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Reviews For: Kenwood TM-731A

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Base/Mobile (non hand-held)

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TM-731A
Reviews: 17MSRP: TM-731A
Description:
2 m/70 cm dualband FM transceiver
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00174.9
KC9HDZ Rating: 2007-03-29
Great little radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought mine a little over a year ago and the
rig has worked great since day one.

I use it at the base with a MC-60 mic and the combo works well.

Good for beginners and old timers alike!
N8EKT Rating: 2006-02-20
great old dual band! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Still have one of these.
Easy to cross-band repeat.
Very good receiver.
It has been very reliable and is THE sought after kenwood dual band.
KB9BPF Rating: 2005-03-11
I liked mine Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Used one for several years in my mobile. Then I got a new car that had little underdash space so I got a used TM-732 and put it in. Like that radio too.

Only actual gripe is that the numbers rubbed off the keypad in a pretty short time. Finally ordered a new rubber keyboard piece from Kenwood.

I sold my 731 to a very good friend who isn't very active. After a few years of it sitting on his shelf he hooked it up and it was dead. So I offered to take a crack at repairing it. Found that the tiny little 16V electrolytic caps were starting to ooze. In fact, some of the electrolyte got between a couple traces on the circuit board and was shorting out a +8V supply. Wasn't too real hard to find, and once i did it was easy to replace the little caps with some slightly larger 25V jobs, though I had to lean them on their side against the PC board.

Just a little tip for any owners of dead 731s.
WB2THV Rating: 2004-12-09
Keeps going Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the '731A new back in 1990. Never had a problem with it. There were a period of years where it was just sitting in a box when I moved. As was whole "Ham" station.

One day I mounted it in the truck and it worked fine. Excellent audio reports.

I did have to replace the CR2032 battery (after 14 years memory wasn't saving). I modified that to make the CR2032 more accessible in the future. Even if someday I get a new dual-bander, I will have the '731A as a backup/second rig.

I added the TSU-6 CTCSS decoder and a new backlit Kenwood mic.
N9TSL Rating: 2004-08-25
Great older radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Picked this one up used about 1 yr. ago. Has worked flawlessly. Easy to program is a big plus. It's only drawback is it only has 20 standard memories. 10 for each band. Other than that you can't beat it. Mine has been modded for crossband repeat which works well.
N3GOO Rating: 2004-08-05
Good solid dual bander Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Owned one for about 10 years now, only problems were some bad solder joints in the microphone (easily repaired by me). Moved it from the car to the shack after buying a TM-733A. Working fine to this day, easy to program, good sensitivity in and out of band, always get good signal reports. Works great as 1200 baud packet (APRS) base station, as well.
Recommended!
KA4KOE Rating: 2004-06-14
Seems fine Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just got this secondhand for under $200. Easy to program as was its predecessor, the TM-721, which I have also owned.

Works fine so far. No major complaints. Programming was a snap.