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Reviews For: Kenwood TS-850

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TS-850
Reviews: 137MSRP: 1,999.99
Description:
High Performance HF Transceiver with full coverage receiver
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.qsl.net/sm7vhs/radio/kenwood/ts850/ts-850.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
23.51374.8
KC8HXO Rating: 2004-06-08
Outstanding Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Wow!!! This one will stay in the shack. Great receive, auto-tuner works great. Receive audio sounds very smooth.... easy to listen to for extended periods. AM on ham bands, and broadcast bands is also above average, especially if outboard speaker is used. Coupled with a few IF filters, and a Datong outboard filter, I can copy all I need to! TX audio is typical Kenwood: TOP NOTCH! All around great deal, in my humble opinion. 73 all, Greg, KC8HXO
WB8RKQ Rating: 2004-05-23
best radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
you wont go wrong picking one of these radios up it is as good as the yaesu 990 its about the best kenwood radio out there from the 950sdx the hifi audio guys rate the 850s as the best hifi audio radio anywere because you can transmit throu the filters with a touch of a button up to 12 kz wide and you can get the dsp-100 and realy have the best audio on the band with a good mic, that is like a bennenger b-1 i have ownen mt 850 sence i bought it brand new from hro around 95 i think not sure but it has never gave me any trouble ever it is a work horse the slope tuning works great you can get ride of some one 1.5 kz away easy the noise blanker works great i have seen a 20 over line noise turn the blanker on and it is gone like magic. the trans. audio is the best there is but kenwood has allways had the best trans. audio ever for out of the box and play audio. the ts-850s is like a baby 950sdx you will love it it has everything you would want on a radio and more. 73
N0XE Rating: 2004-04-23
solid rig but!!!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Well I have had two 850's and I hate to say it, it is a great rig but the noisy receiver drives me nuts, I also had the 450 and it was exactly the same, I love the rig except for that and the poor noise blanker, but there is a mod to fix that up. Easy to handle, great sensitivity and good selectivity even stock but the back ground noise on this radio leaves a lot to be desired, I thought maybe it was my paticuliar radio but after getting a second radio and seeing no difference, I think it is part of the design. I also sold a TS 450 for the same reason, I know this is a favorite of a lot of hams, but a good friend of mine is a contester and his 850 is as bad as both of mine were but he seems to be able to block the bad out as the radio handles very well in contests and that is his main focus, maybe he just does not spend much time doing other things on the radio but for me listening and rag chewing on the 850 with the high back ground noise can be very fatiguing and eventually it would give me a headache, so in my case I sold both of them. I think you need to spend some time with other radios with quiet receivers to really understand what I am talking about. There are at least a couple of other hams who have noted this as well on previous posts so I am glad to see it is not just me. There may be a mod for this problem and if there is I would appreciate any information on that.
73 N0XE
N5IVZ Rating: 2004-04-23
Solid rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
have owned my 850s since 1997. absolutely NO problems. easy to tune up, automatic antenna tuner is great and a very nice receiver. recently installed a cw filter.

this was an upgrade from a kenwood 440s, another great transceiver.
K4LLA Rating: 2004-01-27
Awesome Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I owned a TS-450S for about ten years, however it lacks a lot of useful features that the 850 has. When I bought the 450, the 850 was out of my price range, but I got a used 850SAT a few months ago for $650.

The radio is excellent. The antenna tuner matches my multiband dipole extremely well, it even matched it on 60 meters where the SWR was 5:1. The rig is full featured, however not so overly complicated that you can't remember how everything works. Receiver quality is very good, transmit quality is excellent, I consistently get excellent SSB and FM audio audio reports with the rig and the MC-60 microphone. Built in FSK makes for excellent digital mode transmission quality.

This is probably the last rig I will buy; it does everything I need it to, and well. It doesn't have DSP, but then again, the best filter you'll ever need is the one inside your head.



IZ0EAN Rating: 2004-01-23
Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I'm using the TS850 since 1994, i've the ssb 1,8 khz, the receiver is very good, the modulator is very good, i use the 850 with a dynamic microphone (shure prologue 14L) and the modulation is perfect. If you can buy an 850, do it.


73 de IZ0EAN
KL7PB Rating: 2003-12-18
The best Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If you own an 850 and do not install the InRad filters you have no idea of what an 850 is really like. It is magnificent. I am 50 yrs in the hobby and tried most of them. End of subject
VE3GIB Rating: 2003-12-12
A Classic Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Have had this radio just over a month.. and it operates great. Receive is quite nice.. and ofcourse.. the audio is very nice as well. Using an MC85 with it.. if you can fix the RF problem with that mic with some simple mods.. then its a good combination. The Slope Tune is quite nice to use when in a messy CW pileup and the same with the Notch filter. A fun radio to operate and i will have for a long time. The DRU2 option for voice recording is a great option.. and the same with the DSP100. However.. its hard to find.. and quite expensive. One just sold on ebay for 400 US.
M0KKW Rating: 2003-12-08
Rigs ain't built like this now Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Used the 850 for nearly 4 years daily. No faults, no complaints, excellent recieve and transmit audio. Very strong reciever. Who needs DSP? Built to a wholly better standard than current FT1000 MkV 756 PROII etc. One to keep.

Bob M0KKW
ON4VP Rating: 2003-11-27
Still a topline performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I base my review on both my two TS850 radios that I have (had). Aprox 6 years ago I separated from my first one and regretted it ever since, now since a few months I have yet another one second hand but in mint condition.

One must place a radio's review in a certain timeframe, that is, the 850 exists for over 9 years now, and those days this radio was a top class act. But it still holds its position between other famous DX-machines.

That is when you go over some modifications already explained in most of the reviews.

I like to add that the ACC2 connection for digital modes is rather sensitive for RF feedback, but it can be sorted out.

Adding a few filters, doing some mods, the TS850 is reported as sounding great and power finals are providing a clean nice 100wt output on all bands even for heavy duty cycles.

Even if you use it for ragchewing, get into dx pileups, try to pull out week ones, or participate in contests, the 850 still amazes me on all occasions, I'm very pleased with it.

I run computer control, and I have a Behringer B1 mic trough a DSP setup and I get outstanding reports.

I've used up the space inside (where normally the synth module resides) to mount a homebrew interface that takes all the bandfilter lines and converts them to the needed line voltages to control a Icom solid state linear. It sure does work fine and I have a full automatic high power station that can jump from one band to another in a split second when spotting dx.

Info on this project on www.2die4.be

I hope I can enjoy this rig for many years to come and today second hand prices are interesting to get one of Kenwoods best on the bench. I recommend this radio for serious working dx or contest when some mods have been done and if you can find one in mint condition, get it !

73!