Easy way to get on 900Mhz FM

**Under Construction**
This turns out to be fairly cheap as well!
Why does'nt everyone do this?

I have been on 902.1mhz ssb/cw for 5 years or more and all this time I was looking for ways to make my transverter work on the 921.1 repeater. Nothing easy about that tactic. Then I happened to talk to Eric KA1SUN who told me some things he has done to get himself on 921.1. Some of it sounded easy so I asked more questions and he gave me more info. Ed N1FGY was a wonderful decoder of programming of this radio as well. Together we came up with a pretty easy solution to getting on 900Mhz. So easy I dare say almost anyone can do it.

Step #1 Figure out what radio we wanted to use.
Three factors, ease of conversion, cost and availability.
Ease, I looked at some web pages Eric gave us. You can't ask for more than what KB9MWR did:
http://www.qsl.net/kb9mwr/projects/900mhz/plan.html
We found that the Kenwood TK-981 required NO MODS or filter changes. (well that what is said). It was designed for use on the 896 and 938mhz bands, We wanted 921! Looked easy enough.
I found that someone had listed 5 of them on Ebay however someone else was buying them up in mass with very high bids. I used ebays email search and kept at it only willing to big $100 around Christmas time. Over the new years weekend I had success. I got mine for $78 and Ed got his for something over $100 (plus shipping). Try EHAM, and your local hamfests as well.
Step #2 This radio can only be programmed by a computer and cable.
So we needed to get or borrow a programming cable. Eric had one but not for the TK-981. It looks like we need a KPG-46 or KPG-4. Again came EBAY! $19 later Ed had a cable. This cable will program many radios so maybe another future project!

Kenwood handheld radio  TK-280, TK280, TK-380, TK380, TK-480, TK480, TK-285, TK285, TK-385, TK385, TK-290, TK290, TK-390, TK390, TK-490, TK490, TK-2180, TK2180, TK-2140, TK2140

AND ALSO THESE!!! Kenwood Mobile Radios TK-7102, TK-7108, TK-8102, TK-8108, TK-762, TK-762G (VHF 8Ch),  TK-190, TK-290, TK-390, TK-280, TK-285, TK-380, TK-385, TK-480, TK-481, TK-2140, TK-3140,TK-768, TK-768G (VHF 128Ch), TK-730,TK-830,TK-760,TK-860,TK-930,TK-931,TK-840,TK-940,TK-941,TK-780,TK-880,TK-980,TK-981,TK-760G,TK-860G,TK-763,
TK-863,TKR-750,TKR-850,TKR-740,TKR-840,TK-6110,TK-840UF, TK-860G (UHF 128Ch), TK-860H, TK-862, TK-862G (UHF 8Ch),
TK-868, TK-868G (UHF 8Ch), TK-868G (UHF 128Ch) and TK-7180 Mobile. 
Cool Cable!
Step #3 We need software. KPG49D V3.01 to be exact AND KW900EZP (ham written adapter).
This is not as hard as it looks. Just play with it look at the menus and software and you should see what it is trying to do. Maybe I should add that this took Ed a while to figure out. so I will try to add a section to this page specifically about the software.
Ed read the AR902MHz yahoo group postings and found that there are several versions of kpg49d. The most current one runs under windows. Ed found Version 3.01 which now downloads the radio programming to my computer
from this site:  http://www.chriswjackson.com/Radio/Kenwood_Programs/ . Well that was only so good. Apparently this radio requires some software enhancements. So we needed software to convert the comercial freq's to ham freq's. That software was available from the N2MCI web site:  http://home.hvc.rr.com/n2mci/KW900EZP.html.  What you need to do is use the Kenwood programming software and put in the FCC Channel in the radio then run the KW900EZP prorgam to convert the data to ham data. The table to help you do this is: http://home.hvc.rr.com/n2mci/txt/KW900EZP.TXT.
In summary,
  1. Run the KPG49D (v3.01) software and load the channels per the chart.
  2. The you just run the KW900EZP program.
  3. The go back to the KPG49D software and load the data file into the radio.
I suggest you look at the program you already in the radio or the one I have uploaded here.
Step #4 TESTING!
The First test showed that Ed's radio could transmit but not receive. The problem appeared to be that it was not locking. In the service manual there are some easy alignment  instructions. All you need is a small screw driver and a DC voltmeter.
more to come.....(under construction)