From: flloyd@l1-a.West.Sun.COM (Fred Lloyd [Phoenix SE])
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: 3 Kenwood questions
Date: 11 Sep 1992 19:33:12 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Phoenix, AZ
NNTP-Posting-Host: l1-a.west.sun.com

In article <9209111221.AA21960@ucsd.edu>
>MROWEN%STLAWU.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (Michael Owen W9IP) writes:
>I have been shopping for an HF rig to use as an i.f. for
>my VHF station (HF rig + transverters).  In looking through
>the Ham Trader Yellow Sheets, I see a remarkable number of
>TS-850s for sale, often at very low prices considering the
>youth of this rig.  Question 1: Why are so many people selling
>off their '850s?  Is there something wrong/awkward/dissatisfying
>with it?

The number one reason that I've seen has been the FT-990.  Most ex-850
owners go to the FT-990.  Why?  Most attribute the "digital" filter
(really just a switched cap filter), but I suspect that a lot of folks 
just like to try new radios every year or so.


>Question 2: What was wrong with the '950?  I gather that it
>was not very well-received despite good lab specs.  What was
>the problem, exactly?

The 950S was no better on the spec sheet than the 940S.  There's one
for sale in our area right now for $2200.  The 950SD had all the
options installed, filters, TCXO, etc., but the DSP worked only on
transmit.  There were also a few ECO's which came out on it, and
I seem to recall that the output signal was less than stellar
spectrally.  After a year or so on the market, sales fell off to
nearly nothing.

>
>Question 3: What is really new in the TS-950SDX?  Are the "changes"
>real or cosmetic?  Of course, this is related to #2.

The 950SDX is a big-time improvement over the 950SD.  DSP now works 
on receive as well as transmit, and the parameters are configurable
from the front panel.  The set-up menu has its own dedicated button
which means that you don't have to do the much hated "hold this button
while you turn on the power" exercise.  You can change a lot of parameters
on the fly such as LPF cutoff, HPF cutoff, various frequency offsets,
pitch settings and the like.  The menu's are spelled out alphabetically
(but with 7 segment characters - eccch!), and you need rely much less
on the manual now.

The output stage in the 950SDX has been completely redone and uses
power MOSFET design instead of the older bipolar transistors.  The
950SDX also allows you to specifically choose receive filters for
the sub-receiver, something that was missing in earlier models.  The
big complaint that I hear about the 950SDX versus the FT-10000 is that
the 950's sub-receiver is still restricted to the same band as the
main receiver.  On the FT-1000, the sub receiver can be in any band.

The bottom line is that the 950SDX represents almost everything the 950S
should have been the first time around.  The experiences and suggestions
learned from the earlier model were then incorporated into the new one.
Sales have picked back up and so far everyone I've talked to who owns
one is quite pleased.

It's still a dead heat popularity race between the FT-1000 and the
TS-950SDX.  Personally, I'd like to buy the 950SDX myself but I'm just a
couple of thou short at the moment (current retail price is about $3600).
(ref. my rec.radio.swap ad for the IC-735 :-)

-fred

-- 
| Fred Lloyd  AA7BQ,  Systems Engineer          Fred.Lloyd@west.sun.com |
| Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation                   ...sun!flloyd |
| Phoenix, AZ    (If it's a fact, I believe it!)         (602) 275-4242 |