The Rock Bottom Basics of Programming your Kenwood TH-F6A HT

The Keys/Buttons on your Radio

That "joystick button" on the upper just below the display: [MNU] Press inward, [->] push to Right, [<-] push to Left, [v] push toward bottom of radio, and [^] push towards top of radio 

Main Keyboard:
[1 LOW] [2 BAND] [3 A/B] [A (F)]
[4 INFO] [5 SQL] [6 BAL] [B VFO]
[7 TONE] [8 REV] [9 MN-f] [C MR]
[* MHz] [0 FINE] [# ENT] [D CALL]

Programming your radio

  1. Put the radio in VFO mode: press the [B VFO] key and release it.

    For this discussion, we want to work on the "A" or upper "side" of the radio. There should be a dark right-ward pointing triangle pointing to the upper of the two frequencies shown on the radio's screen. If the triangle is pointing to the lower frequency, press [A (F)] then [3 A/B].

    You should see a frequency on the upper row and no memory number all the way on the right of that line on the screen.

  2. Enter the frequency: Press [# ENT]. The frequency display should change to "---.---". Key the frequency using the number keys.
  3. Check the offset: After you key in the frequency, the radio should recognize whether this is a repeater frequency or a simplex frequency. If it is a repeater frequency, a little "+" or "-" should appear in the upper right of the display. Let us say that you were programming in a repeater listed as 147.060+100.0 for example. The radio generally guesses correctly and when you enter "146.060" it sets the offset to "+". You should NOT need to change this but if it is wrong, press [* (F)] then [8 REV] to change it. You may need to do this more than once until it is correct.

    If you are entering a simplex frequency (147.540) there is no offset and your radio should display neither a "+" nor a "-". You may need to use the [* (F)] and [8 REV] key combination to cycle through the options and turn the offset off.

  4. Turn TONE on/off: If you are programming a repeater that uses a subaudible tone (the 100.0 part of 443.975+100.0) then you need to be sure the TONE function is turned on. This is indicated by a light-colored "T" on a dark background in the upper middle-right of the display. If that "T" block is not on, you need it to say "T" and NOT "DCS". You cycle through the options by pressing [7 TONE] and releasing it.
  5. Set Tone frequency: If TONE is on, you need to verify and/or set the correct tone frequency. Press [* (F)] then [7 TONE]. The display will show you the current frequency. Change the frequency by rotating the upper knob on the top right of the radio. When you have selected the correct tone, press the [MNU] key inward to save it.
  6. Try it: If you are in range of the repeater, you should make sure you "key it up" by pressing the push-to-talk button and saying your call-sign and letting go of the push-to-talk. If all is well, the repeater will transmit a courtesy tone and you will see its signal on the signal strength display.
  7. Save the settings to a memory slot: First, before you start, decide which slot number you want to use. We STRONGLY recommend following the frequency arrangement for the first 20 slots shown on the www.k6ori.com frequency charts. Other frequencies can be stored wherever you feel most comfortable placing them.

    To store the settings from the VFO to memory, press the [* (F)] key. a triangle appears to the right of the frequency line and a number to its right. If the triangle is empty, that slot number is empty. If it is solid, then there is something already in that slot. Rotate the upper of the two knobs on the top right of the radio to select the slot number you want then press the [MNU] key to store the data.

    It is wise to then press the [C MR] key to verify that the data was stored where you wanted it. Otherwise you remain in VFO mode. In memory mode the slot numbers appear on the right-hand side of the frequency display (or to the left of the name if you've set the name of the slot).

SUMMARY/REVIEW

  1. [B VFO]
  2. [# ENT] then enter the frequency by the keypad
  3. Check the offset ("+" or "-" or nothing for simplex)
  4. Turn TONE on (or off) with [7 TONE]
  5. Set tone Frequency by [A (F)] [7 TONE] ... rotate knob ... [MNU]
  6. Try it ... key up and announce your call-sign
  7. Save it with [A (F)] ... rotate knob ... [MNU]
  8. Go to memory mode and check that it's there with [C MR]

NAMING MEMORY SLOTS

  1. Go to memory mode [C MR]
  2. Select the memory slot to name by rotating the upper knob
  3. Enter name edit mode by pressing [A (F)] then [9 MN-f]
  4. Select a letter or symbol by rotating the knob on the top right
  5. Move to next letter by pressing [->] (pushing the [MNU] button to the right ... you can go back with [<-]
  6. When the name is right, save it by pressing [MNU].
  7. After storing a memory name, pressing [9 MN-f] and holding it a second lets you switch between memory names and frequency displays.

Thanks to Joe KI6RTF for helping and correcting in the preparation of this cheat sheet. Jordan has inspected our work for voles and stoats and verified no small vermin remain.