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write your own review of the Kenwood TS-440S/AT.
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KD0EMI
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 14, 2008 07:56
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This Radio is a TANK
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Got this off ebay. I used it for receive monitoring. It had the all freq transmit mod.
Later got my licence and now it is my mainstay.
I had trouble with the Auto Tuner, Terroid burnt and an intermittent transmit relay.
I turned a new terroid and bought a new tuner section. $75 later it worked fine including the relay after I gave it a heavy workout. The rig works great with any linear by route of the built in tuner. It has duribility that makes you feel like you are not working with a swiss watch like some rigs.
I have had no other problems works great.
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W4HWD
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Rating: 3/5
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Nov 10, 2008 15:30
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Review with caveat
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I got my 440S/AT used from AES in 1992. That's the qualifier - I got mine used. If I had bought a new one maybe I would not have had the problems I did.
The rig worked great for about the first six months. Then, the external amplifier relay stopped working. Ordered a new relay, put it in, fine. Then, the internal tuner would grind away and not tune anything. Sent it off to Kenwood in Virginia Beach - came back fixed, then the PLL unlocked! Geez! Back to Kenwood again! All these things went wrong inside a 3 month window! Stuff like this breaking is *not* operator error. I also didn't like the fact that the processor only had an on/off button. I sent it back to AES as a trade in on a new 850 and never looked back. Shoulda bought the 850 in the first place!
If you see one of these on eBay ask ALOT of questions. If you get a good one, it will serve you well. If you get a lemon, well, good luck.
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N0MUD
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 28, 2008 11:40
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Great first rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Well officially this was my first HF rig. Unofficially it was a TS-520 which I couldn't tune so I returned it and swapped it for the TS-440sat. I got the TS-440sat 1988 and sold it 2004. It worked perfectly from the day I bought it to the day I sold it. I sold it because I just didn't need it anymore as I had bought a Kenwood TS-2000sat and Yaesu FT-897D. I sold it for $450.00 to a General and he still has it and when I see him he thanks me for selling it to him. Mine even had the voice module that told you what freq you was on at the push of a button. If your looking for a great first rig and can get one you won't be sorry. Just make sure of course the Auto Tuner works and of course everything else and you wont be sorry. I wouldn't pay anymore than about $500.00 now and that price is starting to be too much. If you can talk the seller down a bit go for it, if not just hand him the money and run.
When I bought the radio I also purchased a power supply and MC-60 desk mic and kept those. I use the power supply for my 2/440 by my recliner and the MC-60 mic is attached to the TS-2000.
So enjoy the radio it is easy to use.
73s Mike, N0mud
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VO1MDS
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 28, 2008 07:08
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Dreaded dots
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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After about a year of owning my radio,the dreaded dots display problem accured,after reading into the fixes,and COSTS to repair,i said to heck with that,i got in there,removed about 95% of the conductive goop that Kenwood put in there,took 4hours,and now the radio sings again.
I have a U-tube video on there if your interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyzIjLWFjlQ
The kenwood ts-440 is worth every cent you spend to get her,just understand the problems that can or well accure,and how to fix them,it's not hard to do,but it just takes time to repair.
I would gladly purchase another if given the chance.
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HI8HCJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 30, 2008 12:14
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Outstanding!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The TS 440 SAT is an excellent transceiver, of course remember is a harvests of the 80s, but even so is an outstanding rig. Mine I obtained it from second hand already does about a 5-6 years and it has never given problems to me. One thing pretty important is always keeping warm!!
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K1KAA
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 10, 2008 19:54
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Great radio, solid as anything in its class
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have owned TS440's for nine years now. I currently have two, and they work in a multi-radio contesting environment. Not the usual choice for a contest station, but they have been rocks for me -- only had a few problems, but they were fixable.
I got the dreaded "dots on display" that plagues the TS440, but that fixed itself (amazingly enough). Also had issues with the filters and many soldering problems. Most of these are easy fixes (so long as you can solder). We also learned right away that this is a radio that needs to be grounded well, no matter what type of antenna it feeds.
Again, this is a geat radio, and though it doesn't have DSP or newer features (microphone monitor would have been nice, such as with the FT1k and IC7xx-series), it is still as solid as it was the day I first plugged it in. I compare it to an older car...it will occasionally demand some work, but the payback is worth it. After all, the radio has been around for almost 20 years, and the average rating is still 4.5/5!
73', de Mike K1KAA
http://k1kaa.413ma.org
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VO1MDS
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 5, 2008 16:49
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Great radio
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Howdy folks,me again...
Yep like the other folks say,tis a great little radio,i baught mine second hand with the mathcing power supply,speaker,and MC-60 microphone,deadly setup.
the blinking ........ cant say i had them..yet!
knock on wood.
but certinally a over all nice well made chunk of hardware too have on hand for darn sure.
The internal antenna tuner is a dream for me,i use a homebrew vertical for 20 meters and it tunes with ease.
anyway..cant beat this rig..go for it!
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KE5OHW
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 28, 2008 09:08
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My first HF rig
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I just bought mine this last weekend at a Ham Fest tailgate for $300 with the Auto Tuner. It works great. Had been borrowing a fellow Ham's Kenwood TS950 before hand and this 440 SAT works just as good. The 950 is a better rig, of course, but my regular contacts are saying that my signal is just as good on the 440 as with the 950. I was considering the Yaesu 450 or the ICOM 718. I'm glad I found this great radio at a great price. It meets all of my first HF rig needs/wants. My antenna is a Hustler 5BTV on the roof with radials. Just the #2 button has the bounce to it and the display is perfect. I am very happy.
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YY1MFF
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 1, 2007 09:34
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GREAT RADIO
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I have this radio as a replacement of my ts-140, I think that is his big brother whit many additional functions, summing up this radio has filled up the vacuum left by my old and very dear TS-520.
The TS-440, is an excellent transceiver, I fully recommend to my friends loving dx
73
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KD8EZU
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 19, 2007 11:48
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One of the classic Kenwood's , timeless and capable
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Have had this TRX for about three months. Paid $400 for it from a fellow ham. This unit is capable of many useful mods, especially the all frequency TX mod ( yes I said all FREQUENCY not just all BAND )If you were in an emergency situation, that mod alone could be a life-saver.....,. The mods are so incredibly easy to do it's crazy not to. Look them up on the Web.
As others have said it's a 1980's rig, but can EASILY hold or surpass modern rigs in performance.I either use a Shure 444 or a Turner +3 ( or Turner SSK ) for modulation. It is my opinion that it benefits from a somewhat "hot" mike. This radio is heavy and is not filled with air. It's chock full of circuits and transistors and has a very robust heatsink. Mine puts out about 110-120+ watt depending of Frequency.
PRO'S : Well built except for the epoxy VCO bug and plastic front fragility. Knobs are designed for a normai person, they are not tiny and are silky smooth.AM works but I would be careful to not exceed 30 watts out and make sure to watch your modulation ( don't overdrive unit ). The automatic tuner is s-o-o-o-o nice and works well with most antenna's . Heatsink is large and will slough off heat. I placed a small computer fan on top of the heatsink as I did not like the fact that the internal fan only comes on at 50 C( can be modded to come on at a lesser temp.). The computer fan comes on whenever the unit is "ON". Great recieve ( maybe a little too hot ) and good audio reports even with the hot mic's I use. The Processor seems to work well on mine for DX, but others have complained of it not being good. Go figure.
CONS: The dreaded Epoxy in the VCO that becomes Hygroscopic with age, absorbs water, and then shorts out the circuit board. This can result in just dots and no numerials being displayed. Fix is to send back to Kenwood ( $300 or less ) or repair it yourself ( remove ALL epoxy and clean board thoroughly ( both sides!)Some claim 20% of all early units had this problem. Not a problem with later units so they say, but who knows?
Button bounce on front panel ( you press one button and it activates all of the other buttons making it damn hard to quickly enter a frequency. Yeah I,ve seen that on mine, but if I enter the numbers with care and not too fast , it works fine for me.
SUMMARY: This is a really great rig. a nice rig to get started in ham radio. A nice rig to just have in the shack for everyday use or backup. Its a shame that the display dot , and button bounce tarnishes its otherwise legendary reputation. Do not buy one without the AT as that feature is very, very nice, and helps resale.I'd recommend an Astrom 20amp for a powersupply, avoid the switching P/S as they are tempermental and can add noise on some frequencies.Pay no more than $375.00 if non-AT. Pay $400.00 and up( to about $450.00 if it has AT. ASK ABOUT WHETHER EPOXY HAS EVERY BEEN REMOVED FROM VCO AND IF IT HAS BUTTON BOUNCE.If seller says he does not know he's either lying or is strictly a non-user seller. Pay accordingly
This unit is a keeper. Did I mention that it has some REALLY nice mods, that are easy to perform?
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