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Reviews For: Kenwood TM-D700A

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Base/Mobile (non hand-held)

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TM-D700A
Reviews: 95MSRP: 780 USD
Description:
Kenwood remote head data radio for VHF/UHF
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.kenwood.net/indexKenwood.cfm?do=ProductDetails&ProdID=5017&Group=5
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00954.3
N0AWN Rating: 2008-10-31
Good Radio - but fussy Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have two D700A's. On has been trouble free and works quite well. The other went deaf on the A (VHF) side. Transmits OK, just can't receive. Seems this is a recurrent problem as I've heard numerious reports of similiar troubles, including one other reported here.

Display is easy to read in bright sunlight and the controls are easy to work - good human engineering. Free programming software is intuitive and works well.

Aside from the one failure, and the fact I had to hack the "special features" menus in order to turn down the VHF xmit power so I could use my amp, the radio has performed well in the severe weather environment of MN.
MM30 Rating: 2008-05-26
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Kenwood TM-D700 is in a class of its own. So far there is nothing I dislike about the radio, free programming software and my homebrew serial cable work great and make it easy to program. If you have the means and want a little more out of a dual band radio this is for you. Would purchase another one. A solid 5.
LU1DAW Rating: 2008-03-10
GREAT SURPRISE!! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The purchase of second hand in excellent condition and very good price, I always had Yaesu, Kenwood but I was surprised!
It works as well or better than my FT-8900 also function remote control is excellent and cross-band repeater works like a dream.
The menu is very easy to use, are much more intuitive than the Yaesu, the screen gives a lot of information at once.
The APRS going very well and is very easy to use.
I use it in base with a Diamond X-510 in Barcelona City, at 40 meters high, I have a litlle of intermod, but, Is just the same as I had with the other rig.
I realy recomended this rig.
best 73´s
Rodrigo
LU1DAW/EB3BGM
KF4STX Rating: 2008-02-10
I Love Mine!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is my first mobile radio after returning to ham radio recently. It was a little intimidating at first but after a little time it is old hat. I am playing with APRS a lot and am having a lot of fun. All my reports are good. The problem with everyone not being able to scan all memory frequencies is they are pressing the wrong button! All you have to do is put the radio into memory recall mode and the press "MR" button on side of screen for 2 seconds and the entire memory will be scanned. If you press the tuning knob it will scan the group. It ain't the fastest scan but then again this in not a acanner. It is a very good radio with a scan feature! I do agree that if you lose the control head you can not get another one sucks!!
W0WSP Rating: 2008-01-20
Great dual band rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have two, one in each vehicle. The TM-D700 a good dual band radio and fairly easy to program. What I really like about the rig is the APRS. Plug in a GSP, set a few parameters, and you are done. No problems in over two years of use. The only think I don't like is if you mount the radio body in an out of the way place, you need cables for the speaker and microphone, in addition to the cable for the control head. Kenwood should take a lesson from other manufactures and allow the speaker and microphone to be plugged into the control head.
VE3OIJ Rating: 2007-10-15
Great mobile radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is my second kenwood. Previous one was a TM-732.

Pros:
- Big display, good spacing on the buttons and knobs.
- Cross-band repeat is top notch. I use this feature a lot when hiking in the hinterlands (tune 2m to a repeater I can hit, use 70 cm on my HT to hit my D-700) and the performance is excellent.
- Great feature set. This radio can do a lot.

Cons:
- I'm not sure I've found any. The microphone cable is a bit short compared to the face-plate cable I suppose, but a length of CAT5 can cover that off.

They have one of these on the ISS... I think that says something.
KA0NWV Rating: 2007-08-04
Works great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have 2 of these units, or more correctly, one and one-half. Dash unit got stolen leaving me with a base only for one of them. Kenwood will NOT sell the face part for it...you must buy the whole 700a or a dash unit for about $400. Not good service to a loyal customer in my book. Hope they do better with the 710. Also, wish the unit(s) had "Smart Track" feature of the TinyTrakIII. That is a GREAT feature!!! Otherwise, love the radio to general use and especially mobile APRS.
KI6FCI Rating: 2007-05-28
Can count on it Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've put well over 100,000 miles on this radio in less than a year. Most things I own show the wear in one way or another from the constant vibration & pounding in this Freightliner Columbia truck. With an excellent antenna (Comet CSB 7900) I can leave the D700 on low power and still reliably be found by my family using APRS. (increasing the power can wreak havoc with cheap cordless mice, a problem in fiberglass & aluminum bodied trucks, the antenna to mouse spacing is about 4 feet) I have never had anything but positive reports regarding the signal I'm putting out.

Looking at the price, this is not a cheap radio. In my opinion, you more than get what you pay for with the D700. I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

It would be nice to be able to select something other than orange for the backlight color.
KC9IMT Rating: 2007-04-19
Great for APRS Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I rounded down... If there was a 4.5, that would be my first choice.

Pros:

- APRS built-in. Enough said. I just added my Garmin GPS to the mix with a linking cable and saw myself on a map. A very solid built-in feature.

- The wide receive of the radio is amazing. I like the receive in the 1.2 GHz range - it is a unique feature of this radio.

- The layout of the radio is fairly simple to use. Most of the controls were intuitive.

Cons:

- I miss the 1000 memories from my FT-7800 rig. It was nice for all that extra "scanning" room.

- Probably what cost this rig the the additional point in my rating was the way memory scanning works. As far as I can tell, the only way to scan memories is doing the "group scan" which is 20 at a time. I enjoy scanning local law enforcement and rescue frequencies on the radio, so I have to pick only 20 of them. In big cities, like Chicago, there are a lot more than 20.

Overall, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. The "group memory scan" will be something I'll get used to... Or I'll buy a scanner for my car!
KA1MZY Rating: 2007-04-17
Best choice for APRS Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This radio is AMAZING. For APRS users, this is the radio you need and will want. Nothing compares, for a dual band mobile radio. The menus are easy to navigate, the construction is top notch and the quality is second to none.

If you enjoy APRS, and want a dual band radio, pay the extra money for this radio, and don't compromise. Works flawless in KISS mode with UiView32 if you want to use it as a base radio and do digipeating, and IGate function.

If you use as a mobile, it time-stamps received APRS information which is a great feature, plus it gives you a FULL SCREEN of information to read with quick access to the data while driving. With the optional voice kit, it will talk to you and let you know you have a MSG.