Pages: 1 [2]   Go Down

Author Topic: Need new HT's -- Kenwood discontinued? Help me choose  (Read 733 times)

WA3SKN

  • Member
  • Posts: 8126
Re: Need new HT's -- Kenwood discontinued? Help me choose
« Reply #15 on: February 28, 2023, 03:47:23 PM »

Since the Kenwood's are still functioning and meet your requirements, I would look into having the battery packs re-built.  There are companies that will "crack the case" and replace the cells... and at a reasonable price.

-Mike.

Logged

K5LXP

  • Member
  • Posts: 6823
    • homeURL
Re: Need new HT's -- Kenwood discontinued? Help me choose
« Reply #16 on: March 04, 2023, 08:43:00 AM »

How's the plastic holding up?  ;)

My MX360 is from 1985, my daily drive 2M Saber is 1989.  A 1980's HT600 and some "newer" 1990's MT1000's on the shelf as well.  Boxes of spare parts, I could keep these going a long time.  Only issue is programming.  I haven't seen an R1800 programmer for my MX in probably 25 years.  The DOS PC I use for RSS is getting flaky.  I might have to move up to radios that are less than 25 years old.

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM
Logged

K4JJL

  • Member
  • Posts: 1194
Re: Need new HT's -- Kenwood discontinued? Help me choose
« Reply #17 on: March 06, 2023, 06:34:25 AM »

Only issue is programming.  I haven't seen an R1800 programmer for my MX in probably 25 years.  The DOS PC I use for RSS is getting flaky.  I might have to move up to radios that are less than 25 years old.

The knobs rotted off my Sabers and MTS2000s years ago.  Now I'm losing PTT buttons and knobs on my XTS5000s.

I still have a working R1800.  I only have the MSF program and adapter for it, though.  Let me know if you need a 2732A burned  ;)

A couple years ago, the HDD died in my Compaq Portable 386.  I put in a CF to IDE adapter and slapped in a 512MB CF card.  Boots instantly now.  While I was at it, I changed the battery and added a sidecar to put in an ISA network card.  Now I don't have to worry about the floppy dying.  I could always pull the CF to add data, too, but that requires taking the case apart. 

I just programmed a couple of Syntor X9000s last year.  Everything still worked perfectly.  Gotta stay ahead of the curve and keep your stuff maintained.  There's always a way.

Logged

K5LXP

  • Member
  • Posts: 6823
    • homeURL
Re: Need new HT's -- Kenwood discontinued? Help me choose
« Reply #18 on: March 08, 2023, 09:37:58 AM »

I'm impressed, most folks have walked away from this stuff by now.  It's rare enough to meet someone that knows what an R1800 is, much less has one.   Half the channels in my MX have become useless over time, but there's some simplex in there I'll use, just to show the thing works.  It's my "hamfest radio", to show the youngsters what a manly radio looks like   :D .  The battery pack on that thing is bigger than most radios today.

My RSS PC is a toshiba 286 with two 720K floppy drives.  Boots DOS 3.3.  I know there's updated RSS for some of my stuff that will run on a 486 but there's some that won't, like my MCX1000's.  Practically speaking there's nothing my circle M radios do that can't be replaced with a modern japanese radio but it's still kinda cool to run this vintage stuff. 

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM
Logged

K4JJL

  • Member
  • Posts: 1194
Re: Need new HT's -- Kenwood discontinued? Help me choose
« Reply #19 on: March 08, 2023, 02:28:03 PM »

I also have one of those Epson programmers.  I never did get it to work.  The only working cassette tape I have is for Mostars, but I don't even have one of those.
 I think I may have the tape for a Syntor X9000, but my old Compaq will do those.  I tried powering it up last year, but the internal battery is kaput, and it wouldn't even turn on. 
Logged

NEVBEN

  • Member
  • Posts: 198
Re: Need new HT's -- Kenwood discontinued? Help me choose
« Reply #20 on: March 08, 2023, 04:29:25 PM »

I have no problems with the Kenwoods' batteries.  I only mentioned that after 12 years they are still going strong.  My problem is that I need more radios than I have.

I used APRS extensively years ago.  It's a compelling feature for sure, especially in light of the fact that a great deal of the frequency of phone communication is advising of location.  I have a couple of issues with it.  Foremost, I prefer not to be tracked and to have my track publicly available.  Second, it can preclude vital status information.  Without APRS, it's incumbent upon parties to initiate phone communication and report their location and status and that simultaneously creates an opportunity to send intelligence they may not have been able to receive at other times when out of range.  In essence, the lack of APRS reinforces the need for good communication.  Having the feature doesn't prohibit good communication, but it does at least double the cost of every HT with it.  It also ties up a transmitter on mobile units.

I'm not aware of anyone using wiresx.  I have no use for it.  It's mostly notorious for needing to be turned off so it doesn't obliterate the beginning of every tx with a DTMF tone.
Logged

K6CPO

  • Member
  • Posts: 839
Re: Need new HT's -- Kenwood discontinued? Help me choose
« Reply #21 on: March 09, 2023, 11:41:57 AM »

I have no problems with the Kenwoods' batteries.  I only mentioned that after 12 years they are still going strong.  My problem is that I need more radios than I have.

I used APRS extensively years ago.  It's a compelling feature for sure, especially in light of the fact that a great deal of the frequency of phone communication is advising of location.  I have a couple of issues with it.  Foremost, I prefer not to be tracked and to have my track publicly available.  Second, it can preclude vital status information.  Without APRS, it's incumbent upon parties to initiate phone communication and report their location and status and that simultaneously creates an opportunity to send intelligence they may not have been able to receive at other times when out of range.  In essence, the lack of APRS reinforces the need for good communication.  Having the feature doesn't prohibit good communication, but it does at least double the cost of every HT with it.  It also ties up a transmitter on mobile units.

I'm not aware of anyone using wiresx.  I have no use for it.  It's mostly notorious for needing to be turned off so it doesn't obliterate the beginning of every tx with a DTMF tone.

That's not WIRES-X. That was Yaesu's old, not very successful internet linking protocol, which is no longer around. It's unfortunate they used the same name for their digital linking system. The reason the old radios did what you describe was because made turning the function on and off way too easy. It was one button on the radio that was too easy to push accidentally.

WIRES-X is an entirely different animal that requires a System FusionĀ® radio and special procedures to access.
Logged

NEVBEN

  • Member
  • Posts: 198
Re: Need new HT's -- Kenwood discontinued? Help me choose
« Reply #22 on: March 09, 2023, 01:35:00 PM »

So what is that?  Digital modulation?  I would be willing to use a digital mode instead of FM, but I would have to upgrade my mobile units also including the one I use as a base station.  I wonder how much advantage there would be gained.  I do challenge 2m propagation with over-the-horizon situations.  It works, but can be sketchy.  I'm skeptical that FSK is going to improve that because it's a propagation issue and not a noise or SNR issue.
Logged

K6CPO

  • Member
  • Posts: 839
Re: Need new HT's -- Kenwood discontinued? Help me choose
« Reply #23 on: March 10, 2023, 09:09:07 AM »

So what is that?  Digital modulation?  I would be willing to use a digital mode instead of FM, but I would have to upgrade my mobile units also including the one I use as a base station.  I wonder how much advantage there would be gained.  I do challenge 2m propagation with over-the-horizon situations.  It works, but can be sketchy.  I'm skeptical that FSK is going to improve that because it's a propagation issue and not a noise or SNR issue.

System fusionĀ® is Yaesu's digital protocol that is their answer to D-Star. Despite the popularity of DMR (mostly due to relatively cheap radios from China), Fusion is much easier to use as the radios can switch back and forth from analog to digital by just pressing one button on the radio and can use the same frequencies rather than having frequencies programmed as either digital or analog. WIRES-X is their version of sending the Fusion digital signal out over the internet, much as D-Star and DMR can do along with analog linking like AllStar.

I have several Fusion radios but have never gotten into WIRES-X so I can't talk much about it.
Logged

K5LXP

  • Member
  • Posts: 6823
    • homeURL
Re: Need new HT's -- Kenwood discontinued? Help me choose
« Reply #24 on: March 13, 2023, 10:51:43 AM »

"Digital modes" encompasses a way of using radio vs just the modulation scheme.  All the various types offer routing and control over IP, with each vendor offering their own flavor.  If this kind of operating doesn't mesh with your intended use, then it offers no real benefit.

I decidedly favor FM over digital for simplex use even within a closed system.  Besides the incompatibility between vendors, the "digital cliff" where signals become unintelligible is accentuated with the weak signals often encountered in simplex operation.  A weak FM signal can often be copied through the noise and flutter, the digital radio will be silent.  A potential benefit of having a set of digital radios offers some degree of privacy from eavesdropping  (mode obscurity) but that's a pretty specialized circumstance in ham practice.

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM
Logged

NEVBEN

  • Member
  • Posts: 198
Re: Need new HT's -- Kenwood discontinued? Help me choose
« Reply #25 on: March 21, 2023, 05:18:13 PM »

I acquired a VX-6R.  I was impressed with the design.  Although the VX-6R was available 12 years ago when I bought my TH-K20A's in quantity, I passed on it because I didn't need tri-band, or even dual-band, and I could get two of the Kenwoods for the price of one VX-6R.  I still have some of the Kenwoods and I'm still pleased with them -- nothing has ever disappointed me about them other than their being discontinued so that I cannot acquire several more without scrounging the used ads and waiting.

The VX-6R is a lot more radio, but it comes at a cost.  Each HT is $250, Yaesu spare batteries are $80, charging cradles are not included but cost $40 extra, I have to buy a new programming cable, and the programming software isn't provided by Yaesu the way Kenwood provides software at no cost.  None of these are problems that can't be solved by spending more money.

The reason I thought the VX-6R was worth paying more for was not the additional bands (although I think the wideband RX is cool, I have no use for anything shorter than 2m), but the rugged die-cast case, the IPX67 waterproof rating, and the compact form-factor that fits into a pouch with the antenna and speaker/mic cable coming out in the same direction.  I appreciate this last feature for backpacking and bicycle touring.

I just received the VX-6R today.  I do not yet have any accessories.  I programmed a few memory channels using the keypad.  I'm going to be using this HT for about a month and if it works out, I'll spend the additional $200 on an extra battery, charging cradle, speaker/mic, programming cable and software.  Then I will hope to buy two more VX-6's with batteries, cradles, and speaker/mics.  Once I have several of these, combined with my remaining Kenwoods, I'll hope they all work out for at least the next 12 years.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2023, 05:22:24 PM by NEVBEN »
Logged
Pages: 1 [2]   Go Up