hello
where does kenwood stand on the sale of their software?
are they as strict as motorola?
i see kenwood software all over e-bay
otto
motorola vs kenwood
Moderator: Queue Moderator
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bayfire300
- Posts: 348
- Joined: Tue May 17, 2005 5:19 pm
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HLA
- Posts: 2334
- Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 8:15 pm
- What radios do you own?: HT1550's, X9000's, CDM1550's
kenwood and icom pretty much want you to have it, just ask them.
HLA
I never check PM's so don't bother, just email me.
I won't reply to a hotmail, gmail, aol or any other generic free address, if you want me to reply use a real address.
STOP ASKING ME FOR SOFTWARE OR FIRMWARE, I JUST FORWARD ALL OF THE REQUESTS TO THE MODERATORS
I never check PM's so don't bother, just email me.
I won't reply to a hotmail, gmail, aol or any other generic free address, if you want me to reply use a real address.
STOP ASKING ME FOR SOFTWARE OR FIRMWARE, I JUST FORWARD ALL OF THE REQUESTS TO THE MODERATORS
Yep... Kenwood doesn't see their software as a profit center... they sell radios, not software. You generally won't see the new Windows FPU software on eBay (KW might not like that), but it's readily available from your local dealer in the $50-$75 range.
One more reason why I buy Kenwood these days.
One more reason why I buy Kenwood these days.
Same goes for Vertex. My fire department owns over 20 VX-900U radios. Our local service shop gave us the software and cable with our purchase at no charge. I program and maintain all the radios myself. We also have Kenwood TK-890/690 mobile radios. Again software was free the cable was like $75.00. Both manufacturers have held up to the abuse that volunteer firefighters put into their radios. My guess is that these other companies have seen what Motorola does to their customers regarding software and cable purchase and uses this to sway a customers decision. I know in our RFQ we request the software and cables. My motorola rep priced me the two cable and RIB for around $500 and could not garuntee me the software at $225.00. Pretty much sealed the deal for us. The money we saved in programming accessories from motorola we purchased an additional VX-900.
In the case of the software for the Kenwood TK-x90 mobiles, the DOS version is readily available and seems to run OK on most computers, though I'm guessing that it won't talk to the radio if run in a DOS box under Windows. It's probably best to boot the computer straight to DOS. The Windows version of the TK-x90 software requires a serial number to unlock the software. If you get a legitimate copy from a Kenwood dealer, you'll get the serial number. There are some sites out there where you can download the Windows version along with a serial number that supposedly works, but I was never successful with that.