[Kenwood] TS2000

[Brad Johnson]

Hi There.

I have owned a TS 2000 for approximately one year now. Yes, the pricing on
them right now is great...several hundred less than I paid. The Heil mic
offer wasn't in effect then either...ouch.

The TS 2000's strength is in its versatility and flexibility. I am active on
160 meters to 440 mhz with SSB,CW, AM, FM, and the digital modes. This is
all accomplished with one "box." I often receive compliments regarding my
transmit audio and operators on PSK31 frequently remark on how clean my
signal is. I have read more technically oriented reviews of the TS 2000
which slam the rig's performance regarding IMD, but I have never had anyone
on the air complain that I was causing an unusual amount of problems.
Amateurs don't seem to be too bashful in this regard from my observation. I
rarely use processing and currently am not using an amplifier though. The
receive audio is fantastic and I often use the TS 2000 for SWL.

The TS 2000 has a lot of features I am not using, and lacks some I would
like to have. There is no dx packet cluster in my area and I am not that
interested in VHF FM operation, so the subreceiver is of little use to me. I
use it to monitor the 2 meter SSB calling frequency. The subreceiver is
limited to AM/FM, but you can tell when an SSB or CW signal is present. The
subreceiver does not cover 6 meters, so when I am operating on HF, there is
no way to at least monitor the 6 meter SSB calling frequency with FM. This
is a serious shortcoming for me.

The adjustable bandwidth seems to work very well in reducing interference in
the CW mode, but it does not seem to be very effective in the SSB mode,
where it merely changes the sound of the nearby stations rather than
reducing their strength in the passsband. It has been several years, but I
recall the slope tuning on the TS 950SD was much more effective in reducing
interference.

The noise blanker appears to be effective, but can be problematic under
crowded band conditions. I believe this is a common shortcoming of most
noise blanking systems though. The beat cancel and notch features work well.
I use the beat cancel often to block birdies and spurious signals from local
noise sources. I have not had much success with the DSP noise reduction.
Perhaps I have never been able to get it adjusted properly, but it seems to
be as effective as turning up the AF output of the rig and sticking my head
in a bucket of water next to the speaker. Yes, the noise is greatly reduced,
but at what cost?

The rig's operation is fairly intuitive, especially for those familiar with
the "Kenwood way" of doing things. I do have to refer to the manual when
entering scan limits, probably because I don't do that very often. The
maximum scan rate is much to slow.

I have not attempted satellite operations, so I cannot comment on those
features. I did operate it during field day last year and discovered it is a
real power hog, even at QRP levels. Apparently, the DSP RX alone draws
between 2 and 4 amps, and it does require a very stable voltage source.

While I obviously have some criticisms of the TS 2000, I don't think you can
beat it for an all purpose radio, especially at today's prices. I am pleased
with my purchase and have no regrets.

Given what is available now, and my operating preferences (which were not
well established one year ago) I would currently choose the Icom 756ProII.
Having said that, I have no plans to part with the TS 2000. It is just too
versatile and does a lot of things fairly well.

Hope this was of some use to the list.

73,

Brad
AA5CH