[aprssig] New Kenwood radio?
Bob Burns K4RXR
k4rxr_ at rlburns.net
Mon Sep 18 23:02:05 EDT 2006
At 08:30 PM 9/18/2006, Alan P. Biddle wrote:
>Well, you can put the control face on either way, which means you
>can get the speaker on the top or bottom.
The photos I saw on a Japanese ham's web site made it look like a
plain, dual-band mobile ala, TM-732 or TM-733.
>Also, it will, according to the rep I asked, have a "real" serial
>port for programming, without needing more than
>a simple cable.
Big deal. The existing TM-D700 has a serial port. It's just pinned
with the "wrong" gender. A straight-through serial cable with a
gender changer works on a D700, so this is not an advancement.
>Also, the display will be "de-cluttered" compared to earlier radios.
Not sure what this means. "De-cluttered" to some might be less
functional to me. I, for one, like the TM-D700 and TM-V708 display
just the way it is. I suspect that "de-cluttered" means less
information which would go right along with my first comment about it
being a plain-jane dual-bander.
As to Bob Bruniga's comments about the radio being vapor-ware, I
think a new dual-band Kenwood is definitely in our near future. The
TM-D700 cannot be sold in Europe due to RoHS. The TM-V708 may have
the same issue, but it's not a contender in many buyers' eyes because
it cannot be programmed with a computer. This puts it at a
disadvantage to the similarly-priced and similarly-featured Icom
IC-2720 and Yaesu FT-8800.
And, to Scott's comments about control heads, yes, every TM-D700
comes with a control head. But the head cannot be conveniently
mounted to the RF deck. This complicates radio mounting in a vehicle
because you now have two things to mount and run cables to, etc. The
Icom IC-2720 has the same problem, though Icom has the sense to sell
a bracket which will let you attach the head to the deck.
One more thing, Steve Bragg made a cryptic comment in the HamHUD
group about Kenwood's new APRS radio having competition when it comes
out. Well, first of all, I don't think we have any proof that Kenwood
has a new APRS radio, though they may have a new non-APRS dual-bander
coming soon. It sure sounds like they are still fishing for design
ideas for an APRS radio. And, secondly, which manufacturer is going
to choose to compete in that market after Alinco and Kenwood have had
the combo-TNC/radio market to themselves all this time?
Bob...
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