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Reviews For: Kenwood TS-700

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

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TS-700
Reviews: 19MSRP: 799
Description:
Mid-70s 2m multi-mode transceiver, 10W on TX. Completely analogue (although the S model did sport a digital display), one of the choice 2m rigs of its day.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00194.2
G0DXA Rating: 2014-08-20
still going strong Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I got this one at a rally I think it was about 1987, I used it up untill 1995 but had to box it up due to a house move along with all my over gear, ham radio has taken a back seat in recent years always something else too do, I fired it up the other day and found 2 faults, 1 no tx on all modes traced to the alc preset on the rear panel and 2 no bfo traced to corroded leads on Q1 on the bfo board, now working as good as new, not bad considering its sat idle for nearly 20 years, now all I need is a decent aerial.
DL8YEV Rating: 2013-11-08
Best for the bucks in vhf-TRX Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I owned and still own a few of them. The TRX is very reliable and serviceable, simple to use with a clean signal and a very good audio.
In original state the radio ist somewhat deaf and the LO frequency is a bit noisy bcs of the Inverter for NF- and HF Finals. But rewiring the PS as a voltage doubler, leaving out the 12V option no one really needs, will improve the dynamic range dramatically.
Changing one LC circuit from before the 1st RF-Amp to after it and changing Q1 to a BF998 will get you a NF of approx 1db. Now no other TRX on the market will reach the performace. For about 100$ and a evening on the bench getting the top of the notch, a great deal!
The TS700s already has the changed LC circuits. A BF998r fits in there nicely.
G0LGB Rating: 2013-06-08
Excellent for 4m Time Owned: more than 12 months.
As a previous review mentioned these are excellent when modded for 4m, you get a terrific little 4m multimode for a fraction of the price of a good transverter.

I was lucky enough to get mine already modded by Pete G4IZH himself (cheers Pete) so I didn't even have to warm up the soldering iron, but all the info is there on his site, www.g4izh.co.uk along with a nice design for a linear to go with this and even a mod to convert the old FT-290R in a dual band 2m & 4m multimode!
PA1PDB Rating: 2012-07-18
TS-700 to 4m Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought the TS-700 from Ebay as a dead unit. Power supply was failing. Brought it back live and it worked fine again.
I didn't needed the 700 for 2m (I have also a TS-770). So I did a conversion to 4m (70MHz) with help of the very good website from G4IZH.

Now I have a good radio on 4m with about 16Watt output.
73
PA1PDB
K9ROD Rating: 2009-11-09
Good Little Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My first VHF base station radio. Did a lot of rag-chewing with this radio. So, I started a Yahoo Group for it and its sister radio the TS-600. I made over 200 contacts with the TS-600! For manuals, brochures, etc go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KenwoodTS600NTS700/

Have Fun, Rod

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Earlier 4-star review posted by K9ROD on 2001-12-10

If you are looking for a good 2 meter starter rig....this is the one. I love this rig. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of newer rigs, but the price is right. I got mine from eBay and see others quite often for sale. Built in power supply, SSB, repeater off-set, and excellent audio out ... what more do you want? No tone board for repeater operation though. Matching speaker is the SP-70, vox unit is rare to find, and I recently purchased a TS-600 6 meter rig to go with it. Looking for a good used rig .. get one of these.
KA2AYR Rating: 2007-07-15
Would have loved this in 1978 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I love weak signal work, so when I saw a TS-700A at an estate sale a few years ago, I bought it on sight. The only things that came with it are the power cord and a CB mic wired to an appropriate connector. I didn't have a manual, but found a PDF of one on the internet.

Initial impressions: 10 W is pretty weak. I guess back in the day, it was state of the art. Looking back at my old KDK, that was on the light side, too. Receiver sensitivity is not as good as modern radios. There is a multi-contact relay inside that has oxidized and I can't get at it to burnish it. Some of the pots are also dirty. These lead to some intermittent operation. The frequency is a little off from the dial.

Renovation: Using a service monitor and the manual I found, I attempted to realign the radio as best I could. It's better than it was before, but requires "calibration" when switching from band to band. I added a GaAs FET preamp to bring the receive up. I also added a Comm Spec 64 tone encoder. I have not addressed the relay. I doubt I will find an exact one and I don't think they are available anymore. One of these days, I'll replace the pots.

Summary: This radio was popular when I first got my license and I remember my Elmer having one. He did everything he could to point me toward HF and even called me names when I told him I was interested in VHF/ UHF stuff. Nonetheless, I thought it was slick. It is not a modern radio, and unless you know what it is, and what it's limitations are given the performance of today's stuff, you'd probably be disappointed. I've made a few contacts with it, but I need to underline few. On several occasions, I was told my audio was absent (on FM), but it came back after tapping on the relay. It's not as reliable as I'd like it to be, but that's the radio's age, condition and my stalled restoration attempt. If you do see one that was taken care of, and you can appreciate this vintage of equipment, it may perform well for you with some updates and perhaps an outboard amplifier/ preamp. I do not recommend this as a beginner's radio or an entry into weak signal work.
KA4KOE Rating: 2007-05-07
Still like it Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Used it on a KMA50500 LPDA on an opening recently. The rig does quite well and seems to have adequate sensitiviy. When you plug the antenna in the noise increases, which is what it is supposed to be if your receiver is good.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by KA4KOE on 2006-09-06

Paid 100 bux for this little rig to match its brother, a TS-600. Worked only repeaters so far, but need to get up a decent antenna for 2 meters.

These little rigs are about 30 years old and built like a tank. Gotta love these little boatanchors.

PHILIP
W4VD Rating: 2007-01-08
Great Classic Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had a couple of these babies, they are still fairly common on the used market for 150-200 bucks,

Worked 38 states and 2 EME QSO's with W5UN on mine with a AM-6154 and ARR gaasfet preamp.

Wouldn't mind having another....
G8KHS Rating: 2006-03-07
Classic SSB Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own a few examples of the TS700, and always have one tuned into the ssb end of the band. I never use fm with it, so pl tones are not my concern. Overall it's a well engineered tough mono-bander that's a pleasure to use, and great as an exciter for 23cms ssb.

A 100% Gold Classic, one of Trio-Kenwoods finest.

73 John
VK4KVK Rating: 2006-02-08
Reliable in the LONG term Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hello,
I purchased a TS700s in 1978. It was the bees-knees back then. Itr cots me somehting like Oz$800.

I still use it today. It sits on a busy local repeater 24/7. It has never played up, it has never let me down, it has never been serviced (it hasnt needed it).

Sure - it may not be technologically fancy as my ft847, it may not be as good even as my ft100,(or any of the icom of kenwood gear) but how many rigs can we buy today and expect them to last trouble-free for 28+ years.

Every time I key the mike, this rig performs and noone has ever had a less than nice word to say about the modulation quality.

We can all only wish that other 'newer' rigs ar emade with the same quality and longevity as the TS700.

How long owned: 28 years. I havnt met anyone who has had one longer.
Great classic old FM/multi-mode rig!!