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write your own review of the Kenwood ts-450.
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PD2JPD
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 5, 2011 08:33
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It's a keeper.!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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It's an older transceiver, but still very fine as well, good sensetive, great tx and rx audio reports and with the xtra filters, it's a keeper. I've you get buy one, just do it.
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KI4EKL
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Rating: 4/5
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Jul 23, 2011 13:15
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A super value
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I am at least the third owner a TS-450SAT, having purchased it in 2007 for $400. Although the rig is probably at least a decade and a half old, it has a modern appearance and works fine. This is a fine primary rig for a new comer or someone who is more experienced and just wants an HF rig where all the controls are right on the front panel.
For operating CW, I found the passband too wide for contest operating and added a YK88CN1 filter (270Hz, IF), which made a huge difference. Despite the narrowness of the filter, it does not ring and I tend to leave it on when in CW mode. In fact, when trying to pull out weak psk31 signals from neighboring strong signals, it's also handy.
The rig is stable enough for every digimode I've tried so far, including WSPR. There is a CAT port on the side of the radio, which allows computer control via an IC-232 or equivalent cable. This is not quite an RS-232 since on the radio end, TTL voltages are expected. I purchased an interface built by ZLP Electronics in the UK, and it works fine. I have successfully plugged that interface into either a computer serial port or a USB/serial adapter, both worked okay. Via the CAT cable, the rig can be controlled from HRD, MixW, N1MM, etc. (note: you can't key the rig for CW via the CAT or by triggering closing the PTT). The radio has an accessory port on the back and you can also take audio from there.
The rig has a built-in three inch or so speaker, which does quite well, but for a permanent installation, I'd suggest an external speaker or headphones.
The radio does not have modern DSP features (although an external DSP unit, the DSP-100 was marketed), but in terms of reception, you can do a lot with the RF gain and IF shift. The noise blanker does not seem very effective, and there is no other noise reduction, although the AIP seems to help in this regard at times.
The rig operates from 160m to 10m, and can be modified to permit operation on 60 meters. The internal antenna tuner will not tune 160m, but does a reasonable job on 80 through 10. The tuner can manage about 3:1 swr, beyond that, I'd suggest an external tuner. The tuner seems robust in the face of mismatches, and quickly folds back power.
Last year, my TS450 was damaged by a nearby lightning strike, which tripped some of the circuit breakers in the house, took out the TS450's ability to receive, cooked the voltage regulator chip in my astron power supply, and fried my laptop's power supply board and its LCD screen's power inverter. The pulse blew the glass surge protector just inside the antenna connector and damaged the low pass board, the front end of the RF board and the Audio PA on IF board. I felt that the radio was worth enough to me to ship off for professional repairs to LPC Wireless, KI4NR, who did a spectacular job, and shipped back a better radio than I had sent out. Everything is now repaired and back in business (and I don't have to worry about changing the backup battery for another decade or so!)
I had a chance to compare the TS-2000 versus this radio side by side into the same antennas, and I can't say there is much difference in apparent sensitivity between the two. The NR and variable bandwidth on the TS-2000 did make a difference under some circumstances. For CW operation, I actually preferred the TS450.
This radio does most of what a top end rig would do and is easy to operate. Nonetheless, technology has improved since the time this radio was manufactured, and I can't put it in the current top tier, so it gets a 4/5 in absolute terms. In terms of value, though, it's first rate. If you are trying to put together a station for under $1000, all you need is this rig, a power supply and some wire - and you'll still have funds left over for snacks.
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HR2TBD
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 23, 2010 07:36
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Great Rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought my TS-450SAT about 12 years ago new from AES, this radio is great
It has a great receiver (at least, enough for me)compared with my other radios
TS940SAT, TS570, TS930SAT. Antenna Tunner work very fast without any noise
At all I get good signal and audio reports with the 100 watt output with the Audio Technica
ATR-30 Mike. IMHO the TS450SAT outperform s the TS570D and it’s a working horse.
If someone looking for a rig have the oportunity to grab one get it . will not be disapointed
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W9GDH
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 15, 2010 15:26
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Used
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Found one last month listed used on the R&L web site. Jumped on it the next day. When I opened the shipping box I was stunned. This TS-450SAT looked like it was in storage from day one. Not a scrach or mark any place. Like new from Kenwood. Open up case to check for installed filters. Again new looking on the inside. Installed 1.8 KHz roofing filter. More sensitive, lower noise and better filtering than my Kenwood TS-2000. Another great one to add to the Kenwood shack.
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LW8DJI
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Rating: 3/5
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Oct 1, 2010 21:54
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receiver noisy
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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radio is nice, modern lines, tuner ultra fast, but very noisy receiver with the stock filter, mine typical problem with pll. the ts440 I like more, but slow tuner, the 440 best in all aspects, always to get a 440 in good condition buy this and also less money
in argentina ts440 at usd 600, ts450 at usd 900-1000
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K8SI
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 6, 2010 05:57
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Great Little Rig!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I bought my TS-450SAT about a year ago on E-Bay for $450 with shipping, and I can't be more pleased with it. I have installed both of the 500Hz filters, and it is a great little CW rig. I also get a lot of unsolicited transmit audio reports of how good this radio sounds. I use a GM-5 mostly in the "Wide" mode. All I can say is, for the money, it's a great little radio!
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KB9TMP
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Rating: 4/5
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Mar 17, 2010 13:30
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Won't Part With It
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I was one of the lucky ones having read about the memory battery problem. I replaced mine (just in time) with a "AA" battery holder from "Rat Shack" and it works perfect. I have even invested in the YK-88SN-1 narrow SSB filter which makes a large difference on receive. I've also added a BHI Noise Away inline to the speaker for the noise that the factory filters don't catch. My radio has the 60 meter mod and works FB there. It may be an older rig and lacking all the fancy bells and whistles that the new ones have but if you want solid & dependable with great receive and TX audio this is the one you want!
73 de KB9TMP
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F5FRM
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 27, 2009 10:42
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Simply a good one
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I bought my TS-450SAT 4 months ago for only 350 euros (460 US$ today). I just added a 1st IF 500hz CW filter and I have nothing more to do.
I just needed a cheap HF TRX to come back on the HF radioamateur bands after some years away from them, and this TS-450SAT does more than I use. It does whatever I need for my ordinary CW use (but I am not a "real" contester). The internal tuner works very well, even with some strange antennas, but unfortunately it does not match the 160mtrs band.
It has a good receiver (at least, enough for me), an efficient notch filter and it is easy to use (all is avaible on the front panel). It even makes me forget to buy a DSP TRX or an external DSP filter. However, I noticed a low-pitched internal speaker and a uncomfortable AM reception.
A internal keyer would have been appreciated, but... for the prize, the TS-450SAT appears to be better than I thought.
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K2NCC
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 15, 2009 06:59
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Fantastic mid-grade for under $400
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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There's really nothing I can say that hasn't been said 50 times before, so I'll just plug in my rating. Thanks to everyone here it was easier to jump into this little gem with confidence.
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SIERRAHOTEL
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 24, 2008 16:27
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Probably my favorite HF rig ever!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I had my Ts-450SAT for almost 10 years, and sold it to buy a new PC. I then bought a TS-570, and it was ok, I liked the 450 a lot better.
Unlike most people here, my 450's receiver was very quiet, and I could hear weak stations on it many times that my other receivers couldn't because of the noise they had. Like someone else said in a previous post, it was almost like SSB transmissions just popped in, it was kind of spooky.
The RX audio, even with the internal speaker, was very good, and spectactular on a good external speaker. One of my friend's voices sounded like they were in the room on the 450 with the little 6X12" surround sound speaker I used for it. The AGC is too slow all around, but is ok, it should have had an "Off" option available too, but I really had no complaints about the performance of my 450 in any way.
Nit picks are all I have to complain about with this one, no finger indent in the runing knob, the plugs for the DIN inputs/outputs in the back are a hassle to work with, and I didn't particularly like the layout of the front panel. I added a battery socket so changing the battery a second time was easy and quick, no unsoldering anything.
All around, this was Kenwood's HF high point, INHO, at least in the midrange price level.
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