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TS-2000 AM mod

Truck

Member
Dec 18, 2012
68
3
18
KY
Before I get flogged, I hold a general license and.if I'm going to run a high dollar rig, then I want it to perform as well as it can.....so is there any mods to help this rig perform well on am. As in good forward swing
Ki4tga
 

Thanks for the link. Exactly what I was looking for. One question...do I need the cable that has same 9 pin plus on each end our usb on the pc end?
 
Thanks for the link. Exactly what I was looking for. One question...do I need the cable that has same 9 pin plus on each end our usb on the pc end?

???

If you are going to use the ARCP-2000 Kenwood software, then you will need to get the serial port-to-USB cable from Affordable Radio ('eBay'):

6' USB Cat Cable Kenwood Radio TS 2000 TS 590s TS 870s TS 570DG TS 570SG TS 480 | eBay

If you are going to use the 13 pin DIN plug to run an external audio chain in, you can either make one/DIY or buy a ready made cable from W2IHY:

Home page

http://www.w2ihy.com/cables.html

http://www.w2ihy.com/interface-boxes.html
 
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We may be misinterpreting Truck's question in our responses. His goal is to provide strong positive peaks to produce loud AM audio. This modification is designed for ESSB by opening the bandwidth to just over 3 KHz on SSB to add treble. I'm not sure if it does anything on AM and it won't provide the swing or punch he is looking for.

If you click on the AM link for that website here NU9N AM Transmitter Hi Fi Audio Modulation Processing you will find scope patterns that help explain why. He wants the asymmetrical hi level pattern favoring the positive peaks but in the TS-2000 rig that is only capable of the low level over modulated pattern shown. That's a lot different than wanting more treble on SSB or improving the tone quality in any way.

You won't achieve the desired goal with external software programming. To get this rig any many other modern ones to do what you want will require surgery. If a $49 CB can produce positive swing, you know it is possible to make the TS-2000 do the same. We can't add a hi level modulator inside this radio but we can mimic the exact same thing with very few parts.

You will have to reroute the low level audio feeding the balanced modulator to another low level stage further down the line in the early RF stages. This can be done with a transistor triggered off the AM mode, driving a relay. The relay is wired to bypass the balanced modulator in AM and dump audio into the appropriate low level RF stage.

Some of the best places to inject the audio can be capacitively coupled to the DC carrier or power control transistor in the RF strip. The next option is the first RF transistor in the TX amp. Not the mixer but the buffer or amp that follows the last TX mixer. Capacitively coupling the audio into this stage is not the best approach since RF is here.

Build a single stage series pass modulator and use it to modulate the DC feeding the first RF transistor. You can copy the first transistor used in the Uniden MB8719 CB board. Less than 10 parts and you can use the pot to set the carrier independently from the PEP. If you feel confident the power supply and rest of the RF stages can handle more drive, you could modulate the same stage through a small 1:1 isolation transformer.

Some rigs like the older TS-940 and FT-1000D do real well with that mod! Others just don't have the headroom to safely handle it. The reason is this method adds to the voltage applied to the RF driver and substantially increases positive peak potential on AM. Drive it too hard and anything from bandpass filters to the power supply could let go.

That was the good news. The bad news is the TS-2000 is all surface mount technology. Even simple modifications to the circuitry will require someone with the best soldering skills, eyesight, and hand coordination.
 
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I made a cable for the 13 pin DIN plug and accessed the balanced modulator there. An external audio chain is fed there. Using the DSP settings in the ARCP software, I set the TX audio curve 'flat' and get some pretty astounding audio that way. But that is set up for eSSB; not AM.
 
Shockwave, sounds like you have done it a time or two. That's exactly what I'm wanting..are you up for hire? I'm not digging in this one
 
I have created several modifications that alter the stage where the modulation takes place in these low level modulated HF rigs. Unfortunately that was years ago and my soldering skills, eyesight, and hand coordination don't have me as comfortable working on something like this today.
 
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