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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
KC4ZGK Rating: 2004-01-31
Mine was great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I recieved mine from my wife as a gift when they first arrived in 1993. After 11 years of almost continuous service it had a CPU lockup and cannot be revived. This was a great radio but with only one problem, big time intermod around Sweat Mountain here in north Georgia which is where I live. Im not sure what I will replace it with but most likely it will be another Kenwood. 73's Ed
KB4TPP Rating: 2004-01-31
Great unit, they don't make them like this anymore. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned a 733 since 2001, I am the second owner. I use it everyday, and this is the best 180 dollars I spent (what a deal, only at a HAMFESt not on GREEDBAY). Never had a bit of trouble, and just checked it out recently after almost four years mobile. Power output, better than spec. RX sensitivity, better than spec. The unit is solid, works well everytime, and in my opinion, the TX audio is miles above the D700A and Kenwood's of late, and puts Yaesu's tinny cheap audio of rigs like the FT-90 to shame.

Drawbacks: intermod, especially on UHF. But if you use PL decode, you won't hear any. The crossband repeat is a little hard to enable, and once it is on, you must wait for the unit to stop TX or RX'ing before you can disable it. That's about it on the downside.

Crossband audio is superb, not muddy and overdriven like the D700 (what a dissapointment).
Considering it's age, it still holds a plethora of features like full remote control via DTMF, DTMF paging, dual in band recieve, etc.

If you are looking for a solid dual band on the used market, this is one to consider. I was thinking about replacing mine with a D700, but after using one (at least on FM voice), you will RUN back to your 733. They don't make them like this anymore.
W3NJC Rating: 2004-01-27
8 Years and still going... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I originally purchased this radio from HRO back in 1995. It has been a solid working radio in my car since that time. In the past 8 years of talking to other Hams, I have discovered the pro's and con's of this radio. Most of the time it was Pro's. It is true that the buttons have multiple functions, but that is a good thing. This is a high end mobile rig with lots of features. It is not for the ham who *just* wants a *basic* dual band radio. I like being able to do just about any function with just pushing a button or two. The sound quality is very good and the stock mic has worked very well up until about a month ago. Most of the lettering on the buttons has worn off, but they still worked fine. The mic would just cut out whenever it felt like it. I tried fixing it and it just did not seem worth the trouble anymore when I came across a ham selling the same stock mic for only $20. For that kind of price for the full DTMF mic(MC-45DM), it was a good deal. He still has more to sell through his website and ebay at:
http://www.randl.com
I do not need the alphanumerics on the display. I can get around just fine without them. With the ability to adjust the brightness or turn it off completely, I have no problem seeing the display during the day in the car - sunlight. The crossband works pretty good except it is tricky to disable it. It seems like you have to wait until no one is transmitting to do so.

Do yourself a favor and checkout this radio. You may be able to find one at a good price on one of the auction websites. I may purchase another one just for the house.

Nick - Southeastern PA
w3njc

VE3XYD Rating: 2003-12-10
Awsome Rig Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I know, I'm canadian, but I used many dualbands in my life so let me trow in few cents...

This radio is one of the best radios I have ever used. Audio is awsome, I dont like high pitch radios. 733 audio is smooth and soft to listen to. Specialy in mobile conditions. I travel 200k daily I never get tired of this radio. 733 is well build, nice easy to read display. Yes! No alphanumeric but who cares when you are on the road. Reciver is good and yes it gets intermod in crowded city but comparing to other new models on todays market, you cant stand it. Intermod its not that bad on 733. Trasmit always good report and a very nice good punch audio from a factory stock mic. I bought V7A to replace 733 in my car, after 3 days of driving with V7A I start to miss my 733. It is the best radio ever made by kenwood in mobile class. V7A is back in my home shack as a base, I'm still married to my 733 in the car!

One more comment folks, 733 is used on the international space station SS1. Now you know why... Only the best stuff is used on space shuttles!

73s from Guelph, Ontario...
N2CKH Rating: 2003-09-25
VHF dies after a few years Time Owned: N.A.

I have two of these radios, thought they were great until the 2 meter side went QRT on xmit one after the other, it took 7 years though.

Kenwood no longer offers this model, although it was OEM'd by them and still made by the original maker, Santech in Taiwan, they can't export it to the U.S. where Kenwood has the rights. I know this as I wanted to get the remote kit a few years ago and could not find it in the U.S.

See:

http://www.santech.com.tw/products/tm-733.htm

So my use was to make the TM-733A a UHF/UHF and
add a cheap FT-1500M for 2 meters in the truck
and an IC-8000V in the station to add some features on the 2m side and stick with the 733 for the less used 2m work. I later just swapped out the 733A for an FT-7100M in the truck but kept the FT-1500M as well, adds versitility, I use the 7100M mostly UHF/UHF on a dual band antenna as well.

/s/ Steve, N2CKH
www.n2ckh.com
WN0IFF Rating: 2003-09-25
Terrific Radio? Time Owned: more than 12 months.
A year ago I would have said this is an excellent radio. It has been trunk mounted in my car since I bought it. I have had ZERO problems with the radio up until recently. The tone board for PL has crapped out and from what I have been told the cost to repair is out there. I can still use the radio as a scanner and on non-pl'd repeaters. But those are getting few and far between.
I have thought about buying another rig and making mine a parts rig but the $$ are short right now. I guess I'll keep relying on my Kenwood TM-721 for cross banding.
N7AGE Rating: 2003-02-15
Solid Performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have to preface this with the fact that I'm a loyal Kenwood owner tracing back to my wonderful TR-7400A from the 70's. The 733 does not have the bells and whistles of todays radio's and is better for it. This radio has served me well since 1995 and has never seen the shop. I can agree with those that condem the unit for having multiple features per button especially if the unit is mobile mounted. The beauty of the design is that most common features are up front and easy to access. The added feature of having six programmable memory channels cannot be overlooked. These six chanels when set up in a stationary mode allow the mobile user to delve deeply into the features of the radio with the touch of a button.

My unit is now a used as my base station. I commonly use the cross band repeater function. Anywone considering a used radio should take a hard look at these units. Hat's off to Kenwood for such a solid machine. 73's to all, Rob.
KD6ZXE Rating: 2003-01-29
Excellent Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I originally purchased this rig in 1995. The first unit I purchased had 80% PL tone and 20% audio, and I immediately returned it to HRO for equal exchange. The second unit came within a few weeks of the 1 year mark before it blew something out in its power supply. Kenwood fixed it and returned it in a very timely manner. It has worked flawlessly since. I love this radio. I have the full DTMF mic that came with it back then, which is excellent at noise cancelling. I have rubbed off the labels for almost all the buttons from use. Excellent radio. Awesome features. I have the remote mount kit. I originally installed it in my car and have since moved it to my 4x4 pickup, which I beat on fairly heavily off road.
KB3GWI Rating: 2002-08-23
WHY did they stop Making This Rig?!? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just got a 733 off ebay. The feature list is out of this world. In my opinion, it has everything good about the G707 and the V7A in one package. One could gripe about lack of alphanumerics. With respect to those who have it, I never had a real need for alphanumerics.

What an awesome rig. The best dual-bander available as far as I am concerned.

73s, NM
SV1ENS Rating: 2002-05-24
Good solid radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I used the 733 both mobile and as base station, the sensitivity, audio and modulation of the radio were very good, full power helped when too far from a repeater. Cross band repeat, dual same band RX were two of the options that made this radio better than the competion. What this radio was lacking was an alphanumeric display.