| KQ4KK |
Rating:  |
2008-10-13 | |
| Retired by Kenwood |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've owned one since they first came out. Great system for doing APRS on the fly. OK HT.
On the Kenwood site, it now lists the D7 as "retired".
Some folks say they quit making them due to the European Solder rules. I heard in the Kenwood booth, from a Kenwood guy that a critical component is no longer made.
I'll keep running mine till it dies.. the RIP. |
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| KF4FRK |
Rating: |
2008-10-12 | |
| Great for local APRS work |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
My D7 has been used for APRS in my mobile basically whenever the Jeep is moving. I've got 148,000 miles on the Jeep now, so the D7 has withstood the test of time. 5 watts is plenty around town but there are times out on the interstate that more power would be useful. Mine is set up to use APRS on one side and 2m voice on the other, and I often have QSO's while I am sending out posits every 1 minute while moving. I've never had any overheating issue or durability issue with this little guy, and it isn't always mounted with the greatest of TLC!
Some minor quibbles, though:
1. Wish that text entry for APRS messages was easier. As is, it is nearly impossible to respond to incoming messages while stationary, dangerous if moving!
2. To get to UHF memories, I have to jump through some hoops, which is also less than ideal while moving. I have to confess that I like Yaesu's menu system and 'way of doing things' much better, but I have much more experience with Yaesu rigs.
3. Wish there was more variety in power settings.
4. Battery life of stock battery.
All in all, a good little rig when used for its designed purpose. Now that Kenwood has announced that it is retiring the D7, I wonder what will replace this little workhorse. |
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| VK7HDX |
Rating: |
2008-09-30 | |
| I'm Happy |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Great device because I brought mine for APRS work on my quadbike and its perfect for the job in hand. |
|
| K2CG |
Rating: |
2008-06-14 | |
| Great Radio |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
This radio is packed with some great features. I have used the radio for Satellite work, APRS and just general 2M/70cm operations. The computer programming software is FREE.
On the minus side:
The battery is NiCad, I replaced it with 9.6 1450mAh NiMh from Batteries America.
The Manual is poorly written, but then I haven't found any well written manuals from ICOM or Yeasu.
The Free software is limited to a few COM ports, but you can always use Link700. |
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| KB5VNU |
Rating: |
2008-04-22 | |
| not worth the money |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This may be a decent radio, I haven't had time to find out much about the HT itself. I bought this to be able to use it with my laptop for digital. So far I can only use it with my desktop.
I wanted to have something portable for ecomm, this was the main reason for the purchase. This only works if a). you are able to rename your USB ports on your laptop or b) you have an older laptop with serial ports. I have neither on my Dell. I am also unable to rename my USB ports. After trying myself, I called Dell to help me accomplish this. They were unable to do it either. |
|
| N4UED |
Rating: |
2008-02-20 | |
| GREAT RADIO |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Hello I have owned my Kenwood TH-D7A(G) for about 3 yrs.I have used it on APRS mostly and on PACKET. It gets great audio reports as well as good audio from the speaker.I have read about the negative talk about the battery. If most are like me when you buy a radio expecting so much out of it as I did,buying another battery pack want hurt. We are to quick to complain. This radio powered by a Kenwood DC power cord for about 15 bucks cant be beat. I use a Maha 6 volt pack and a 12 volt pack from the NIcadLady. I get alot of time on APRS with both of these batteries. I also bought the cigarette adapter for easy car operation. The 4 AA pack is what I use with the adapter so it want over charge my batteries. I like the way you can send a one way e-mail to anywhere in the world using this radio. When I read that the HT antenna was cut for the NOAA FREQUENCIES I chose not to even use it. The Diamond 519 works well as many others do. There is no other radio that can do what this HT can. It came out in 1999 and is still going strong. It is perfect for pleasure events or major storm events. You can just use this radio to transmit your message back to the EOC without clogging the voice channel that is being used not stop. Read more about your radio so you can get to more out of it. It does you no good in a emergency if you have to read the manual to learn the features. 73 from Chuck |
|
| KC9LFD |
Rating: |
2008-02-02 | |
| Great performance with a unique menu system |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I've owned RS HTX-202/404's, Yaesu's VX-5r, 6r, 7r, and now a Kenwood TH-D7A(G). The RX and TX performance exceeds the VX-7R in my experience. Maybe it was the radio, or maybe it was the antennas, but regardless.
Pros: Built in TNC is awesome and terribly convenient. Easy menu navigation and neatly organized. Nice big screen, and buttons are easy to navigate, especially with APRS functions.
Cons: Dual band/memories is rather odd.. I can store memories memories per band, but it won't automatically switch between bands in case I wanted to scan all memory channels. Built in APRS software is limited for receiving messages and sending. Still works excellent for APRS broadcasts. No spectrum analyzer, something I sorely miss from my Yaesu radios.
Overall: The power levels are odd, 50mW, 500mW, and 5W, those are interesting jumps in RF output. I simply cannot argue with performance or built in TNC. I have the 9.6v 1700mAh battery and I get awesome performance, more so than my VX-7R.
In the end, I really wish I had purchased this radio instead of my VX-7R when I was shopping at AES. But I got it anyway and LOVE it. I couldn't imagine myself without it. If you want more information or have any questions for me, feel free to email me kc9lfd at kc9lfd dot org. |
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| KE7FEH |
Rating: |
2007-10-21 | |
| Excellent |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have had the radio for about 6 months and trully enjoy it. I also like the support from Kenwood; emails returned within 1 hour. Enjoy!!
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Earlier 4-star review posted by KE7FEH on 2007-07-14
A great rig! Lots of great features. The battery issue is a problem. 16 hour charge 7 hours (low power) at best minimal use. I wish Kenwood would use lithium batteries instead. |
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| WI7B |
Rating: |
2007-08-20 | |
| Don'tr try this at the QTH! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
My TH-D7G is great. Does everything I want it to do, except make the morning latte'. However, I have read that it is not a "rugged" HT. Some have suggested that other HTs with a list of MIL specs might be better for outdoor comms.
Here is my experience, which I don't suggest anyone try duplicating. I had set the TH-D7G on a ledge overlooking an outdoor concrete stairway leading from the second floor of the condo. I had set it up to attcahed the GPS. As I turned around, a gust of wind blew over the TH-D7G onto a stair 10 feet below. It crashed face-first into the stair, the battery popping out and bouncing down to the bottom step.
AHHHH! I rushed down to the now, battery-less TH-D7G. It looked OK. Not even a scratch on the face-plate. I went to the bottom and retrieved the battery. I plugged it in and turned it on. It began send APRS data! NOw, I consider that rugged.
73,
---* Ken |
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| W7SAZ |
Rating: |
2007-08-15 | |
| Good mod to Batteries America BT-11h Battery Case |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
After experiencing a problem with the diode in my Batteries America BT-11h Battery Case I made a successful attempt to fix it. With very gradual pulling, the inside panel of the battery case (the panel with the contacts that feed energy to the radio) came clean off!
I soldered a jumper wire across the diode to bypass it and glued the inside panel back on with model airplane cement.
With the diode bypassed, I get full power out of the battery pack, AND, when I connect 12V to the jack on the side of the radio, the NiMH batteries trickle charge!
The diode was in series with the batteries to prevent recharging of non-rechargeable batteries. Of course, if I use non-rechargeable batteries in the pack, I will not connect 12V to the radio!
Now back to enjoying my versatile D7A with a newly modified more versatile battery pack!
Regards,
George
W7SAZ
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Earlier 5-star review posted by W7SAZ on 2007-07-08
I thought I found a great battery pack for this ideal APRS HT!
I loaded my Batteries America BT-11h Battery Case with six AA NiMH batteries and it worked fine for receiving, full power beaconing and low power transmissions. I did experience problems with high power continuous TX. Watching the D7A power meter, TX power would very quickly drop to close to zero! Initially I thought my rechargeable batteries were low on charge or overdue for replacement. Later I tried using fresh AA alkaline batteries and found the same problem. I checked the batteries and they are fine.
The symptoms suggest that the battery pack diode, which prevents charging of the batteries, is rapidly increasing resistance under low or full power Tx. In effect, my battery pack is useless for continuous Tx power over 0.05W.
Is anyone else using the Batteries America BT-11h Battery Case for the Kenwood D7A? What is your experience?
Thanks,
George
W7SAZ
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