I
’ve waited for a very long time
to try out the recently introduced
Kenwood TS-2000 but this is
understandable when you
consider just how much design
work has to be put into modern
transceivers. The results of
Kenwood’s endeavours is such that
to be fair to the transceiver and to
keep readers as fully informed as
possible, this equipment evaluation
is being presented by two PW Staff.
Tex S wann G 1TEX , PW’s
Te ch n i ca l Pr o je c t s S u b- e di t o r w i ll b e
presenting his opinions on the v.h.f.
and u.h.f. aspects of the transceiver
together with comments on the
accompanying computer software,
etc. I on the other hand, will
concentrate on my h.f. work with
this very interesting transceiver.
What’s On Offer?
So, to start off my evaluation of the
latest transceiver to come from
Kenwood TS-2000 I’ll describe just
what’s on offer. However, I’ll try to
avoid the list-all-the-details and
specifications approach (intending
purchasers can read those at a
dealer’s) and try to present you as
much information in a concise form
before passing on my opinions on
the TS-2000. I say this because
reviews are all about opinions aren’t
they?
The Kenwood TS-2000 is an allmode transceiver covering - as
supplied - all the Amateur Radio
bands from 1.8 to 430MHz and
includes an automatic antenna
tuning unit (a.a.t.u.) as standard for
h.f. and
50MHz.
Further
coverage can
be added,
using an
operational
module to
enable the
transceiver to
operate on the
1.3GHz
(23cm) band.
The main
transceiver receiver circuitry is a
quadruple conversion superhet on
a.m., c.w. s.s.b. and frequency shift
keying (f.s.k.) modes and uses a
triple conversion on narrow band
f.m. (n.b.f.m.). The sub receiver is
based on a double conversion
superhet for the a.m. and n.b.f.m.
modes.
General coverage reception is
quoted as starting from 30kHz.
However the receiver I had tuned to
below 30kHz and Kenwood confirm
that this will normally be the case
Intermediate frequencies (i.f.s) for
the quadruple conversion superhet
main receiver are as follows: The
first i.f. on the general coverage
range (300kHz to 60MHz) is
69.085MHz or 75.925MHz (the i.f.
is selected automatically when
satellite mode operation is in use).
For 144 and 430MHz the first i.f. is
41.894MHz and for the 1.2GHz
band it’s 135.495MHz.
The second i.f. is 10.695MHz,
the third is 455kHz and the fourth is
12kHz. On the sub-receiver (dual
conversion) the first i.f. is
58.525MHz and the second is
455kHz.
The transceiver is provided with
dual high speed digital signal
processing (DSP) facilities. These
provide high speed automatic gain
control (a.g.c.) and fully adjustable
filters down to 50Hz for c.w.
Maximum transmitter output is
100W on c.w., s.s.b. f.s.k. and
n.b.f.m. on all bands from 1.8 to
144MHz. Maximum output is
quoted as 50W on 430MHz and
10W on the 23cm (1.2GHz) band.
Minimum quoted power output on
h.f., 50 and 144MHz is 5W, and 1W
on 1.2GHz.
The maximum quoted power
output on amplitude modulation
(a.m.) 25W on 1.8 to 144MHz and
12.5W on 430MHz and 1W on
1.2GHz. The minimum on h.f., v.h.f.
and u.h.f. is 5W and the lowest
output available on 1.2GHz is 1W.
Other important features include:
a built-in 9600/1200bps TNC for DX
packet cluster tune (PCT). There’s
also an Instant Satellite
communications key.
Switching On
In my opinion the acid test for the
ever increasingly complex
equipment arriving on the Amateur
Radio market is switching on the
unit for the first time. In my
experience this can be a process
fraught with difficulty, but it wasn’t
so with the FT-2000 because it only
took a moment and was achieved
Cost: £1699.95
Company: Kenwood
Contact: Sales
Te l: (01923) 816444
FAX: (01923) 212477Website:
Webstie: www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk
●
ALL IN ONE PACKAGE
● Fig. 1: Close up view of the very
clear, simple and straightforward
l.c.d. main display, showing the
multi-function meter. The selected
DSP filter parameters are
displayed under the Filter logo in
the form of bargraph segments
(see text).
So much technology
is packed into the
new Kenwood
TS-2000 that two
PW staff have had to
share this review! Tex
Swann G1TEX looks
at the v.h.f, u.h.f.
and computer
aspects while Rob
Mannion G3XFD
leads off with his h.f.
evaluation.
38 Practical Wireless, May 2001
The TS-2000 HF, VHF
and UHF Transceiver
● Kenwood UK’s user-friendly TS-2000 which Rob G3XFD considers to be a worthy
stablemate for the TS-870.
without referring to the manual quite remarkable when you bear in
mind the complex nature of modern
equipment! However, the supplied
manual is really excellent and to
get the best out of the transceiver
many features it really is required
reading!
Once the transceiver was on I
was greeted by the synthesised
voice from the (optional) built-in
unit which told me the frequencies.
Normally I’m not happy with these
annoying voices but this one was
very friendly, and did not seem to
have an accent.
And (unlike Tex who told me he
switched it off!) I found the facility
very helpful when tuning around as
I worked. Undoubtedly, I feel that
operators who have no sight at all,
or more commonly have failing
sight, will find the facility very
helpful.
The TS-2000’s large l.c.d. main
panel and display is excellent. It’s
extremely clear, with a light yellowbuff coloured background, and due
to its size I think that the digital
frequency display is ideal for
anyone with visual problems. The
multi-function l.c.d. meter is also
very useful, clear and has many
functions.
In use I found that the front
panel display showing the settings
on the DSP filtering to be excellent.
Ta il or in g th e f il te r t o yo ur ow n
satisfaction is made so much easier
because you can see just what
configuration has been selected.
At first I wasn’t too sure about
the front panel ergonomics and the
general lay-out of the controls bearing in mind that I’m an enforced
left-hander of course! However,
despite this I was soon feeling very
much at home when operating the
transceiver at home and to a very
limited extent - when operating
from my car in the portable mode.
Incidentally, although I feel that
Kenwood have thought of this
transceiver generally as a main
station rig...it’s my opinion that it will
prove very useful for portable
operation. It’s just the right size for
either option as far as I’m concerned.
Kenwood have obviously put a
great deal of effort into designing a
good front panel. I’m very impressed
and felt very much at ease during
the hours I had the transceiver on
the air. So, with that reminder it’s
time to recount just how much I
enjoyed using the ‘2000 on the
bands.
On The Air
It was my intention to carry out
some of the on-air testing from
home and enjoy longer spells from
my preferred h.f. portable site at
Holt Heath near Wimborne.
However, the spreading tragedy of
the Foot and Mouth disease put paid
to any ideas of extended h.f.
portable operations. Despite this, I
managed one afternoon and several
evenings on the way home from the
office.
With the facility of running at
reduced power I found that the
‘2000 did very well indeed from my
car. In fact it’s small enough to place
above the instrument panel, directly
on the driver’s side of the
windscreen. What a delight it
proved to be!
Using the TS-2000 from the car
proved to be a great idea and I had
QSOs with stations all over the UK
and into Ireland and far beyond on
both c.w. and s.s.b. Incidentally, the
built in electronic keyer meant I
didn’t need to take my own keyer
unit, all I needed was my paddle
(I’m finding a straight Morse key
difficult at the moment due to my
arthritis). I’ve no adverse comment
whatsoever about the built-in keyer,
it was ideal for me and the menu
control, like all the menus on the
transceiver seemed exceptionally
easy to use even for this dinosaur of
a Radio Amateur!
Operating mostly on 7, 14 and
18MHz - with short excursions to
3.5 and 28MHz, I quickly found
that the receiver was excellent, with
the added support of the very
efficient DSP facilities for difficult
conditions. However, on my
favourite band of 7MHz I found that
the DSP really came into its own -
proving to be superbly effective.
And up on 14MHz the annoying
QRM from packet stations operating
almost directly on the 14.1MHz cw.
beacon frequencies was
dramatically reduced. Even under
the worst QRM I found it possible to
copy the fairly low power beacons despite the best efforts of the h.f.
packet transmission to drown them
out!
Operating from my home I
found that conditions on 7MHz
were difficult enough to put a strain
on my own base-station transceiver
which is used with a W9GR DPS -II
unit. Normally, I find that this little
add-on unit works extremely well
with any of my own transceivers
which range from two to over 20
years old, but conditions were so
difficult that the W9GR unit did not
have the flexibility of the DSP
provided on the TS-2000.
On c.w. I soon found that the
claim of brick-wall selectivity
provided by DSP filtering was
again proved right. I’m sure that
once they’ve tried it out, even the
most experienced c.w. operator
will be most impressed with the
flexibility and effects of the DSP
filtering on c.w.
Despite my praise for the effect
of DSP on the c.w. mode, I feel that
the most spectacular effect for the
operator has got to be the
improvement if offers on s.s.b.
QSOs - especially on 7MHz, and
particularly 3.5MHz during the
evenings. This was clearly
demonstrated on several weekends
when I either listened into, or joined
in with, the Worked All Ireland net
Practical Wireless, May 2001 39
● Fig. 2: Inside top chassis view. Note
the relatively large loudspeaker
which provides excellent audio
quality on Amateur transmissions
and broadcast stations (see text).
● Fig. 3: Under chassis inside view.
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