"Von Fourche" wrote in message
et...



I'm thinking of going after a Kenwood shortwave receiver on e-bay.
Back when I got into
shortwave radio during the mid 1990's I always wanted a Kenwood R-5000.
Well, after buying two great portables, a Grundig Yacht Boy 400 and the
famous Sony ICF-2010, I never went after a Kenwood.

Anyway, I stopped listening to shortwave four or five years ago. Now I
noticed that Kenwood radios are discontinued and are popping up on e-bay.

So, are Kenwood radios worth going after for shortwave? And will they
let me pick up the small stations in Africa that I could never get with my
portables?

Thanks!

I imagine your antenna and location would make more
of a difference than the radio in receiving QRP DX (small
African stations).

I have a TS-440 which is related to the R-5000.
I haven't compared the ts-440 to the decent protables
available these days but from the way people rave about them
their sensitivity and selectivity are probably all one
would need, especially for AM shorwave broadcasts.

With the Kenwood you would get some other good
features. To me what is quite valuable is the computer
interface. I have PC software to control the receiver.
With that I have a database of several thousand
frequencies where I have found signals of interest.
It's nice to have a windows interface to point and click
to tune them in.

I also like the IF shift, independently controllable selectivity,
and notch filter of the Kenwood.

One thing about the Kenwood, the keyboard tends to
develop bounce with time. Generally that is a small
annoyance. When punching a mode button (AM, USB,
etc.) it doesn't matter if it bounces. But it could be quite
annoying if one were directly punching in frequencies alot.
I don't know anyone who does that, though.

The R-5000 appears to have some free space available in the
cabinet. In my book that is a plus for repairs, modifications,
and reliability.

You can find the user and service manuals for
the R-5000 at:
http://www.rigpix.com/schematicsnstuff.htm

--
rb