TR-751A Revived!

Thanks to a big favor from fellow University of Texas ARC alum George Fremin (K5TR) I have a working 2M multi-mode radio once again.

Some years ago I purchased a used Kenwood TR-751A that output 25W on the 2M band. The real selling point was that it also has SSB support. It worked great for a while and then fell victim to what turned out to be a common flaw in the radio, the power/volume/squelch pot. The symptom is that the radio at power up would seem to be OK for a moment, but then all audio would die. It appears the pot was causing the squelch to choke everything off.

KA5WSS Shack
The TR-751A in the lower right hand corner, alive once more.

The radio sat in a non-working state for years as I moved from place to place and across the country. I always wanted to get it working again but just never had the time nor expertise. So I could never bring myself to get rid of it.

This year I started looking into it again and tracked down a replacement part for the pot. I feared I’d do more damage than good in the effort to replace it and that’s when George stepped in to do the work. He also has a TR-751A and encountered a similar issue with his radio.

Unlike Texas 10 years ago, all of the repeaters in California have PL tones for access. Turns out my radio didn’t have the optional tone board installed but George pointed me towards a replacement part that I installed myself. It was a REALLY tight fit to get it into the radio, but I got it working.

TR-751A PL Tone Board
TR-751A PL Tone Board

The newly repaired radio spurred me into installing an outdoor quarter wave vertical, which I’ve been using to check into my local club’s (Valley of the Moon Amateur Radio Club) weekly net. As I type this I’ve even made a couple of SSB contacts in the June VHF Contest. Thanks George!

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Comments

  1. Hmmm…. this sounds like the direct opposite of what I experienced. But it may be the same part failure. Getting ahold of this part is getting harder by the day so I’d encourage you to search for it ASAP.

  2. I’m looking for a suitable replacement part for the volume/squelch on my TR751- can you tell me which one you used?

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