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Reviews For: Kantronics KAM Plus

Category: Packet TNCs & Digital Multi-mode Controllers

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Review Summary For : Kantronics KAM Plus
Reviews: 13MSRP: 399
Description:
Dual port, multi mode TNC
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.kantronics.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00134.5
W9JCM Rating: 2000-11-02
great fun Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased mine used with version 3.0 or something like that. I went and bought the upgrade kit 8.2ver. Installed it with easy made up my cables for my 746 and away we went. No problems at all. I love it. Its a really good buy on the used market and they hold there value.
AC5AA Rating: 2000-07-07
Good TNC, dual port + easy tuning Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned a KAM Plus for just over two years, and worked RTTY DXCC with it. I used it with an IC-765, but most of the time with a Ten-Tec Omni VI+. The KAM-Plus is a very versatile unit that decodes a slew of digital signals. I used it primarily for RTTY, but also tried PACTOR, AMTOR and a little CW. (I'd rather decode CW myself, but had to try it!) I also used it for VHF DXPacketcluster use. The strength of the KAM-Plus is its dual port design. If you are a contester or DX'er who wants to be able to watch the DX Cluster and run RTTY at the same time, the KAM-Plus is your TNC. (You must use software that takes advantage of Host mode, however, to do this -- XPWare, PacTerm '98, KaWin, are a few that do. The solution I chose for myself was DX4WIN logger and PacTerm '98 which handles both the TNC and the logging software. Nice package.) I should add that most logging programs and contesting software do not support this mode. I found the KAM to be very good if you have good rig-based filtering and if the RTTY signals are S4 or better. Weak signals could make for garbled print - a fairly common problem on RTTY. I found tuning RTTY signals with the KAM to be easier than with the HAL DXP38 I'm replacing it with, but maybe that's just me. If this is your choice, buy one while you can - HRO apparently has a few new ones left, or get one used. Kantronics' replacement KAM98 is a single port only model (you can do both VHF and HF, but not simultaneously.)
KK5CA Rating: 2000-01-04
A Best Buy in multi-mode controllers Time Owned: unknown months.
My KAM Plus has been operating flawlessly for about five years and sees heavy usage on both the VHF DX cluster and HF RTTY during contests. I purchased one firmware upgrade to allow EMWIN decoding. Kantronics strongly believes in providing hardware and firmware upgrade paths. I do not give it 5 stars only because of the included terminal software. You should plan to purchase something like KaGold (DOS) or use the terminal functions found in other logging and contest software to realize the controller's full potential.