Kenwood TH-42A - Manual (Page 56)

PACKET OPERATION
One of the most exciting benefits of owning a handy FM
transceiver nowadays is the ability to use it for VHF or
UHF packet radio. Due to the smail size of the
TH-22/TH-42 series handhelds, they are particularly
handy for mobile or portable packet operation. By using
a smail laptop computer to control any of the widely
available Terminal Node Controllers (TNC), and
interfacing the TNC to your transceiver via the externa!
microphone and speaker jacks, you may be surprised at
how compact and lightweight a digital station can be.
Operating packet while on the road from a campsite or
hotel can be a great way to meet others with common
interests when in a new area or city. Newcomers to
digital communications will be surprised to discover what
they have been missing.
Similarly, by connecting a home computer or dumb
terminal, which you may have in your shack already, to
your TNC/transceiver assembly, you can become active
on packet with little further monetary investment.
In either case, connecting to one of the many stations
with gateways to HF or satellite links can give you
national and worldwide messaging capability from your
station with nothing more than your handheld for the
communications link.
Refer to "CONNECTING OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT"
{page 62} for basic connection information for the
external microphone and speaker jacks. Consult your
TNC instruction manual for additional information about
connecting a TNC to your transceiver. Much reference
material is available for getting started in digital
communications from any store that handies Amateur
Radio equipment.
Note: This transceiver is not recommended for 9600 bps
Packet operation since using the microphone/speaker jacks
as an interface may not provide reliable operation at this high
transmission speed.
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