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Reviews For: Kenwood TS-811A

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

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TS-811A
Reviews: 8MSRP:
Description:
70cm all mode base transceiver (twin of the TS-711A)
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0085
AD0AR Rating: 2020-12-25
Ahead of it's time and worth every penny Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Years ago when I just got licensed, I was vacationing in Bosnia when quite literally in the back lot behind a relative's house is a ham radio club.
My brother in law (badzo) and I went over there where a bunch of pensioners were quite involved in a card game. They stopped the game to give us a quick tour of the small building.
One of the back rooms was filled with old, dilapidated radio equipment easily dating back to the 1940's Yugoslavia era.
There was some newer stuff too, but from the early 80's like some Yaesu and Kenwood.
With such a language barrier my brother in law was doing the translating, and his jaw dropped when the gentleman giving a tour offered me a radio of my choice from this vast collection.
I was floored too!
As I was thinking of having to come back to the states with the radio, I opted to choose something small that could fit in my luggage, so I chose a TS-811E.
I got the radio back to the states in one piece with no snags in customs, just an oddball question of who my employer was (Rockwell Collins) and nothing else.
I got the radio to my bench and to my dismay RF output was a measly 2-3 watts but the receiver worked fine!
I found the tech manual in some obscure online source, scoured over the block diagram looking to see if I could find an internal pot to trim the power up to the 25 watts it should be and behold! I found it! The output was not blown, simply turned down, maybe to drive a linear amp?
I ordered a MFJ hand mic for the rig and have used it locally simplex for years.
Low noise, nary a problem with the radio other than to drop some oil on the fan motor.
I too don't believe any mumbojumbo to retune it to USA bands as there is no tone board in it nor does changing the diode matrix alter the frequency limit one iota so I just utilize it connected to a horizontal loop or uhf vertical for simplex ops. It just keeps going!
Only little nitpick is the slight drift it has when warming up, but is expected for a 35+ year old radio!
KC9SNB Rating: 2020-12-25
Very nearly perfect. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have been lusting after one of these for years. They have been out of production for decades, and rarely come to the used market. When they do, they can cost as much as a similarly featured HF radio from the same era. So why bother? This is a full featured ALL MODE 70cm radio. It works FM, USB, LSB, and CW. Additionally, it is a very satisfying and pleasant rig to operate. It has a built in power supply for home operation, continuously variable transmit power, and a host of other features. A tone board is optional, and you will want one, though most rigs available today already are so equipped. Also available are a computer interface and a voice board. Make sure you get the 811a, if you are in the US. The D version only has access to the 430 to 440 frequency range, and the E version can only access 432 - 438. There are sites that will claim to have instructions on opening the frequency range, but as an owner of a D model, let me tell you, they don't work. Moving around jumper diodes will unlock the processor, but this will not realign the finals, change the filters, or add pre-amps that are not there. I finally bit the bullet and bought an A model. I am keeping my D model as a kind of a curiosity, but I would not have bought it if I would have known. As far as the rest, I love this thing, and have had a huge amount of fun with it. As 70cm has turned into an almost entirely hand held or mobile band, it is unique to operate comfortably from a full feature base. I gave it 5 stars because using this radio is an absolute pleasure. I sound great, and hear great, and have easy access to controls with no menus or other such tings to deal with. The 70 cm band is an amazingly large space in which to operate, with a 30 MHz bandwidth. This radio, like most American 70cm radios, covers 430 - 450 MHz. The reason for the missing 420 - 429.99 is that this commonly set aside for TV and other non-voice modes. If you find an 811 available, snap it up if you have any interest in 70cm. You will not find a radio that does this band better or in more style.
KX4U Rating: 2017-05-19
Best Overall 70cm Rig ever Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this rig with the sister TS-711A 2 meter for nearly 20 years and it is my all time favorite even over all the high filutin rigs on the market today.If you find one on eBay or elsewhere, BUY It PERIOD.Craig KX4U
KD7RDZI2 Rating: 2016-12-07
30Y radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Have got an ancient TS-811E, likely produced 30 years ago and I could not find any fault. This already says everything how well it was designed.
Pros:
- the modulator is very good. I have checked with an SDR its modulation and is perfect. The opposite sidebands are nulled and the carrier suppressed as specs.
- the power can be regulated continuously from 2 to 25w. This allows to drive perfectly linear amplifiers.
- CW note is clean
- FM modulation is good.
- Ergonomics is good, no menu and sub-menu, just bottons.
- You can uplink in LSB or CW the SSB/CW satellites or listen to the downlinks.
- Seems quite stable and maybe could be used to drive transverters.

Cons.:
- No CTCSS tones. You can make an external interface or buy a PIEXX board which is a bit pricey in my view.
- Repeater offset has only a couple of fixed values.
In this only respect (FM repeaters) my UV2D by Wouxun is a world ahead.
VK3KBC Rating: 2012-05-27
Fantastic 'All Mode' 70cm Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this radio about five years ago via ebay and I've now realised why they don't come up on the second hand market very often.

These radios are an excellent 'All Mode' 70cm rig. The TX and RX audio are superb and the feature set is great. The radio is ergonomically well set out and a pleasure to use.

The one thing that I particularly like about the radio is the VFO has a mechanical step in both 'Memory' and 'FM' modes, which means that it's very much like a channelised radio. In 'FM' mode, each VFO dial step is a 5khz frequency incremement and in 'Memory' mode, each VFO dial step changes the memory channel.

When you switch to SSB mode, a solenoid disables the mechanical step function and the VFO is smooth and free running with 100Hz or 10Hz increments.

The rig operates from either the internal mains supply or from 12Volts and overall, it does run slightly warm even in RX mode. TX power is variable to 25W and the fan cuts in quite early as the heatsink begins to warm up.

The blue/green fluorescent display is very clear and looks great.

Mine came with the TU-5 Tone board but aftermarket boards are also available on the Internet if you need one. The tone button displays the CTCSS tone on the display and the VFO dial steps through the different tone frequencies. Tones and offsets are stored individually per memory.

The TS-811a is capable of computer control, however you need to have an additional board fitted and aftermarket interface boards are available on the Internet also.

The sensitivity, selectivity and intermod figures are very good when compared to modern rigs.

I'm extremely happy with my TS-811a and it's definitely a keeper. On the rare occasion that one pops up for sale in VK, they are fetching around the $550+ mark.
KG4VTQ Rating: 2006-08-02
Rare but well worth looking for Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had use of a TS-811E when first licenced in the UK in the 80s, and bought an 811A when I got my ticket in the US in 2002. My experience with the first was so positive that I couldn't imagine finding anything better for fixed station 70cm work.

Mine is used with it's sibling, a TS-711A 2 meter base, which is also the second of it's type I've owned, and is all but identical in appearance.

The 811 is an all-mode, moderate-sized, base rig capable of running from 120v (240v for the E model) mains or 12v supplies. It delivers a variable 2-25 watts out and is simplicity itself to use. The 40 memories are easy to program and access, and 4 of them are capable of storing split frequencies.

In use, both 811s I've owned have been faultless, delivering high quality tx reports and giving high quality audio rx. Thanks to a well laid out and functional control panel, operating the 811 becomes second nature in no time, and its sensitivity and selectivity let it pick out weak signals even in areas where other transceivers tend to suffer significant intermod. The rig gets rather warm on prolonged tx, but the fan cuts in without fuss or much audible disturbance and keeps things under control.

An optional TU-5 tone board is needed to use the increasing number of tone-squelched repeaters, so if and when an 811A appears for sale, it's worth checking if the board is already fitted, otherwise at present cost, it'll add an extra $69 if CTSS is needed. Other than that minor gripe, the TS-811 is an excellent rig with great performance and reliability that will undoubtedly achieve true classic status along with the TS-711. Power may seem a little low by modern standard, but has proven more than adequate in my experience, including DX when conditions have been favourable.

This is one of the very few rigs I would heartily recommend to anyone needing a 70cm base, and who values good design, ease of use and a proven track record. There's no unnecessary frills on this radio, and nothing it needs that it doesn't have. There's a reason these rigs are a rare find on the used market - their owners keep hold of them!
G4GTS Rating: 2006-01-20
SUPERB 70CM BAND RADIO Time Owned: more than 12 months.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TS-711_TS-811/
The above URL is for the owners club for this model... a fgreat resource to any owner.

REVIEW: Wow, i love this radio. I already had the Trio TS-711E (United Kingdom version) so i scanned the UK for a TS-811E to match. There are more of the VHF 711's about than there are the UHF 811's here in England, and they hold their value well. If you get one, hold on to it like everyone else.
You'll regret it if you sell it because there's very little that comes close to the quality of it's receive. TX audio is fantastic... true 'Kenwood Audio'
SM5SRR Rating: 2005-01-17
UHF allmode transceiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The TS-811A is the US model. For Europe, this would be the TS-811E. Common for both is that they have 25 Watt output and work allmode. With + or - shift, the A model shifts 5 Mhz and the E model 1.6 Mhz when working repeaters in FM. Frequency coverage for the A model is from 430 to 450 Mhz whereas the E model goes from 432 to 438 Mhz. By adding a diode in position D34 on the control board under the top cover, the A model converts to the E model when it comes to frequency coverage and frequency shift.
Sensitivity is very good and from user friendly standpoint, the rig is identical to it VHF brother, the TS-711A.
Great rig both for satellite and DX work. Can be remote controlled from a computer.