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Reviews For: Kenwood TKR-850

Category: Ham Repeaters

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TKR-850
Reviews: 8MSRP: 1500
Description:
Kenwood UHF Repeater
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.kenwood.net/indexKenwood.cfm?do=ProductDetails&ProdID=66&Group=3
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0084.9
N4DBM Rating: 2019-07-11
Excellent Performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have the VHF version, the TKR-750 in service as well. The TKR-850 is excellent. I especially like the flexibility built right into the factory controller. There are plenty of options that allow you to customize it just how you want it. The CW ID is great. There are programable accessory connections on the back of the unit to interface into a link radio or external controller.

The unit uses a 60 watt FET for the final RF output. It is derated to 40 watts for 50% duty cycle, and 25 watts for 100% duty cycle. I would recommend sticking with 25 watts for ham use. This is probably all the power you need and cranking it up to 40 won't buy you much of anything but half an "S" unit on the other end.

The receive isn't super hot, but it's selective enough to work in crowded RF environments with a BP/BR duplexer or a little filtering ahead.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the unit. Download the service manual and do a FULL compresensive alignment first. It's well worth it to do it right the first time.

73, N4DBM
W7MAG Rating: 2014-05-23
2 years and running Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought a used one off eBay and put it in service.
Been running perfectly since then.
Super easy to set up.

Super easy to align the front
end for the 70cm band.

An all around great machine.
N4LPK Rating: 2014-04-09
EXCELLANT REPEATERE Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Our club has a TKR-750 V2. repeater that works well. It was installed about 4 years ago and hasn't skipped a beat. Hope to someday replace an aging UHF
repeater with a TKR-850. Easy to program.
N4SJW Rating: 2008-12-02
Keeps on ticking Time Owned: more than 12 months.
We've had 6 of the UHF Kenwoods in service for a regional health care system primarily at local hospitals since 2005 and all feeding into a common hub repeater. No failures to date in a busy continuous duty system. We matched the TKR-850s (and several 750s) to the Arcom 210 controller. You can toggle the Kenwood outbound tone to drop when inbound tone drops - nice feature.

I agree with the fellow below that the Batwing is a better repeater (one of our hubs is an MTR2000 and works quite well) but you can buy 3 TKR750/850s for the price of 1 MTR2000.
K7PFJ Rating: 2008-04-24
Kenwood Commercial repeaters for Ham use. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have more than 18 of these repeaters in HAM repeater use. All of the repeaters are the TKR-850K. Some of them are the first version 1.0 and most of them are the version 2.0 All of them we are using the Link Communications RLC-4 controllers. I have tried many other models of controllers and found that the RLC-4 and the Kenwood mated together are a perfect match. If you find one of the first version repeaters they had a recall on the PA board and it was a dirrect replacement and is easy to install. THe repeaters in boht the VHF & UHF band will work great in the ham band and last you or your club many years of trouble free use. Being a Kenwood Dealer i make special deals for clubs and hams. The repeaters can be setup ready to go with or without a controller. However i recomend if your using them in Ham use spend the extra and use an external controller (FCC Requirement) to remotely control the repeater. You can disable it via the internal controller but if someone is jamming your repeater its nice to come in on a full duplex link or external receiver.
W2XAB Rating: 2006-04-12
New version 2 models Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I just received a TKR-850 (450-470) & TKR-750 (136-150MHz), both new version 2 repeaters. They REQUIRE the KPG-91D programming software (different from the older versions). The new version includes more DTMF remote control feature then the older v1 repeaters I have used in the past.

I paid under $1,100 each from a dealer.
N2XPM Rating: 2005-08-03
None Better Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have this repeater on the Ham band and it works flawlessly. The exciter is operating 10 watts out into my PA delivering a nice signal with outstanding audio! Sure, the repeater has a basic controler and it does a terrific job. If your looking for something other than a Motorola, this is a great repeater at the fraction of the cost. Hats Off to Kenwood for doing a superb job in putting such a great machine together!
KB1JRX Rating: 2004-03-26
Great repeater Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After looking to buy a used machine and rebuild, I decided to just buy a new one. It was slightly modified to work in the HAM band, but the front end was adjusted to compensate. The repeater has been installed in a high RF zone with great performance giving me -121dBm RX out of the box. Easy to program via a PC with the Kenwood KPG-66D software. The controller is very basic, but it will satisfy the minimum requirements. You can always add an outboard controller to the included serial port. It has a 25W continuous PA which can be turned down to 10W without a problem to drive a higher power PA. I also looked at the Motorola GR1225, but the Kenwood had better specs than the Motorola. I have given it a 4 as I have only owned it for a few months, so it has very low run time, but so far it has performed well. If the selection was available on this site for a better rating I would rate it at a 4.5. Not a MTR2000, but for a fraction of the price, the performance specs are very close.