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| Reviews Summary for Kenwood TS-2000 |
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write your own review of the Kenwood TS-2000.
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K4PDQ
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Rating: 4/5
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Jun 20, 2008 09:11
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The Tale of Two Kenwoods
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I purchased my original 2000 in August 2005. This was to be my retirement radio. The radio developed the "dead" drivers in the final board around December 05. I sent the radio to Kenwood for warranty and they replaced the drivers and returned it. I have a friend that liked my 2000 so much, he bought a new one the same year. His radio was damaged by lightning early this year and since he claimed it on insurance, I offered to buy his Kenwood thinking I may need it for spare parts for mine. I put it on my bench and began to explore it's problems. I found and replaced a shorted surge suppressor (diode) and and blown into resistor. The radio would then power up, but could not be keyed to transmit with mic PTT or send button. I had basically traced that to the "control board" which is the CPU and DSP filter board. Now back to my original unit. This radio stopped transmitting again...same problem as before...dead drivers. So I took the control board from this radio and put it in the radio aquired from my friend. Now that radio became my main radio. This radio was manufactored about 3 months prior to my original.
Now on to my thoughts on the 2000 in general...I really like the radio. The feature set is about as good as it gets. The size of the radio fits my needs perfectly, and it can do just about anything you ask. There are so many computer programs that will control or program it, or program the DSP equallizers. The transmit and receive audio are excellent. I gave it a 4 rating even with the issues I had. I hope that my original was just a bad one that got out and this other radio will last a long time. Of all the reviews, I haven't seen that many problems mentioned on the drivers, not sure if it is a big problem or not, but I have read similar issues with other brands like the Icom 746Pro, so its not just Kenwood that has problems. The radio has an excellent following from what I have read and heard on the air. If you are looking for a all-in-one ham station...this is hard to beat. Hopefully the reliability is good for most.
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CT1IDW
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Rating: 5/5
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May 25, 2008 04:21
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Swiss Army knife kind of radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This is great radio.
Satelites? Yes please!
Right size? Yes.
Need to buy a new desk? Nope.
Do it all in an honest way? Yes.
This is an honest radio, what it does it does it well.
Are there better performers? Sure there are, but with a much higher price tag and less bands.
It's a keeper.
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KB2VYZ
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Rating: 5/5
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May 8, 2008 17:19
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Great rig!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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No filters to buy, it has the TXCO high stability crystal already installed, RX and TX Equalizers, a built-in TNC and 100 watts available on both 2 and 6 meters (50 watts on 70 cm) not to mention all of the other features. By far the best bang for the buck (approx. $1600 for basic TS-2000)!
So much bang for the buck, I purchased 2 of them!
73 de Frank/KB2VYZ
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KK8ZZ
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 29, 2008 20:02
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new 440-144 satellites!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Just got new loop antennas up for the new satellites that were launched this week ! The SSB/CW transponders won't be active until July, apparently, but with the TS-2000, we'll all be ready when it is switched over! Other than the Icom IC-910H, what else can work them??
This is a GREAT radio !
Cheers... Bob KK8ZZ
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N0MUD
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 12, 2008 17:50
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Excellent radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Wow, I would never ask my next door neighbor what they think of my radio. Number one, they are NOT hams so who cares what they think of my radio, number two they have no idea how it works so who cares what they think of the operation of my radio. Like one ham said would you ask a neighbor what they thought of your new wife: answer "Hell NO". I would show a fellow ham my new radio and let him hear how it sounds, talk to him on a freq and let him hear what it sounds like on the airwaves, ham to ham. Unless the neighbor is interested in becoming a ham let him study the HRO catalog or shop at one of the online companies. But I could care less what my neighbor thinks about the looks. I didnt spend all that money for my Kenwood 2000 just for the looks, I spent all that money for the way the radio operates. I am interested in getting satellite contacts with other hams, I am interested in using the radio in dual band mode and I like of course the HF mode of the radio. Of all the radios I've owned I've never ever bought a radio because of it's looks. If I'm going to spend alot of money for looks is my PU truck plus other options with my truck like where will I mount my radios. Look if your interested in a Kenwood TS2000 go to your local Ham Radio Store except Radio Shack of course, try out a TS2000, compare it to the other brand radios, make your decision and buy the radio. If you want an Icom then buy an Icom but buy it for it's operation not it's looks. I am here to tell you the looks of your radio are NOT going to get you thru heavy QRM, the looks are not going to get you in touch with another ham by way of a satellite. I've been a ham for 21 years now and I've never seen a radio operate by the way it looks. My Kenwood Ts2000 operates just fine, and I've made numerous contacts from it's great operations. As soon as I put together and up in the air my satellite antennas then I will be able to use that method of my radio and I am eager to make a AO contact. Again if your not sure like I said go to your local HAM radio store and test a TS2000 out, you will like it.
73's Mike, NØmud
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KB3MMX
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 12, 2008 16:03
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Best Do-it-All Base Rig for the $$ !!!!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Well, after playing with this rig all fall and all winter, I am still impressed with Kenwood quality and the functioning of this great "Hamshack in a box" Rig !
The TS-2000X -replaced- the ICOM-7000 that was in the shack and was better suited for portable or mobile use due to it's puny size.
I am constantly getting unsolicited, outstanding audio reports with this rig!
Guys have been jumping into a QSO just to tell me how much they like the audio.....I really get a grin from it too ;-)
I like to run my TS-2000 on the 3.o kHz Bandwidth setting and the RX audio with 0 Low-cut and generally 3400Hz on the High cut.
If conditions are noisy, it is nice to dial it down -or- if someone has wide audio, I open it up to 5000Hz High Cut to enjoy the fidelity.
*Also a VERY nice feature on the Kenwood is "Beat Cancel". This feature is great for wiping out QRM'ers and on frequency Tuner Uppers that throw annoying CW carriers on a frequency....it completely wipes out their annoyance with the tap of a button, see ya' later AH's!
The TNC is a nice feature for running on regular packet and local packet DX clusters(or APRS). The SkyCommand is also a nice feature if you own a D700, D710 or a Kenwood D7A HT. You can cruise around town and operate your HF Base rig from your mobile.....pretty sweet!!
The reciever is great on this rig too as I have many times been able to hear stations that other local hams cannot hear with their various make rigs.
I recently made a RX audio recording for a friend and he commented(unsolicited again) on how great it sounded and how little noise I had in my reciever(grin)
*Two thumbs up for the Kenwood TS-2000, Do Anything "Hamshack in a box" rig!!!
To Sum up, You won't be sorry with this rig, it gives you sooooo much more than other rigs that cost significantly more $$ !!
--Chuck
KB3MMX
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W1JUS
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Rating: 0/5
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Apr 12, 2008 12:58
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Way way overated !!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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The 2000 was a big disappoint. Rec selectivity broad as a barn door. Awful rec audio (rolls off @ 2.2K) & a birdie on AO-27 making it useless fer that satellite ! Me and two other friends sold ours & got the super performing ICOM IC-7000. Personally I'm not sure Kenwood is going to make HR rigs since they recently dropped the 570.
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KF6KDA
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Rating: 4/5
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Apr 11, 2008 13:55
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The shack in a box pwns!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've owned my TS-2000 since June of 2006. It has done VHF/UHF contesting, some HF contesting, digimodes and rag chew. The TS-2000 has worked flawlessly. Is it the same class as say a MP1000 contesting radio, NO! Nor do I believe it was intended as such. I do have some gripes about it. I feel the front end is a little weak and under heavy contest conditions it does suffer a tad. Also it's been accused of being a little deaf. I've worked most of the major DXepdtions including 9X0R on 20m RTTY. Which most of you know, on the west coast of the USA, that is a great catch. Is the TS-2000 the end all be all, no. For what I want, it does more than I could ever ask. As for the looks, UH, YOU KNOW WHAT THE RADIO LOOKED LIKE WHEN YOU BOUGHT IT!!! So you made that choice. How can you bash it when you paid the 1500 bucks anyway and bought it for its looks. That just confuses the hell outta me.
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K3ICH
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 9, 2008 19:56
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I like how it works AND how it looks
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I think it is ridiculous for a 1/5 radio rating to be allowed because someone's neighbor doesn't like how it looks. Do you have any idea how foolish that review makes you look? Would you divorce your new wife because of another person's opinion?
That said, I think the radio looks fine. It works great too. I've used mine during the several VHF contests and could find no problems as to sensitivity or intermod. 6,2 & 432 were loaded with many local KW contestors as well as very weak signals. The TS-2000 did fine.
If I had ANY complaint at all it would be that the panel markings are a bit hard to read in subdued light. Otherwise, it is ideal for my purposes.
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VA3KAI
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 9, 2008 12:34
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Great dollar value.....
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Very much like stated in previous reviews - great value for the dollar. Came out of the box working to specs and haven't experienced a single problem in 10 months. I can only compare to my old TS-450SAT and this better in all aspects from an operating perspective plus it has pretty decent 50, 144 & 440 capability (and it doesn't seem anywhere near deaf on 2M like some have reported.) It is especially great on CW (I can really narrow down & shift the pass-band, as required) and pretty good on SSB as well (though I would prefer a CW-like filter set-up much better then the DSP adjustments) - perhaps it is the operator that hasn't quite mastered the functionality yet! There is a bit of a curve to learn all the tricks and feature best practices but coming from another Kenwood product made it fairly easy to get on-board. Used it for a bit of contesting (RAC and Ontario QSO Party) and did quite well using simple wire antennas from my eastern Ontario location. Cost in Canada now down pretty close to USD non-sale prices. All-in-all, great little "Swiss Army knife" transceiver that isn't near as ugly as some have made it out to be!!! You really can't go wrong with this one for the price especially when you factor in the elimination of the usual dual-band 144/440 FM transceiver in the shack.
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