[Kenwood] comments on 2000 rig

[Robert Lyons]

Hart Engel wrote:
> 
> I'm thinking of buying this rig. Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of this rig. Does it require an external power supply/antenna tuner? How is the dsp/notch filters on the hissing sound on the HF band? Thanks


I'll see if I can help, Hart - I'm not a particularly discerning user,
but I can answer many of your questions, and can give you my opinions
and experiences.

I bought a TS-2000 about 2 months ago, replacing my aged TS-520. I wanted
an all-band, all-mode rig so I could dabble in a lot of activities. My
primary operating is fairly casual HF DXing, but I wanted to get on 2M
SSB plus repeaters plus ... etc. Cost of an all-in-one rig is better than
the cost of the separates, in my opinion.

After two months of operating, I would summarize the rig as follows. The
HF has been somewhat of a disappointment, the VHF bands have been excellent
and I've not tried UHF (no antenna yet).

On HF, I appreciate the quick band changes (as opposed to retuning the
TS520 every time I change bands or band segments). The antenna tuner works
well, but on my ladder line/dipole antenna I definitely need an outboard
tuner to cover the range. The DSP functions are excellent - love the fast
auto-notch and I continually adjust the bandpass filters for best recep-
tion.  The noise reduction works quite well. It can sound a bit hollow,
but always suppresses the hiss and impulse noise. On CW, I can crank the
bandpass down to 100 or 150 Hz and hear *only* the target station (with
a bit of 'ringing' sometimes).

Problem is, under A/B comparisons between the TS2000 and my TS520,
the 520 is a bit more sensitive and MUCH less prone to IM distortion from
adjacent stations. Yes, I could fiddle with the DSP to improve my recep-
tion, but after minutes of optimization, I was lucky if the final result
was as good as the '520 did by just plugging it in. The adjacent-station
interference was the biggest problem, too. In a DX pileup, with the TS-2K
I was all too often struggling to hear the DX through the chatter. Switch
to the '520, and the same DX station was crystal clear. I've confirmed
this impression many, many times now.

Audio reports have all been outstanding. Several people have given me
extremely glowing audio reports without me asking. It MUST be good! This
is with the stock hand mike, too, not a fancy Heil or anything.

Bottom line: If you are into contests or a *serious* DXer, do not buy this
rig. If you want an all-in-one, do everything rig and are willing to lose
a bit in HF performance, the TS-2000 is a great choice. I would love to
hear about tweaks that reduce the adjacent-station distortion, which would
take this rig right to the top of its class.

Rememberm though, this is coming from a not-very-sophisticated ham, who
always has trouble remembering the various receiver specs and what they
mean exactly. I'm giving you just my seat-of-the-pants impression based on
comparison with my old rig. Your milage may vary, blah blah blah.

73 de Bob, KI8AB