[Kenwood] TS450/TS690 QUESTIONS

[SMills8005@aol.com]

Good Morning, John....
       Unfortunately, the 450/690 doesn't have a built-in keyer.  I run a 
690, and it and the 450 has been my rig of choice for the past three years.  
My personal style is SSB and AM ragchew, and these rigs suffice for all my 
operational needs.  I would not recommend it for any sort of serious 
contesting; although, loaded with filters, it performs quite well and would 
most likely serve your purpose(s).  Even so, all the ones I have had tend to 
be a little noisy, which is aggravating when digging out weak signals.  The 
blanker is barely adequate and, though I don't run CW and can't coherently 
speak on it, I am aware of the possibility of some sort of (correctable) 
difficulty with the sidetone.  I think that is covered in the QST review on 
these rigs.  
       All in all, it is a fun rig to run with a host of programmable 
features, it is highly adjustable with independently-adjustable IF widths, 
and a very operator-friendly unit.  And, like most Kenwoods, it has wonderful 
TX audio qualities.  Those are the reasons I have stayed with the 450/690 
series, and passed along my other Kenwood transceivers including the TS-870S.
       I have a question.....in reading your trade ad, I am curious why you 
didn't include the TS-930/940S/AT series of transceivers.  The 940 would have 
been my keeper rig if I wasn't so addicted to AM operation.  It was tweaked 
for 200+ watts SSB output, had indescribeably beautiful RX and TX audio, was 
infinitely adjustable and relatively dead quiet on receive, with no 
difficulty whatsoever in nailing down weak signals.  And, it doesn't require 
a separate power supply.  My buddy's 930 delivers the same performance, and 
is only short a couple of the 940's bells and whistles.
       Okay....I'm done.  Perhaps this will be of some assistance to you and 
also spice up the reflector a bit.  Take care, have a great week, and 73 to 
all.

Sam Mills, N9EMZ   


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