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Reviews For: Kantronics Kam '98

Category: Packet TNCs & Digital Multi-mode Controllers

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Review Summary For : Kantronics Kam '98
Reviews: 3MSRP: 449.95
Description:
Single-port multi-mode digital controller.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.kantronics.com/uhfvhfhf.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0033.7
WQ6N Rating: 2018-03-23
Power Supply problem Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchase a used unit and it looked good. Changed the internal battery and connected to Tera-Term and powered the unit. It worked. Light bar and all. About two hours later the unit stopped working with the exception of the power light. Tried a hard reset but the unit will not power on beyond the power light. Slight smell of a heated component when the cover was removed. I am assuming the first step will be to change out the filter cap as suggested by Kantronics FAQ the go from there. This unit is a perfect size for on-the-road for both HF and VHF/UHF operation. My main interest would be HF Packet and Pactor. Anyway, any experience or pointers are welcome.
ZL4AX Rating: 2015-09-10
Great, but mis-understood ! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have several KAM98's, bought secondhand and new from ham stores, always with about 90% price discount. This is because the KAM98 is the only Kantronics TNC that is sold in non-working condition, requiring a full configuration setup before it can be used on Packet Radio. All other models will work out-of-the-box.
That's a real shame, because this unit is very capable and advanced. It can do anything that a KPC3plus, KamXL, or KamPlus can do, but all of these functions are done on it's one-and-only port. That means you have to be an experienced expert Kantronics user to set it up. No new user will read all of the 384 (!) page manual on his first day. You have to fully re-write the config to make it work as a Packet TNC. This is why they get returned to the store by confused purchasers.
However, once set up properly, this is a highly-featured machine with the full capabilites of the latest 'industry standard' KPC3plus, and that's the best in the business! You then have the bonus of being able to morph the KAM98 into a Pactor, Amtor, RTTY terminal etc, or a morse reader/sender - but you have to re-write the whole setup to do it.
In short, this TNC is a slightly over-sized KPC3plus, with benefits. But it won't work when you bring it home unless you can write configs.
That suits me just fine, cos I'll be waiting outside the back door to grab it out of the store's dumpster when they trash it, thinking it's faulty. Yessir, great equipment! Try one if you dare....
AD6UK Rating: 2014-01-27
Nice TNC Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased one of these TNCs at a flea market, mainly because of the Amtor and Navtex support.

When connected to my radio the modem would not receive any signals. I found the op-amp (U3) for the receive audio (RXA/RXD) was bad. After replacement the modem works well.

Additionally, the ram is easily updated to 512k (Mouser Part #: 913-AS6C4008-55PCN).