Radios, radios, radios everywhere... Which to choose?

Car0linab0y

Car0linab0y

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My uncle was a ham for many years. When he passed, my cousin boxes up his gear and it has been sitting in the corner for years. I am trying to figure out if one of these would be a good all-around radio, and what are they worth?

Kenwood radios,
Ts-140s
Ts-430s
Ts-520s
Ts-940s
Tr7730

She and her brother never did anything with radio, and have no clue about anything, except that they recall uncle got the 940 from another hams widow for $500 years ago.

I have tried looking on eBay and on a couple forums' classified pages, but nothing on eBay I found actually had any bids , and found no kenwoods sold on the forums.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
universal-radio.com has good product information for old radios. eham.net often has reviews. Kenwood makes good radios, the 940s is a good hf rig. I am not familiar with the other models.
 
the TS-520S is a hybrid, a driver tube and a pair of tubes for the final amplifier, all the others are 'solid state' ie semiconductors.

The 940 is a nice radio in the day and still will work well.

Visit eham.net look in classifieds to view some recent sales.
Most 520's go for $200-300 depending on condition and if there are any filters inside.
 
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Button Pusher said:
the TS-520S is a hybrid, a driver tube and a pair of tubes for the final amplifier, all the others are 'solid state' ie semiconductors.
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I can't provide evidence, but I've been told that tube amplifier radios are quieter and have a higher receive sensitivity due to less transistor noise.

Oh, and @Car0linab0y if anyone, including the XYL ever ask you how many radios you need, the answer is always one more.
 
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noway2 said:
I can't provide evidence, but I've been told that tube amplifier radios are quieter and have a higher receive sensitivity due to less transistor noise.

Oh, and @Car0linab0y if anyone, including the XYL ever ask you how many radios you need, the answer is always one more.
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XYL??
 
Do you have a ham license yet? There is another thread floating around about easy ways to study for your tech and even General is not bad to get in the first run.
 
DRFury said:
Do you have a ham license yet? There is another thread floating around about easy ways to study for your tech and even General is not bad to get in the first run.
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Passed test for tech and general Saturday. Anxiously checking fcc database about 10 times a day lol.
 
I got my novice back in 1987 at age 15. I had to check the mailbox for several weeks. Back then, your Elmer who gave you the test could let you use his call with a / something after it so you could get in the air right away. I forget what it was now. Maybe I am remembering that wrong. I passed novice and then tech as soon as I got my call and could talk on 2m using /kt on cw or temporary kt on voice until the tech license arrived in the mail.
Congratulations on passing the tests and you will pick up the lingo pretty quick.
 
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DRFury said:
XYL - hamspeak for ex young lady aka wife.
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Virgin. You’ll learn. :D
Sorry, I meant to quote Car0linaboy.
Car0linab0y said:
Passed test for tech and general Saturday. Anxiously checking fcc database about 10 times a day lol.
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Do you know what organization your testing was through? Some are slow because they submit everything by paper.
 
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noway2 said:
Virgin. You’ll learn. :D
Sorry, I meant to quote Car0linaboy.

Do you know what organization your testing was through? Some are slow because they submit everything by paper.
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ARRL. I understand the ve's snail mail the paperwork to arrl, then it gets filed electronically.
 
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