[Kenwood] RE: Need Filter Recommendations for TS-850S

[Randy Brothers]

My 2 cents...

I have used all the Kenwood filters and many of the Inrads in several 850's.
You can't go wrong with either, it's a matter of taste and usage.
In a spectrogram test of several Kenwood filters, I was impressed by their
quality and consistency.

For contest use I prefer the Inrads - a 1.8kHz and 2 cascaded 400Hz.
I'm a mostly-cw guy. My personal hearing preference is for 400Hz
filters--have them in a couple of other radios.
The 500Hz Kenwood filters are also good--maybe preferable for general cw
use--again recommend cascading them.

The 2.1 Inrad is also OK, but I traded it for the sharper 1.8. Cascaded
2.1's would make a very good combo for general phone operation. As others
have pointed out, you can use the slope tuning on an 850 to advantage,
although there are times when the right filter is very helpful.

The 250Hz Inrad and Kenwood filters would be my recommendation for
contesting in a heavy qrm environment or being at the receiving end of a dx
pileup. The filter shapes are slightly different (the Inrad has a rounder
top to the curve). The Kenwood 250/270 filters are sharp - you'll think the
band is dead until you tune across a signal.

I suspect the 250's alone or cascaded would be helpful for rtty, psk or
weak-signal vhf work--modes I haven't had much experience with yet.

Not all Inrads will fit side by side without rewiring.
My newer 1.8 and 400 Inrads fit together fine - however the 2.1 would not
fit next to a 400 (both were the original "blue" IRC filters).

73 Randy K9OR