|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Speak Out
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
|
You can
write your own review of the Kenwood TS-480HX.
|
KA3SBF
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jan 16, 2009 09:31
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Best in its class!
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
I purchased my 480HX from HRO in DE in the later part of May 08 - within an hour of un-boxing the unit and connection to my GAP Titan DX, the rig has been working well with many QSOs logged!
Ease of use and operation, tuning, connectivity to power, antennas, etc is quick and simple.
The design of the remote head unit is very nice - small footprint with many operational features easily accessed and modified as needed on the fly!
The extra 100-watts gives the unit an advantage over comparable models.
In my opinion, no matter if it will be your first rig or an additional rig for reliability, it is the best rig in its class and price range!
|
|
KB6HRT
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jan 6, 2009 02:50
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
I like It!
|
Time owned: 3 to 6 months
|
|
Brought this rig last fall, have been using it at the QTH with two power supplies, worked fine. Installed in the RAVE4 this weekend and found out what a treat this rig is works GREAT! Great transmit audio and a great receive, very good signal reports and 200w seems to make a difference. The 480HX replaced a good ICOM 706M2G that I liked real well, but the Kenwood is better for my needs. KB6HRT
|
|
KD7TSO
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Nov 23, 2008 21:58
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great just simply great
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
This is a great radio. Kenwood designed this rig very simple, for any one to operate. If you think this radio is hard to learn to operate you need a new hobby. For me this radio is take out of the box and use with out the need for a manual it's not complexly menu driven like many others. Ts-480hx has good dsp and best noise blanker I ever used, I use it for mobile and base. This rigs noise blanker works better then my IC-7000. It also has stood up to allot of abuse from a few mistakes. This is a great radio, and I plan to keep it for along time.
|
|
HB9TSI
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Nov 3, 2008 14:52
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Excellent!
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
I have already tested Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V, Icom IC-7800, IC-7700, TenTec Omni VII, IC 756 Pro III, Kenwood TS-2000, Yaesu FT-847 and 857D. But for the price you won't ever get a better transceiver like the Kenwood TS-480HX. For remote purposes it's also very good to control it with Hamradio Deluxe or ARCP-480. Try to run it with a Yaesu MD-200 microphone and you will get excellent audio reports. The RX is also very sensitive and even compareable with high end rigs. The NB is extremely good. All in all I am very astonished about this rig and I would highly recommend it. Well done Kenwood!
|
|
W5UV
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Nov 2, 2008 18:42
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great Mobile Rig
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
I have used a Yaesu FT-100D, Icom IC-706MkIIG and a Kenwood TS-2000 mobile over the years and the TS-480HX is without a doubt, the best receiving rig of the bunch and is perfect for mobile. Ran it for a while in the shack and it was a great back-up rig there too! The noise blanker is about the best I have used in the mobile.
|
|
W8NLZ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Nov 2, 2008 18:02
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Base Station & Field Portable
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
The TS-480HX is a wonderfully versatile radio, serving me as base station, mobile, and field portable. I packaged the transceiver unit, along with an AT-200Pro antenna tuner in a double heigth TransTec carrying tray. Both DC cables are equipped with Anderson PowrPole connectors, so it only takes a moment to reconnect the unit to AC power supplies, the car 12VDC system, or one or two AGL gel cells. The control head and microphone plug into fixed extension cables which you can buy at your local Radio Shack for a couple of bucks. It literally only takes me a few minutes to move from one mode of operation to another.
I enjoy operating portable in the woods or along the shore. I use one or two 33AH AGL gel cells for power. They usually last a full afternoon at 100 watts. When I am at a campsite which has AC available, I use two Samlex SEC-1223 power supplies, also in a TransTec carrying tray. My antenna is a simple Buddistick vertical which I operate on 20 & 40 meters.
So far, I am extremely happy with the performance of the TS-480HX under all these operating conditions. Its unique remote head has turned out to be a blessing. My favorite knob is the power setting .... I can turn it up to 200W to make initial contact, then back it down to minimums as band conditions permit.
I initially envisioned the TS-480HX strictly as a dedicated mobile rig. Once I got it, it became apparent that it could follow me indoors, outdoors, and on the road with little or no penalty.
|
|
N7UVH
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Sep 8, 2008 20:19
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Nice rig!
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
I work about 90% digi and needed a rig with a 200 watt PA for my 100% duty cycle ops.. I run it at 30 to 40 watts most all time.. runs cool, I run Full Cat control with mixw,a LDG 200 pro autotuner, and I can work my shack from a laptop anywhere as long as the internet is working. I would get the 270 hz filter if you like contesting!
It is a Keeper
Murf
n7uvh
|
|
KC2OYZ
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Sep 6, 2008 09:18
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Second try
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
Please ignore my previous review - I simply hadn't given this radio the time it deserves - it has a bit of a learning curve if you haven't worked much with modern DSP rigs. It also took me a while to figure out how and where to put all the pieces for quick, efficient operation.
I agree with all those good reviews - I would give it 5/5 if the layout was a bit more convenient and the control panel was a bit larger. So for a base station, this radio is 4/5 - very solid performer on both RX and TX.
|
|
KG6POG
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Aug 30, 2008 00:30
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
League of it's own
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I bought the TS-480HX in November 2004, and have never had a problem with it. It does the 200 watts and plus on some bands, but you need to use a true peak reading meter to see it. Also the EQ is very extensive and has some presets, but is extremely flexible if you run the free software that you can download from Kenwood. The noise blanker knocks out any ignition noise I've had problems with, and the filter setting are easily adjustable and there's room to add both CW and SSB filter if you want. In my case I've never had a problem with the 2.4 SSB filter and the adjustable filter is set so that I really don't have a problem with people other than locals interfering with me unless DX is booming in a few Kc's away.
Someone mentioned the on-board tuner and the 480HX does not have an on-board tuner, so if that's a concern look at the 480SAT.
In the past I've worked the world with this radio and a dipole, but these days I use a modest beam and a couple of dipoles for the lower bands and have had excellent results on every band in every mode, even working an AM station in Australia on 10 meters.
For the price this radio is in a league of it's own
|
|
OE504-627
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Aug 25, 2008 02:48
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Excellent value
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
I sold my FT-1000MP field to buy one of these highly praised TS-480hx. To make it short, believe every good review your read about that radio. It is EXCELLENT (both on RX and TX). I tried a Heil GM-5 on it, works good (mic setting to "wide", mic gain 70, DSP should be HB1 or HB2 proc off), the only bad thing discovered is that with the heil the PEP output is around 120Watts (measured with Diamond PEP reading meter). Maybe the ALC should be re-aligned. The MC43S that comes with works excellent on this rig. Settings should be mic gain 70, proc-in 65, proc-out 45 and of course, proc switched on. With this settings i get super audio reports and between 160-180Watts out PEP SSB, FM is a full 200Watt swing on the needle(thanks to the previous poster for this settings!) I highly recommend the TS480hx to anyone who is looking for a nice compact, rugged and reliable radio! P.S. Not one single second have i regretted that i sold the FT-1000MP...
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
