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Reviews For: Kenwood TH-78A

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Hand-held

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TH-78A
Reviews: 21MSRP: 330
Description:
Dual Band HT
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00214.7
AL7B Rating: 2004-02-01
Great Handheld Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had my TH-78A since shortly after they came out. It is still my only handheld rig.

The TH-78A is small and solid. I do still have to refer to the manual from time to time but it is accurate and easy to follow.

The primary short coming of this rig is the ability to program or reprogram after resetting. It does not have any software/PC interface. By using the clone mode I have saved the DTMF tones to tape. This has allowed me to reload the configuration by sending the DTMF tones back into the TH-78 from another rig.
KG6TNU Rating: 2004-02-01
The Best Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The best radio I have ever owned and I have owned alot. It doesen't get better than this. Easy functions great reception in and out of band and no multi-fuction buttons. Alpha numerics are alittle tricky but thats my only complaint. I highly recomend this radio if you can find one, not many people will part with it.
W5ZZQ Rating: 2003-08-09
Excellent Handie!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Got to be the best handie that I have owned. Have had it for about 7 yrs. Have not had one problem with it. It has outlasted about 6 or 7 batteries. I love the dual display - v/v / u/u / v/u. Just the best.
BG4SFZ Rating: 2003-07-17
Good HT for Collection Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just purchased through the web flea market a new one after a few times trial use. I believe that this is absolutely a good HT for collection. Quite a lot of HAM friends are still using it in China now. The TH-78A is commonly referred to as a tough and durable work HT amongst all my friends. It contains many features and certain modification will bring it a receiver to RX the air-band, cellular and public safety frequencies.

The only shortcoming with this radio is the interface, which is not so user friendly. It is sort of complicated and requires even experienced users to refer to the operation manual occasionally.

I am using a TH-G71A currently and giving it also a FIVE. Personally prefer Kenwood as the first rig TM221S works perfectly along with me since I owned it!

Just go and get it for a durable fun!


VY 73 de BG4SFZ

KG6IIR Rating: 2002-12-13
Work horse!!! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is my second dual band HT and I will never sell it. It has a sensitive receiver with great audio. I have the expanded RX and TX mod which is great for local scanning. I added an Icom dual band antenna vs stock rubber duck which makes a difference in signal reports. With a dual band magmount I hit many repeaters commutting from San Diego to Los Angeles on 5 watts. The crossband repeat function is nice for walking around using a mini ht and using the Th 78a (in car or windowseal)as a 5 watt repeater.

The downside, you will need to spend some time getting used to all the buttons, knobs and keypad.
The manual is a must. However, once you spend a few days fooling around with it (like any new radio) operation is no problem but keep the manual in your glove box.

The good side, there are no complicated menus to scroll through, one or two buttons and your there.

I am giving this ht a 5 because of performance, countless funtions, durability (I have dropped it twice with no damage).
2E1UKA Rating: 2002-10-04
what can I say the model says it all TH78E Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had the Uk version (TH78E) of this radio for a few years now. IT was my first radio and I love it. Still got it now and will not sell it. Never had any problems with the radio. The only thing that has let me down is the battery which is under standable as I was the second owner of it and it is only this year that the battery went on me so that speaks fo its self. Out of the radios I have had I still like my trusty TH78E
HAMRADIO03 Rating: 2002-06-17
Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Very nice.Works on 440 and 144.
WB6PDJ Rating: 2002-06-08
the 78A has worked great for me Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am a sailplane pilot and ham. I needed a light small radio for air to air and air to ground communications with friends and ground crew. There are basically only two aviation frequencies for this purpose. In 1994 the hot 2m/440 was the 78A. I bought one in April 94 a second in June 94 a used one January 99 and a second used one march 02. All are and have been working perfectly. Never any mechanical or electrical problems. The stock 700MAH battery lasts about 5 hours for me which is about the length of a good flight. I also have after market 1200MAH batteries which work much longer. Air to air and air ground communication is great. I purchased the two used 78A’s because some fellow ham pilots had other brands of radio and communications were terrible to say the least. Now I just loan them my 78A’s and all is great. We mainly use the dual band receive simplex. On occasion with a land out we may use a repeater to talk to a crew who is out of range on the other side of the mountain ground to ground. The two used 78A’s cost $125 and $90 respectively. They were both in excellent condition. The downside of this radio is programming the memory channels. However in my case I can clone all of the other 78A’s after programming the first one. There is good info on the net about the 78A. One thing that is not made clear about setting up for cloning is you have to hold the power switch down until you see the work clone on the screen. Good luck.
T98N Rating: 2002-05-24
nice radio but... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had mine for sometime. Two years ago I started experiencing problem with volume / frequency buttons. Today both rotary buttons are not funcional so it is not possible to change freq up or down. Does anyone have the same problem and would it be possible to replace it.
Where to buy it? Any advice would be apprechiated.
73
Willy
t98n, 9a4na
At the moment located in Peshawar, Pakistan
Trying to obtain ham licence but so far no luck :(
SV1ENS Rating: 2002-05-24
Good old fashion HT Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Good sensitivity, good audio, easy to use, cheap to buy at a ham fest. The full dublex, double same band RX, cross band repeat options make this radio a gem.
The biggest problem is the battery pack which is way to expensive to buy nowdays...