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Reviews For: Kenwood TMV71A

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

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Review Summary For : Kenwood TMV71A
Reviews: 106MSRP: 399.00
Description:
The advanced Kenwood TM-V71A dual bander provides sophisticated, high-powered performance on 2 meters and 440 MHz. Power levels are 5/10/50 watts on both bands. The large radio display clearly conveys the status of the radio and can be set to green or amber.
Product is in production
More Info: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kenwood_TMV-71A
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001064.5
K7NG Rating: 2013-04-08
Excellent radio Time Owned: N.A.
I have used a TM-V71a mobile since early 2009. My radio has not exhibited the IF filter issue that apparently was a problem in one production run.

Transmit power is as advertised and I get uniformly good audio reports.

I really like having 1000 memory channels available, I use one side for VHF and one side for UHF (not that I have to do it that way, but it's convenient to me). 500 memories allocated to VHF and 500 for UHF, arranged in 5 banks of 100 for each band. for long drives I set up a bank of 100 memories for the repeaters I expect to be in range of, and I can easily jump between banks as necessary. You can scan one bank at a time, per side, if desired.

Sensitivity is excellent and the radio seems to be more resistant to crossmod than many Ham-market radios I have used.

There are several 'programmable scan ranges', and the radio will receive more than ham bands, like aircraft and commercial bands near ham bands, so it is a 'spare' scanner (I have a dedicated scanner in the mobile too).

There is ONE (that's '1') thing I have a beef about... It requires several button pushes and a knob twist to enable or lock out a memory channel! This is a definite problem while driving! Commercial radios can be programmed to have a button for 'nuisance lockout', so a channel with too much undesired chatter can be temporarily removed from the scan.

Other than that one little thing, I think this is a great radio, does everything I wanted and then some, a worthy successor to my TM-742a (which I still have and use as a base radio).

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Earlier 5-star review posted by K7NG on 2008-09-21

I put a TM-V71a in my work truck, as I may find myself traveling the length and breadth of the country...
The crossmod resistance is excellent, about as good as the comercial VHF radio also in the truck. I can use 500 memories in VHF and 500 for UHF, allowing me to rewrite a bank or two for long trips but leave the local memories alone...
I don't have a lot of use for the Echolink capabilities, but I guess they're good to have.
The manual doesn't really give you everything you need to figure out how to set it up like you might want, but with the free software and a couple of Emails to Kenwood I have it all configured.
It's still worth a '5' and honestly seems to be a contender to replace my TM-741 in my personal vehicle, tho I don't really plan on replacing the '741 just yet.
Good job, Kenwood.
KG4RUL Rating: 2013-01-28
Remote Base Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this radio specifically to take advantage of a 4 bay, folded dipole antenna, on a 150' tower, at our county EOC. Unfortunately, the tower and equipment shack are 400+ feet away from our radio room. I will be locating the radio in the shack and using a 70CM radio to remote control it as a simplex, base station, 50W on the VHF side and 1W on the UHF, control side. AND, it has the built-in, CW ID capability, on BOTH bands, to keep us legal!
AF5DN Rating: 2013-01-28
Glad I got It. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Solid performer with lots of features. I kind of wish the audio was a bit louder. It’s only about half as loud as the cobra CB setting next to it. I run this radio in my jeep and road noise is an issue. In a non-off road vehicle the audio may not be an issue. It’s a tough little radio and can take a pounding. Signal reports are always great.
NV8G Rating: 2013-01-27
Excellent! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my TM-V71A for several years now. I give it the highest possible rating! It's backlit, so you can see the keys at night! It's easy to use and has all the features anyone could want. After using this radio for awhile, I sold my Yaesu dual bander. I liked the Yaesu, but since the keys were not backlit, it was really hard to operate it in the dark. The Kenwood TM-V71A is still my choice. I'd buy another one today if I needed it.

















KK4JUG Rating: 2013-01-27
Great radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The TM-V71 is an excellent radio. It has a host of features and the manual is easy to use. It replaced a 2m Yaesu (FT-2900), also an excellent unit.

Even though it's easy to program manually, I also use software because I travel and it's easier to use the software to put in multiple repeaters. I've owned the unit for less than three months but so far, it's been completely trouble free. It has typical Kenwood dependability.

For those that want a dual-band radio, it's an excellent choice. Shop around, however, because the prices vary. I paid $357.00 (plus shipping) but I've seen it advertised for as high as $429.00.
KJ6WNQ Rating: 2012-10-13
Easy for FNG Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
What a joy to use a unit that comes with an operator's manual written in clear, unambiguous language. That's really important for folks who don't have a windows-based computer and must program everything by hand!
This v71a does double duty as a base and mobile rig. I've yet to use several of its features, but so far I'm impressed with its functionality and quality.
KK4JBO Rating: 2012-07-23
Awesome Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought the unit used from a friend of mine (which he purchased used as well). Its a great little unit I have the faceplate mounting kit, which is pretty cool too. Being used there was no owners manual which stinks but you have to take the bad with the good. I'd recommend it to anyone wanting a med-ranged priced unit, buying used isn't a bad thing. 73
W4HWD Rating: 2012-06-02
Excellent rig! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This rig is excellent. It was a choice between the V71A and the Alinco DR635T. Having owned Alinco rigs in the past, and having a 17 year old DJ582 HT, I chose the Kenwood because the Alinco rigs I've had (and have) are very suseptible to intermod. The V71A does not have that problem anywhere near as bad as my Alincos did.

This rig functions just like the "cool blue" V7A I had years ago (all kenwood rigs seem to have the same "button-pushin' layout), so if you've had a kenwood mobile rig in the past this one will be easy to operate. I love the switchable display colors and the backlit mic. The manual is laid out very well and is easy to understand. On the air I am getting the advertised 50W out on high power on both bands, thru 100' of LMR-400 coax to my Diamond X300A 30' in the air. With this setup I can access repeaters, well enough to actually talk on them, up to 100 miles away!

The fan comes on every time you transmit, but it's not too terribly loud - I would recommend a good quality external speaker for base use or mobile, regardless of the orientation of the internal speaker.

I'm using this rig exclusively as a base station on my 22+ year old rock-solid Astron RS-35M power supply. The V71A was well worth the price and I think it's an awesome little rig!
KB7MGA Rating: 2012-05-31
Liked it so much, just bought a second Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is an update to my previous review. I've owned this radio for a few months and like it so much I just bought an unplanned second radio to use as a base.

It's a solid radio and easy to use.
K8JAG Rating: 2012-05-25
Great Radio for the price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just purchased this radio from Universal Radio. I haven't owned the radio for a week yet but my first impressions are very good.

I was in the market for my first dual-band mobile radio. I looked at the Yaesu FT7900R and was originally going to purchase that radio. I didn't think I needed dual receivers, cross band repeat, and EchoLink. But when I found this radio only cost $50 more then the Yaesu I figured if I used only one of those features it would be worth it.

I received the radio Tuesday May 22nd, and quickly unboxed the radio. I was impressed with the fit and finish of the radio. It just felt well built and put together. One feature I really enjoy is the dual volume and real squelch knobs to turn.

Right now I am using this radio solely as a base station, I am a Net Control Station for two local nets and this is going to be my primary radio for that function. To that end I also bought the Kenwood Modular Jack to Kenwood 8 Pin Mic adapter. I put the mobile microphone in my desk drawer for when and if I ever use this radio in my car. With this adapter, I can use my Heil HM-12 Mic and Footswitch, which will help me significantly when I am running our local ARES net. I tested the radio with the Heil Mic and I got great audio reports.

One other feature that is worth taking advantage of is the free programing software. I bought the EchoLink wiring because it also inclued the programing cable. THe free Kenwood programing software was very easy to use and understand.

One problem I do have is with the Manual. I have never found a manual from the factory that ever clearly explains how to use a Amateur Radio. I shouldn't have to buy a Nifty Manual to learn how to use something. One thing in particular that was never clearly explained was the fact that of the 1000 memories there are 10 memory groups. These groups are broken down in sets of 100. I didn't realize this until late in the evening when I was trying to get the radio to scan some public safety freqs, and the local airport's Tower and ground control frequencies. Once I accidently discovered that the radio will only scan one group of 100 memories at a time, unless you link several groups together. Wow what a nice feature, I can scan the local Airport, and police and fire freqs on one receiver, while transmitting on my local 2m or 440 repeater. How great is that!!

This will make any new ham a great first radio, It has every feature you could possibly want. It is extremely easy to program with the ***FREE*** programing software. (Yaesu charges for their software.) I know I am going to get many hours of enjoyable use out of this radio. You will too.