DonL wrote:

The IcomR71A and Kenwood R5000 are very reasonably priced, and have
excellent crystal filters with several optional
filters that can still be found. I've seen R71A's with all the
optional filters go for around $300.00, and units with the stock
filters for $200.00. The Kenwood R5000's go for a bit more. The build
quality of these units far exceed the plastic radios
being produced now a days.

There are two problems with these radios. Both are excelent choices if you
are aware of the problems and buy a radio which has had them fixed or you
consider the cost of the repair/upgrade when you buy it.

The R71 and R71a had their internal programing in battery backed up RAM.
Eventually the battery died and the radio became unusable. There were
ROM upgrade kits (where the RAM was replaced with a permanent ROM chip)
and ICOM did some sort of repair (replace battery and reprogram the
RAM).

It's well worth your time to investigate one and see. Here is a web page
I found searching the web for "ICOM R71 battery backed up RAM"

http://ronhashiro.htohananet.com/am-...-ramboard.html

The Kenwood R5000 is a different matter. The R5000 was made with certain
components "potted" with a rubber compound. This rubber compound eventually
absorbed enough water from the air to cause the radio to stop working and
eventually corrode the components it protected. This know as the "dots"
because the display shows a dot instead of each digit.

The R5000 has a RECHARGEABLE lithium battery for memory back up. It cannot
be replaced with a regular lithium battery and the front cover of the
radio must be removed to access it.

All together the removal of the potting compound, replacing and damaged
components and replacing the battery costs around $150 plus shipping.

As an estimate an R5000 that has its original battery and has not been
"fixed" is worth around $250-$350 depending upon filters and accessories.

In any case the VHF converter is worth an additional $200 on it's own.

A repaired unit is worth around $450 on up depending upon filters, accesories
and the condition.

Note that the computer interface is two parts one an add-on inside the
radio and an external ttl to RS232 level convertor. It is very limited
in what it can do.

The R5000 takes the same solder in SSB and CW filters as the TS-430,
TS-440 and TS-450, so they are fairly common. Some of them took the same
AM filter, but the R5000 version came on a circuit board while the ham
version was soldered in.

The radio includes a useable 6kHz AM filter and a 2.4kHz SSB/CW filter.
A better 6kHz AM filter was available and IRC sold a 4kHz AM filter.
You could also buy a 1.8kHz SSB filter, and 500Hz and 250Hz CW filters.

There are some limits on the number of filters, placement and combinations.

There is an R5000 Yahoo group, which is a good place to ask questions.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM