I have to replace a rig that was stolen and I'm down to four radios to
choose from. I haven't been able to get to a dealer yet to set down and
actually try them out but have narrowed my choices down to four with
preference of those down to two. If anyone owns some or all of the radios
mentioned here I would greatly appreciate your input and experience with
their operation. The two that I am closest to getting is:

Kenwood TS-2000 or the ICOM IC-746PRO. I do realize that the 746PRO does
not have 440MHz like the TS-2000. I like the IC7000 but such a small radio
that they fit so much into it with using so few knobs and buttons on front
that I'm concerned about the learning curve with that one. I'm naturally
concerned about durability, receive quality and the ability to reduce
interference and pull out the weak signals in a crowd or busy band.

Right now the Icom 746PRO has the incentives on it's side with not only
rebates, coupons and a free Power Supply.

I appreciate your input concerning these radios.

Gary,

It depends on what you want to do. The TS-2000 is a Swiss army knife
sort of rig. It is great for satellite operations, and it is a
favorite of people who do digital modes heavily. It is a good, but
not great HF rig. For serious VHF and UHF operations, most people use
a good RX pre amp for satellite or weak signal work. Lots of menus to
dig through, though there are a few cheat sheets around to tell you
how to do specific things. Also, the Sky Command, now legal in the
US, is a very cool way to operate remotely from you HT or mobile.

Both of the Icoms will be better HF rigs, and will certainly do
digital modes as well. There are a lot of IC-7000s out there due to
some dealer incentives. As you say, it has a bit of a learning curve,
with some of the locals forming what amounts to an unofficial users'
group to swap ideas. However, it does work very well, though the
stock microphone does, in the opinion of many, need to be replaced, or
have a simple modification done to it. Two locals who replaced their
756's at Dayton with the 7000 are, after a bit of initial frustration,
glad they did. They also like the modified microphones, which in A/B
tests with the originals sound much better. http://www.7000mic.com/
So talk to people on the air, and if at all possible try operating.

FWIW


--
Alan
WA4SCA

"Gary KW4Z" wrote in message
...
I have to replace a rig that was stolen and I'm down to four radios to
choose from. I haven't been able to get to a dealer yet to set down and
actually try them out but have narrowed my choices down to four with
preference of those down to two. If anyone owns some or all of the radios
mentioned here I would greatly appreciate your input and experience with
their operation. The two that I am closest to getting is:

Kenwood TS-2000 or the ICOM IC-746PRO. I do realize that the 746PRO does
not have 440MHz like the TS-2000. I like the IC7000 but such a small
radio
that they fit so much into it with using so few knobs and buttons on front
that I'm concerned about the learning curve with that one. I'm naturally
concerned about durability, receive quality and the ability to reduce
interference and pull out the weak signals in a crowd or busy band.

Right now the Icom 746PRO has the incentives on it's side with not only
rebates, coupons and a free Power Supply.

I appreciate your input concerning these radios.


I skipped all four of these radios -- and will buy the Elecraft K3.
The Dayton interest by the "Big 4" was very interesting to observe their
representatives (and reactions) -- features and capabilities at this price
point -- they do not have -- and are not designing for.

A colleague bought the TS-2000 -- have not heard reports of his assessment
yet.

gb

"Gary KW4Z" wrote in message
...
I have to replace a rig that was stolen and I'm down to four radios to
choose from. I haven't been able to get to a dealer yet to set down and
actually try them out but have narrowed my choices down to four with
preference of those down to two. If anyone owns some or all of the radios
mentioned here I would greatly appreciate your input and experience with
their operation. The two that I am closest to getting is:

Kenwood TS-2000 or the ICOM IC-746PRO. I do realize that the 746PRO does
not have 440MHz like the TS-2000. I like the IC7000 but such a small
radio
that they fit so much into it with using so few knobs and buttons on front
that I'm concerned about the learning curve with that one. I'm naturally
concerned about durability, receive quality and the ability to reduce
interference and pull out the weak signals in a crowd or busy band.

Right now the Icom 746PRO has the incentives on it's side with not only
rebates, coupons and a free Power Supply.

I appreciate your input concerning these radios.

I made the same decision a few months back. The ts2000 will do many things
the Icom will not . The Icom has a beter receiver for the low bands. I
think the ts480 requires extra filters to be bought if you want them where
the others have them ( or really the electronic equivelent except beter) .
I did not care about all the thinks you can do with the ts2000 and wanted a
good HF receiver so I went with the Icom 746pro. I do weak signal vhf and
uhf and have seperate rigs for those bands so not haveing the 440 band was
not big deal to me.
There does seem to be some problems with the back light on the display of
the Icom so if you go with that rig run the display brightness full on or
full off.

I just went through the same decision-making process and I chose the
Icom 746PRO. I was apprehensive due to the problems rumored
throughout the net, but I trust Icom and their ability to have already
addressed those issues. So far, I made a great decision. I have
never actually used any of the other rigs on your list, but I am not a
fan of any Kenwood made in the last decade. The Yaesu was on my list,
but a little out of my price range.

I, too, didn't really need 440 since I have that on another rig. one
thing I will need to purchase is a duplexer since 144 MHz and HF are
separate antenna connectors. The problem is my 6M antenna is part of
my VHF/UHF antenna (tribander), so the duplexer is necessary in my
case.

The rig was smaller than I thought, which is a good thing. I'm not
impressed with the PS-125. It makes a slight high-freq while while
on, and gets annoying. It's a cheap switching supply in a nice case.
I had rather have a linear power supply. Oh, well! The rig is also
built VERY well. Very solid feel to all knobs and controls. Not
crazy about the display (rather have an IC-7000 type display on it-
color!). One last complaint...comes with a cheesy hand mic.

Don't get me wrong. This is a great radio. I also have a Yaesu
FT-757GXII, FT-767GX, and Kenwood TS-940SAT. This was obviously a
step up from what I had, but I actually have likes and dislikes about
each one.

Prentice, N4VBH


On Jun 20, 5:32 am, Gary KW4Z wrote:
I have to replace a rig that was stolen and I'm down to four radios to
choose from. I haven't been able to get to a dealer yet to set down and
actually try them out but have narrowed my choices down to four with
preference of those down to two. If anyone owns some or all of the radios
mentioned here I would greatly appreciate your input and experience with
their operation. The two that I am closest to getting is:

Kenwood TS-2000 or the ICOM IC-746PRO. I do realize that the 746PRO does
not have 440MHz like the TS-2000. I like the IC7000 but such a small radio
that they fit so much into it with using so few knobs and buttons on front
that I'm concerned about the learning curve with that one. I'm naturally
concerned about durability, receive quality and the ability to reduce
interference and pull out the weak signals in a crowd or busy band.

Right now the Icom 746PRO has the incentives on it's side with not only
rebates, coupons and a free Power Supply.

I appreciate your input concerning these radios.

On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 05:32:24 -0400, Gary KW4Z
wrote:

I have to replace a rig that was stolen and I'm down to four radios to
choose from. I haven't been able to get to a dealer yet to set down and
actually try them out but have narrowed my choices down to four with
preference of those down to two. If anyone owns some or all of the radios
mentioned here I would greatly appreciate your input and experience with
their operation. The two that I am closest to getting is:

Kenwood TS-2000 or the ICOM IC-746PRO. I do realize that the 746PRO does
not have 440MHz like the TS-2000. I like the IC7000 but such a small radio
that they fit so much into it with using so few knobs and buttons on front
that I'm concerned about the learning curve with that one. I'm naturally
concerned about durability, receive quality and the ability to reduce
interference and pull out the weak signals in a crowd or busy band.

Right now the Icom 746PRO has the incentives on it's side with not only
rebates, coupons and a free Power Supply.

I appreciate your input concerning these radios.

I finally replaced my trusty old Icom 735 with the Icom 7000. I can't
say that it hears signals that the 735 does not. However, the noise
reduction is great, especially on static-y bands like 160, 80 and 40.
The learning curve is steep -- so many menus everywhere. The manual is
very detailed, 150 pages, but it has no alphabetical index, which has
had me pulling out hair trying to locate instructions on this or that.
I love the digital filters on the 7000. Nothing extra to buy, altho'
the mike needs to be replaced if you want your audio to sound decent.
Glad I bought it, tho' I wouldn't mind a few more knobs and less
menus. Still, it's working out fine for a fixed use radio. I put all
the local 440 repeaters in one bank of memories, the 2 meter repeaters
in another bank, the 6 meter frequencies in another bank, and I still
had two banks left for various HF frequencies, including the new 60
meter band.

I had been leaning to a 746pro, but got scared off by the eHam reviews
on blown diodes & finals and whatnot.

By the way, the Astron 25-amp switching power supply is very quiet and
a nice match for the 7000.

The 7000 is a good buy at $1299, but I notice the current $200 coupon
expires on June 30th, if you're interested in the radio.

bob
k5qwg

I think the diode/blown finals problem was addressed early on in the
production cycle of the 746PRO. You might check the dates of those reviews
on eHam. I've been running a 480 for a couple years now and really like it.
It has no extra filters. I would like to try a 746PRO, but I don't have the
budget for two rigs and don't want to give up the 480SAT. I have heard a few
7000s on the air and with the right mic (SM-20) they sound pretty good.

73,
Ed KA9EES


I had been leaning to a 746pro, but got scared off by the eHam reviews
on blown diodes & finals and whatnot.

By the way, the Astron 25-amp switching power supply is very quiet and
a nice match for the 7000.

The 7000 is a good buy at $1299, but I notice the current $200 coupon
expires on June 30th, if you're interested in the radio.

bob
k5qwg