I will take the blame for allowing my Kenwood TM-V71A transceiver to be abused. Witness the result of my abuse illustrated in Figure 1. The DC power cord has become horribly frayed and worn. And that to the point of an imminent short!
But let this be a warning to others to mind what is going on with your equipment where the sun does not shine. My problem was that I was using this as a mobile unit but never got around to installing it in a fashionable manner. It just sat around in the car being thrown to the floor when I made sudden stops.
A Series of Questions
The first question that came to mind when I discovered this was, “Is it repairable, or do I need to replace it?” It did not take long to decide that replacement was the only viable option. The next question, therefore, was, “How hard will it be to replace?” See Figure 2 where it is readily apparent that the cable will literally lift out of the chassis assembly (except for its soldered connection. Assuming that the PC board will lift from the chassis with ease, the DC cable replacement will be easy as well. We shall see!
The next question was, “Can I identify the specific DC cable from the Kenwood service manual. See Figure 3, where it was found. However, as it turns out, I did not need this. But the reader is asking, “Why was it not needed?”
Why the Part Number Not Needed
Having obtained the part number, I looked to find where it may be obtained from. See Figure 4 where Kenwood lists its service centers. I then thought to myself, “Oh, no!!! I may need to send it in for a simple repair as this.” That was not the case. I called the service center of my choice and told the operator the make and model of my transceiver and I described the part that I needed. They did not need a part number. It was $29.00 plus shipping.
What Next
Please stay tuned. There may be more to this story when the part arrives. I have not yet attempted to separate the PC board from the chassis body. It looks like it will be simple, but we shall see.
