| N4DXX |
Rating:      |
2009-06-07 | |
| One Of The Best! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
These are a list of rigs i have used in the past year.
Ft 990
Icom 706MKIIG
Icom 736
Kenwood ts-180
Icom 746
Kenwood Ts-940
Kenwood Ts-570d
Ten Tec Jupiter
Yaesu ft 450sat
and A Few More!
Now For the basic comparison of the above..Just to start They are all great rigs and all have their strong point's.Now for the money i honestly do not think any of these listed above will beat the 480 on rx or tx.I work a lot on 10 meter and i think thats where some of these radio's listed above lack in perfomance especially in rx.I can say that the 480 has one of the hottest rx's Going and the only one that i have used that comes close for the money is the icom 746 original although i never had the pro model i cant comment on that one.And the remote head is wonderful as it uses very little space and can move it about the room.I always get great comments on signal reports and audio on tx is second to none with the hand mike.The built in speaker sounds great for what it is but plug in a good external speaker with the built in af dsp and adjustable bandwidth and this thing blows the socks off any radio i have ever owned period.I may sound Bias but i play a lot of radio's with A/B comparison and i have to say kenwood busted the competition with this one in it's price range it just can't be beat..Has a very low noise with very high gain on rx.Handles strong ajacent signals Better than most.Always glowing audio reports.
Now the one thing i don't like is the fact i can't directly connect the remote head to the base unit.Why kenwood done this is beyond me but it does not hender the rig in any way as far as performance..It's just different and takes some getting used to..So if your thinking about one of these Jump on it and you will see why many have Boasted about this rig..I am a trader and i honestly won't keep it but it's one fine rig..73's Via N4DXX
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| N8UV |
Rating:      |
2009-05-17 | |
| Great rig |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I have had the 480sat for about a year. Having owned many other rigs over the years (which all worked good)I'm convinced this little rig is the best of all. Well thought out features. I realize that EVERY rig can be improved upon for our personal tastes, but this was does everything I need just fine. I was impressed by the ratings and reviews and now I know why. Thanks to everyone for helping me decide. |
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| G7IGB |
Rating:      |
2009-05-06 | |
| Versatile HF/6m transceiver |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I acquired the TS-480SAT through a part exchange deal and spent about an hour unpacking and setting up the transceiver, but I’ve been really impressed with its many features and installation options. I quickly read through the supplied manual and familiarized myself with the front panel layout, which is very easy to use and much less complicated than the menu driven FT-857D. Receiver sensitivity and selectivity are excellent on HF and the 80m noise floor was a reasonably low S4, however I found that received audio was a little harsh from the built-in panel speaker. I also had some good transmission reports using the supplied hand mike and 50 watts output, but I adjusted the microphone gain to 60 for a little more punch from my voice on SSB.
The built in auto ATU works very quickly, but unfortunately won’t match my inverted L on 40m or 20m, whereas my old TS-930SAT matches this antenna from 80m to 10m. However it does match my half size G5RV on 40m and 20m, so I can operate on these bands using this antenna if required. I suspect that the built in ATU doesn’t offer a wide impedance matching range, or is designed to work with an antenna which has already been pre-tuned for the band. I also downloaded the free Kenwood ARCP-480 software and made a 9 pin RS-232 to USB adaptor, but I need to study the manual to fully understand the many available data mode options. The TS-480SAT is definitely designed with PC operation in mind and suffers no noise or breakthrough at the side of my laptop.
I like the various ways in which you can install the TS-480SAT and using the basic transceiver functions is fairly straightforward, but the built in auto ATU range was a slight disappointment. However, it’s difficult to find fault with anything else on this HF/6m radio and the overall quality of construction and versatility ensure that it gets 5/5.
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| KA9OPL |
Rating:      |
2009-05-04 | |
| Excellent transceiver -- extremely blind-friendly! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I am a blind operator, so today's digital rigs with a multitude of menus and very few analog features definitely present me with a challenge. I am a computer professional, so I'm used to venturing out. The TS-480SAT has a Voice Guide and Storage module which is available as one of its accessories. Kenwood put a great deal of thought into the design of this module as well as the rig in general. The layout of controls is logical and functions are well arranged and categorized. I've never been able to operate a radio with such freedom as is possible with this one! The only feedback which it doesn't provide, is voice readout of SWR. In most cases, the auto-tuner takes care of that, but it would still be nice to have it. If you like operating your radio by computer, the ARCP-480 software is easy to use and you only need a serial cable to interface. I purchased a Radio Shack USB-to-Serial cable since my laptop doesn't have a serial port (most don't these days).
I enjoy both CW and SSB, but especially CW, and the TS-480 has excellent CW features, including a built-in keyer, good DSP filters and a CW tune function which makes it very easy to tune right on frequency. Even if you don't use it, all you have to do is set the tone frequency from the received station to match the side-tone frequency. Like most built-in tuners, the TS-480SAT tuner is not as dynamic as a stand-alone unit, but it is better than some I've seen. I'm sure that like all radios, this one has its pros and cons, but all in all, I don't think most people would be anything but pleased with it. I certainly don't regret my purchase! |
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| W2ALQ |
Rating:      |
2009-04-28 | |
| Grrrreat ! (just like Tony the Tiger says) |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I want to write a huge, long, glowing and factual report to extol the virtues of the 480, but in fairness and honesty I must keep it short. I have only had the radio for a few days and it out perform my previous venerable radios (IC-735 and a TS-830) and it does things my friends “on air” cannot do. This rig also vastly exceeds my wildest dreams for a new rig with such a radical departure from the “old” paradigm of a large rig on the bench, or on the shelf or on the desk, now it is a small, but feature loaded display head. I am again enjoying a standing QSO, with horrifically poor 40m SSB band conditions; I can again hear contacts within 400 miles of my QTH. For months I could never hear or even see deflections on the “S-meter” (knowing it was there turn in a standing roundtable and they were talking). This 480 now allows me to see “S-meter” deflections and hear their voice though very weak, but understandable while others can’t hear anything or even see “S-meter” deflections. My first real contact just hours after opening the box asked me if I was using a Kenwood radio and further if I was using a Heil mic, well the answer was the same yes & yes. The point here is that this contact well over 1,000 miles away in Delaware could discern from the signal he received that I had a Kenwood (480) and that the audio was a result of a Heil Classic mic. I will have a far more factual and detailed report some weeks or months from now. But, if I was to buy a radio were cost was no object, again I would buy exactly what I bought a TS-480SAT, in my limited experience with the radio it is the BEST radio and the BEST value for the dollar. |
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| KJ4BIZ |
Rating:      |
2009-04-17 | |
| my results with my 480 |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I have owned mine for 6 months now and i have had no problems with mine..as far as the fan goes i dont hear it unless it gets real hot it does not bother me ..but then i have fans on my power supply cause i run alot of psk31.so i have quite a few fans running in the shack so i am used to it ..the filters are great and allow alot of rejection...I like the fact the processer can be adjusted and the dsp works flawlessly..my ts 450 kenwood you could not adjust the processer it was either on or off... all in all for the price i paid for mine it has been a great radio...but i will say this about the pros and cons of any radio you cant please everybody plus when a radio is desgined you cant think of everything... |
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| QRPNEW |
Rating:      |
2009-02-21 | |
| Great radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I own 2 of these radios, SAT and the HX. These radios offer the best bang versus the performance dollar spent. I use the HX mobile and the TS480SAT at a second QTH with an Ameritron ALS600 solid state amplifier.
The receiver and transmitter performance are both superb, the transmitter performance especially on SSB is really excellent.
The transmitter on SSB has excellent IMD performance and the speech processor does not contribute IMD to the signal. Whoever designed the TS480's transmitter and PA knew what he or she was doing. You dont have ALC or power spikes and the ALC does not introduce wideband IMD. If you like running big tubes like a 3cx3000A7 the TS480HX is great radio and will more than match the 3X3's excellent IMD performance and provide sufficient drive without pushing things to the limit. On transmit the TS480HX has better IMD performance on transmit than both my K3 and IC7700 which are my main station radios. In my opinion besides receiver performance the Kenwood TS480HX is a better overall radio than my K3 in most aspects. Just compare the size of the components in the PA sections of the K3 and the TS480 for example and look at the overall build quality and size of the components. The K3 looks cheap in comparison.
The receiver is not on the top of the food chain like the K3 or the Orion but is close enough to anything coming out of Japan concerning IMD dynamic range, its comparable to or better than radios like the PRO3 or the FT950, or FT2000 Series of radios. Why spend more when you cant get better receiver or transmitter performance from a TS480?
I have both a IC7700 and a K3 and if i had to grab one radio in a fire it would be the TS480HX, I could not carry the IC7700 out of the window in a hurry because of the weight. The K3 on SSB has problems. Its transmitter IMD performance on SSB and PSK, ALC problems, power spikes and power setting problems cause me a lot of angst to the point where I dont enjoy using this radio. Its poor layout and ergonomics and poor things like band switching and bandstacking drives me nuts. For whats supposed to be a contest radio does it not make me happy and thats why I prefer a TS480HX, you can turn it on
and it works without worrying about bugs and being quirky.
The good things about the TS480 radios are this.
** Fantastic VOX, its so good you can use it SSB mobile even in a noisy vehicle!
** Great Transmitter IMD performance
** Great digital noise blanker
** Remote operation, I use it from work and around the house on my wireless PDA or laptop
** Great general receiver performance for the dollar.
** Great Price
** Sensible control layout
** Great support and free software.
** Kenwood quality and audio
** 200 Watts is great, and most times I dont need an amp
** Non pretentious radio whose design intention and marketing claims match. This radio
does not make bogus claims to be some super DX or contest wonder box!
Things I dont like
** Non front panel attachment to the main radio body
** Two power cords for the HX model.
** TCXO not standard, most radios these days include one.
** Expensive of the Xtal filters,,,, although you only need the CW one.
My suggestion to Kenwood for improvement or a new radio model would be this,
**copy the many features in the K3
**Add a noise gate like the K3
**I/O like the K3 has for data and mics
**add a high boost like the TS870S and TS850S
**add support for 2 amplifiers that can be selected from the front panel, with 2 seperate S0239's and 2 key cables. Also store 2 power settings for AMP1 and AMP2. I use both a solid state AMP, a ALPHA 87A and a homebrew contest amp.
**Offer a real split band RF speech processor option, the TS870S had a great one even if it was not RF
**add a panadapter ouput for things like LP-PAn
**Include the TCXO
**Make it 2oowatts and include a noise free switch mode power supply. Make sure the IMD performance is superior.
** Get the IMD dynamic range to around 80db at 2khz
**Improve phase noise performance
**Layout the radio like the FT950's front panel
** add some way of using a SDR receiver like the Perseus or SDR-14-IQ and muting and splitting it on the same TX antenna
I am sure some of these features s would be a winner for Kenwood. How about the TS490HX or TS500HX Mr kenwood?
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| PG00023016 |
Rating:      |
2009-02-21 | |
| Cool Features |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I am a 99& cw operater 1% for everything else.
I like how the CW Auto-tune works! Its the first rig I've ever owned with that feature, nice.
I like the way the DSP works in cw.
First,you have many choices to start with fromm 600Hz width to 50Hz Bandwith.
2nd, if you get near the bandwith of the optional installed 270Hz filter, it kicks on automatically and makes a dramatic difference.
The NR noise reduction helps out as well, The rig was definitely designed with the HF cw operator.
I'll come back soon to update in 3-6mo.s
Kevin WWØJD |
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| KF8HW |
Rating:      |
2009-02-17 | |
| Probably the mobile rig to beat for value. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have been running my 480 mobile for approx. one year. As a rule - not the exception - I get unsolicited comments almost every QSO "GREAT AUDIO!!!...What are you running?.... I can't believe you are a mobile!... You sound like a base... Are you running power?... Terrific sound - I gotta get the rig you are using!... Your audio is so clean and clear" and so on. I have a few monobander stick antennas, and I have the mount on the luggage rack with the mount grounded via one of the rack bolts which grounds the mount to the roof. The 480, for the money is a terrific buy, when you consider you get an antenna tuner. It tunes up my monobanders across the voice portions on 20 and 40, and the 75 approx. 150KHz. The control head is easy to operate, buttons are backlit and of a good size, there are no complex menus to access, the flywheel is comfortable to use for extended times (try that with some of the other rigs), and I have the head on a Ram-mount system - NICE! There are some things I wish it would do better on, but for ease of use while mobile this is hard to beat. If you have the NB on and set for higher settings it will distort signals a bit, and I pick up SSB splatter peaks farther out from adjacent frequencies than I want. But I will install a 'smart dc power filter' to help cut down/eliminate the use of the NB altogether. Take a hard look at this one. I'm glad I have one! My mic setting is at 50, and I don't run the processor unless band conditions warrant the extra punch. Over all, a great mobile rig! |
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| W2BLC |
Rating:      |
2008-10-31 | |
| Most radio for the dollar |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have had my 480SAT for a year and a half and love it. Being able to move the face plate around on my desk is very handy. Ease of using HRD for computer control cannot be beaten.
I have had a lot of radios in over 40 years and this is the best of them all.
It is easy to use - you don't need to keep the manual handy. The various filters do what they are supposed to do - as do all the other features.
The internal tuner handles my 80-meter OCF perfectly.
I bought a second 480SAT and use it mobile. It runs rings around the past mobiles (a couple of 706 series and a couple of small Yaesu rigs).
Is the last rig I will ever own? Probably not. But the next one is going to have a very hard act to follow. |
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