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Reviews For: Kenwood TM-742AD

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

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TM-742AD
Reviews: 28MSRP: 660.00
Description:
Dual-Band FM Transceiver with optional 3rd band capability
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.kenwooa_mob=open
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00284.5
N3IVK Rating: 2002-02-09
Good radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own 2 Kenwood 742's and love them. I have a ton of radios, and the 742's have the BEST sounding tx audio I have heard. The cross band repeater feature works great. There are a few minor things I dislike but overall a greta radio. I have one in the shack and the other is remote mounted in my car.
N6EMS Rating: 2001-12-20
Good results so far Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've had a 742 in my Jeep for about 8 months. My first HAM install in the Jeep, and my third Kenwood rig overall (all different models). My third band unit was for 6 meters. Overall, I like the rig just fine. Easy to read display, good memory capacity, simple controls, and the cross-band function is wonderful for me as I frequently hike away from the Jeep carrying either an Icom W32 or VX5R. So far it has held up well to the rigors of off-roading and the rougher ride associated w/ a short-wheeled base vehicle.

Only complaints: no computer programing capability and no alpha-numeric properties. Setting up that many memory channels for three different bands takes a while!! The alpha-numerics is nice to have, but not critical for me(obviously, since I bought the rig).

All-in-all, if your looking for a good quality, multi-band rig w/ crossband capability, this one will do...if you can handle the price w/ three band units installed.

73,
Darrell
N6EMS

N2UID Rating: 2001-06-10
Lacks quality for the price you pay Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had purchased a 742 as a replacement and was pleased for a short time. Within the 1 year warranty the medium to hi power switching transistor died. It was replaced under warranty only to die again 6 years later in 2001.
The next problem was what I and Kenwood thought was an on/off switch/button problem. They replaced the switch/button but problem still persisted and the radio was sent back to Kenwood where they could not find the problem. I finally narrowed the problem down to the power cord that goes ito the radio. The positive/red cord was loose. There was cold solder joint on the wire where it was to be attached to the 2 meter board.
When I soldered it all was well for a while.
The next problem is when the curcuit board that rf modules plug into died. This is another commom problem like the medium/high switching transistor. The radio goes into a Europeon mode ie 144 to 145 and 430 to 440,but will not transmit. I know of at least 4 other hams that have had this same problem.. Even though the repair center fixed this problem at no charge to me I was dissapointed. The radio also has the clock that buzzes like crazy when the radio was on 146.520. Made the frequency useless to all but the stronger of signals. That buzzing made my other hf radios useless until the 742 was turned off!!!! Since I had so many problems with the radio I never installed a third module.
It did have many good features but with the high price tag/ $640 to $705 and the lack of quality,price of options,3rd module I would recommend something else!!! de Craig
KD4IMU Rating: 2000-12-03
Great radio, I own two and thinking about a third Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have two 742A's, not the AD. The radioes are 3 years and 4 years old respectfully. They have both served as a repeater with no problems with either radio. When time and other things allow I do public service events; bicycle races, local walkathons, provide communcations for whom ever requests the help of the local amateur radio groups. These radioes have preformed no matter what the temperature, whether it be 120 degrees inside the car or zero degrees. The radioes are worthy of praise..

W7NEW Rating: 2000-10-25
Great Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is by far and away the best multiband mobil out there. With this radio you get your cake and you can eat it too. The radio dual band but you dont have to sacrafise the receiver quality to get it. The radio is almost always free of intermod and crossbands to any band you have installed. The receiver sensitivity and fidelity is equal to none I have tried. They are expensise but you know what they say you get what you pay for.
KB0NHX Rating: 2000-10-25
great multi-band rig! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have two of the TM-742A's and would highly recomend them to anyone in the market for a top-of-the line multi-band radio. The oldest radio I have owned for 5 years and the newest one for 4 years. I have had only 1 problem with each radio. On the older radio, the 2m module output power dropped to below 1 watt. I sent the radio to kenwood and they advised it was a simple and common problem with the transceiver. On the newer radio, the spring for the PTT button on the mircrophone has a tendency to lose its resilience and needs to be modified. I like the radio because it can monitor 3 different bands at once with separate volume and squelch for each band and has not only 3 separate antenna outputs, but 3 separate external speaker outputs as well as one output that combines all the audio! I purchased the band expansion box from Radio Control Systems in California and installed it into the third slot in the radio. With this box, I have installed the 10m, 6m and 220 band modules and have room for the 1.2GHz module when I decide to purchase it. What other radio allows TX and Rx on all bands (FM only) from 10m to 1.2GHz? The radio also has a keypad modification to double the memories from 100 per band to 200 per band. The only negative about that is you can only access 100 memories per band at a time and if you want the other 100, you have to press and hold f and press the reverse button to access memory channels labeled A1-J0. I also like the feature of remote controlling the radio from another portable transceiver. (Not mentioned in the instruction manual for some reason). This is a great radio, even though a little high in price for someone not serious about working all VHF/UHF bands.
KF0FX Rating: 2000-07-08
Choice for more than two bands Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I'd recommend the 742 for those wanting more than two bands in a radio. Otherwise, I there are newer, less expensive, and more capable radios.

I have been using the radio for about 6 years and it does perform well. A major disadvantage is the inability to save channels (300!) to a computer.

I have the 6 meter module in mine and it works well. The module originally failed the first month I owned it, but was repaired at Kenwood and there have been no problems with it since. The symptom was the VCO unable to lock.

The two meter module recently failed. The symptom was no RF out even though the meter indicated output. As it turns out, I like to run the radio in the medium power position (10 watts). Doing so, causes the power control circuitry to provide a high collector voltage to the driver stage, thus increasing the dissipation in the power control transistor. The transistor did not have good thermal contact with the heat sink and thus failed. (This is an oddball transistor that you'll have to go to a Kenwood dealer to get.)

I suggest that 742 owners do the following:
1. Apply heatsink compound between the three PA assemblies (two surfaces). This allows the heatsinks to share the thermal load. Otherwise the rough surface of the casting prevents efficient thermal transfer.
2. If you, like me, don't run the radio at full output all of the time, you may want to go into each module and "improve" the thermal conduction between the power control output transistor and the heat sink.

In summary, if you want three bands, buy the radio and make the thermal mods. Otherwise, get something else.
W1AAL Rating: 2000-03-02
Kenwood's TM-742a is one of a kind Time Owned: unknown months.
If you want 144,440 and an optional band like the rare 222 mhz. or 1.2 gig. or even 6 meters there is only one choice in todays ham radio market. The choice of course is the 742a. This radio was and still is way ahead of it's time. It comes standard with 2m/440 and with an optional slot for the priar mentioned band moduals. The neat part of this radio is the fact that you have separate volume and squelch controls for each band, you also have separate speaker and antenna inputs; of course you can also use a triplexer and a multiband antenna. There's also a speaker jack that will control all the sound from all bands. You say you might be confused when listening to three bands at once? Don't worry there's a mute function that attenuates the two other bands by 20 db. There's also a built-in clock
(time and date), and even a stop watch built-in.
The radio cross-band repeats and the contol head can be detached from the radio for tight installations. The radio also comes standard with tone encode; the decode is an option, but well worth it, as you put the radio on search it only begins it's search when there's a signal present on that band and when it finds the proper
PL the PL will blink and let the audio through. The radio is pricey in todays standards, but there 's no other choice, if you want these other bands and have them in one radio. I own two of them and wouldn't part with them ever. The Kenwood TM-742a is the greatest Tri-Bander EVER!!!