[Kenwood] Kenwood TS-520 or 520ES

[Bill Cromwell]

John wrote:

Thanks to all for the info.  There is one 520S I found on e-bay that
doesn't work and has a buy it  now for $125.00 if I recall.  The
seller doesn't know how to fix it.

Can someone take a look and see if this is a good deal?  Or should I
pass and spend the extra money and get an operational one.

Hi John,

I can't find that on the Bay and you didn't provide a listing number
or description. Was it run over by a bus or did the magic smoke come
out of a resitor? If you feel comfortable poking around in a rig I
don't think that price would be excessive. Go for it. Get the
manuals...the original ones if you can and find all the info you can
get about possible mods or failures for that rig - the internet is a
good resource.

I once steered a friend to a set of Kenwood twins - R599/T599  with
the matching speaker for $250 at a distant swap n swindle. The seller
of course testified to how great the rig worked. It didn't work
(surprise)- even had some missing parts. My friend found another one
he bought from a local ham with new finals for on;y $200. I bought the
defective rig complete for the $200 he paid for the working outfit and
repaired it in an hour for about $15 worth of parts (lucky to have a
good junque box). Later I replaced the tired finals. Its 18 years
later and it is still my main HF rig. I have had to repair it a couple
of times since but it takes a pounding with things like Field Day.
That TS 520 is not very much more difficult to service as far as I
know. A friend of mine had one and inside it looked like my 599 twins
repackaged into one box as a transceiver. Other members may be able to
confirm that or warn you off.

The radio has some IC's, transistors, tubes (finals & driver), and
other discrete parts on single layer circuit boards. The finals are
socketed in a metal chasis. Bolts and screws gold everything firmly
together. I believe the 520 is made the same way. That type of
construction is very serviceable AND seems to be very reliable.