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| Reviews Summary for Kenwood TMV71A |
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Reviews: 27
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Average rating: 4.6/5
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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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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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KE7OSV
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 31, 2009 14:26
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Excellent radio
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I love this radio. I also have a Yaesu FT8800r, and I rate the Kenwood just a little higher. They're both great radios, but, the kenwood TMV71 a has backlit buttons, 50 watts on UHF and VHF (the Yaesu ft8800r only has 35 watts) and, at he Kenwood web site you can get FREE programming software! I had to buy the software for the Yaesu. One more thing..If you need to do the mars/caps mod, it's very easy to do on the Kenwood. Very difficult to do on the Yaesu.
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N2QQF
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 22, 2008 08:48
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Great Radio
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I have owned the radio for about three months now and I will say it is without question one of the best mobiles that I have owned to date. The radio is not commercial grade but certainly a good radio. I think the radio is very neatly laid out and the menu structure is also very intuitive. I thought that Kenwood did a very nice job with this radio and the flurry of other features they included.
I think the addressing of the CW ID for cross-band repeat was a good idea and certainly nice to have as mentioned previously in quite a few other of the reviews so I wont go into to much detail about it because it already has been addressed.
I have owned the Yaesu FT-7800R and the Icom IC-706MKII G and this radio certainly performs much better. The receiver is quite in the sense that it isn't hindered by a lot of spurious emissions and intermod like the other two radios I owned previously.
The radio has a lot of great features such as being field upgradable by the use of a DB-9 connection. The radio also has multiple display colors as well as being able to monitor outside the ham bands with wide band receive capability. The free software by Kenwood makes the programming a cinch and it pretty well laid out and easy to understand. I thought a USB type connection would be nice but most people today have DB-9 to USB converters.
If I were to have one complaint about the radio it would have to be the mic connection on the radio. The location of the microphone connection is located on the radio as opposed to the remote face which could be convenient for others but not for me. This caused the need for me to extend some Cat5 cable to the radio to extend the microphone connection in addition to the remote mount kit. I felt this should be included in the remote face option as it wasn't cheap and was such an inexpensive addition. Anyhow, overall the radio is great both functionally and cosmetically speaking but again a small option that would have been nice to include in the optional remote kit was the microphone extension.
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K7NG
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 21, 2008 18:30
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Does the job!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I put a TM-V71a in my work truck, as I may find myself traveling the length and breadth of the country...
The crossmod resistance is excellent, about as good as the comercial VHF radio also in the truck. I can use 500 memories in VHF and 500 for UHF, allowing me to rewrite a bank or two for long trips but leave the local memories alone...
I don't have a lot of use for the Echolink capabilities, but I guess they're good to have.
The manual doesn't really give you everything you need to figure out how to set it up like you might want, but with the free software and a couple of Emails to Kenwood I have it all configured.
It's still worth a '5' and honestly seems to be a contender to replace my TM-741 in my personal vehicle, tho I don't really plan on replacing the '741 just yet.
Good job, Kenwood.
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