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write your own review of the Kenwood TS-870S.
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KQ7W
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 21, 2004 17:53
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:: Reunited with the 870 ::
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Had this radio for 4 years when I was active as LU9AY, awesome rig.
After a couple years hiatus on the bands I got a newer 98' serial no. unit.. signal handling has been improved, I plan on doing the INRAD IF mods in the future, it doesnt have 2 independent receivers or dualwatch, but get two 870s and you have a perfect SO2R station in my opinion. excellent dynamic range.
73 - Matt - KQ7W
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W3ULS
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 10, 2004 15:25
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Needs Due Diligence
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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The TS-870 is an excellent transceiver--one of the best. However, getting the most out of it requires diligence on the part of the operator. It depends very heavily on IF-level DSP for its selectivity and noise reduction and as a result some of the adjustments needed are counter-intuitive. This is particularly true of the RF Gain control.
Here's an example. In tuning in very weak CW signals, with the filter width setting at 400 Hz, I've found that it is best to use the "SPAC" filter, set at either 10 or 17 (menu # 15). However, with the RF Gain fully clockwise, there is a pronounced watery sound caused by the "SPAC" that is annoying and actually covers over some of the signal. The solution I have found is to back off substantially on the RF Gain (counterclockwise) to about twelve o'clock or even further. There is a critical point in this RF Gain reduction where the watery sound virtually disappears and the weak signal is significantly amplified.
Operated this way, the TS-870 is as good as, or better than, my Ten-Tec OMNI VI, which is well known for its weak signal reception capabilities. Interfering signals can be dealt with rather well using the "Shift" adjustment.
Kenwood made a siginificant modification in the receiver ciruitry and I suspect the excellent performance I have experienced is due in no small measure to this mod. Rigs with serial numbers of 807XXXXX and later have had this mod installed at the factory. My particular rig is one of those.
As others have mentioned, build quality is high. Appearance and ergonomics are excellent. Also, the TS-870 has a LogiKey K-1 memory keyer built in. Very convenient. One caveat is that working split is a bit tricky and you have to be careful that you are transmitting on the frequency you want to be on.
The TS-870 is no longer in production. IMHO it never gained the reputation it deserved during its production run as a top-grade ham transceiver, probably due to the need to learn how to take advantage of its pioneering (at the time) DSP circuitry.
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G8LIK
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 9, 2004 16:36
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Superb kit!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I only got the rig today but have put it through its paces for many hours! Never got such brilliant transmitted audio reports before.The internal ATU is not just a novelty but a gem and matches my Carolina Windom just as well as using an external MFJ tuner.DSP is a bonus, nice to have so many software filters available at no aditional cost.Getting into Indonesia and Togo on 21mhz as firsts complimented my initial thoughts. Its real quality engineering that should go on for many years...like my 20 year old Kenwood TS530SP and 11 year old Kenwood TS690S.I like the size, the weight of the transceiver. For me weight = good quality engineering without penny pinching on essentials like adequate heatsinking of the finals and solid chassis work. Only regret so far is the lack of 50MHZ.
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M0NIQ
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 12, 2004 11:30
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One of THE BEST
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Now after more than 12 months of owning the rig I can really write a decent review.
It's one of the best sounding rig I've ever operated (and I operated quite a few) on both RX and TX. It can transform audio from a cheapy PC headset into a very decent signal. Hook up your TS-870 to a large stereo speaker (mine is about 90W capable - a bit overkill to be honest) to appreciate the received audio. All internal options you may need is the DRU-3A voice recorder/player (it has the memory CW keyer built already in as default) and a high stability unit (which I found not essential).
I operate my TS-870 with Yaesu MD-100a8x mic and according to many, that's a very good marriage.
No need for special PC control cable - a straight DB9-DB9 will do fine business.
Great for phone modes and maybe even better for CW.
The only downsides (to me) are:
- very lightweight RIT/XIT knob
- inablility to combine different DSP modes (one at a time is the only option)
- short display (it would be better if there were separate spaces to display slope tuning/VBT/shift
figures and VFO B freq.
- no direct band push buttons (only band up/band down) - like in TS-940
- no 50MHz (6m) band
Overall it a real gem. That's why you don't see that many of them on the 2nd hand market (just like old IC-765 or 775DSP). It's definitely a keeper and in few years it's going to be a classic (along with Elecraft K2) just like FT-1000D now is. If 6m/2m/70cm is not your thing it's much better choice than TS-2000. And it looks much better too...
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W6BWS
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 10, 2004 13:57
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Fine Business Rig!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Just bought a brand new one (Yes, they are still are still in production). I've been using a TS-850 for several years and decided it was time to treat myself to a new radio. I looked around at what's available on the market these days and kept coming back to Kenwood. The TS-2000 looks interesting but I just can't get past the weird look of it. So I decided on a TS-870S. I like everything about this radio. Excellent receiver, great transmit audio. I love the DSP and the flexability that it gives you. I guess the reason that the TS-870S wasn't more popular, was because of some design deficiencies in early models and the price (I believe they were over $3000 when they first came out). Well, as far as I can tell they've made updates to the design and updated the DSP and the price has come down (I paid $1859) so as far as I'm concerned this is one of the best kept secrets around right now.
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SP1EK
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 12, 2003 12:07
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What a great RADIO!!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is my second Kenwood rig.I used to TS 450s and two Icom`s IC 756 and IC 706MKIIG.In TS 870s I miss only 50MHz band and spectrum scope which helped me during the contest to find clear frequency or another station and during making DX find split frequency.
Now I have all filters so more money in the pocket (HI HI).The RX and TX audio is really great.I have never heard better audio.I started in CQ WW CW 2003 Contest.This rig so easy work with PC especially when I use it in contest with N1MM Contest Logger.You need only connect a plug and make settings in logger.So radio read frequency ( wiew band scope )etc.I really love this rig.I hope when I make some mods for this rig ( www.mods.dk ) this radio will really good DX and Contest machine.
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G0WSP
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 6, 2003 20:52
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Full Circle
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Remember the saying don`t knock it till you`ve tried it ? . - Well, after parting with my first TS870 I have gone through a number of top notch rigs which I have been able to evaluate carefully on the same antenna.
I`ve now gone full circle, after missing the quality RX and TX audio of the TS870 - I couldn`t get back quick enough !! - if this TXR had dual recieve it really would be quite excepional !!
Hhmmm -what should I try next ?
Phil g0wsp
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MM1DPC
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 6, 2003 16:56
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The class winner
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Having owned a Icom 756pro from new,I bought a used TS-870S,and run them using the same antennas etc.Mutch to my surprise the audio on rx and tx on the TS870S was better.Mic on the Icom SM20, on the Kenwood MC-60 and a Heil Goldline on both with the recomended DSP settings.The TS870S always had the edge, and that was switching between the Icom and the Kenwood during the same QSO.I sold them both and bought a Kenwood TS2000,and some other new equipment.The TS2000 is good,but the TS870S is a better rig,and with this in mind, I sold the TS2000, and now have a new TS870S.At last I have in my opinion a rig that is realy good,I have owned a few others mostly Icom,and one Yaesu.They cant match the TS870S on both tx and rx.
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2E0DNP
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 7, 2003 14:54
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kenwood ts870
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Excellent radio......easy to operate ....dsp is Very good.... would not change mine for any Other.....
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KB0GU
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 6, 2003 23:49
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Best I've Owned
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Owned mine for 6+ years, a great radio, best I have owned to date. Made the difference for me to hear DX in the suburban noise environment. Have used it for SSB and always great audio reports, some use on CW super sharp receiver, now PSK and it never complains and IMD reports are always good. A remarkable mix of digital and analog, extremely sensitive. Being an older unit this one suffers from the blight of crowded bands as some owners mention with the front end overload problem but reducing the receive gain helps a great deal. I would buy another one. This unit has been almost all of its time at my qth 24/7 and never gives a problem. The optical encoder unit for the vfo is a little problem sometimes and I have seen this on other posts about the radio as well. I have developed a work around using the up and down on the Kenwood microphone. I considered the temperature controlled option but even on psk the rig is on frequency all the time.
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