Kenwood TS130S mic won't transmit

[AD4U]

While the 130 is a decent radio, it is 30+ years old.  Current value for a WORKING 130 is around $200 to $250 at best. 

Diagnosing the problem often takes 80% or 90% of the tech's total time spent to repair the radio.  Actually replacing the defective component(s) is often done quickly, once the problem is found.

It is very easy for a tech to spend several hours trouble shooting a radio to identify the problem.  This is especially true if the tech is not very familiar with the innards of a particular radio.  The 130 is such a radio.  They are not nearly as plentiful as the Kenwood TS-520 or the TS 830 or the Yaesu FT-101 series.  Then the tech has to locate and purchase the replacement part(s), pay shipping to get them, and then install them in the radio. 

If he is lucky this will fix the radio.  If not then he has to do more trouble shooting, order more parts, and do it all again. 

Finally he has to check the radio out to insure it is working properly.  All this takes time, and time is money.

What most everybody is alluding to is it is very easy for a "tech for hire" (someone who does this to feed his family) to invest more time and money in fixing your radio than the radio is worth, at least on the open market.

Dick  AD4U

[KE3WD]

Thanks for the support, Dick. 

The past few years of the constant chime from folks who seem to think that all of us are out to gouge 'em or that there is some conspiracy against them being perpetrated by service technicians are indeed wearing my patience thin. 

Then, after saying it, if confronted, they ALWAYS back out by saying something like we see here, that it is "just their way" of saying it, or being "funny" about it, or whatever. 

BS

You can kill a man with words. 


73

[KJ6ZOL]

While the 130 is a decent radio, it is 30+ years old.  Current value for a WORKING 130 is around $200 to $250 at best. 

Diagnosing the problem often takes 80% or 90% of the tech's total time spent to repair the radio.  Actually replacing the defective component(s) is often done quickly, once the problem is found.

It is very easy for a tech to spend several hours trouble shooting a radio to identify the problem.  This is especially true if the tech is not very familiar with the innards of a particular radio.  The 130 is such a radio.  They are not nearly as plentiful as the Kenwood TS-520 or the TS 830 or the Yaesu FT-101 series.  Then the tech has to locate and purchase the replacement part(s), pay shipping to get them, and then install them in the radio. 

If he is lucky this will fix the radio.  If not then he has to do more trouble shooting, order more parts, and do it all again. 

Finally he has to check the radio out to insure it is working properly.  All this takes time, and time is money.

What most everybody is alluding to is it is very easy for a "tech for hire" (someone who does this to feed his family) to invest more time and money in fixing your radio than the radio is worth, at least on the open market.

Dick  AD4U

My Elmer says he'll take a look at it. He's the one who gave it to me in the first place. It was originally donated to an amateur radio club he ran when he was a high school science teacher. I am well aware that techs are expensive, that's why my Elmer says he'll show me how to fix it.

[K1CJS]

...Diagnosing the problem often takes 80% or 90% of the tech's total time spent to repair the radio.  Actually replacing the defective component(s) is often done quickly, once the problem is found....

...What most everybody is alluding to is it is very easy for a "tech for hire" (someone who does this to feed his family) to invest more time and money in fixing your radio than the radio is worth, at least on the open market.

Not at all.  You are right about having to troubleshoot and repair, especially if there is more than one problem with the rig.  And yes, the 130 isn't worth much more than about $150.

What I was saying, however, is it may be more than the worth of just the rig itself.  The 130 had three or four auxiliary units available for it's series, although the 130 could do nicely on it's own.  If a person had a complete set, you've got to figure in the prices of the other units.  Also, the rig may well be one that's been in his family for many years.  In that case it's sentimental value--something you sometimes can't put a price on.

Close minded individuals have to be reminded that sometimes something is not just all black and white, and the value of a rig may well have to figure in more than just it's monetary value alone.  73.