How to program a Kenwood TK-240 Handset

There are so many websites out there 'how to program Kenwood TK-240'. All of the ones I have seen have incorrect or incomplete info and dont work. I have been trying to program my TK-240's for literally months, so I've seen nearly every TK 240 page on the web. The data on this page has been used to program my 240's and it should work on your radio too... Please let me know if it doesn't work on your radio (click the contact link above).

** IMPORTANT NOTE: I have found some possible errors in this data, Please ONLY follow the SELF PROGRAMMING info at the moment (as this is confirmed correct) **

The Kenwood TK-240 can be programmed either by plugging it into a computer and writing the programming data to the eprom, or it can be 'self programmed' without the need for a computer. I have never been successful in getting the radio to communicate with the computer, but thats not really an issue, as in 'self programming' mode all of the radio's 16 channels can be programmed with RX frequency, RX CTCSS, TX frequency and TX CTCSS which will suffice for most uses.

You can also put the radio into 'Dealer Settings' mode, Where you can set up many other things (when I have worked out what all the dealer mode settings do, I will list them here). Be very carefull what you mess with in dealer settings mode as you can easily make the radio unuseable if you mess up the settings.

First, I will discuss the availible programming modes, and then I will tell you how to get the radio into each mode. This info will also work on the Kenwood TK-340 (UHF version) as the CPU board is the same in both radio's

All of the info on this page is copyright to me as I have spent hours working it out and piecing it together from little bits of correct info from several different sources. Please link to this page rather than copying my info to other websites.

If this info helps you please consider a small donation to help keep the site going. -Thanks!

Chances are, you bought the radio second hand and do not know what frequencies are programmed into it. You can get a good idea by using a frequency 'sniffer' or attatching a wire to your standard frequency counter and winding the wire around the handset antenna a few times, transmit breifly and you can find out the transmit frequency, but of course this is not a great plan, as you do not know what frequency you will be transmitting on and chances are it'll be 'out of band'. Thankfully there is a better way.

You simply have to put the radio into what I have called 'Check mode'. In Check mode, the radio will display a little 1 followed by a frequency. this is the recieve frequency of channel 1. now press the Monitor button (the little button above the PTT) and it displays the RX CTCSS frequency. Press monitor button again and the red TX led will light up and the radio will display the little 1 with a frequency, this is the Transmit frequency of ch 1. Press monitor again and the TX led should remain lit and it now shows the TX CTCSS freq of ch 1. Press monitor again and the little 1 changes to 2 indicating channel 2. keep pressing the monitor button and the radio will cycle through all 16 channels. When you have all the info you need, simply turn the radio off to exit check mode.

Clone Mode simply allows you to plug two TK240's together, using a special cable and transfer the programming data from one to the other.

The radio that you want to copy from has to be in clone mode and the other radio must be in computer mode. When both radio's are ready, pressing the PTT on the 'from' radio starts the transfer

UPDATE: Thanks to Andy from Belgium, I have now got the service manual for this radio. It appears the radio cannot be programmed by computer, there is no mention of anything related to computer programming in the manual.

For Computer setting mode, you will need 'KPG9D' software and either a KPG-8 or KPG-22 programming cable. You can make your own lead or use a cheap chinese import programming cable from a 'Puxing' or 'Baofeng' radio! I used a puxing px-777 cable, that I got direct from china for about £3!

The KPG9D software cannot be successfully run on any operating system above windows 98 and its better to run it from DOS and not in a command prompt or 'DOS box' within windows. Luckily you can usually pick up old win95 and win98 laptops cheap at car-boot sales and such. (my old Dell laptop cost me a fiver!). You can get the laptop into DOS mode by hitting F8 during startup, and when the 'boot menu' comes up, select 'command prompt only' (win98, might be slightly different under win95) or you can boot into windows and then shut down into DOS mode.

The radio will display -PC- to indicate its in computer mode. I've tried to get the radio to communicate with the computer without success. The radio doesn't go into -PC- mode.

When you first put the radio into self programming mode, the display will show a small 1 and a frequency such as "1 150.000" the little 1 is the channel number and the 150.000 is the recieve frequency.

Turn the channel selector until you reach the desired recieve frequency.
Press PTT and the radio will display the recieve CTCSS frequency.
Turn the channel selector until you get the desired CTCSS frequency or OFF to disable RX CTCSS.
Press PTT and the red Transmit LED should light up and the TX frequency will be on the display.
Turn the channel selector to the desired TX frequency.
Press PTT once again. The red TX led will remain lit.
TX CTCSS will be shown. (Most ham repeaters use 77.0)
Turn the channel selector until you get the desired CTCSS frequency or OFF to disable TX CTCSS
Press PTT once again and now the first small one will change to 2 (indicating channel 2).
The frequency will be ---.--- and the TX led will go out.

Note: To make the radio jump up or down in 1 Mhz steps, hold in the light button (below the PTT) as you turn the channel selector

Repeat the whole process again to set channel 2, and keep doing this until you have entered all your desired frequencies. To leave a channel blank, just leave the display at ---.--- and press the PTT to move to the next channel. keep doing this to program/leave blank all 16 channels. when you have finally programmed channel 16 (or left it blank) press the PTT one final time and the radio will display END, indicating that you have completed the programming process. now simply turn the radio off and you're done, The radio is programmed!

I have tested my radio and its useable (transmittable) limits are from 125.250MHz to 180.800 so it will cover the 2 meter ham band easily. From what I read, the limits of each radio varies, so your radio may not match my limits, but it should still cover the ham band without problems.

Depending on original programming of the radio, You may get a frequency different from 150.000 in the display for channel 1 and ---.--- for channel 2, do not fear, just change the displayed frequency to the one you want. You may need to adjust the VCO slightly to get the frequencies you require if they are a distance away from the displayed frequency.

To wipe all the programmed channels, so you can start from scratch, then also hold the monitor button (above the PTT) while you are putting the radio into self programming mode. This should clear/reset the eprom. The radio should display a frequency of 150.000 on channel 1 when the reset has been succesfull. Its a good idea to turn off the radio, without setting any channels, after you have reset (to store that its been reset) and then put it into programming mode again to set up or leave blank whatever channels you require.

In Dealer Setting Mode, among other things, you can change the radio from VHF to UHF... I dont think a VHF radio will actually work on UHF as the RX and PA stages are probably different, but handy if you have got a TK240 or TK340 (UHF version of TK240) with an unserviceable CPU board as the CPU board in both the 240 and 340 are the same.

There are several settings that just have 'on or off' as options and (at the moment) I dont know what they do. I'm sure it tells of all these 'dealer settings' in the service manual, But at present I have been unable to find one. Make changes in dealer mode at your own risk and be fully aware that if you make a wrong setting you could possibly 'brick' your radio very easily. A good rule to work by, is: If you don't know what it does, Don't mess with it!

Please contact me if none of these methods work on your radio

The Easy Way (which doesn't seem to work on all radios):

At the back of the radio, above the belt clip there is an inset with a piece of stiff black tape on it. Remove the tape to reveal 4 holes, each with a tiny copper dot surrounded by a copper ring. You will need a small flat bladed screwdriver or something similar so you can short the dot to the ring in the holes.

For check mode, short hole 2 and turn on the radio. It may take a few times to get it right. The radio will display a small 1 followed by a frequency: '1 1xx.xxx' when you have got it.

For Clone mode, short hole 1 and turn on the radio. You will know when its done when the radio displays: -C- If you try it about 5 times and it does not work, you will need to try it the hard way (see below).

For Computer mode, short hole 4 while holding the 'lamp' button (the one below the PTT) and turn on the radio. You will know when its done when the radio displays: -PC- I have never managed to get the radio into computer mode, If you can get your radio to display -PC- please contact me and let me know how you did it.

For Self Programming mode, short hole 2 while holding the 'lamp' button and turn on the radio. The radio will display a small 1 followed by a frequency: '1 150.000' when you get it. Depending on the radio, and how it has been programmed before, the frequency may be different from 150.000. If you try it about 5 times and it does not work, you will need to try it the hard way (see below).

The Hard Way (which should work on all radio's):

For this you need to open the radio, there are screws all over the place, and you also have to take out the 4 screws under the battery, but DO NOT undo the 2 small ones on the back of the radio just below the antenna in a diagonal as they do not need to come out.

Once the radio is seperated, unplug the ribbon cable that joins the 2 halves of the radio together. You should now be able to see the links as shown in the pic.

Solder the link of the mode you want and put the radio back together enough so you can use it. do not put the screws in, as the link must be removed after programming has been achieved. For check mode, solder the self programming link. Turn the radio on and you will hopefully see your mode of choice displayed.

1 = Clone Mode
2 = Dealer Mode
3 = Self Programming

Do not link any other links than those pictured, and be sure to only link one at a time or you could damage the CPU.

When you have done your desired work, turn the radio off, open it up and desolder the link you made. put it back together enough so you can turn the radio on and check its working as you want, and then screw it back together. You should now have a fully functional Kenwood TK-240.