[Kenwood] TS2000-what a bargain

[John Geiger]

If my memory is correct, this year is the 10th
anniversary of the Icom 706 series, as I believe the
original 706 came out in late 1995-probably in time
for Christmas.  This started the whole HF/VHF/UHF in
one rig craze, when it came out, I wanted one in the
worst way, but couldn't afford it being a poor
graduate student.  Kenwood has finally hit the zenith
of this design with its TS2000.  

Just for fun, I decided to see what a station with the
capabilities of the TS2000 would have cost 10 years
ago, in early 1995.  The prices listed below are from
the AES catalogs of that time.  To get something with
the capabilities of the TS2000 you would need:

Kenwood TS690-$1500
 AT-450 internal tuner-$250
 YK88C-1 500hz CW filter-$130
 YK88SN-1 1.8 SSB filter-$130
 SO-2 TCXO unit-$180
 IF-232C computer level translator-$120
MFJ 492 Memory keyer-$90
Timewave DSP9 DSP filter-$169
Yaesu FT290RII 2 meter all mode-$630
Encoder/decoder for 290-$42
Mirage B108 2 meter 80 watt amp-$205
Kenwood TM455A 70cm all mode 35W-$599
CTCSS decoder for TM455A-$60

Grand total of $4105

And that is assuming that you would move the DSP
filter and keyer from rig to rig.  With this setup,
you would get 50 watts less on 6 meters, 20 watts
less on 2, and 15 watts less on 70cm.  You could do
full satellite duplex between the 290 and 455, but
there wouldn't be tracking.  I just went for lowest
cost.  Using a TS790 for tracking would increase the
price slightly.  

The best price I could find for a TS2000 was $1530 at
Ham Radio Outlet.  This means that the TS2000 is
$2575 less than a similar equipped station in 1995
dollars, and is a whole lot smaller.  What a truely
remarkable deal!

73s John NE0P




		
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