With my drive to fund the purchase of a new(er) radio once again in mind, I finally brought down and unboxed my “back up” rig I purchased some years ago on eBay.
This Kenwood TS-440S was what you might call “a steal” when I found it listed on eBay 3 years ago. The poorly written listing just didn't read well, and the photo didn't really do the rig justice. I sent some questions in for exact details, and the owner was forthcoming. His feedback was solid, so I felt good about bidding. I sniped it for just over $200.
My elmer, Dave, WE4K, owned a TS-440S for a number of years. He purchased his 440 to replace his Yaesu FT-757GX. The Yaesu is a decent rig … BUT … the receiver doesn't compare with the Kenwood. By design, the Yaesu was very prone to front-end overload. If there was a strong signal within 100 kHz of you, you could tell it by the amount of desense. The radio was nearly useless during contests, particularly on the very crowded 40 and 20 meter bands.
The Kenwood has been a stellar performer. I haven't used it long in my shack because my main rig has been the Kenwood TS-450S/AT, an improved version of the same rig.
I had forgotten just how nice a rig the TS-44OS was until I lugged mine out of storage this afternoon and set it up on the operating desk. I think it really has a better receiver than the TS-450S. If I had more time I would do some A-B tests just to check my hunch.
I checked in this afternoon on the 10-10 International Net. N6OPR was NCS, and Bob gave me a good report. I miss some of the extra features Kenwood added to the TS-450S.
For example, the memory knob on the 450 lets you cycle through the 100 memories, and when it's not in memory mode, lets you change frequency in 10 kHz jumps — a really convenient way to quickly scan a ham band for activity.
The VOX controls are all on the front or the side of the TS-450; they live on the back of the TS-440. The TS-450S has AIP, which operates like a 6 db attenuator. The TS-450 has more filter slots and ways to combine IF filters. The TS-440S can only only select one filter at a time.
The TS-450S is simply an evolved TS-440S; this doesn't mean the TS-440S is a bad rig.
My plans were to refinish the cabinet on the TS-440 and the put the rig on eBay. I recently purchased some spray paint to match the rig. After unboxing it, I found that yes, it has quite a few scratches and scuffs on the case and could benefit from painting. But you know what? When I put the rig on the operating desk, the rig looks 100 percent better — you really don't notice the scratches.
The only visible flaw as it sets on my desk is the top lefthand corner by the power switch. The corner of the front plate was banged up at some time. I can't fix that, and it really doesn't look as worn as the front panel on my own FT-757GX I've owned for years.
I've changed my plans, as you might guess!
I'm not going to paint the TS-440 side panels or cover. I might offer the can of paint to the new owner. I also have a 500 Hz CW filter for the TS-440 — somewhere. I don't think I'll sell it with the rig. I may just sell the rig by itself with the paint, microphone and power cord. It works well, and I'll use it for the next week or so. Tell you the truth, I really like the receiver better than the TS-450S.
I need to find that filter too. I can go ahead and list that at the same time as this rig. Cool!
That's it for this transmission … 73 de KY4Z SK … dit dit ….