Japanese Hamfest Peek at New Kenwood

[KG4CGC]

[youtube:34c3surv]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_GCvYfbKgA[/youtube:34c3surv]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_GCvYfbKgA

It's pretty, but I guess we still won't know quite yet if it's more rehash or not.

[N8YX]

I wonder when - if ever - Kenwood is going to once again get serious and build a real flagship HF rig ... :wall

[ka4dpo]

It looks just like the TS-570. I don't see anything to get excited about.

[N4VGB]

I wonder when - if ever - Kenwood is going to once again get serious and build a real flagship HF rig ... :wall

Around here, most hams consider Kenwood a dead brand. All wonder what happened to them.

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

The last exciting radio Kenwood came out with was the TH-f6a talkie.
But, it is not just Kenwood, but also Amateur Radio, that is nearly dead.
Think about this, a small production run on cellphones for the US market can easily exceed the total number of all of the hams in all of North America combined.
Add to this the fact that most hams are cheap and you have a very slim incentive to produce anything really new.

[N9FE]

Right.. Theres no money in the ham market. There commercial stuff is pretty much it.

[kf4jqd]

I still have my 20+ year old TS440SAT. The only other radio is better is the TS850. My friend who sold me the radio bought a TS2000. We used both radios on Field day one year. He swears the 440 has a better receive on it!

Andy KF4JQD

[W3WN]

I've found the TS-480 disappointing.

Frankly, my Corsair II receives a lot better than it does. The bells & whistles are nice, sure, but when they overshadow the main purpose of the rig (ie operating), what good are they?

[N8YX]

I still have my 20+ year old TS440SAT. The only other radio is better is the TS850. My friend who sold me the radio bought a TS2000. We used both radios on Field day one year. He swears the 440 has a better receive on it!

Andy KF4JQD

In a multi-multi setup (such as my main operating position, for example), the '440's receiver will de-sense and fold up should a nearby transmitter come on the air.

There are a number of older rigs (Drake's 7-line stuff being one such example) which won't.

The '440 is a nice radio - I really wouldn't want to part with mine - but IMO, it was designed for mobile (isolated) use and as such doesn't incorporate a stout enough front end for decent IP3 figures when operated in an RF-rich environment.

[N4VGB]

I still have my 20+ year old TS440SAT. The only other radio is better is the TS850. My friend who sold me the radio bought a TS2000. We used both radios on Field day one year. He swears the 440 has a better receive on it!

Andy KF4JQD

In a multi-multi setup (such as my main operating position, for example), the '440's receiver will de-sense and fold up should a nearby transmitter come on the air.

There are a number of older rigs (Drake's 7-line stuff being one such example) which won't.

The '440 is a nice radio - I really wouldn't want to part with mine - but IMO, it was designed for mobile (isolated) use and as such doesn't incorporate a stout enough front end for decent IP3 figures when operated in an RF-rich environment.

Not really trying to defend the 440 just because I own one, BUT that problem is common to many "rice boxes" of the era. I had an old ham neighbor that cursed me to all other hams around here because I "tore up" his FT-1000 on all bands when I operated CW on any band or even local low power SSB on 10 meters! :rofl:

A few Polaroid pics of my two tone SSB signal and a couple of my CW signal on a 141T spectrum analyzer along with a note to call the FCC anytime he desired settled the matter for his "extra class arse".