I would buy this rig (second hand of course).
I'd like to hear advice, comments about
this rig.

Frank-

I have the TS-690S, which is the same as the TS-450 with the Six Meter Band
added.

Over all, I like it. There are only a few points that bother me.

The optional CTCSS Tone module (TU-7?) is set with a DIP-Switch, and cannot be
programmed to be different for different repeaters in memory. This would be
less important with the TS-450 since there are only 4 Ten Meter repeater pairs
to worry about! You probably wouldn't consider getting the tone module unless
it happens to come with your radio.

On a crowded band some signals appear to have distorted audio, especially if
you are listening to foreign broadcast stations. I found that the noise
blanker was introducing the distortion, and the problem goes away when I turn
it off.

As I recall, my noise blanker is not extremely effective. It works if I
encounter a kind of pulsed noise such as ignition noise, but is useless for
power line noise.

I'm not aware of any chronic problems with the TS-450/690. Mine has given me
no trouble even after being stored in a humid environment for several months.

73, Fred, K4DII