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Reviews For: KDK FM-2015R

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

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Review Summary For : KDK FM-2015R
Reviews: 14MSRP: 390
Description:
Late 70s 15W 2m FM mobile
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00143.9
VE6XX Rating: 2002-08-01
a great radio in its day! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Greetings All: The 2015 & others made by KDK of that era were "cutting edge " radios.
The cct boards were less than "space shuttle:" quality, but then so were others.
Yaesu Ft-227 memorizer, IC-22, IC-245 by ICOM etc. The problem with TX instability & power drop has several roots. KDK used a "flat-pack" relay that was a problematic part.
As I recall, the armature hinge pins would wear, & the relay would only move through a portion of its travel in either direction. It usually failed to switch the antenna cct, & hence low TX output & poor receive. The jumper from the board to the SO-239 was another problem, & the one that produced some truly unusual faults was loose board screws.
I actually converted a 2015 to use a "standard" relay, & cut a hole in the top cover to allow the relay to protude! The radio was used in a fixed station for local chat, so the relay sticking through the top cover did not matter. The receive was quite good..about .25UV for 12 dB sinad, & 15 watts into a decent antenna is OK. It was a great radio 30 years ago, but there comes a time...
Cheers! Brian, VE6XX
WB4M Rating: 2002-07-31
Solid rig from the 1970's Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Yes, I rate this rig a 5 when others rate it low. Here's why: My 2015R was the 1st 2 meter rig I ever owned, and it was bought USED one back in 1979! It has perfomed without fail since then, 23 years worth! I ran this rig mobile for years, then as a base unit. As time went by, I acquired another 2 meter rig and the 2015 became dedicated to 2 meter packet DX spotting.
Some of the features of this rig were a 4 (yep, four) memories, scanning for either a vacant frequency or a busy one, fine tuning, 15 watts high power and one watt low power. Programming it is a total snap compared to today's rigs and you can do it even while driving. The cabinet is made of solid metal and can take some banging around. Mine came with a standard mic but I believe a mic with a TT pad was available. There was even an outboard memory unit to expand the number of channels but I have forgotten the model number of it.

So, if you have a need for just local communications and not a lot of memory channels, or perhaps a solid rig for 2 meter packet, this rig will fill that need just fine. You could probably pick one up at a hamfest dirt cheap. I think rating this rig low when comparing it to rigs of today is unfair, just as rating a 30 year old rig that has developed some problems is unfair.
By a brand new Kenwood, Yaesu, or Icom 2 meter rig today and then in 2030 see how it stands up. Heck, in 2030, I won't be standing up, hi hi..

This rig has been a solid performer for me for 23 years and deserves a solid 5 ++
M1PAC Rating: 2002-07-31
good enough for packet Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Iv'e had this radio for about one month now and the output pwer is not stable , it changes as it get's warmer,a BIG heatsink is needed.I live near our local repeater (GB3TP) so I don't need much power to access it and I can still talk to my fellow ham's.It's a tad querkey on recive as well but I have been using it for packet,and if you don't go mad it work's quite well.Don't buy one unless it's quite recent , the circuit boards look home made.and the components second rate . not a good buy unless you are DESPERATE!!!!!
M1PAC
KC0NPF Rating: 2002-07-30
Nice radio, needs work Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I found this radio at a hamfest for $50, it worked great till about a month later when the TX power suddenly dropped when I ran it on high. I switched to low power and it dropped to nothing there. Also the tone was nearly impossible to calibrate because there is only one tone switch and it has to be adjusted from inside. Being that this radio is 30 yrs old I can see a problem happening, I didn't guess that the problem would be the TX. Don't buy this radio to use, only as a collectors Item.

73
KCONPF


(P.s. Anyone have a used Icom 2100H or Yaesu FT-1500M that they are willing to sell for a reduced price?)