info from the BRB unit. The Kenwood 72 also has a built in GPS unit.

My question to Will Marchant (or anyone else) is once you get the rockets ground position can you input that into the Kenwood and track it to the rocket (like my garmin unit)??
Click to expand...

FWIW, the Yaesu VX-8GR can do the distance and bearing bit....and the Yaesu is now $370 while the Kenwood is $485.

-Kevin
 
WillMarchant said:
Hi Jim:
The Kenwood has a page where it will show you the range and bearing to any of the APRS beacons it has received. The bearing display is "North up" so you just need to rotate until you're facing North and then the needle on the Kenwood display points to your rocket.

The Kenwood will also display the latitude and longitude of the last received packet. You can manually type those into another GPS if you want.

The Kenwood TH-D71A will connect to your external GPS with a serial cable (no, you're out of luck if your external GPS has only USB) and will display the position of the last packet heard on your external GPS. At least that is what people on the web are reporting and is consistent with my experience with the TH-D7A(G). I'll try to replicate that myself this weekend.

You might look around your area to see if one of the local ham radio stores has one you can play with. Or try contacting the local ham clubs to see if somebody has one. If you get to the Washington DC area let me know and you can try mine.
Happy Holidays,
Will
Click to expand...
From what I was reading, you can switch between "North up" and "Waypoint up" mode.
 

Similar threads

WillMarchant
New APRS handheld: Kenwood TH-D75
Replies
15
Views
3K
WillMarchant
WillMarchant
B
VW Fans
2 3 4
Replies
96
Views
10K
SkyFire
SkyFire
J
Introducing Estes Energetics
Replies
1
Views
938
user 35280
U
alexzogh
Huntsville Saturn 1b was scrapped
Replies
7
Views
624
CalebJ
CalebJ
Bat-mite
Cool. Hi-res pix of the sun's surface.
Replies
4
Views
539
BABAR
B

Latest posts

Back
Top