REMOTE CONTROL
The Kenwood R-5000 receiver can be remote-controlled from a external device like a
personal computer. To do this, the receiver must first be modified and an external level
converter must be used. Each of these can be bought from a dealer or directly from Kenwood. If
you are technically capable, you can do these yourself.
Remote control of the R-5000 has a number of applications if you wish to do automatic
logging of stations or unattended recording of broadcasts. I find it most useful to mass-program
the 100 channels of the R-5000 depending on my listening interest at the time. I can load all the
military HF aircraft frequencies in less than 30 seconds! I can then scan those frequencies
listening for Air Force One transporting the Big Guy around the world. Then if I want to monitor
shortwave broadcasts, I can load all those frequencies quickly and just scroll through the
channels looking for the best frequency to catch latest Radio Japan program on learning
Japanese. Using the frequency lists published by the monthly monitoring magazines and SW
clubs, I can quickly adjust my receiver's channels to the latest frequencies. Some of the remote
control programs even have periodic lists available to those who purchased their programs.
REMOTE CONTROL MODIFICATION
Dealers offer the IC-10 modification kit for the R-5000 for anywhere from $30 to $50.
The kit simply consists of two ICs: a 4040 CMOS binary counter (IC55) and an 8251A UART
(IC54) that are installed into sockets on the control board. If bought from a mail order electronic
parts store, these parts will cost less than $10 (see Appendix A). Figure 5 shows where the two
chips are installed on the control board. Please exercise proper CMOS handling procedures
when installing these parts! See Appendix C for CMOS handling procedures.
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