Now shipping

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14140229#post14140229

I'm looking forward to this one too. I understand that it will support RDS on analog FM, unlike its Kenwood predecessors.

I hope it will also support tuning down to 87.7 so it can receive WNYZ (http://www.pulse87.com) (analog) in NYC, but I'm not holding my breath since all the rest of Kenwood's tuners start at 87.9.

Crutchfield has it in their most recent paper catalog mailer so it must be due out any time now.

I'm looking forward to this one too. I understand that it will support RDS on analog FM, unlike its Kenwood predecessors.

I really hope that is true. It's amazing that it's taken so long for someone to come out with a car tuner with both HD and RDS support. Almost every home HD Radio also has RDS. Hopefully someone can confirm that it has RDS soon, if so, I'll be one of the first to get one.

I hope it will also support tuning down to 87.7 so it can receive WNYZ (http://www.pulse87.com) (analog) in NYC
You may be the same person who talked about tuning below 88 MHz and/or tuning in 0.1 MHz steps in another topic a while back; I am not sure.

I checked out that "87.7 FM" station, and I found out it is pretty much what we all could have suspected. Their license is for low-power analog television on TV channel 6, but they are transmitting audio-only, on or near the FM-audio frequency for channel 6, which is 87.75 MHz. I wonder how long they will be able to get away with it?

You can put the KTC-HR200 on back order now at Crutchfield. Price is $129 and it's expected in June, '08.

You may be the same person who talked about tuning below 88 MHz and/or tuning in 0.1 MHz steps in another topic a while back; I am not sure.

Yes, in the Sangean HDT-1X (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10952176#post10952176) thread I praised that tuner for picking up 87.7. At the time that station was running a Russian music format which was quite fun to listen to even without my understanding the language. Now that it has flipped to a dance music format it continues to be one of the more interesting choices to be found on the NYC dial.

I checked out that "87.7 FM" station, and I found out it is pretty much what we all could have suspected. Their license is for low-power analog television on TV channel 6, but they are transmitting audio-only, on or near the FM-audio frequency for channel 6, which is 87.75 MHz. I wonder how long they will be able to get away with it?
I've seen this discussed in other radio forums. The consensus among those familiar with FCC regulations is that despite its unconventional use of the frequency, the station is operating within the law. I admire their creativity as it has added an interesting new format to the radio dial here which beats the hell out of another junk shopping network or infommercial LPTV channel that nobody would watch. I believe there are also stations in Alaska and California using the CH6 frequency in the same way (although their formats are reportedly far less compelling), so the idea is not limited to NYC. Not all manufacturers program their tuners to go down to 87.7 though, Kenwood and Pioneer being two major exceptions. I'm still hoping Kenwood might have broken with tradition for their new HD tuner though...I guess we'll find out soon.

You can put the KTC-HR200 on back order now at Crutchfield. Price is $129 and it's expected in June, '08.

Thanks for the heads up. I will place one on backorder.

Just got notification from Crutchfield the KTC-HR200 shipped today.

Great -- I look forward to your review Derek.

Do you have a satellite tuner box in your Kenwood system? I'd like to know if the HD tuner daisy chains with it OK. Apparently the new Sirius tuners (two-piece type) require a special cable to do the passthrough but I think the older type (i.e. - Directed's "Sirius Connect") might work fine with the normal bus cable.

The two piece Sirius tuner only needs a special cable from the tuner to the translator (KCA-SR50). Leaving the translator uses a traditional Kenwood cable.

I'm looking forward to this one too. I understand that it will support RDS on analog FM, unlike its Kenwood predecessors.

I hope it will also support tuning down to 87.7 so it can receive WNYZ (http://www.pulse87.com) (analog) in NYC, but I'm not holding my breath since all the rest of Kenwood's tuners start at 87.9.

Crutchfield has it in their most recent paper catalog mailer so it must be due out any time now.

Just got the HR200 in today, have not installed it yet. The manual says for FM the range is 87.5 - 107.9 I will double check it later this weekend when it gets installed.

The HR200 is little smaller than the HR100 I was hoping they would have gotten much smaller. It does not have a 5L/KAB pass through so it will need to be the last in a chain, mine will be connected to a BT200. No external power requirements just plug in to a 5L or KAB and the antenna so the install should be quick just finding room will be some work.

I will also be able to compare it to the HR100 in my other car.

Just on the information that there is no pass-through, it doesn't look like I can buy this version and will have to wait for one with a pass-through. It seems real foolish to exclude one.

A quick follow up after spending a day with the HR200:

- it does have the FM range of 87.5 - 107.9 like the manual says
- no pass-through connector but was happy to be connected a BT200 at the end of a chain
- HD range, sensitivty and rejection are on par with the HR100 and are a bit better than the JVC HDR1
- you can save HD2 as presets just like the HR100
- one very major bug is the presets are not saved in memory when the power is turned off, so each time you power on you have to reset them

- one very major bug is the presets are not saved in memory when the power is turned off, so each time you power on you have to reset them

Do you mean that every time you shut off the car, it loses the presets, or every time you physically disconnect the power from the unit?

Also, can you confirm that it has RDS on stations not using HD?

Do you mean that every time you shut off the car, it loses the presets, or every time you physically disconnect the power from the unit?

Also, can you confirm that it has RDS on stations not using HD?

I mean you don't even need to shut the car off just turn the head unit off and the HR200 loses its presets, so yes a major bug I'm sure will get fixed with a firmware update.

Yes RDS on non-HD stations that use it. You also get RDS on stations that have HD before the HR200 locks in to HD mode.

I mean you don't even need to shut the car off just turn the head unit off and the HR200 loses its presets, so yes a major bug I'm sure will get fixed with a firmware update.

Wow, that's a pretty major bug! I wonder if possibly just your unit has a bad battery inside or something? I'll be interested to see if anyone else's results are the same.

Wow, that's a pretty major bug! I wonder if possibly just your unit has a bad battery inside or something? I'll be interested to see if anyone else's results are the same.

All of my other presets including the clock are fine. I did talk with Kenwood and they think it maybe because I have my HR200 chained off of the BT200 instead of direct but since the HR200 does not have a pass through you have no choice. They did ask me to try the HR200 direct and see if that is the problem.

All of my other presets including the clock are fine. I did talk with Kenwood and they think it maybe because I have my HR200 chained off of the BT200 instead of direct but since the HR200 does not have a pass through you have no choice. They did ask me to try the HR200 direct and see if that is the problem.

This is my first time responding to something here at AVS. I just got the KTC-HR200 last Friday from Crutchfield and have the exact same problem.

I have it hooked up through the BT200 and the stations are lost even if you just turn the head unit on and off. All the other settings are fine it's just the KTC-HR200 that is the problem.

The person I talked to at Kenwood thought that I had a defective unit and told me to swap it out with a new one. So Crutchfield is sending another one and I'm just waiting for it to arrive. But I'm thinking that it might not help swapping them out. I haven't tried hooking it up directly to the radio to see if it still has the problem. Mainly because it takes a lot to get to the radio to even try that. So I would be very interested to see if derekjsmith hooks it up directly whether it still has the problem or if it works fine.

This is my first time responding to something here at AVS. I just got the KTC-HR200 last Friday from Crutchfield and have the exact same problem.

I have it hooked up through the BT200 and the stations are lost even if you just turn the head unit on and off. All the other settings are fine it's just the KTC-HR200 that is the problem.

The person I talked to at Kenwood thought that I had a defective unit and told me to swap it out with a new one. So Crutchfield is sending another one and I'm just waiting for it to arrive. But I'm thinking that it might not help swapping them out. I haven't tried hooking it up directly to the radio to see if it still has the problem. Mainly because it takes a lot to get to the radio to even try that. So I would be very interested to see if derekjsmith hooks it up directly whether it still has the problem or if it works fine.

Let me know if replacing the HR200 makes a difference. Kenwood asked me to try the HR200 direct but I'm in the same boat in that pulling it all out is a lot of work and each time I do the factory bezel gets weaker even with the right tools, it was not designed to be removed a dozen times. This is my second 5120 head unit and forth install of this 5120.

Just received and installed an HR-200 from Crutchfield tonight, connected directly to a KDC-X491 using the 5L cable, no other components chained together.

The unit has had no problems with maintaining its' presets with power off, even for digital sub channels.

The receiver interpreting white noise on a signal (mostly AM at night) as an RDS or HD stream and displaying the "WAITING" message is somewhat annoying. I will have to see if there is a workaround for that.

Other than that, sensitivity seems okay, and I have not had a chance to check selectivity.

Let me know if replacing the HR200 makes a difference. Kenwood asked me to try the HR200 direct but I'm in the same boat in that pulling it all out is a lot of work and each time I do the factory bezel gets weaker even with the right tools, it was not designed to be removed a dozen times. This is my second 5120 head unit and forth install of this 5120.

I've had to pull my radio out several times also. The new HR200 should be arriving monday I'll let you know if this one works. I'm going to try hooking up the old one directly to the head unit since I'll already have everything pulled apart. It almost seems like it might not be getting enough power to the HR200 going through the BT200. If that was the case I don't know if a firmware update will help.

I've had to pull my radio out several times also. The new HR200 should be arriving monday I'll let you know if this one works. I'm going to try hooking up the old one directly to the head unit since I'll already have everything pulled apart. It almost seems like it might not be getting enough power to the HR200 going through the BT200. If that was the case I don't know if a firmware update will help.

I have the same problem. I have the DDX512 head unit with KNA-G510 Nav, and the KCA-BT200 with the firmware update Ver. 1.4.0 everything was working fine for 2 weeks. I installed the KTC-HR200 tuner and I have the same problems all the presets are lost when I turn off the Ignition. The GPS, Head unit and Bluetooth setting stay intact. With the HD tuner my bluetooth seems to be functioning but when I make a call I can not hear from the speakers. I also notice that not sound comes out of the USB flash drive. After tinkering around for 5 hours today I gave up and removed the HD tuner and everything is working normal again. Since I'm using the 5L connector for the Nav unit. I can only use the KAB from the BT200 and the HD tuner. I allready emailed Kenwood but I problably wont hear from then for a week or so. Hopefully they will come up with a solution if not I will send the tuner back to crutchfield they give a 30 day money back gurantee. I just cant believe they would sell something that doest work as they advertise.

I finally have had some time to try the HR-200 connected to my KDC-X491.

While it does not have any preset memory issues, it does have RDS problems.

The X491 has a single line display, unlike the DVD heads the rest of you are using, so the RDS data should be scrolling across the display's single line (up to 128 characters according to the manual).

You can choose to display station callsign only, or receive frequency, or clock, or song title / artist info.

Unfortunately, when you select TITLE, all you get is the station's slogan display (best oldies in the valley, or top 40, or whatever).

What you do not get, are the song titles that are actually being encoded in the next line of the RDS info. I have other RDS-capable radios to compare it with, so I can see what I am not getting.

I have tried all the menu options (scrolling / manual) and display choices with no luck.

And the other RDS bug is the receiver always looking for RDS data from EVERY station (AM & FM), and if it does not see any RDS data, it will display "WAITING" for a minute or two, then display "NO TEXT" for the remainder of however long you are tuned to that station. The display does not revert to clock or frequency, or anything else, it just says "NO TEXT". Forcing the receiver to analog or digital-only does not cure this, apparently the RDS cannot be disabled.

Having RDS is the main reason I purchased this unit, as there are only 2 HD stations active in the region, so that was not really worth bothering with. I just wanted to be able to view song titles & artist info like the deceased OEM car stereo could display.

Luckily this was a Crutchfield purchase, so I am not too worried about getting stuck with a bad unit. I just hope Kenwood will do a firmware update that will address the RDS problems for those of us with older or more inexpensive Kenwood "HD-READY" receivers.

Let me know if replacing the HR200 makes a difference. Kenwood asked me to try the HR200 direct but I'm in the same boat in that pulling it all out is a lot of work and each time I do the factory bezel gets weaker even with the right tools, it was not designed to be removed a dozen times. This is my second 5120 head unit and forth install of this 5120.

Just removed the BT200 from the chain and now the presets are saved. So it has to do with the BT200 being in the chain before the HR200. I will call Kenwood on Monday and let them know what I found and report back what they say.

BTW, the other issues I have reported for the 5120 are:
- Nav audio needs an option to mute rear speakers.
- DVD needs to remember the dir listing unless the DVD has been removed

Just removed the BT200 from the chain and now the presets are saved. So it has to do with the BT200 being in the chain before the HR200. I will call Kenwood on Monday and let them know what I found and report back what they say.


Well Kenwood phone support was not much help. They said my call from last week to report the initial problem has not been escalated yet. So I gave them the new information and told them I would be calling once a week until I got an answer.

I have the exact same issue, submitted online support request to Kenwood:

Subject: Preset memory problems and DNX7120 feature request
Body: Hello I have a DNX7120 headunit and BT200 Bluetooth module. I just installed the KTC-HR200 HD radio tuner and now after the car ignition is turned off for more than a few minutes the radio presets are lost. This problem only happens with the HR200 daisy-chained off the BT200 module. If the HR200 is connected direct to the head unit it works fine and saves the presets. Do you know if there will be a firmware update to fix this bug? Many others reporting the exact same issue here: (This thread URL, sorry I can't post URL's here yet).

DNX7120 safety related feature request: Even with the brightness and color turned all the way down on the radio and GPS screens it is still way too bright. This hurts the eyes of people sensitive to light at night and makes driving dangerous. In a future firmware update please allow the backlight brightness to dim about 50% darker than it can now. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Thanks,
Loran

thor-1, I have the same setup as you (X491/HD200). I haven't installed the HD200 yet since, like you, song title/artist display is the main reason I want HD, and I saw the problems you were having.

I talked to "Josh" at Kenwood this morning, and he said it should work, and asked if you were selecting the right display option. Apparently you are, since in your post, you said you, "...tried all the [...] display choices with no luck.".

But just to double-check, here's what Josh said we should be doing:

Select "HD Radio" as Source.
Press "Display" for one second. "Display Select" will appear.
Push Control Knob left/right to display options, then select.

Is this what you were doing? If so, I'm pulling my X491 and sending it back to Crutchfield, along with the HD200, and replacing it with a Sony CDX-GT820IP HU with XT-100HD HD tuner (which has better specs and is $50 less than the HD200).

Yes, I selected the display option correctly, it simply does not display the line of RDS info I want. I could care less about the station's slogan.

I am guessing that the subcarrier (I believe there are three possible on an analog FM signal) containing the song title / artist info is not one of the the subcarriers that can be displayed by the HD200 on my KDC-X491 radio.

I should really read up on the RDS format one of these days....

Anyway, I heard back from Crutchfield CS today, who says they spoke with Kenwood, and no firmware fixes are planned for this problem ("problem,....what problem?")

Crutchfield CS suggested I push the RESET button on the HD200, and if that does not "restore correct operation", I can exchange the HD200 for another one or refund it.

I really don't want to refund it, I just want it to work the way it is supposed to. Besides, I buried that HD200 behind the dash REAL good, getting at it to press RESET or remove & reinstall it will NOT be easy.

So to ajmaniccia, I ask you to at least try plugging your units together (don't go crazy mounting them like I did) and see if you have the same results that I have.

I have already ripped my dash apart a couple times, now I would appreciate some confirmation that I do not actually have a defective HD200, and so far, you are the only one that can do this.

Thanks in advance!

Thor-1, my HD200 appears to work as advertised with my X491.

1st off, I know next to nothing about HD Radio. Didn't look at the HD200 manual, just plugged it in and turned it on. Having said that;

I live in the Los Angeles area, so there are lots of HD stations to sample. The major stations displayed, in sequence, the station logo, song title/artist, "Hit's of the '70's" or whatever, and maybe the freq., I don't remember. I never had it just display Song Title/Artist, but I think I just couldn't find the option to have it display all the subcarriers in sequence, or just stay on one.

But the point is, it did display Song Title/Artist.

I only played with it for a few minutes, but every station seemed to display things a little differently, so I guess it's up to the station what they want to xmit. And some of the smaller stations just said "Waiting", then "No text" as you described earlier. I assume they weren't xmitting anything on their subcarriers. I forgot to mention in my previous post that that's what Josh at Kenwood thought was happening in your situation--there just wasn't anything to display, and the unit(s) were displaying the correct info. Maybe a call to the station manager of the two HD stations in your area could confirm this.

derekjsmith and hiteksystems, good luck getting a response from Kenwood by email. I've email them several times over the last year about the HD200 (and the previous model) and I've never received a reply.

Just removed the BT200 from the chain and now the presets are saved. So it has to do with the BT200 being in the chain before the HR200. I will call Kenwood on Monday and let them know what I found and report back what they say.

I got the replacement KTC-HR200 from Crutchfield today. Plugged the new one in and the same result, it won't save the presets. They both work fine if they are connected directly to the head unit. I even tried changing the dip switches on the HR200 and BT200 and that didn't help any.

Talked with Kenwood earlier today and very few people have even gotten the HR200 so the guy I spoke with couldn't really help. He did mention that their planning on making a KAB splitter that might help down the road but they haven't even started making that yet. He's going to send my problem to their tech guys and sometime in the future there supposed to get back to me.

This is really frustrating, I can't believe that Kenwood wouldn't have thought to test the HR200 with the BT200 before releasing it. Well I still haven't decided whether I'm going to return it or wait and hope that they can fix it with a firmware update.

I got the replacement KTC-HR200 from Crutchfield today. Plugged the new one in and the same result, it won't save the presets. They both work fine if they are connected directly to the head unit. I even tried changing the dip switches on the HR200 and BT200 and that didn't help any.

Talked with Kenwood earlier today and very few people have even gotten the HR200 so the guy I spoke with couldn't really help. He did mention that their planning on making a KAB splitter that might help down the road but they haven't even started making that yet. He's going to send my problem to their tech guys and sometime in the future there supposed to get back to me.

This is really frustrating, I can't believe that Kenwood wouldn't have thought to test the HR200 with the BT200 before releasing it. Well I still haven't decided whether I'm going to return it or wait and hope that they can fix it with a firmware update.

I think the problem is with the BT200. When the BT200 is put in to standby it does not put the KAB pass-through port also in to standby it shuts it off. So I would bet any device plugged in to the BT200 KAB will suffer the same problem.

Did you try to plug the HR200 in to the 5L on the BT200, I have not?

Ajmaniccia, thnaks for trying your setup as a comparison. My HD200 is displaying everything BUT the song title / artist. I am watching the RDS on a different radio (Sangean HDT-1), to be certain the stations are transmitting that info. When I select TITLE, I get the callsigns & station slogans, but no song titles. This is on multiple stations verified to be transmitting song title info in their RDS data. I tried a RESET on the X491 with no luck.

I need a dental mirror to see if the HD200 has a recessed RESET button on it, unless someone here can answer that.

I think the problem is with the BT200. When the BT200 is put in to standby it does not put the KAB pass-through port also in to standby it shuts it off. So I would bet any device plugged in to the BT200 KAB will suffer the same problem.

Did you try to plug the HR200 in to the 5L on the BT200, I have not?


You could try it but I doubt that would work. The BT200 manual says that what ever interface is being used only that type will be the pass through. So that means no mixing and matching ports.

Ajmaniccia, thnaks for trying your setup as a comparison. My HD200 is displaying everything BUT the song title / artist. I am watching the RDS on a different radio (Sangean HDT-1), to be certain the stations are transmitting that info. When I select TITLE, I get the callsigns & station slogans, but no song titles. This is on multiple stations verified to be transmitting song title info in their RDS data. I tried a RESET on the X491 with no luck.

I need a dental mirror to see if the HD200 has a recessed RESET button on it, unless someone here can answer that.

No the HR200 does not have a reset button, sorry. I have mine sitting on the bench until Kenwood has an answer for the BT200.

You could try it but I doubt that would work. The BT200 manual says that what ever interface is being used only that type will be the pass through. So that means no mixing and matching ports.

Yea, I was just grasping at straws and it is something I have not tried yet.

I just got mine today, unfortunately the car's in the shop so I haven't been able to try it yet. I noticed that the manual doesn't even mention the unit having RDS, which is odd. Hopefully I'll be getting the car back tomorrow, and will be able to try it. I'll be connecting the HD unit directly to the stereo. I have XM, but just the MyFi, so that'll go into the aux input.

I think at least in my case (DNX7120, BT200 with HR200 connected through BT200) that I have found a workaround for the lost radio presets. I have set 1 AM and 1 FM preset and if I change the source to iPod before shutting off the car the 2 presets remain when I come back. I have only tested this twice, the car was off for 9 hours then 5 hours, both times the presets remained. Last night I forgot to change the source from HD Radio and the presets were lost overnight.

Could anyone else try this and see if the results are the same? I have only tried switch to the iPod source nothing else, it is possible it would work with others also.

This is possible good news as the problem may be more software related than hardware or a power issue.

Does your BT200 work with the HR200 pluged in. I have the same I lose the Presets, and I cant hear any sound out of my BT200. When I remove the HR200 the BT200 works Fine. I've called Kenwood twice and they said that I should receive and email from their techs shortly. I'm still waiting. Maybe if we all start filling complaints with the BBB they might start paying more attention and find a solution to all these issues we are having.

I'm watching this thread with interest since I also have Kenwood's BT200 plugged into my DNX7100 (and a SIR-KEN1 Sirius tuner daisy-chained between them). I've decided to wait for this problem to be solved before buying the HD radio tuner though. It's hard to believe the company didn't test this combination before releasing the HR200 since it seems like a fairly common setup among Kenwood owners, judging by the comments in this thread anyway.

May I suggest you guys post reviews to Crutchfield and/or Amazon's sites detailing the problems? I suspect the negative feedback in such high profile retail sites could effectively speed up Kenwood's response in addressing the issue.

I have to wonder if complaining would get Kenwood to do anything about it. I have a DNX-7100, and my HR200 should be here tomorrow. I know there is a bug with the older HD modules and the DNX-7100 where the RDS information is not displayed at all or just for a split second.

Hopefully the HR200 doesn't have this problem, but I'm thinking that it definitely will. What really sucks about it is that if they do fix it in a firmware update, they'll probably include the ipod "fixes" that break video ipod support. I'll be sure to post here after I get the unit installed.

Just got off the phone with Kenwood about the BT200->HR200 problems I reported a few weeks ago and they said it has been elevated to level 2 tech support but they have not heard anything back, so we wait :(

I have to wonder if complaining would get Kenwood to do anything about it. I have a DNX-7100, and my HR200 should be here tomorrow. I know there is a bug with the older HD modules and the DNX-7100 where the RDS information is not displayed at all or just for a split second.

Hopefully the HR200 doesn't have this problem, but I'm thinking that it definitely will. What really sucks about it is that if they do fix it in a firmware update, they'll probably include the ipod "fixes" that break video ipod support. I'll be sure to post here after I get the unit installed.

I got the unit today. I'm happy to report that the RDS works fine. I guess they fixed the problem that the older models had with the DNX7100.

I have the HR200 plugged directly into my DNX5120 via the KAB bus. I have the exact same problem with the presets (or current station) being lost every time I turn the car off. I am wondering if it is a specific problem with the KAB bus? It seems that those of you who are having success are using the 5L connection? Luckily, I am returning it to Crutchfield for a refund.

In addition, the analog RDS doesn't work well at all. Several of the stations are "pre-populated" with call letters that don't match the actual station. I am on the East Coast and all of the call letters should start with "W" but many of them are displayed with a "K." Overall, the HR200 seems like a beta test rather than a production ready product.

Just got off the phone with Kenwood about the BT200->HR200 problems I reported a few weeks ago and they said it has been elevated to level 2 tech support but they have not heard anything back, so we wait :(

Well my situation has gone from bad to worse. I decided to remove the HR200 and send it back to Crutchfield until Kenwood has a solution maybe it will get more attention when they start getting returns.

Well after uninstalling the HR200 and forcing a hard reset on the 5120 all of my advanced tuner features are gone, no RDS, no traffic data, no 4 line display option, all gone :(

So it appears my 5120 is in some state of denial with the HR200 removed. I know all of these features worked before I installed the HR200. I guess yet another call to Kenwood, this time I’m going to ask for a supervisor.

:( Well my replacement HR-200 is also headed back to Crutchfield. I received and tried the replacement HR-200 with my KDC-X491 with the same results, no RDS song title / artist info could displayed on stations observed to be encoding this data using a Sangean HDT-1 at the same time. All I can see are the callsign, format, and station's slogan, despite whatever display settings I choose.

Crutchfield CS advises there is no fix or update expected from Kenwood.

Oddly enough, the HR-200 DOES display titles on 1 station only, out of over two dozen sending the RDS title data. odder still, this station's RDS title data does NOT show up on the Sangean, or another OEM car stereo with RDS.

I suspect the HR-200 is displaying the wrong portion of the RDS data on my single-line display, and this one station has a mis-programmed RDS encoder that happens to line-up with what the HR-200 is displaying. Just a guess.

Crutchfield CS has been great as always however.

Good luck to the rest of you guys, I hope your DVD multi-line displays fare better with your tuners.

Wish I had found this thread before having spent $129. <sigh>

Brand new DNX5120 & HR200. HR200 plugged directly into head unit via 5L<>KAB adapter (I do not have the BT module). Presets won't save. I wrote to Kenwood last night (did the install at lunch time yesterday), no reply yet. Wrote to Crutchfield this evening to ask about procedure of returning for a refund since I've never had to do that with them before. :(

The HD radio sounds great (I found nearly 2 dozen channels) and while RDS does often initially populate with K stations (stations on the east coast start with W), it always seems to correct very quickly and to be pretty accurate. Guess I'll pull it tomorrow & hope Kenwood comes out with a new version that works sometime in the future. :(

I spoke with Kenwood today for the 5th time and they assured me that they are aware of the problems and they are currently working on a fix. As soon as they find the fix we should receive an email. I dont think a big company like kenwood would tried to scam us. I'm going to give them a chance and wait a few more weeks, but I'll still be calling them every week.

Question regarding setup ... The installation instructions (page EN-15 in the KTC-HR200 manual) states that switch #1 should be "UP" (or ON) when connected to a head unit via the KAB connector. I wrote to Crutchfield last night and they responded that the HR200 should be fine with the DNX5120 and to make sure that all cables are fully seated and that both switches are set to DOWN (or off) on the side of the HR Tuner. Huh???

How have the other folks with this tuner and the KAB based head units had their switches set?

Thanks,

How have the other folks with this tuner and the KAB based head units had their switches set?

Thanks,

Mine were per the Kenwood docs 1on 2off with the 5120. My presets did work but only if I connected the HR200 directly to the 5120. If it was via the BT200 then they did not work.

Thanks Derek. Unfortunately, I don't have a BT200 and therefore my HR200 already IS connected directly to the 5120. And it loses the presets when shut off. :(

Crutchfield has asked me to try removing the Garmin antennas (both GPS and FM Traffic) and see if the presets will be maintained then. They do not expect this to make a difference, but they ARE the only other connections I've got into the head unit and they want to cover all the bases while waiting for Kenwood to get back to them. <shrug> I'll try it at lunch time.

Just got a call from Kenwood and they have a fix for the HR200 and 5120. They said it is the 5120 and it needs to go in for service because a firmware update won't fix it, it's a eprom that needs to be replaced. So they do listen in the end.

Oh crap. I just paid for and got the darn thing, I don't want to have to pay send it away. grumble grumble grumble.

<sigh>

Thanks for the update Derek. :(

Oh crap. I just paid for and got the darn thing, I don't want to have to pay send it away. grumble grumble grumble.

<sigh>

Thanks for the update Derek. :(

I know how you feel my 5120 has already been back once a few months ago and been installed/uninstalled about a dozen times. What makes it really fun is its in my wifes car so everytime it gets uninstalled I hear about it.

Damn, am I ever glad I went with Crutchfield. They just told me that if Kenwood confirms the EPROM issue, they will replace my current unit with a fixed one once they get them from Kenwood. :o I think I'm still in shock. :)

Guess I listen to plain ol' FM/AM until this is all sorted out. <sigh>

Ok folks I received several emails from the call center. They want for me to send my Head Unit to one of the service center. I just hope they have a fix and are not giving me the run around. I guess I'll be driving with out a stereo untill I get my Head unit back.
Below are the emails I received.

Thank you for contacting Kenwood USA Corporation. As an authorized
agent for Kenwood, we are responding to your recent email inquiry.

If the HD radio is not holding presets, you will need to send your
headunit to a National Service Center. Below is the contact information for
our National Service Centers. Please contact the closest location.

Kenwood Authorized Service Center West
16205 Distribution Way
Cerritos, CA 90703
Phone: 562.483.8740
Fax: 562.483.8749

Kenwood Authorized Service Center East
829 Lynnhaven Pkwy, STE 128
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
Phone: 757.340.1702
Fax: 757.340.6809

Kenwood Authorized Service Center Atlantic
400 Morris Ave, STE 102
Denville, NJ 07834
Phone: 973.586.3999
Fax: 973.586.4433

Kenwood Authorized Service Center Hawaii
99-1285 Halawa Valley St. B11
Aiea, HI 96701-5609
Phone: 808.486.5594
Fax: 866.743.5194
msr@hawaii.rr.com

Kenwood Authorized Service Center Puerto Rico
Ave Central 1009
Puerto Nuevo, PR 00920
Phone: 787-781-9570


Please feel free to contact us again with any additional questions.


Product Support Representative
Kenwood USA Authorized Call Center
PO Box 22745
Long Beach, CA 90801-5745

Phone: 1-800-536-9663 x 1918
Fax: 1-559-324-4594
Email: http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Contact


------------------Original Message-----------------
Email Date:Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:35:34 -0700 (PDT)

Its pretty obvious that sending the HD unit alone is not going to solve
t=
he problems I'm having. Its more of a software problem. Apparently
everyb=
ody who has purchased the KTC-HR200 is having the same problems. Please
g=
o to this web site below Its pretty evident that there is a big problem
w=
ith your KTC-HR200. Crutchfield has already exchanged my unit and the
pr=
oblem is still there. I all ready called the kenwood service center and
t=
hey know about the problems and are waiting for a fix. I think its
pointl=
ess to send the unit to a service center when there is no fix
available.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=3D1009390

kenwood@alorica.com wrote:=20
Thank you for contacting Kenwood USA Corporation. As an authorized
agen=
t for Kenwood, we are responding to your recent email inquiry.

It is difficult to determine what may be causing the problem with your
un=
it. We suggest shipping your unit to one of our Kenwood Authorized
Servic=
e Center locations below for a professional evaluation as well as
repair.=
Please enclose a brief description of the problem with a request for
an =
estimate, a contact phone number and return shipping address. We also
rec=
ommend shipping your product UPS insured and to make sure it is well
pack=
aged to prevent shipping damage.

Kenwood Authorized Service Center West
17300 Marquardt Avenue
Cerritos, CA 90703-1023
Phone: 562.483.8740=20
Fax: 562.483.8749

Kenwood Authorized Service Center East
829 Lynnhaven Pkwy, STE 128
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
Phone: 757.340.1702
Fax: 757.340.6809

Kenwood Authorized Service Center Atlantic
400 Morris Ave, STE 102
Denville, NJ 07834
Phone: 973.586.3999
Fax: 973.586.4433

Kenwood Authorized Service Center Hawaii
99-1285 Halawa Valley St. B11
Aiea, HI 96701-5609
Phone: 808.486.5594
Fax: 866.743.5194
msr@hawaii.rr.com

Kenwood Authorized Service Center Puerto Rico
Ave Central 1009
Puerto Nuevo, PR 00920
Phone: 787-781-9570

Please feel free to contact us again with any additional questi
Product Support Representative
Kenwood USA Authorized Call Center
PO Box 22745
Long Beach, CA 90801-5745

Phone: 1-800-536-9663 x 1918=20
Fax: 1-559-324-4594=20
Email: http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Contact


------------------Original Message-----------------
Email Date:Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:43:58 -0700


X-Antivirus: AVG for E-mail 7.5.447 [269.15.14/1100]

Confirmation Number: SG1-
Area: Car & Home
Topic: Product Support
Product Model:=20
Zip/Postal Code: 90304

-- Additional Contact Info --
Company Name:=20
Job Title:=20
Business:=20
Company Phone/Fax:=20
Company Address:=20
Company City:=20
State:=20
Zip:=20
Product of Interest: Digital Radios
Where did you see the Kenwood Products?:Other
Subject: KTC-HR200 loosing presets
Body: I recently installed a KTC-HR200 tuner it works fine but
everytime =
I turn the ignition key off I lose the presets for the tuner only the
hea=
d unit settings an time are all working perfectly. Im using the DDX512
he=
ad unit with the sofware ver. 1.4.0 installed. I have the KCA-BT200 and
t=
he KNA-G510 also installed with this setup. I have the BT200 in the KAB
c=
onnection and the HR200 going to the BT200. Is there a fix for this or
pe=
rhaps a newer software Ver. The serial number on my HR200
A =
lot of people are have the same proble on this forum
http://www.avsforum.=
com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=3D1009390
Any Help would be addreciated.

I received a UPS Label and an email from Crutchfield over the weekend. They're going to ship me a replacement unit once they get it from Kenwood and verify it's fixed. Once I receive that new unit, I ship my old one back.

It'll have to be within a month ... the UPS label to send my current one back is only good for that long. :)

I pulled my 5120 over the weekend and shipped it yesterday for the eprom update. So I should hear back by weeks end.

I pulled my 5120 over the weekend and shipped it yesterday for the eprom update. So I should hear back by weeks end.

Keep us updated. I'm out of town but when I get back Friday I'll pull mine out and send it to the service center.

Crutchfield has provided me with a UPS label to ship my current one back and says they expect to have a new delivery from Kenwood by the end of the week ... so I'd expect my replacement sometime next week and will ship this one back then.

Just as a control for the problems.

I plugged in a bt200 and hd200 and a Sirius module using 5L

It remembers presets, RDS works fine. I do see the 'preloaded' 'K' stations here on the 'W' east coast.

The BT200 (FW 143) and my iPhone are hitting it off. It is downloading the contact list, remembers the last iPhone/BT device it was talking too (I have 3 phones paired). Remembers the call lists and all the displays work, battery, signal strength, etc.

Don't know how I lucked out so well.

Just as a control for the problems.

I plugged in a bt200 and hd200 and a Sirius module using 5L

It remembers presets, RDS works fine. I do see the 'preloaded' 'K' stations here on the 'W' east coast.

The BT200 (FW 143) and my iPhone are hitting it off. It is downloading the contact list, remembers the last iPhone/BT device it was talking too (I have 3 phones paired). Remembers the call lists and all the displays work, battery, signal strength, etc.

Don't know how I lucked out so well.

What receiver do you have them plugged into because what we are finding out is the problem was on the receiver side. For my 5120 I had to send it in for a eprom update to fix the HR200 preset bug.

I can't recall the s/n of my original head unit (bricked during the Garmin update), but it was lower than my 2nd one which is s/n 80208991 and both were unable to save the HD presets.

Just got a call from Kenwood and they have a fix for the HR200 and 5120. They said it is the 5120 and it needs to go in for service because a firmware update won't fix it, it's a eprom that needs to be replaced. So they do listen in the end.

Got the 5120 back on Monday. Had it reinstalled yesterday and the eprom update does in fact fix the HR200 preset bug :)

Also while you are at it do yourself a favor and wire the e-brake sensor wire to ground. It makes life so much better when using the BT200 otherwise you loose most of the features of the BT200 like direct and phone book dial.

I received my replacement from Crutchfield today & installed it this afternoon. The new one has an s/n in the 8060**** range while my prior two units were s/n 8020****. The new one tunes HD channels and saves (and retrieves) the presets quickly and without fuss!

I'm a happy camper! :)

I received my replacement from Crutchfield today & installed it this afternoon. The new one has an s/n in the 8060**** range while my prior two units were s/n 8020****. The new one tunes HD channels and saves (and retrieves) the presets quickly and without fuss!

I'm a happy camper! :)

The first 4 digits are date codes a 8020 is Feb 2008 and the 8060 is June 2008. Mine is a 8030 so March of 2008. Glad to hear that Crutchfield has updated product now as well.

In a word. Mixed.

Here's my setup:
Factory installed on my Monterey 250CR boat.
A Kenwood KTS-300MR marine AM/FM CD player, HD Ready, Sirius Ready Head Unit installed in the cabin area.
KCA-RC100MR Remote Control. Allows basic tuning controls from remote location. In my case at the helm of the boat. LCD display scrolls same info as on the head unit display.
SIR-KEN1 Sirius Tuner attached with 5L cable.

I have been using this setup for 12 months. This weekend I added the KTC-HR200. It is daisy-chained to the SIR-KEN1 using 5L cable.

First issue is AM HD reception.
The boat is in Burnham Harbor in Chicago, IL next to Soldier Field. I get great FM reception on all the HD FM stations, but I'm struggling with the AM HD reception. I can get WGN HD, but it sometimes waffles back and forth between analog and HD. At first, that was the only AM HD station that I could receive. I listened to the entire White Sox broadcast on WSCR 670 AM in analog on Sunday afternoon, and then during the post game show the HD signal popped in and now, I can repeatedly tune it without a problem.
I do not get WBBM 780 AM in HD, although the analog signal is strong.

Second issue is my KCA-RC100MR remote.
When in HD Radio mode, the remote will not tune stations. The tune up/down buttons are non-responsive. The LCD display does scroll the station title and song information like the display on the head unit right after tuning a new station from the head unit, but then switches to showing only the frequency. All other functions on the remote work. (i.e. Tuner selector will toggle between Sirius and HD Radio, volume controls and mute button all work in either mode, AM/FM buttons work as designed and the power button works.)

Third issue is the tuning mode function in the head unit.
While in HD Radio Mode there are three tuning modes in the menu. Auto 1 is automatic search for a station. Auto 2 is search in the order of the stations in the preset memory. Manual is normal manual tuning control. Auto 1 and Auto 2 work as designed. Manual mode works like Auto 1.

Questions to my fellow forum readers:

I have no prior experience with HD radio. I would expect to get good HD radio reception for any station broadcasting HD, if I already get good analog reception for the same station. Is this a reasonable expectation?

If I'm getting great HD reception on FM stations in the area, but not AM should I suspect the receiver or antenna?

I bought my KTC-HR200 from Crutchfield. Should I send these issues to them or Kenwood?

Thanks,
Rich

Good content guys. I am about to pull the trigger on the HR200 for my DDX-7017 head unit and I have two questions....

1) With all the units being returned to Crutchfield that were OK but were invloved with the memory lose/piggy backed plug issue...do you think it's OK to save a few bucks from them and go with the Outlet Unit and save 15 bucks?

2) Has anyone applied for the HD Radio Rebate and actually received it yet?

Thanks

Gary

I finally picked up a KTC-HR200 from Crutchfield on the last day of the summer rebate. Mine is plugged into a DNX7100 using the 5L cable, with a Sirius Connect tuner and BT200 bluetooth box daisychained ahead of it.

I got a serial # 8050xxxxx. It remembers presets. I haven't seen any preloaded 'K' stations yet. The box doesn't seem to get even the slightest bit warm, unlike some of the reviews I read where users complained theirs got very hot.

Driving around the Jersey suburbs of NYC today it hung onto HD FM without a single dropout.

Different story with AM, though. WCBS 880 flipped in and out of HD constantly, and I mean every few seconds. Really annoying. Enough that I'll probably force analog on that station in the future. Not a very impressive result considering I was less than 15 miles from this 50,000 watt transmitter, well within its primary contour. I didn't test any other AM stations before I was done driving around.

It tunes 87.7 FM but alas, it's not worth trying to listen to "Pulse 87", the LPTV station on CH6 masquerading as an analog FM station in NYC. It seems the Kenwood tuner has such high selectivity that it makes that station, which actually transmits its audio on 87.75, sound like it's tuned way off frequency.

One other little annoyance, the tuner box under the driver's seat kept picking up the buzz-buzz-buzz sound from the GSM cell phone in my pocket.

Considering how cheap this was after a coupon and rebate, I'll be hanging onto it. I must say though, that due to the technical annoyances and lack of anything truly interesting on the subchannels, my interest in HD radio continues to wane.

I am not sure if this problem still exists,I updated my 5120 head unit to version 1.5.1 and all is well.My KTC-HR200 is fully working with station names artist and song all work perfectly.

I am considering purchasing a Kenwood KDC-MP342U with the KTC-HR200 HD tuner. Will this combination provide artist / song title data when listening to HD broadcast music? Reading the previous posts it was very confusing. This newer head unit has a single line display.

i have a kenwood dnx5120 that i bought in january. will the memory issue with the hr200 be a problem or has it been fixed?

was there a certian known build date where all the units thereafter were fixed?

The KTC-HR300 is out now. It appears to be the same as the KTC-HR200, with iTunes tagging added. And hopefully bug fixes for the problems noted in this thread. That's the one I'd get if I were ready to buy now.

If anyone has an opportunity to try out this model, or better yet do a head to head comparison with the HR200, please post your results.

i have a kenwood dnx5120 that i bought in january. will the memory issue with the hr200 be a problem or has it been fixed?

was there a certian known build date where all the units thereafter were fixed?


I have a DNX5120 with the KCA-BT200 and Sirius adaptor. The Surius works fine, but the interface kinda sucks. My problem is the voice quality of the KCA-BT200... I have paired it with no less than 7 different types of phones and the voice quality sucks. people say I sound like I am in a metal box. Placing the mic in a thick wool glove above the visor helps a little. I have ordered a handfull of Panasonic ECG electret mics and am going to play around and see if I can do better.

In any case, the worst problem is the DNX losing track of the KCA-BT200 on a random basis. The head unit has to be hard reset for the KCA to show up again. When it is "lost" the phone still pairs with it, but the head unit does not recognize the connection.

If you search the net a bit, you will find that numerous people report the same issue. Kenwood refuses to admit that there is a problem.

There are also numerous software bugs with the DNX5120. Many of the display options in the setup menu cuase all kinds of unwanted effects with the screen. Even with factory default settings, pressing the src button while using the Tuner and Nav causes "SCREEN SETUP" artifacts to show through the nav screen instead of the the tuner functions. Sometimes a hard reset is needed to recover.

The Nav portion of the unit is also prone to phantom resets even though the vehichles battery has never died.

Kenwood support and customer service has been pretty much a joke. Products with firmware this buggy should never be released. The firmware updates (to date) have not fixed most of the glaring issues, but have instead addressed little used or needed functionality and at the same time introduced more bugs.

My primary reason for purchase was to obtian quality hands-free... This has to be one of the worst hands-free setups I have ever used. PERIOD. Due to the lack of support from Kenwood, it is the last Kenwood product I will purchase. The DNX5120 is the only unit with a volume KNOB. The other units utilize UP/DOWN volume buttons. Most manufacturers realized years ago that almost ALL people prefer a KNOB for volume control, yet Kenwood's "state of the art" products have buttons. I mention this to show how out of touch they are with what the consumer. They crank out flashy products with little regard to real world functionality or quality. They have lost their way.