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Reviews For: Kenwood TM-733A

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

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TM-733A
Reviews: 34MSRP: 730
Description:
2 Meter/440 Dual Band.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00344.5
K6SAO Rating: 2020-08-21
Still Going Strong Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I got one second hand from my Dad that he used for 2 different vehicles over the years. The LCD lights had burnt out when I got it from him so I sent the radio out for repair and a tune up. It's in my 2019 Honda Civic and working like a champ 26 years later. He had the remote mounting kit so I put the radio under the driver's seat and mounted the faceplate under the A/C controls. Couldn't be happier.
NA5XX Rating: 2016-07-17
I bought a 2nd one Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The TM-733a is a good radio and can be had at an excellent used price for a dual band radio. Dual receive is an important feature to me in a radio and the TM-733 has it. It is not computer programmable, but I don't need to program it several times so not a problem. The only down side to me is the need for an external duplexer. It makes it kind of bulky. Other than that no complaints. I have had my first 733 for a few years and bought my second last week. If you find one grab it. I use one as a home base radio and the other will go into the go box.
K7RFI Rating: 2014-02-11
Not for me!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this radio very cheap but dont like the menu system, have to read the manual to make any changes. I have several radio's with menu systems
ft 950, baofeng uv5ra and as long as you select the menu you can make changes, not so with the tm 733
in all fairness it works fine crossband repeat works
well receiver is not as good as my 25 year old ts 700s.
KE4JSX Rating: 2012-01-16
It's been fun while I had it Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Thanks eHam. My VHF side is on the way south and I found on here that I'm not alone. That being said, I have loved this radio for 8 plus years. Maybe I'll keep it for the UHF and add a straight 2m rig in the shack. Sorry I sold off the separation kit, but it was awesome to have while it was in the truck.
KE6BQW Rating: 2011-12-01
WORK HORSE Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Ive had mine since mid 90's stationed in Japan. Im the original owner. It's been on at least 5 of trucks thourgh the years. It also has done Home Base duties. Never faltered and still putting out full power on its three settings.
Great Rig!
DD4DA Rating: 2011-11-06
Works pretty Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchaised the TM733E (European version, what ever the hell the differents are) in 1996 and used them about a decade without any trouble. In 2006, the 2m TX max power is decreased if the unit is getting warmer. Instead 50Watts, the TX reached max 25Watt and less. I decided me to check'em and find out, that the Power Module has got hair fine cut an the ceramic pcb. The used SAV-17 is not available as spare part becaus ist was end of life since abt. 6 Years.
The surplus resellers price was horrible so i replaced them with a different module from Mitsubishi M67741L with less power (35Watt) and since that fault, the trx works pretty fine.The newer mosfet power modules available with up to 60 Watts needs a different control voltage range (max 5V for 60 Watt instead max 12V for 50 Watt) as the SAV-17 and M67741L Modules.
There is not enought space for buil a conversation unit.
The rubbished RJ45 Connector for the microphne need replaced a couple of times.
VE3PWR Rating: 2010-08-27
My # 1 Work Horse..... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased my first Kenwood TM 733 back in December 1993.... Since then ... I've purchased 2 more and NEVER had a problem with one of them....
All 3 of my 733's I purchased new...
Since then.. I've sold 2 of them this year because I wanted to upgrade radio's with ones that have more than 70 memory channels in total...
I still use my very first original one purchased as my base radio and it's never let me down...
I don't ever want to part with it....
If you find one that has been looked after at a Flea Market or on Ebay .. Try It.. You might like it... It was a Gem back in the 90's...
I just wish it had more than 70 memory channels... Then I wouldn't have sold the other 2....
73 Martin VE3PWR
W0EAJ Rating: 2009-09-03
Good, but tired Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Not to be the ONLY naysayer, but although mine has served me VERY WELL, the VXO died in it a few years back - sent it off to KENWOOD, and they replaced it - worked for about a year, then same problem. I know it's thermal, but it's a bugger to get to, and the assembly is ceramic, so difficult to resolder.

I always wished the "tiny" little sub-menu titles were bigger (hey guys, I'm not 14 here), as sometimes you accidentally put it on that "bell" mode when you're driving, and have to pull over, and get out the reading glasses to get it back "home". Good sensitivity and no other problems.
KC5UWS Rating: 2009-08-16
A solid performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I finally got my trusty old Kenwood TM-733A back in my truck after a three year hiatus due to many other busy things taking priority. It's nice to be back on the air and it's nice to be there with a trusted old friend. The 733 is definitely a product of the 90s with a reasonable set of features but somewhat limited memories (100 plus two call stations). There are no menus, all features being accessed either through function keys (six plus two levels of shift for a total of 18) or sometimes obscure combinations of keys. The most common functions are relatively accessible though. After three years away, it only took a few dozen minutes with the radio before my fingers remembered most of the key sequences necessary to operate this radio.

Like an old friend, the 733 isn't perfect, but it's good and reliable. I've had mine for 13 years now and it just keeps working. It would be nice to have a newer radio with a few more memories, memory banks for organization and alpha-numeric labels on the memories, but the 733 is good enough that my thoughts on getting a new radio remain just thoughts. When I do finally get a new radio, the 733 is going to become a base station in my office. I'll run it forever or as long as it lasts.
K9MGY Rating: 2008-04-19
Great Performance But Lacking Ease of Use Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I really like this radio!!! The radio does not have anyway to name channels. The instruction manual is very difficult to understand. I have good reports on this radio. I would recommend this radio to anyone. The issues I have pointed out are minor and don't effect the great audio quality.