[Kenwood] Discussion With Kenwood Rep Regarding Future HF Rigs

[Rob Atkinson, K5UJ]

For some reason this post was blocked before.  resending it & apology for
duplication.



 the pessimist in me saw this coming about 2 or 3 years ago, when Kenwood
seemed to drop all advertising for the TS870, and made no move to produce a
complete HF fixed station line of equipment such as a solid state linear
amp.  When the coupon came out a year ago for $300 off on the 870 and it was
rumored that it would be discontinued, I estimated it had at most 12 months
to go.  I got mine last year and am glad I did.
 We have seen the last high-end rig from Kenwood.  When the rep said the 870
was "too expensive" I wonder if he meant too expensive for the customer, or
too expensive to manufacture?

 rob/k5uj

> -----Original Message-----
> From: gatorman71 at bellsouth.net
> To: k5uj at mc.net
> Sent: Mar  7, 2005  6:56 AM
> Subject: [Kenwood] Discussion With Kenwood Rep Regarding Future HF Rigs
>
> I had the chance to talk with the Kenwood rep at a hamfest over the
> weekend.  I asked about the possibility of a newer, bigger, HF rig.  He
> said that Kenwood has suspended R&D in the amateur arena for at least
> two years.
>
> He went on to say that Kenwood is number two in the land mobile market
> behind Motorola so they are focusing their resources where the money is.
>   This, of course, makes perfect sense for any business.
>
> I asked him why they discontinued the TS-870S and he said it was too
> expensive when introduced.  Further, the chipset used in the radio has
> been discontinued by the manufacturer.  I think it was TI.  He did say
> that failures of the chipset are extremely rare but that Kenwood has a
> huge supply of them as parts so TS-870S owners shouldn't worry about that.