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1-10 of 41 messages
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WHAT'S NEW KENWOOD? LOL
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by ARRLBOOSTER on January 15, 2008
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What has happened to the once great Kenwood? Their last great radio was the TS 870 and 950. Ugly radios like the TS 2000 and the TS 480 are an embarrassment to the ham shack. They discontinued the 570 which was a fine rig for the new ham or ham on a budget.
Open a QST anymore and you have to search for a Kenwood HF rig ad.
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RE: WHAT'S NEW KENWOOD? LOL
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by K6AER on January 15, 2008
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Kenwood seems to be concentrating on the very lacerative VHF/UHF handheld and mobile market. I suspect the amateur radio division has been raided for engineers by the land mobile group.
As for the TS-570, TS-850-870 and the ancient TS-950 the radio designs are very old history. A lot of design innovations and firmware has been developed since 1999. I used to buy Kenwood HF transceivers but I along with others have been left at the alter.
I switched to ICOM for my HF products and have been very satisfied with their 756 Pro-III. I still use the TS-2000 for VHF and UHF SSB but I’ll admit that design is almost 10 years old.
As far as HF is concerned Kenwood has become the Studebaker of the HF radio manufactures.
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RE: WHAT'S NEW KENWOOD? LOL
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by K1CJS on January 18, 2008
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With the just announced acquisition of Vertex/Standard, the parent of Yaesu, and the continuing downturn of Kenwood's HF line, there will soon only be Icom as a major HF player in Japan.
The new HF 'Big 3' will be Icom, Ten Tec, and Elecraft, with MFJ coming in as a 'wannabee'.
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RE: WHAT'S NEW KENWOOD? LOL
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by K1CJS on January 18, 2008
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"Kenwood seems to be concentrating on the very lacerative VHF/UHF handheld and mobile market."
Did you mean 'lucrative', or were you referring to Kenwood staying on the 'cutting edge'!
Sorry, couldn't resist that one!! ;-)
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RE: WHAT'S NEW KENWOOD? LOL
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by K7SU on January 19, 2008
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"the TS 2000 and the TS 480 are an embarrassment to the ham shack."
Sure, the purists think it's deaf and nothing works right on it...it looks like a pot belly stove or sat in the sun too long and began to melt. The buttons are too small...the menu is too complicated...whine whine whine ad nauseum. Maybe they are just the ones who hate to see anything change. If things were left up to them we would still be dragging our women to the caves by their hair.
I, on the other hand, really like it. I have a TS-2000 and as of this writing, it has 374 reviews on eHam with a 4.5/5 rating. It's a wonderful rig and it looks as though many others feel the same. The only other rig with more reviews is the Icom 706. At the time I purchased my TS-2000 I was also considering the Icom Pro's but they were having display problems. I opted for the TS-2000 and have never been sorry. The other "embarrassing" rig, as you call it...the TS-480" has 111 reviews with a 4.8/5 rating. So apparently some users like that one also.
I also have a TS-430s, TS-830s, TS-520...all great rigs. I have an IC-718 and it's a good rig also, especially for the bux. But as far as the TS-2000 and 480 being "embarrassments", I think you are way off track. The fact that the TS-2000 looks different than most other old-fashioned boxy rigs was one of the things that attracted me to it. At least Kenwood was thinking outside the "box" when they designed it.
However, I do hope Kenwood comes out with a new rig soon. It appears they may be losing interest in the HF ham radio market because they have come out with several new VHF/UHF rigs of late but nothing beyond the TS-2000 for HF. I hope they don't abandon the HF market.
Just my $.02 worth.
Kelly
www.K7SU.com
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RE: WHAT'S NEW KENWOOD? LOL
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by K6AER on January 19, 2008
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Your right I meant lucrative not lacerative, late night typing. As an engineer I was hired for my technical prowess not my typing accuracy and great looking legs.
I own a TS-2000 and use it as a back up radio on HF and my primary radio on 144 and 432 MHz SSB. It is a very nice $1500 radio. Sort of a Swiss army knife of all modes and all band radios. I never have been able to tolerate the droopy but front end but like all love hate relationships you overlook the minor stuff.
I suspect this year will mark a mile stone in HF transceiver design with the introduction of the Elecraft K3 as a no-nonsense high performance radio many manufactures will need to re-look at their bells and whistles approach to the ham market. Performance and solid design are very highly sought after and hams will spend the money for better equipment.
The big question is will Kenwood look at the ham radio market and use their manufacturing and marketing ability to come up with a replacement transceiver in the class of the K3. The biggest problem Elecraft has is getting the K3 radios out the door. The demand is very high and the wait is long. I ‘m sure this is because the quality is high but even hams have a limit in patience. Sooner or later one of the big three will fill the gap.
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RE: WHAT'S NEW KENWOOD? LOL
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by K1CJS on January 20, 2008
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I understand that Kenwood is having a time of it 'getting the lead out' so they can remain in the European market. Consider, that possibly means at the least, a cleaning of the equipment used to make the rigs and at the most, a semi complete to complete retooling to make newer methods effective.
There again, the problem of solder 'whiskers' that used to be almost nonexistant when using lead may have put Kenwood in the middle of the proverbial rock and a hard place. The circuitry in my 20+ year old TS130SE is small, imagine the circuitry in a TS2000!
I would hazard a guess that with the new radios that Icom and then Yaesu came out with, Kenwood is in the middle of redefining their line of HF and 'shack in one rig' radios. What may the chances of them coming out with another radio along the lines of the TS2000--but better--be, considering their reputation and the fact they've put out some darn good rigs? I'd say probably better than even money.
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RE: WHAT'S NEW KENWOOD? LOL
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by WR8D on January 20, 2008
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One thing that would of helped them was if they sold that solid state amp here in the US. It's beautiful.
I used to only run Kenwood gear but they tried to pull a fast one with the 950sdx. Tons of them were sitting in wearhouses here new to be sold and they had already discontinued the line. That did it for me. I switched to Icom and never looked back.
I still run my complete 830 station from time to time and love it too. It's been over ten years now since i even looked at a new kenwood and i just recently bought another new icom so there you go. Kenwood has'nt made anything in all that time other than that solid state amp, that's caught my eye.
Nuff said....i don't need a car sterio either.
WR8D
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RE: WHAT'S NEW KENWOOD? LOL
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by KA5ROW on January 27, 2008
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Posted By: ARRLBOOSTER
What has happened to the once great Kenwood? Their last great radio was the TS 870 and 950. Ugly radios like the TS 2000 and the TS 480 are an embarrassment to the ham shack. They discontinued the 570 which was a fine rig for the new ham or ham on a budget.
I Agree 100%
The TS-2000 is ugly ugly ugly. That is why I have the TS-570 S.
Unless Kenwood comes out with a new HF rig this year 2008 they might as well pack it in and give up.
The Yaesu FT 950 is a good looking radio. Hint Hint Kenwood People.
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