Almost all HF rigs today, are design descendants or variations on the KWM-2. The classic xcvr of all time.  The ergonomics and layout still work. Kenwood should stay with it.  Features I 'd like to see.
 
1)  IP Connectivity. Built in WI-FI and ethernet.
 
2)  Rig can be controlled with any popular tablet or mobile device.
 
3) Internal recorder that will allow recording of spectrum or  Audio and then output it to a Cloud service.
 
4) NO Spectrum analyzer. It costs too much to incorporate. Spend the money elsewhere to meet the marketing price point.
 
5) A Kenwood Web site listing  990's -- When and where they are on the air. (Operator may opt in or out)
 
6) Automatic Logging of radio operations…..Data stream fed to cloud.   (Public or private access)
 
7) Oh Yes, An xmitter and receiver.( Just build a contemporary radio with state of the art design.) The radio section of the rig is only part of the whole.
 
One button feed to Skype without a PC
 
9) Meter Option models (Analog or Graphic display)
 
10) 100 watts only. Make the rig smaller.


 
.

Bruce...

I welcome your comments though we do have different viewpoints.

I too was first ticketed in mid-60's.  Learned Morse for Radio merit badge on an ARC-5!  Took my Novice test from a TV repairman/Ham down the street.  Straight out of Ozzie and Harriet or Robert Young in "Father Knows best".

Regards,

Mike  WA4D. Net

Thank You W2RI for compiling some of my unique and perceptive observations so that other hams can easily find them.

You won't find that I tell other hams to "drop it" or discourage their expression. Indeed I enjoy shooting down the myths and weak rhetorical  positions that many make. Stating an opinion that is not shared, is hardly "intolerant". I welcome their antiquated views of the hobby.  

I  concede Alan K0BG has contributed substantially to the hardware side of the hobby. Yet the sun is now setting on mobile operations.  Alan should redirect his talent to other areas.

Cheers from Sunny LA
mike/wa4d.net

"That will go over like a lead balloon with the trucking industry."

You're right Brad.  And even proponents of restrictive legislation acknowledge the difficulty of enforcement.

Bob....

Clearly the proposed legislation does not / will not prohibit use of all electronic devices.  

The issue that many hams are in denial about are the indisputable studies and factual evidence that "distracted driving" is a safety hazard.  It matters not whether one is on a Cell phone or a CB radio or  a Ham radio device. The issue is the "cognitive distraction" that accompanies the use of such devices while simultaneously operating an automobile.  

Cheers from LA-

Mike/ WA4D.Net

Alan..

An amusing retort!  Your current stats reflect that you have posted 3540 times to the Mobile sections of the forums.   If anyone needs to "give it a rest" it's you.  Though your intolerance for other points of view is consistent with the Ham Radio culture at large.


Regards,
mike wa4d.net

"Proposed Illinois legislation Would Ban Federally Licensed Amateur Radio Ops From Mobile Operation. "  So Says a headline from Shortwave America.  http://shortwaveamerica.blogspot.com/2012/01/proposed-illinois-legislation-would-ban.html

Short wave America cites an Illinois ARRL member as saying, "If this legislation passes as it is proposed, the use of amateur radio gear while driving will be outlawed in Illinois."

The good news is that the momentum is not just talk, but active legislation is coming to the fore. As  I predicted elsewhere in these forums, Ham Radio Mobile enthusiasts are on the defensive.  The end is not near. but the absurdity of operating  a ham  radio while simultaneously driving a motor vehicle  has begun it's  last  cycle. As it should be.

mike/ wa4d.net

Jim....

Yes the FT 5000 is my choice. The only caveat is that if Kenwood releases the long rumoured Full Boat HF Radio at Dayton.  Patience is a virtue our Mothers taught us!

Cheers from LA
mike/ wa4d

W5DQ  Gene....

To your point on stores in S. Calif area.  (Perhaps not "many" but several... which may be the highest geographic concentration of  "bricks & mortar" Ham stores in the nation (world?)

HamCity.Com   / Juns Ham City  5563 Sepulveda Blvd., Ste D in Culver City, CA
 
HRO  Burbank  1525 W Magnolia Blvd    Burbank, CA 91506

HRO Anaheim, ca. 933 N. Euclid St. in Anaheim

HRO San Diego 5375 Kearny Villa Road #113 San Diego, CA 92123

As well as HRO in Sunnyvale and Oakland. And AES in Las Vegas.

So the Southern California Ham has multiple choices. Some close, some a drive and depending on your lifestyle, all reachable.

Mike

Well you cut right to it Mike [KL7MJ].  I do value having a Ham store(s) near.  Here in Southern California there are many. And I  do think that under the $500 threshold, most hams who can, do buy locally. But  as the item price rises, the pain increases.  And we are left with an easy way out.  That of the  Online/Tax Free merchant.  

regards from LA,

mike/wa4d

Recently, I  was in a Ham Store and an employee confided that he  worries that, "Some hams come in to look at expensive radios and then go home and purchase online saving the taxes".  There is no doubt some do that (perhaps  most  in California when it comes to a $1000+ rig and the sales taxes are just shy of 10%).

The Wall Street Journal picked up on this ham's concern today in a story about TARGET.

"Target is asking suppliers for help in thwarting "showrooming"—that is, when shoppers come into a store to see a product in person, only to buy it from a rival online, frequently at a lower price."

I haven't bought a radio in excess of $1000+ in years. That said, I'm looking at a package north of $5K. Am I ethically bound to buy locally and pay the taxes?


With the nation in constant  debate turmoil over budgets, who pays what taxes, a transitioning economy where the uneducated have a bleak  future, what is a Ham's responsibility?  Do we not have a stake in keeping AES/HRO "bricks and mortar" style businesses healthy? Or is the state's 10% penalty just too harsh for most? Is it an ethical issue? Some  political leaders think so. Or is buying via the best price  just a reflection of  the free market?

I'm some months off from my $5K purchase.  Yet it's difficult to rationalize paying an additional $500 for products that can be purchased online and be delivered to my door.  Comments?

mike/ wa4d.net

KB9TMP.....good point. And a minor correction. The NTSB 's recommendation was for PED's (there's already an acronym!)  Portable Electronic Devices.

Cheers from LA...... where there are Dozens and Dozens of VHF/UHF Repeaters that are silent except for ID's day after day after day and little would be lost were Mobile operation banned.

The  NTSB 's December recommendation to ban all driver "nonemergency use of portable electronic devices"  rattled Newington.  [As well it should]

ARRL CEO Dave Sumner (K1ZZ) writes in the current issue of QST, an editorial on "Distracted Driving". Sumner, predictably begins with a Distracted driving  incident where kids were involved and goes on to point out that existing laws in the state were in place prior to the incident  and one of the "guilty" drivers was violating the law.

Sumner observes that there is little debate over "texting" as a "bad idea" and "serious safety risk" yet hands free cell phone use is more questionable as a risky distraction.

What Sumner did not say is WHY  Ham Radio's should be  operated by the driver of a motor vehicle. Just what communication by hams is necessary while a vehicle is in motion?There is no "vital" need to operate a ham radio while driving. Pull over if one must for the extremely rare emergency traffic.

There is indisputable evidence that interaction with electronic devices takes the driver's attention off his most important task. That of driving the vehicle safely.  Sumner repeatedly makes reference to "Safety" in his piece. Yet, this safety concern is hollow, while still supporting the non-essential (and some would say frivolous} use of Ham Radios while operating a vehicle  in motion.

The  NTSB 's December recommendation to ban all driver "nonemergency use of portable electronic devices"  should extend to Ham radio, GPS units, iPods, ebooks, and any other }portable{ device not associated with vehicle operation. Ham Radios operators should not be exempt from such prohibitions. [ If legislators are given the opportunity to hear the level of discourse on a 2 meter repeater, there is little doubt Hams will be hoisted by their own petard.]

Sumner should take a stand for safety first and advocate  the termination of Ham mobile operations. Instead he seeks refuge in the nauseating reassurance of the 2009 comments by the NSC President.  "Until such time as compelling, peer-reviewed research denotes significant risks" in the use of Ham  Radio, they will oppose legislative restrictions. How ridiculous!  It' not the radio, or the phone, it's the cognitive overload that is the issue.

The good news is, Ham Radio mobile enthusiasts are now on the defensive. Newington will lobby against ham radio mobile prohibitions. Yet the odds are that in some states a total ban will be successfully enacted.  As it should be.

mike/ wa4d.net

Show me an Active Ham Married with Family and Job and I'll show you.....


A lousy Parent
An unhappy spouse
A poor employee


This assertion is so easily supported that it needs no references. As surely as obesity is rampant in the hobby (and increasingly the nation).  If you know Married/employed/with Kids Hams, they are probably failing in their lives.  Start with the Wife (Don't ask him).  Ask her if she's proud of her "Ham Husband"!!!!  Ask her if she is fulfilled? If the Ham spends time with the kids?  Does he read books? (unlikely)

Many (if not most) Hams "go dark" during the years of life when they pursue career and build a solid family. Still there are many who do not.   Active hams as described are seldom achievers as a Spouse, professional or Parent.  Tell them so!


So the next time you're on the air and meet one of these Hams tell   them to get off the air and "get a life"!  (Of course they won't, but you'll have made your point!)

Looking through  past issues of QST, photos of EmComm groups are almost all full of obese hams.  There is an obesity epidemic in America and Hams are very much apart of that.

Should not these EmComm types be required to pass a physical and PT test to participate?? One of these slothful hams might drop dead in the midst of ordering more Cokes and Doughnuts for Public  Safety professionals?


The real "emergency" is the poor physical  condition many of these would be heroes are in. Public safety organizations should require Hams be fit and healthy and "at weight" or rejected for  EmComm service.

Do  your community a favor. Get fit or get out of Emcomm.