It took a few months to find what I needed, but I soon bought the external speaker, remote VFO, and matching MC-50 microphone. As great as the radio was without them, it was ever so much better with them. Well, it turns out that International Radio sells splendid after market filters, so I bought the full kit of three filters, the 1st IF SSB filter, and both 1st and 2nd IF CW filters, and installed them all. Since the TS-830S is out of production, the filters are also, and so the filters could have been scarce. The only filter installed was the 2nd IF SSB filter, but there were places for three more filters. Cosmetically she was perfect, and electrically I could find nothing that didn’t work.

My experience with them has always been positive, and I was extremely pleased with what I bought in this case. In 1996, I bought the used TS-830S you see here from Associated Radio, in Overland Park, Kansas. But for years, I missed that TS-520 setup, because it all worked together so well. I sold that setup in about 1981, and replaced it with something else, something which had the new WARC bands on it. For me, this was a ham radio dream come true. I eventually bought or traded for all of the accessories, and had the external speaker, remote VFO, Antenna Tuner, and matching MC-50 microphone. It was obvious to me that Kenwood had applied what they knew about building high-end stereo equipment to the design of ham radio gear, and the result was a radio system which not only worked well, but looked good enough to live in the family room. After the Navy hitch, I moved to Pomona, California to attend California State Polytechnic University, and while there I sold the Swan and traded for a used Kenwood TS-520. I traded for it while I was in college, and then carried it through my travels while in the U. The first commercial transceiver I ever owned was a used Swan 350. But my absolute favorite was the Kenwood TS-830S.

Many radios came through the shop, and we fixed up and played with them all. There were the Kenwood Twins, a T-599 and R-599 pair that were beautiful, and worked when I sold them, but amazingly primitive in some ways. There was the TS-930 that had been struck by lightning â€“ a very major project, which resulted in a beautiful working transceiver. I worked at W4RT Electronics at the time, and because my good friend Bob Koerber (N4BK) and I enjoyed fixing things, we sought out some interesting older radios to fix up and put to use. In the Mid 1990s, I had the opportunity to obtain and work with a number pieces of older amateur radio equipment.

Ham radio deluxe reviews