Setup for the Kenwood TS-850SAT

Kenwood TS-850SAT with DSP-100 on top

Note! Note! Note!

Many users of the Kenwood TS850 with the DSP-100 have had many problems and some have given up on the setup because of the problems.

The symptoms of the problem are that the audio both receive and transmit, become very intermittent and actually drops out sometimes for quite a while or just momentarily. The DSP-100 can get very hot and this seems to acerbate the problem. Many users have installed a little fan to cool the top of the DSP, but this does not seem to be much help.

The real cause in most cases has nothing to do with heat. The device was designed to be placed on top of the 850 and under most conditions the unit will not over heat. The problem is the RCA plugs on the back of the DSP unit itself. They are attached to the control board with two (2) small plastic pins and the control lugs that are soldered to the board. As the RCA plugs are used, bumped, unplugged, etc the plugs get loose. Move you finger back and forth on the plugs and if they move at all, the soldered joints to the board have  broken free of the board and will  cause the drop out and un-natural heat buildup. Push on them slightly, they should not move. 

The FIX for the problem is to take the DSP apart and carefully remove the circuit board. You do not need to disconnect any internal wire connectors. Simply fold it back and look at the two plastic jack on the board. Carefully put a low wattage soldering iron on the contacts and make sure they have continuity with the board. Put some super glue on the plastic posts as they come through the main board. Let the glue dry for a day making sure nothing drips onto another component. Turn the board over and apply some more super glue to the plastic ports around the ports everywhere except on circuit tracings. Let the glue dry for a day and put the DSP back together. Put the RCA jacks on the DSP first, very carefully and put the unit on top of your 850. Never disconnect the RCA cables from the DSP jacks again. If you most move the unit disconnect from the rig but not from the DSP. Avoid ever touching or having anything else like cables rub against of touch the RCA cables. I was having the symptoms as described all the time, for a long time. I did this fix and it has been working perfectly for over a year. 

I have owned my Kenwood TS-850 SAT for many years. It was one of the first 850's sold as I bought it after a demonstration by HRO at a local ham convention. It has been a constant and reliable radio for me. Most of my DX entities worked have been with the use of this fine rig. I purchased it with the matching power supply and speaker. I considered getting the DSP-100 Digital Signal Processor at that time, but was under the mistaken opinion that the DSP was kind of like modem and that the advantages of the unit could only be utilized while in QSO with other DSP-100 owners. How wrong I was, but little did I know that years latter I would be involved with HI FI audio in SSB. Had I purchased one then, I could have saved myself a lot of money, but you know about hindsight. DSP-100s are not being produced anymore. In fact the 850 is not being produced. The combination of the TS-850 with the DSP-100 is proving to be the premier radio for HI FI audio. These radios and especially the DSP-100 are going up in value as opposed to declining as other radios are doing. If you have one and are not planning on using it for audio, please contact just about anyone on 14.178 or 14.168 and inform them of that fact. Just about anyone there will be glad to pay you a fair price for the equipment, including me. 

Connecting the DSP-100 to the 850 is straight forward and covered in the operators manual quite well. One of the critical things to consider in the hook-up is the attachment of the cables. There are 4 cables that need to be connected between the DSP and the radio. They are special cables but all but one can be made or purchased locally. The 13 pin cable E30-3048-05 is a special cable and must be purchased from Kenwood or a Kenwood parts supplier. A search of the internet will give you a couple of places to get one, but remember they are not always available and shipments of parts from Kenwood sometimes takes some time, so if you get a DSP without cables, check to see about availability of this particular cable before purchasing one. I have found Pacific Parts at 1-800-421-5080 to be helpful in getting parts, especially this cable. If it were me I would purchase the other 6 pin cable as well at the same time, because I am not very handy with a soldering iron. The remaining two cables are just phono cables that can be purchased just about anywhere. Just for your information, at this time the cost of the 13 pin cable is over $60, so it is not just some trivial thing to be considered. If you do get a unit with cables be careful with them and make sure they are pushed all the way on at both ends and are making good contact. If your receive signal or transmit signal or both seem to fade away, don't panic, it is probably a loose cable. 

Now the DSP-100 is connected to the rig. You are not done. In the stock configuration, the radio will sound great, but not up to HI FI quality. You have to make some changes to both the radio setup and the DSP. Put your fingers on the SCAN key and the right most black key under the M.CH mark on the radio. With the other hand press the power button. The radio will respond with a display of 00 and a number. The number is not important. Turn the M.CH/VFO CH knob until you get to menu selection 01. There should be a 01 and the word off on the display. Depress the UP button until the display says "on". Turn the radio off and then on. Cycle the 8.83 filter while you depress your foot switch or transmit button until there is no filter selected. Put the 455 filter on 12K. You have now opened up the radio, but it will not transmit in SSB at 6K or better until you make changes to the DSP-100. If you try to transmit with the radio set up only, you will get a 6K transmission but with a carrier. Not good, don't do it.

The DSP has as part of it's setup, a set of DIP switches. To allow this unit to work in wide band, you must put the switches in this specific combination. Put all switches up with the exception of 1, 8, and 9. These must be down. That's all there is to setting it up. There are other modifications that some are making to the electronics inside the DSP to allow audio to be applied directly to the unit, but at this time I do not have them documented. I will post them here as soon as I get them. I have heard setups with and without the mods, and not heard much difference. The DSP unit runs very hot. I have put a little muffin fan close to it to keep it cool. I also put it on a shelf by its self to keep the heat down. They designed it to go on top of the radio, but my feelings is that the cooler electronics run, in general, the longer they last. All other hookups and cabling are as described. One note to remember is that the audio out for this rig is taken form the auxiliary plug in the back. It has 13 pins and is not easy to solder, so be warned. Everything else is pretty straight forward. 

If you have a Kenwood TS-850 but can't find a DSP-100 or don't want to pay the high price for one, there are some other improvements that can be made that will make the radio sound better in HI FI audio. They are not as good as using the DSP, but with a good microphone, and an EQ in a chain, the following mods can make it sound at least presentable. If you do it correctly, some guys may not even know you are not using the DSP. These mods require you to get inside the rig with a screwdriver and adjust some pots, so do it at your own risk. I have not done them myself, but have heard 850's that have had this mod done, and it sounded real good. 

STEP #1 PUT THE RADIO ON 14.200KHZ,MODE EITHER USB OR LSB.

STEPS #2 TURN THE RADIO OFF. 

STEP #3 WHILE PUSHING THE F.LOCK KEY TURN THE RADIO ON WITH POWER BUTTON.

STEP #4 A MENU WILL BE DISPLAYED, WITH THE M.CH/VFO CH KNOB, MAKE SURE THE DISPLAY SHOWS

(MENU NO. 00). 

STEP #5 PUT MODE SWITCH TO LSB. HAVE THE 8.83MHZ FILTER KEY IN THE 6KHZ, 

POSITION. TRANSMIT INTO DUMMY LOAD AND TURN VR501 WHICH IS UNDER DOOR ON TOP LEFT

OF RADIO COVER FULLY COUNTER CLOCK WISE WHILE LISTENING TO MONITOR RECEIVER ON SAME

FREQ, YOU SHOULD HEAR BOTTOM END OF AUDIO COME UP.

STEP #6 PUT TS-850S ON USB AND MONITOR RECEIVER ON USB SAME FREQ 14.200MHZ.FOLLOW SAME

AS STEP #5 TURNING VR502 ALSO COUNTER CLOCK WISE, YOU SHOULD HEAR BOTTOM END OF AUDIO COME 

UP MORE BASS RESPONSE THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR. 

STEP #7 PUT 8.83MHZ FILTER KEY TO 2.7KHZ POSITION, NOW TURN M.CH/VFO.CH KNOB SO THAT DISPLAY

ON TS-850S READS (MENU NO.01) SWITCHING BETWEEN USB AND LSB AND LISTENING ON SAME ON MONITOR 

RECEIVER RADIO, BALANCE AUDIO TONE BETWEEN LSB AND USB USING ADJUSTMENT POT VR503 TO BALANCE 

TRANSMIT AUDIO TONE OF THE TS-850S. 

STEP #8 ONCE YOU ARE DONE AND WANT TO KEEP UR ADJUSTMENTS PUSH THE CLR KEY WHICH IS TO THE RIGHT

OF THE MIC GAIN/PWR KNOB, THIS WILL EXIT THE MENU AND LOCK IN YOUR NEW CARRIER POINT SETTINGS ON 

THE TS-850S. 

BE CAREFUL NOT TO DAMAGE THE VR501TO503 POTS. USE THE PROPER ALIGNMENT TOOL.

The above is to be done at your own risk, as I have never done it and it may mess up your rig

For all I know.

Eq settings for the Kenwood 850/DSP-100

I use the Behringer 2496, and Virtualizer 1024P with the Kenwood rig. The following are setting for the 2496.

Remember they are for my voice with my mic so your settings may have to be modified.

The DYN settings are specific for your room and microphone and other devices in your shack. 

Click to go to the top of page        Click to go home