Kenwood TH-F6A

The Kenwood TH-F6A is a popular tri-band HT radio that also includes 9600 baud capability.

Building the cable

The Kenwood TH-F6A radio uses a special two pin connector for its packet interface. One pin is a 2.5mm and the other is a 3.5mm connector. The 11mm spacing between pins is specific to Kenwood so the connector may look like one from say an ICOM (10mm spacing), but they are not the same. Here are a couple of examples of places to get the special connector. In a pinch you can use a pair of single 2.5mm and 3.5mm connectors, it just doesn't look as nice.

This is an image of the two jacks on the side of the radio.
These connectors are not widely available. Here are a couple of sources.

DealExtreme.com sells a Kenwood 3.5mm+2.5mm Handsfree Earphone for only $3.04 including shipping. It includes the special connector. All you need is a pair of cutters and you have a very inexpensive Kenwood cable. The only downside to buying from DealExtreme is that they are based in Hong Kong and you never know how long it will take to receive your order. Usually they are pretty good and ship within a week of the order being placed.

ArgentData.com (Argent Data Systems) sells the Kenwood cable for $6.00 plus some amount for shipping.


This is the pinout information from the radio manual.


The URI from DMK Engineering can be connected directly to the radio. The URI has a standard DB-25 female connector. These are the pins needed:
Pin 22 - Audio output from PC to radio
Pin 21 - 9600 audio input to PC from radio
Pin 20 - Ground
Pin 1 - PTT


This is an image of the DB-25 male connector with the 4 wires connected.

This is an image of a completed cable.

Radio Configuration

There are a few settings on the radio that must be set correctly otherwise the software will not work.
9 - SP/MIC JACK - SP/MIC
17 - BAT SAVER - OFF
28 - PACKET - 9600bps
29 - FM NARROW - ON
Balance - Band A only
Tone squelch - OFF
You will also need to make sure the Frequency, Offset, Shift and power are set correctly for your repeater.

Here are the settings as they are seen on the radio's front display.

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