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| Reviews Summary for Kenwood TMV71A |
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Reviews: 30
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Average rating: 4.4/5
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MSRP: $399.00
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Description: The advanced Kenwood TM-V71A dual bander provides sophisticated, high-powered performance on 2 meters and 440 MHz. Power levels are 5/10/50 watts on both bands. The large radio display clearly conveys the status of the radio and can be set to green or amber.
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More info: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kenwood_TMV-71A
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VA3DRM
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Rating: 2/5
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Jan 30, 2010 18:04
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Not Sure
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I would just like to say to all manufactures of ham radio equipment that you are all missing a very important component in radios of today. It is simple and inexpensive and can be very small but very efficient. It is a high intensity multi colored led light that should show bright red for transmit and green for receive and even blue for the right sub tone like my latest radio a Yaesu. I was very interested in this Kenwood model TM V71A but not sure at this point. If you look at Kenwood commercial mobile radios they have incorporated them into the design why not Ham radio? I don’t know how many times someone has been on a repeater without knowing the mic is stuck in-between the cars seats and without looking right at the small lcd display would never know you where transmitting.
Lets Hope Kenwood Ham Radio Engineers are looking at this. There is no excuse.
Also one of the TM-V71A main selling points is that it has echo link capable radio, why have a serial port cable in this day and age and not USB cable supplied. I think it is a bit much to charge $ 65 for the PH-5 cable which is an outdated cable that is only worth $15 tops. Other radios that are much cheaper in price are equipped with a voltmeter which makes sense in ham radio working conditions. Also Bluetooth would be nice these days as well. If a person can buy a brand new radio for $30 with tri colour display, vox, transmit and receive led and a free software program that runs circles around Kenwood’s such as no end of options like programming the high and low power levels completely just to name a few and a USB cable shipped for $14. Wake up Kenwood you’re going backwards instead of forward!
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VA3AJV
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 29, 2010 16:53
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Nice Unit - Easy to use!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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This is a replacement dual bander for my Yaesu boat anchor! I love this new Kenwood! It has the high power (50W BOTH bands) that I wanted with clean audio. The radio is easy to use with the menu system and can be programmed by computer with the free software from Kenwood's website. This software will also allow you to upgrade the firmware if needed. I haven't used the Echolink capabilities as of yet so nothing to report there at this time. The TM-V71A is well built and seems very robust, the microphone is solid, (not like the flimsy piece of plastic on Yaesu's) and it allows you to make common changes right from the keypad. The crossband repeat is a nice feature for me also and is one that I wanted in a dual bander. It is easy to set up to operate in crossband mode and works well. The fan is also quiet which is a nice change from my Yaesu!
Overall, I really like this dual bander because it is well built, easy to use and truly performs, also the price is reasonable! I would recommend it to others.
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WZ0O
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Rating: 3/5
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Dec 8, 2009 04:42
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Jury still out
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have only had this radio a week but am not sure its for me.
Good Works well with EchoLink, nice audio, looks good, and easy to do split band work. 50 watts on UHF.
Bad The manual is junk, between the going back and forth trying to set up the radio and figure out what does what you need a drink. Weak receiver. Side by side with my 7800 on the same antenna the Kenwood is down over 10db. The fan runs all the time, and is loud. No remote kit with the radio but its an easy fix with parts from the junk box.
I will keep it as it does some things well but it could be a great radio with a few upgrades.
Brad
WZ0O
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ZL2UFI
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Rating: 4/5
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Nov 6, 2009 17:48
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Good, but not for me...
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Owned one for about nine months before selling it.
I updated the firmware to version 2.0, to get the mic setting menu on the radio menus rather than using the programming software option. It just didn't sound like me on air no matter how hard I tried to adjust it.
Didn't like the big microphone, and large PTT button having come from a Yaesu FT-7800R.
I used the remote mounting kit, but again found the head unit was too deep for the centre console on my car, and as such it protruded out too far making viewing in daylight difficult.
I liked the voice unit and dual receive, and some of the other options like the free programming software from Kenwood.
Over all a well made and supported radio, it just didn't gel with me at all, as noted above. Have returned to the Yaesu FT-7800R.
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N8EGA
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 24, 2009 04:02
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It can be programmed without vision
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I purchased the TM-V71A in mid April, and in terms of the radio I have nothing but good things to say. I am legally blind, and I'm unable to read the display on the radio. The speech module that comes as an option for this radio makes it quite easy to get the tranceiver working. I have also used the radio on cross band, and its auto station identification is great to keep things legal. I have also configured the radio on Echo Link, and it works well.
The only complaint that I have has nothing to do with the tranceiver, which is why I gave it a 5 out of 5 rating. The manual could stand for some improvement. For example, the A band and B band have independent WX memories, so you could have your local weather channel in the A band, and a more distant channel in the B band. The weather alerts also work this way in the menus. You can have it activate for either the A band, the B band, or both. Also, you need to have Echo Link turned off for the weather alert to work. The manual also isn't very clear on how to set up Echo Link. It took me about an hour to get it working, but once set up it has worked great.
Great job, Kenwood with this nice dual band tranceiver!
73
Kevin Minor, Lexington, KY
N8EGA
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WD0FIA
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 20, 2009 22:54
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Very Nice Unit! Competitive price!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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First new Kenwood product I have owned since buying TM-621 and TS-140 in 1988. I have been buying Yaesu and Icom since then, but the price and features of the Kenwood TM-V71A were too hard to pass up.
I got this radio about two months ago, the radio has performed very well. What I like about it is that the fan is dead quiet in the shack. The weather alert function does not disrupt receive on 2 meters. It also has better intermod rejection than my Yaesu FT-2800M.
I feel it has both very good receive and transmit audio, and great receive sensitivity. Because of this the Kenwood has become my primary base radio. I plan to buy another to replace the Icom 208H in my car.
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N3OQD
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 22, 2009 13:22
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First new Kenwood product
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I got this radio about two weeks ago. When I first had it, I had what I thought was an issue with the radio. It did not have automatic repeater offset on the 440 band and sometimes I was unable to transmit. Sending it off to AES Cleveland, it was determined that the radio was fine. It turns out that the lack of this auto offset is normal for this radio but I do not know why. Anyway, Mike at AES did the firmware upgrade while he had it and sent it back to me at no charge. Since then, the radio has performed very well. What I like about it is that the fan is dead quiet in the shack. The weather alert function does not disrupt receive on 2 meters every 10 seconds like my Icom V-8000. It also has better intermod rejection than my Yaesu FT-7800. Finally it has both very good receive and transmit fidelity. In this the Kenwood has become my primary base radio.
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N7TDC
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 8, 2009 21:07
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This rig rocks!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I purchased my first Kenwood TM-V71A last year (08) for use in my home QTH. I found it to be very easy to set up and operate; especially for a new ham like myself. I've been so impressed with its performance that I purchased a second one for use in my mobile QTH. And, I'll purchase a third one before months end, while $30 rebate is still in effect, to place in a go kit. No problems whatsoever. This rig rocks!
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KC6UQG
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 27, 2009 09:26
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Excellent performer & easy to use
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This radio does everything I need and it's easy to use and program. I have a TM-742a, TH-78 and TH-79 and this Kenwood seems to follow the common operation conventions so using the radio was almost 2nd nature and required only a short review of the o/m to get going. I usually print a few pages of the o/m to keep in the truck, but I haven't needed to do that with this radio.
This radio splits into twp parts for easy remote mounting. Kenwood sells a $60 remote kit which includes a 10' cable and a mounting bracket for the control head. I made my own for about $6. kenwood cleverly uses an 8p8c Ethernet connector at the radio and a 4p4c telephone handset connector at the control head. I used a good magnifying glass and a cable tester to make one long enough for my truck installation. I used a piece of sheet metal from an old PC chassis to bend up to hold the control head. The control head is held just above the rear view mirror. This spot makes it easy to see from the driving position, and keeps the control head out of the direct sun. If you can do it, you might try to extend the existing cable with a double female Ethernet connector and cable. I did not have a way to conceal the double female so I made my own cable.
I remoted the mic with an ethernet cable and a double female connector under the dash. I put the mic in the center console when I'm not using the radio. Make sure you use a "straight through" design in the couplers which are designed for ethernet cable. Telco couplers may invert certain pairs.
The radio is very easy to program with the free Kenwood software. You need to buy a cable, and Kenwood sells one for about $55, but it uses a 9 pin serial port connection. If you want to use the cable with a computer which only uses USB interfaces, you will need an adapter. I tried the $40 belkin adapter and it would NOT work....but the cheapest Prolific adapter I found at Willy's Electronics in San Diego worked perfectly. I can't imagine programming a radio by hand anymore, and the KW interface is easy to use. I've updated the programming several times and it is almost no effort. You can program the channel memories and menu features in this radio.
My first pc programming software experience was with Bob Freeth's software for the VX-3. The Kenwood software isn't as good as Bob's (Bob's isi exceptional in design and customer help), but the Kenwood program does work well.
I installed the VGS chip which speaks frequencies and channels to you. It's primarily designed for handicapped users, but I thought it would be helpful while driving. It's okay....but not as great as I thought it would be. The audio level does not vary with the radio audio level...it must be set separately in the menu. The vgs will also talk over the receive audio....it completely mutes it out.
I drive a pretty noisy contractor-style truck without much sound insulation. My only wish is thaht Kenwood would have given this thing another watt or two of AF power.
I usually use pl decode on the amateur repeaters, but there are some of out of ham band stuff to which I listen. I've had excellent intermod rejection on out of band reception.
A radio so good I'm about a half step from buying another one for my other commuter car.
If you're handy you will have very little trouble making the extension cable. You will need the proper crimpers and be sure you test both cables to make sure they are electrically identical.
Chris Boyer
kc6uqg
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WF0GM
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Rating: 5/5
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May 30, 2009 08:05
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Great radio for mobile op in non-daylight hours
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I drive 75 miles a day on my drive to work and back. I bought a small car in May 2008 when gas was $4.00/gallon. It was important to me to have a detachable control head becasue of the small space. I came close to buying the Yaesu FT-8800, but decided on the TM-V71A because the buttons are backlit. My commute time is during non-daylight hours most of the year. But the display is also very readable in bright sunlight.
The radio installed nicely under the seat, with the remote head on the center console.
I don't really care about the EchoLink features but I really love this rig. I like the extended receive coverage, and how I can program the mic keys and control so much from the mic. I drive from the country into the city, so the 50W high power (especially on UHF!) is really nice when I'm on the fringe. It has too many features to get into here, but enough to keep me interested. I have an old Kenwood TM-721 in my pickup truck which has been a very solid rig for 15 years. I hope the 71A lasts just as long.
I don't really like the RJ45 type mic connector on most new rigs, but my solution was to use a tie wrap to secure the mic cord to a tie wrap anchor. This provides strain relief for the connector.
If you are undecided about which mobile rig to buy, download the user manuals. That's what I did, and it gave me enough info on each one to help me decide that the TM-V71A was the rig for me!
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