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write your own review of the Kenwood TS-950SD.
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KB2CPW
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Rating: 4/5
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Jun 16, 2011 21:55
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Great Rig!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Even though it's considered an underdog when compared to a 950SDX. The 950SD is a great radio. I don't have much of a problem with headphone audio, but you must lower the volume when switching over and a good quality headphone like Sony's MDR-V600 is a must.
Pro's:
Older style auto-tuner which works fast.
Fantastic RX and TX (you can adjust the DSP-10 for better outgoing audio by removing it and adjusting the pots.)Will go 3.1 wide on TX.
Clean TX audio and it's happy with many different microphones.
Love the display, very nice to look at and it responds fast to changes.
Nice filter selection,NB,AGC,ATT and a TCXO.
Cons:
DSP is not very good on RX.
VFO is sensitive and the VFO/CH Knob is not adjustable. No fuzzy logic when tuning.
No menu's like the 850, Sub RX hasn't many features beyond an ssb filter and NB.
You can pick one of these up for between 900-1200 US and they are worth every penny. The SD has a cleaner TX with less distortion than the SDX because of the bipolar transistors used in the SD final section.
They are pretty easy to repair since not much goes wrong with them beyond some having the finals crap out. If you find that it won't tx, pull the top cover and look at the fuse in the PA. If it's blown, check the 2sc2922 48 volt regulator, fuse and check the finals for shorts. The 2sc2992 goes, dumps 77 volts into the MRF-429's and kills em. Then the fuse blows when one or both short ;-p .
The 2sc2922 will not regulate with the fuse out of place, so if you replace it and do not put in the fuse, it will still show 77 volts on its output since two other control transistors are bypassed when the fuse is out. The best way to service and check everything, is to remove the finals by lifting the legs, replace the fuse and check the voltages then, if you see 48 volts, the reg is good but for 5 bucks, I would replace it anyway.
The 2sc2922 is often counterfeited like the 2sc1971's and 2sc1972's. Make sure you get a real Sanken replacement from a reputable supplier. There are places on the web where you can see pics of the counterfeits vs the real McCoy..
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K1FBI
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Rating: 4/5
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May 17, 2011 10:11
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Good, but with quirks
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The rigs good points have been told many times over.
What I don't like is that the microphone levels need adjusting whenever switching bands and the deafening hiss in the headphones, even when the transmit monitor is off. Not being able to use the headphones is a deal breaker for me.
Kenwood should never have let that happen and should have offered a fix.
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2E0NUG
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 26, 2011 12:17
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Fantastic!
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Time owned: months
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Well I managed to purchase a very late, mint TS-950SD with SP950 speaker, over the years i have had many HF radios in my shack, FT1000D, PRO3, TS870s and it has the best ears of them all. I use mine with an external BHI module and the combination of filtering is just awesome, its fully loaded with all the filters, DSP, plus BHI and i can pick out just what i want to hear. the audio through the SP950 sounds so full but missing no detail, the transmit audio through a PR40 is just as impressive iam told. you have all the controls to hand, no menus to fiddle with its just great to use and listen to. I still pinch myself that i found one in such mint condition. all i can say is if you ever get the chance to listen to one and have a play dont let it go by, because you may well want one but minters are hard to find. kenwood at its best!
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EA8CDI
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 15, 2011 04:42
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Master piece.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Despite its age, still work flawless since got it about 3 years ago.
Has awesome reception in all modes and band. Even to SWL is a plus.
I’m receiving continuously superb audio and signal reports.
Great wide filters selection.
Build like-a-tank. Has survived many trips and contests!
It will not disappoint you. A master piece no doubt.
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VE3FDT
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 7, 2010 21:29
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Excellent!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I am not sure if this will be more of a review or an obituary for a good friend...
A few months ago I sold my TS-950SD. I sold it "for repair". It succumbed to internal injuries caused by a nasty area power surge which, through the power supply transformer, overloaded the driver transistor (2SC2922) and blew up one of the Motorola final transistors (MRF429MP). I am not an electronics tinkerer and did not trust myself enough to shave off the labour cost (more than half of the estimated total!) from the repair expense. I also wanted to try something a little more modern than a classic, so I put a wounded friend up for sale.
For those readers whose eyes are filling up with moisture: it found a new home and is back on the air, part of a large Kenwood collection.
My personal experience with this rig has been nothing but gratifying: 3 years ago I bought this rig on eBay and invested in alignment. In 2 and a half years that I had used the rig (with a 5 band hexbeam on 20/17/15/12/10 and a shortened dipole on 160/80/40/30) I made about 8,000 contacts, 270+ DXCC entities (260+ on CW, 220+ on SSB, 130+ RTTY/PSK) and I thoroughly enjoyed using it. It allowed me to make (with my less than ideal "antenna farm") over a 1,000 QSOs in a CQWW (SOAB low power) and it kept me happy in many a ragchew, and in many DX chases.
Everything about this rig I liked. Heavy, but provides a very solid feel of every knob and button. Fantastic receiver. Quick and wide range internal tuner. The slope tuning. The subreceiver; very handy in the split pile-up (subreceiver's tuning knob is too small, but you can use the main tuning knob while pressing a button). The noise blanker. The excellent audio (the most "natural" DSP I have experienced, but I have not tried that many). The interference reduction from the Advanced Intercept Point RF amplifier. The flexibility provided by the full set of real filters; I had
# 8.83 MHz section with:
* 6 kHz AM filter
* YK-88S-1 2.4 kHz SSB filter
* YK-88C-1 500 Hz CW filter
# 455 kHz section with:
* YG-455S-1 2.4 kHz SSB filter
* YG-455C-1 500 Hz CW filter
* YG-455CN-1 270 Hz narrow CW filter
which is somewhat CW tilted, but it can be rearranged to your heart's content.
It was sometimes difficult to believe that this was a 20 years old rig. Outstanding radio. It is simple in use and it works very well! I suspect that I may regret selling it in the future...
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K7NG
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 10, 2009 15:28
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The radio benchmark
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I've used other high-end radios of this and newer vintage, and I feel the 950SD is the standard to measure against. Except for unusual situations, the receiver never gets crunched, the transmit audio is superb, and CW operation is perfect. I am considering putting a narrower roofing filter in, simply because occasionally, rarely, I try to get in close to a DX or sought-after contest contact, and the sheer number of other signals close by sometimes causes some crud to appear. A roofing filter 1/3 as wide will reduce the crud proportionally. If a huge signal is more than maybe 15 KHz away, I'd never know it's there even with the original filter. I don't believe anyone ever made a better rig. The only caveat is that you'd better not be intimidated by the sheer number of knobs!
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VA3RKO
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 25, 2009 18:15
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A Classic!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Bought it used a few years back... no problems. Beautiful to listen too, beautiful to look at and wonderful audio reports.
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IK0ZTB
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 6, 2009 13:30
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Rock radio
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I have buyed this radio with some problems: final stage with missing parts, frontal panel key with poor contact, tx power control defect.
After repair this rtx is now fully operative, it have a good receiver and wonderful trasmitter.
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W4EPA
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 14, 2008 13:18
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Great Rig!!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This is my seventh Kenwood TS-950sd. I would buy them, repair if needed and ealuate them .This one wound up the best. Great receiver which is not over done with controls that should have been fixed origionally and excellent tx and audio reports. The slope tune and 1.8 optional filter makes contesting a lot of fun. The other six were sold but this one has found a home. The SP950 speaker is esential with the 950sd. It makes the audio sound natural and robust. All in all could not be more satisfied. Jim W4EPA@arrl.net
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2E0TZM
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 21, 2007 08:16
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Best Ever
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Im going to keep the review very short this is quite simply the best radio ive ever used. Top notch receive and everone comments how good i sound. If you get chance of one buy it.
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