I am looking at a newer rig for both back up rig and or primary rig. I see a
lot of Kenwoods TS 430, 440, and a few others. Anyone have any comments on
these rigs?

I assume you mean that you are looking for a rig that is newer than what
you currently have. They were built in the 80s, as far as I am aware.
I own a TS-430s, and have used a friend's TS-440sat.

I like the TS-430s a lot. It's nothing fancy, but if you're looking for a
basic, solid rig, it'll do nicely. I use mine for occasional CW operating
from home (my on-air time is severely limited by two small children!) and
I have no complaints about it.

Some things about the rig that may be helpful:

- there's no full QSK. The TS-430s uses a VOX workaround that works well
enough, but getting the delay set properly can be a hassle. I personally
don't like listening to the relay click on and off, so often I will
manually switch my rig from TX to RX and vice-versa.

- you don't have a wide selection of filters. The rig comes with the SSB
filter installed, and you can install a CW and AM (wide) filter. But you
can't have a lot of filters installed and then select the ones that you
want to suit what you're doing (like on the Omni 6, for example). You have
two filter settings: narrow and wide, with the appropriate filter being
selected depending on your current operating mode.

- AM RX/TX. Almost nobody does AM anymore, but AM RX allows you to do SWL.

- FM TX/RX with add-on board.

- No DSP/noise reduction.

- The 430s requires an external, 20A power supply.

- Output power is adjustable via a pot. Sometimes the pot gets very
sensitive (due to age or whatever), so turning it just slightly will make
your output power jump from, say, 5W to 50W. Mine is like this. If you're
going to be putting out the full 100W or so (mine does 110W) this isn't a
problem, but if you have to do QRP like I do it makes tuning up an
exercise in patience.

Apparently you can control the TX power and other radio functions via an
outlet on the back of the rig, but I don't know what the pinouts are.

In short, it's a simple rig and there are no bells and whistles. If you
don't need a radio that looks like it has enough functions to launch the
Space Shuttle, the 430 may be what you want.

Any comments on these rigs? Worth the 300 or 400 they are going for?

I paid about $450 for mine a few years ago--price included shipping from
FL to CA. I got the TS-430s, a PS-430 power supply, an FM board, and a
500Hz CW filter. I also got the parts to an MC-60, which I managed to put
back together with the help of a circuit diagram.

Are they worth the price? I don't have a lot of experience buying and
selling rigs, but I'm satisfied with mine. Remember that these are older
rigs, and the electronics, particularly in the final aplifier stage, have
taken a lot of wear. Don't be surprised if something burns out.

73,

Josh, AE6IQ

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