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Reviews For: Kenwood TS-830S

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

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TS-830S
Reviews: 129MSRP: 930
Description:
160M-10M SSB/CW transceiver
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.kenwood.net/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001294.9
KL7JT Rating: 2022-09-27
Very Nice TRX Time Owned: more than 12 months.
A beautiful radio. Nice audio, nice controls, fun to operate, nice to look at. Have owned for about 10 years. Replaced B+ caps; driver and PA tubes were fine. "Slope Tune" works very well as does the Speech Processor. "Kenwood Audio" is a cliche, but it's true. Still fun to tune glass PA; reminds me of Novice XMTR I built. You smile when you get a nice comment on your TX audio from someone using a rig that costs 30X. A basic radio in terms of feature comparison to contemporary radios, but matters little.
N8FVJ Rating: 2021-12-28
Excellent Receiver, may Fail Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
First, my ears are bad. Hear 20Hz to 10KHz, but cannot remove interference. In a restaurant if noisy I can barely hear others at the table. When young, I did not hear the loud background noise in a restaurant. Same for ham radios, I do not get rid of the background noise. My ears lost its built-in DSP.

I had to sell modern HF radios with DSP as the audio was a little smeared and it was a task to decipher words. I found a National NCX-5 that has the most crystal clear audio and 2.7kHz wide SSB filter that is way better than a 2.1KHz or 2.4KHz SSB filters to my ears. Forget a 1.8KHz, I cannot understand a word. And, I am referring to strong signals. But, the NCX-5 is a very old transceiver.

Enter the TS-830S. I bought it due to most stated in these reviews the best sounding audio ever. My TS-830S had the 2.7KHz filter changed to a 3.0KHz for even better copy for my ears. The crystal clear audio response is as good as the NCX-5. The TS-830S receiver is slightly less noisy using the attenuator with RF gain reduced compared to the NCX-5. I use a West Mountain DSP speaker that removes about all noise on the NCX-5. The West Mountain does alter the receive audio with less intelligibility, but is superior to most modern transceivers built-in DSP. The TS-830S is better without DSP and the slight background noise (hiss) is not noticed. I never used a receiver that the DSP did not improve the audio. This TS-830S is an exception- incredible!

Although the NCX-5 was uncanny stabile after warm up, the TS-830S equals the NCX-5. The TS-830S 100Hz drift per hour I read is false. It does not seem to drift at all after a few minute warm up. However, I bought a VFO 230 that has no drift at all.

The only negative item of the TS-830s per reports is the transmit processor does not sound good even at a minimum setting. It produces an echo. Without the processor, audio reports are great. I am using a D-104 microphone with a J-FET to lower impedance. Perhaps a different microphone would work better with the processor. The J-FET has over 5 meg ohm impedance thus the D-104 has bass response to 100Hz at -3dB unlike a D-104 with 500K to 1 meg input impedance at 300Hz bass response.

The TS-830S is a more modern rig and is all solid-state except the transmit- no big deal. SS is known as more reliable. The HV capacitors were replaced thus should be very reliable and likely better than a NCX-5 in the long term. I sold the NCX-5 and swapped funds to a few dollars for this TS-830S gold edition in mint condition.

IMO it does not get better than this. I rate the TS-830S a '5'. 15 years ago when 75 meters was 'wall to wall' at night, in many cases you needed the best transceiver available with best QRM tools to have good copy without much or no interference. Now, the ultimate QRM fighting transceiver is not needed as the bands are not packed 'wall to wall'. The TS-830S has enough Dynamic range for most communications.

I owned a Kenwood TS-590SG, ICOM IC-7300, Ten Tec Eagle and a Yaesu FT991A. The TS-830s has a much more quiet receiver vs newer radios listed above and the audio is far better providing crystal clear reception.

The bad is the TS-830S operates the 6146B tubes 250 volts over spec. Mine shorted and destroyed enough electronics to make the transceiver unrepairable.

W0BKR Rating: 2020-12-19
One of the Best Hybrids! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Radio as stated is superb! Great receiver (see Sherwoods Reviews), great receive audio and transmit audio. Easy to use, built like a tank. I am sorry to have let mine go but I needed the space on the desk. Certain the guy that got it loves it, at least, should love it. A very well built and designed radio!!!
K6TPJ Rating: 2019-12-28
Great Rig! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought new in May of '81. Still own it, still use it. Installed narrow CW filters, stock other than that.This rig is bullet proof. I'm still running the original finals, and it still puts out 140 Watts. Clean audio, good CW, easy to use, dependable. Lack of QSK is a minor irritant. Paid $831 in 1981. Third order, IMD, and DR still comparable with "entry level" rigs today. If you don't need 500 memory channels, consider an 830S. The digital outboard VFO is nice too.

2019 - My first review was after 19 years of use. Well, I just put a second 19 years on it - Still does everything I want a radio to do, but I still miss the QSK. One of the all time greats!
VK2TZZ Rating: 2019-09-10
Excellent Hybrid Rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought mine off E-Bay and was fussy to get a rig that had (on the surface of it) been well loved and not left to corrode badly. The wait was worth it and I found an 830S Gold Edition in really good condition cosmetically that had not been modified. (but as usual, some bastard had removed all of the optional filters apart from the SSB filter) Anyway, I had it fully refurbished (fully re-capped and re-flowed all joints on all boards, re-aligned) by James Hulme (M1APC) in the UK, and it's like new again! Barely a mark on it and pretty much as good as the day it came out of the factory in the 80's! Superb TX and RX audio paired with the MC-50 desk mic, plus I picked up the SP-230 and AT-230 for a "matched" shack set for that 80's look which I miss and love. Relatively simple to use (ie: no menus) and once you get the tuning procedure down pat. I also had a TS-820S back in the 80's and regretted selling it. The 830 is the excellent evolution of the 820 modernised a bit and just a better radio. I love it and now will never ever sell it. It's a keeper for life. I bought a second one also in working condition also just to keep for parts!
SV1AGK Rating: 2019-06-03
SV1AGK Time Owned: more than 12 months.
the receiver of machine is fantastic.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by SV1AGK on 2017-12-19

best receiver of many other new generation.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by SV1AGK on 2017-11-26

the excellent easy receiver for ears, no any problems.
AA7FM Rating: 2018-10-07
The best one of them all Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own a TS-870SAT, TS-940SAT, TS-180S, TS-530S, TS-520, and two TS-830S (one gold). I use my TS-830's the most. While the TS-870 is great for digital and the TS-940 is good AM and for quick band changes, I use my two TS-830s for most of my contacts. Both the receive and transmit audio are great, it's reparable, and has a great arsenal of tools to drag those signals out of the QRM. It is a real pleasure to use. I also use audio DSP inside my SP-230 speaker to make my 830 even quieter and now it is like listening to your favorite FM radio staton. I can hear anything my neighbor can on his IC-7600. I see no reason to go out and purchase the latest and greatest transceiver. This one I will keep long after all the others have gone.
WA9RHD Rating: 2018-02-27
Best Audio of All MY Rigs!! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
After reading all the great reviews of this radio ("Face Death Rather Than Get Rid of It"), I agree with previous reviews.

I bought mine for $350 at a club auction and haven't looked back since. Paying $600 for the rig, as I have seen them online, is a little steep!

This rig has the best receive audio I have ever heard! Sometimes I just turn the heater off and listen!

On the negative side it has two problems: it drifts and has no CW keyer.

The drift problem is best solved now with a DDS VFO.

Band changing QSYs are not fast - but it is a hybrid!

ENJOY!
KD8IIC Rating: 2018-02-08
Very Best Non-DSP CW Rig Made Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Found mine on eBay as a buy it now, right away I shipped it to Terry Wagoner, K9TW, for an overall overhaul.
Got it back and it is in like new condition!
I'm a CW man full-time so the big draw for finding one of these rigs was the Receiver!
This has got to be the absolute very best, quiet
Pre-General Coverage/Pre-DSP receiver made.
The VBT, Notch and I.F. Shift cannot be equaled.
The controls are linear, not rotary selectors as on the newer DSP rigs.
I'm adding the two 400Hz i.f. filters next.
If you're a serious weak signal intercept CW man you owe it to yourself to find one even if only to use as your receiver.
BTW; Turn down the gain til the ALC doesn't move
and you will have key-click free sending.
You will still have >100w output.
Turn it down even lower for QRP es QRPp!
VY 72/73 from Lane n8aft sk ..
KA4AQM Rating: 2017-12-19
Broke the mold.... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am thoroughly convinced that Kenwood broke the mold after the final production run of this radio. They probably thought, "how can we top this?". The 830 is (present tense of course) my first HF radio and I still have it. Bought it in St Louis in 1983 (34 years old) and still have original finals. Matched with SP-230, MC-50 and VFO-240. I echo the sentiments about this radio, if you see one for sale, buy it. If you are down on your luck and need money, sell this last; but only to a Kenwood user. No other user can appreciate this great radio.

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Earlier 4-star review posted by KA4AQM on 2000-01-31

I have enjoyed using the radio off and on since 1985. But I have never changed the 6146B finals. As far as I know, they are still fine but I would never know it! This appeal goes to all other TS-830S owners...when is a good time to change out the finals? Having asked that question, a follow-up would be, where do you get replacements at a reasonable price?

I will hang on to this radio b/c the finals can probably take more use/abuse than solid state. Mine is in MINT condition and I wouldn't sell or trade it for anything! 73s

Please respond to: usps52@yahoo.com

KA4AQM
Chesapeake
Virginia