Re: [amsat-bb] Thoughts on Kenwood TS-2000?

[Mike Murphree <n4cnw@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

There are some gotchas that don't jump out at you at first
though.  The FT-847 and my other Kenwood need crystal
filters to be usable on HF.  Neither came with an antenna
tuner.  The FT-847 doesn't have many faults but there are
a few that come to mind like the volume control and the
buttons that have always been too small for my fingers.
The FT-847 wasn't designed for full duty (only half) operation
like the Kenwoods are.  That little fan is still noisy.  The
DSP in the FT-847 is not in the IF and it's pretty crappy
compared to my DSP599zx. It's pretty clear that Kenwood 
copied the good features from the FT-847 and fixed the 
things that people didn't like.  Yaesu has had the satellite
radio market tied up for a long time.  It's good to see they
are getting a little competition.  Cost isn't really an issue
for me since I can trade a slightly used FT-847 and a
mint TS-690S for almost the full value of a TS-2000.
Likewise, my TM-742A and FT-530 may get replaced
by a single FT-817 at little additional cost.  The FT-817
looks like a right-sized Drake TR33C that does 10X more.

73
Mike N4CNW

On Monday 19 February 2001 03:34 pm, you wrote:
> I was recently thinking about getting a satellite ready radio also.
> I was considering the FT-847 and the TS-2000.  At $1000 less, the
> FT-847 fit the budget better.  I got it for $1289.99 new.  I think
> the TS-2000 is $2299.  I can get several transverter kits for the
> $1000 difference.
> 73
>
> >Was sitting here pondering the benefits of the Kenwood TS-2000
> >staring at me from the back cover of this month's QST.
> >
> >Anyone have any comments on this radio relative (or otherwise)
> >to the radios I have (FT-847,TS-690S, DSP599zx).
> >
> >The transverter interface and IF DSP look awfully tempting...
> >
> >73
> >Mike N4CNW
> >----
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