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Reviews For: Kenwood TM-V7A

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

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TM-V7A
Reviews: 111MSRP: 719.95
Description:
The dual band mobile with the cool blue display.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.kenwood.net/products/index.cfm?AMA=open&ama_mob=open
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001113.8
WD0EUT Rating: 2001-10-24
I think it's great!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My comments are very similar to WV2NY (Joe), and with baited breath, I bench tested my TM-V7A for two weeks before I installed it in a newer vehicle I had just purchased (Hey - this one has the battery under the BACK seat, which makes it much easier to install in the trunk). I don't find any faults with mine, audio is loud and clear and the "cool blue" hasn't given me any problems. I guess I got a good one too!!
KCOJTE Rating: 2001-09-07
save your money Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this radio for the crossband repeater and for that it has worked fine but the reciver has a real problem with front end overload and the display sucks. I have 2 icom 2100h radios that work much better than the reciver on this raido. also the ptt is VERY STIFF!!! The radio has a lot of nice features. But to me none make up for the poor reciver.
KF4TUZ Rating: 2001-08-13
Good Radio, almost holy Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My V7A's are around 3 years old. The audio is pretty good, though if cranked it rattles the metal top a little. I will get the good out first, then give you the bad. The 3 years that I owned this radio it was NEVER turned off. On 24/7 365 days. I used it daily with good results. Crossband repeat was nice, as was the remote control. Now for the bad. If it wasn't for this I would have gave it a 5. I noticed on 145.25 it sounded off frequency, then I noticed ALL my V7A's experienced this. I thought it was the repeater, then I noticed this on other repeaters as well... seemed to be evenly spaced (read on the net where others had this same problem, though most didn't notice it until later)My Icom 2100H nor my Yaesu 5100 didn't experience this. I lived with this. There were a few firmware bugs, but nothing to complain much about. The microphone I had to fix 2 times. First time was to fix the squeaking, crackling sound (cheapness) and I went ahead and added the transistor to quiten the mic on crossband repeat. I worked on it another time to clear up the squeak/crackle again. I loved all the features of the V7A, so I kept it on. Lastly one of my V7A's had lines start appearing in the display... this really brought me down.. I decided to try another radio (Icom 2800). The 2800 doesn't have VHF/VHF UHF/UHF at the same time, but pretty much everything else. See my review on the 2800 also. I would recommend the V7A as a good base radio, I'm sure the newer versions have some bugs worked out... mine have been work horses with exceptions of the problems mentioned above, probably due to age. As far as mobile, it's good if you can get the display "hidden" enough to see it without sunlight interfering. The mic probably could be better, though can be manually fixed to be quite and not crackle because of moving plastic. If someone knows a fix for the lines in the display let me know. I just sold my "good" V7A online, but want to fix the one with lines.


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Earlier 4-star review posted by KF4TUZ on 2001-03-25

I have had this radio for around 2 years. For a shack only radio it's been excellent. I just have had one problem seen in this post. I use this radio to the extremity talking simplex to some friends, and I have had to fix the mic once. It
would become hard to mash, and then stop unless you pushed extremely hard. I have fixed it by disassembling it and putting some Caig ProGold tuner spray on the PTT switch and relocating the foam in the spring. Mine has never failed since. One of my friends has 2 V7A's that had the same problem... one has reoccured. I have done the microphone mod that allows you to leave the mic plugged in while in crossband repeat without picking up background noise, which is nice. Basically I love the radio, but in "my" basic commercial environment use rating the mic sux. The only other "slight" problem that I seem to have is two repeaters sound as if they were off frequency, and when talking on them people think that "I'M" off... dunno.. could be the repeater, but all others sound perfect. I have actually liked the blue display, though it gets thrashed in mobile environments. Sensitivity seems good, and when transmitting for extreme long periods of time the fan seems to do a decent job of keeping the heatsink cool. It would probably be a "5" rating if it wasn't for the mic. 3 mics, same identical thing... not a coincidence. This mic does appear to be heavy built though. Most people with standard daily use might not see this problem ever... maybe a stronger spring and higher quality microswitch would help.
KC8JKA Rating: 2001-07-31
Great radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had mine for three years now and it's been a work horse. Although, it did recently get retired to the house and now it's my base VHF/UHF-FM radio.

It was replaced with a Yaesu 8100 and it too, is a great radio - but the 8100 is no TM-V7A.
K4LNX Rating: 2001-07-31
2 years with the TM-V7A Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Cross-band repeat, split (1/2 crossband) repeat (as a feature), computer programmable, small detachable head, VxU, VxV and UxU, and memory labels on both bands, both visible at the same time...

This radio (and it's bigger brother, the TM-D700A) is the only radio on the market that has all of the above features. It'd be nice if other manufacturers would step up to the plate, but for now, this is the only game in town.

Things I don't like? Display could be better, but it's really not that bad, and not a reason to ignore this radio. Besides, I don't spend _that_ much time looking at the display.

I wish the PTT weren't so hard to push, but there's a mod for that. Besides, maybe it keeps people from being too long winded.

The computer interface is great. Some things (like cross-band repeat) couldn't be done without the manual, but once you learn how, it's easy.

The rest of the good things about this radio are too numerous to list.

If I'm going to spend $400+ on a radio, all of the above features are a must-have. Why Yaesu would make a new dual bander of this price range without cross-band repeat, and why Icom would make such a nice radio that can't do VxV and UxU, are beyond me.

I have some Yaesu and Icom products and I like them very much (especially the VX-5R!) I've nothing against either of these brands. But for a VHF/UHF mobile rig, for me, Kenwood is the way to go.

KG6HGP Rating: 2001-07-29
Great Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is my first mobile radio and it was very easy to program; the software also saves time. Good sound quality and it does what I need a mobil radio to do. I agree with everyone that the display could be better, but tactical remote mounting helps.
KF6YTZ Rating: 2001-07-19
Okay display, Good radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I acquired my V7A at the advice of a close friend. I've owned it for about two years now. I have been pleased with its performance and features.

Many people talk down the blue display. I'll admit that I've seen more easily read displays, but this is far from a serious problem for me. I set up the four programmable memories each with different contrast/display settings, white background for day, blue background for night, each with a constrast setting for hot and cold. As the radio warms up and days change, I switch between the programmable memories to keep the display easily readable.

The radio has long been mounted on top of the dashboard in my Colt Vista. Despite the bright sunlight hitting the radio, it is readable in all but the absolute worst conditions - such as when the sunshine is making the dust on the panel brighter than the display.

The line glitches in the display are somewhat distracting, but intermittent. they seem to appear and dissappear related to the heat the radio is exposed to. Being locked in a car in the sunshine all day makes them appear, but they go away when things cool down.

When it comes to pure pragmatism, I do not generally find that I'm looking at my radio. Driving is more important, and I generally talk on the same subset of repeaters that I flip between with my mike buttons anyway.

I'm fairly apathetic as to its many advanced features - I used crossband repeat once just to see if it worked, since I don't own a handheld. I've never utilized the packet radio capabilities either. I guess I'm just a user who appreciates the good audio and reliable operation of my V7A.
WA4PTZ Rating: 2001-06-05
Needs braille display Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own 2 Kenwood V7A and I like almost everything
about them. The exceptions...
1. The display SUCKs . I love blue, but in order
to read the display in daylight it needs a
braille overlay. (NOT!)
Since most engineers never see daylight I guess
actual field testing never occurred to them.
2. The operators manual leaves out a few very
important details and explanations. Guess they
got lost in translation.
3. The connections for the remote face-plate
cable bite the big one as well. When it gets
bounced a little the power fails and it has
to be cleaned occasionally or it will quit
all together.
I love the tone search feature and I refuse to
give up the ability to monitor 2 bands at once.
If I did not feel the pros out weighed the cons
I would not own 2 of them.
KD5CTJ Rating: 2001-06-04
I like it. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that has experienced the PTT problem and the lines on the display. I'm wondering why Kenwood hasn't put out any advisories or a fix for it?

For the PTT problem, some superglue and you know that little knob in the center of your keyboard for mouse control? Well, one of those too. Poof, mic problem fixed. This started after about 3 yrs of use and hasn't returned.

Recently I started to get the lines on the display. It's annoying and would like to see Kenwood come up with a fix. This started about 2 months ago. I've had the radio since 97.

What I like about it. Ok, I do like the display and the menu system. It's easy to understand. The manual is OK, but trial and error have worked well. I've never had a problem with cross band repeat and leaving the mike in. In fact, I'm doing it right now. I just turn up the squelch and no problems.

Audio sounds great. Much more realistic on 2/440 than the 706 sitting next to it. In all, it's been a great radio and if I had to do it all over again, I'd pick the same radio. I like the fact that it has two separate receivers, so running packet on one, and voice on the other is wonderful. I just wish that packet had secondary priority when it comes to keying the rig. Using it for ARES drills, I'll be listening or transmitting on voice and if the packet station keys up, it cuts you off.

Good radio.
KC7ZLJ Rating: 2001-04-27
Great Rig Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Had mine just over six months. Use it extensively everyday in a 91 Dodge 4X4. No problems whatsoever. For those of you trying to look at it in the brightness..........who is watching the road while you are doing this???? I set mine to use three or four memory channels and stick to that while drving, I only PLAY with it when parked. I suggest you do the same. I also switch the display around to the white back ground for daytime and use the blue for evenings. Love the radio and would buy another!!!!!