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Reviews For: Kenwood TS-2000

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TS-2000
Reviews: 460MSRP: 2300
Description:
Kenwood HF radio
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.kenwood.net/indexKenwood.cfm?do=ProductDetails&ProdID=5016&Group=5
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
144604.4
HR2510 Rating: 2011-01-22
Easily the NOISIEST hf receiver of any rig I've owned. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
While this is certainly the most versatile of the mid-range priced rigs, it also has one of the worst HF receivers I've ever come across.

Take the rig without an antenna and listen to the loud level of HF receiver hiss. It's incredibly high. When the antenna is attached you have normal atmospheric noise PLUS the internal noise. The only way I've been able to use this radio without fatigue is with an AMCOMM DSP speaker. This knocks the hiss down to a manageable level. The internal audio DSP helps some, but not much. Riding the RF gain control or keeping it turned WAY down does help quite a bit. Once AGC action begins the hiss becomes annoying.

It's too bad because it's very obvious that Kenwood put lots of thought into the rig's design. It has many options for a very good price.


M0ZIF Rating: 2011-01-18
Buy the X Time Owned: more than 12 months.
OK I do accept its not a K3, but looking what the TS2000 does well seeming its been in production for over ten years I use mine at both my qth as my main rig, and when mobile or on DXPedition. I've had some amazing contacts on it on all bands. Now I accept many people have said its a tad deaf on vhf/uhf but there is a mod for this that solves the issue of having to have the preamp permanently in play. I have a review in depth of the rig at my site, and wouldn't swap it for a K3 and change quite honestly. I bought mine 2nd hand, with all the mods on, the only thing that I intend to add is INRAD filtering. With a heil headset and a decent antenna you can't go wrong buck for buck thats for sure. Used with HRD what more can you want??
KM4D Rating: 2010-11-17
Nice bang for the buck Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned several of the TS-2000's over the past few years and always have enjoyed the pleasant quality audio on receive. On transmit it does a good job using a MC-60. One thing I can tell you is, there is a difference in radio's. The lastest unit is the best I have found so far. On 6 meters it is a excellent radio with low noise and excellent selectivity. The noise blanker really works on all bands and the noise reduction features gives you that sometimes needed help in digging out the week ones. Recently, I purchased and installed the Inrad filter. This mod has made a real big difference. I would highly recommend doing the filter mod. The noise floor is better and the selectivity is much improved on both SSB and CW. Comparing it to higher end radio's - Omni 7, Orion I and II on HF it is not bad. It does take a little time to get used to the menu's and front panel controls but after a bit of use it it becomes second nature as compared to others. On VHF it is a real valueable weapon on 2 meters and 432. All around nice radio for the dollars spent.
KC6YFR Rating: 2010-11-15
FOLLOW THE MONEY Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Over four hundred reviews averaging 4.5 for close to a decade! Kenwood must be doing something right. My Elmer has two. I saw his and began looking at it and other rigs as well. I bought mine after reading the reviews here. I paid the new lower price. It does everything I want and I'll probably never use all the features. Popularity isn't the only mark of success but it's a result of reputation, features, performance, and price.
IW2CMP Rating: 2010-11-15
TS2000 very nice radio! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
FT847 have big level of phase noise ;-(

http://www.g1ogy.com/G4ZTR/ts-2000.html

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Earlier 5-star review posted by IW2CMP on 2010-05-11

To transceiver is not noisy, it is necessary to take on normal antenna. My rig even on a piece of wire took a lot of stations at 28 MHz, whereas the neighbor on the vertical Hustler and 746pro not take anything.

73!
PE1CZG Rating: 2010-11-10
Vey high internal noise Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I made the failure to exchange my FT 847 for a TS 2000. I sold the TS 2000 again after 4 months of use. The high level of internal generated noise made this radio not really usable for very weak signal on 6 meters. This is the band which has my main interest.
I an A/B/C comparison between an ICOM 756 Pro3 / Yeasu FT-2000 and the TS 2000, the LX and ON beacon could not be heard on the TS 2000 and clearly audible on the Pro3 and FT-2000.

For a radio which covers all bands, it's OK and then high noise level on the HF bands is probably not an issue but if one is interested in working weak DX, this is not the right choice in my opinion. I can not judge the performance on 144 and 432 Mhz other then that the noise level was high there as well.



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Earlier 3-star review posted by PE1CZG on 2010-05-08

I had the TS2000 for about 9 months and I have the same experience as other reviewers: very high noise level. I'm mainly chasing DX on 6 meter and I did several A/B comparisons. Usually I can hear the beacon from LX almost every day. Not with the TS2000. When the beacon could be heard on a 756 pro iii or FT2000, it was not possible to hear it on the TS2000 due to high noise level. Apart from that it's a good overall radio and does everything on all bands with average performance.
In my opinion not suitable for weak signal reception which is very important on 6 meters.

73's Ger PE1CZG

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Earlier 3-star review posted by PE1CZG on 2009-03-25

I owned the TS2000 for more then a year. The overall performance is not bad but as most reviewers already mentioned, it's not great in every aspect. When I could compare the TS2000 with some higher end rigs (ICOM 756 proiii and FT2000) it became very clear that the noise floor for example on the TS2000 is high: listening to a very weak beacon on 6 meter, the beacon could not be heard on the TS2000 where both FT2K and Icom could hear it OK. Same antenna used in a A/B/C comparison setup. Also the strong signal handling on HF was not too impressive. The TS2000 is a rig which is doing all bands pretty decent but don't expect to dig out the real weak signals on 6 meter or heavy contesting on HF. Therefore my "3" rating: it's between OK and good. So 3 1/2 would be more appropriate.
G4RNI Rating: 2010-11-09
Knocks spots off 847's Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've only owned my 2000 for about a month and to be fair, I haven't had a lot of time to operate it. Previous rigs have been IC-746, 7400, 775DSP, 751A, FT-847, 897, 857, 2000 etc etc.
I wouldn't expect a do-all at a given price rig to perform as well as a dedicated band(s), same cost rig does. What I can compare it with is the FT-847. I've owned several 847's and have written mods for the same on ".dk". I reckon the TS-2000 is in roughly the same vein as the 847. Many newly licenced amateurs plumb for the 847 as it will do a helluva lot in one box. It performs better than reasonably well but has some shortcomings addressed by the TS-2000.
The 2000 has 100 Watts at 2m. The 2000 has a built-in ATU. The 2000 has dual receivers. The 2000 tunes in recognised steps using the main dial (eg 25kHz on 2FM as used in Europe). The FT-847 does none of the above. Add to that the 2000 has a more ergonomically designed front panel and I feel the TS-2000 leaves the FT-847 in a cloud of dust.
As I said, early days for me and I've not been a (Trio) Kenwood fan in my 30 years as a ham but I bought this pending a house move to do-it-all in the restricted space avilable to me as a makeshift shack in my YL's house until I'm in my own place again. To say I'm pleasnatly surprised is a massive understatement.
Don't dump your 847 but if you get the opportunity, make the change to a TS-2000!
KG0MN Rating: 2010-10-07
Not perfect but close Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have read everyone of the reviews and I have noticed one thing people seem to be complaining about and that is the noise of the main receiver. I have found that if you back the gain down a bit like we used to do with the old tube type rigs you will be amazed at the signals that can be made to sound great. Using this small trick you can used the both the noise reduction and noise blanker without the radio sounding muted or badly tuned. I have used the rig on HF, 2 meters, 440 and satellite and it still continues to amaze me. If I have one complaint it is that the radio has to many features and compared to the IC-746 Pro I had previously there is no comparison.
K7TXO Rating: 2010-06-12
Amazing swiss army knife Time Owned: N.A.
Others have called it a Swiss Army knife of radios and they are spot on. It may not be the best in all areas that we typically care about but what radio really, really is?

I did have to send my radio in for warranty repair. Purchased new in 2008, my radio developed the symptom that some of th e2008+ units had which was a breakdown of the ceramic crystals in the receiver that necessitates a replacement. Other than this malady, the radio has been spot on for me both in HF and VHF/UHF frequencies. And the Band Sweep Scope is great! I find it particularly useful on 6 and 10 meters.

As someone else aptly put it, I too love the audio, the versatility, reliable, effectiveness and ease of operation. Filtering is Ok but this is where the radio stumbles a bit, but you have to remember this radio is pretty much a 12 year old design.

I use my TS-2000X mostly with a BUCKMASTER off center dipole, a HEIL Classic 4 mike and a BENCHER iambic key.
HB9PJT Rating: 2010-05-09
Perfect for 6m DX Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is the review for my second TS-2000. The TS-2000 is one of the best rigs for 6 m DX. The sensitivity is expectional and better than the FT-2000 or IC-756Pro3. According to the ARRL/QST reviews the TS-2000 has an MDS of -142 dBm, The FT-2000 only -137 dBm and the IC-756Pro3 has the same as the TS-2000 with -142 dBm. The TS-2000 clearly is one of the best for 6 m DX. When somebody complains the noise level, then his TS-2000 is defective or there is more emotions than facts. I made a lot of 6 m QSO's arround the world and the performance is very good. In our club we do contests at shortwave, VHF, UHF and SHF and the TS-2000 does a terrific job!

73, Peter - HB9PJT