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Looking at Kenwood TS520 today...

m42duster said:
Is the stock mic getting good reports?
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Haven't been on the air yet. 10 meters is dead again today. :thumbdown:

Funny thing, it didn't have the stock Kenwood mic, but has a Superstar. I've used the same model, and they sound good. So, I'm assuming it will work ok. I have a bunch of W2IHY gear that I will ultimately use with it, so the hand mic isn't really a concern.

73,
Brett
 
RT2020 said:
Good deal Brett! What did you do with the TS-430's you had?
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Hey Greg! I still have one of the TS-430's and the matching tuner. Traded one of them off to Mad Scientist for an AOR scanner, which I still haven't figured out how to use. :laugh:

73,
Brett
 
Captain Kilowatt said:
It looks in pretty good shape for $125. (y) I paid about $300 for one about two years ago but it had the hard to find DG-5 digital display and the VFO-520 external VFO for operating split.I haven't seen it in about a year as I bought it, checked it out and after a while loaned it out to my former boss when his rig died. I'll get it back some day but he is enjoying it for now so that is fine with me. he has health issues and can't afford a rig so I offered the use of it as he had a TS-520 several years ago as well. I have the TS-820S as well with the matching speaker with filters, VFO, tuner and the MC-50 microphone. I really like the classic Kenwood hybrids and want to collect the accessories for them as well as pick up a nice TS-830S some day.
Click to expand...

I think so too! Nice to have all the goodies like yours does, though. The 820and 830's are SWEET. I think it is the 830 that a lot of the audiophiles like. Supposed to have a great transmit audio sound. You've probably already checked it out, but this site is a great source of info on the hybrids:

Kenwood Hybrid Types

Really cool, and I've already emailed site owner with questions... and he answered! (y)

Very nice of you to loan your rig out to your friend. I consider that "the spirit of radio" in the best form. I actually bought this one to loan to a friend of mine that got his ticket the same time I did, but he may end up borrowing the TS430 instead! :laugh:

73,
Brett
 
All of the Kenwood hybrids have that nice sound even the 520 and the 820. Basically the 820 is an upgraded version of the 520 and the 830 is an upgraded version of the 820 with 30, 17 and 12m added. There are some differences but the basic RF chain is pretty much the same. My TS-820S still had the original 12BY7 driver and the Mitsubishi 2001 finals in it. They will still make well over 100 watts on 10m today and the radio is pristine inside as well as outside. The previous owner(s) could not have used it much and must have had it covered.
 
Captain Kilowatt said:
All of the Kenwood hybrids have that nice sound even the 520 and the 820. Basically the 820 is an upgraded version of the 520 and the 830 is an upgraded version of the 820 with 30, 17 and 12m added. There are some differences but the basic RF chain is pretty much the same. My TS-820S still had the original 12BY7 driver and the Mitsubishi 2001 finals in it. They will still make well over 100 watts on 10m today and the radio is pristine inside as well as outside. The previous owner(s) could not have used it much and must have had it covered.
Click to expand...

Good stuff to know. I was wondering why the change from dual conversion in the 520/820 to single conversion in the 530/830? The receiver in this 520 has a real nice warm sound to it that is much different from my Icom 718 or the TS 430.

I haven't checked the finals as I did not open the cage yet, so I'm not sure if it has original ones or not. I'm going to contact the fella I bought it from to see what modifications he did to it (if any). I do know he was the second owner.

73,
Brett
 
Checked with the previous owner yesterday, and he said he did not do any modifications to it.

73 and Happy Thanksgiving!

Brett
 
Finally got around to tuning up on 10 meters today. Couldn't figure out why in the world it would tune 80 watts on CW, and not put out anything on SSB. Got to fiddling around with it, thinking ok, it's probably the microphone... and while tweaking the compressor and mic gain controls, BAM, in comes the power and putting out about 80-90 watts on USB. Off came the knobs, in went the DeOxit cleaner, and then the knobs went back on, and I worked them back and forth several hundred times. Give or take a few hundred. :D

Monitoring myself on another rig, I got the mic gain set at about 11 o'clock for the best sound, and left the compressor off. While testing and giving my call, I received a call back from KC2TNT in New York. Bad conditions, that's for sure, but we carried on a short QSO and he said for what signal he had, I sounded good.

I'm really diggin' this rig... I've listened back and forth between my Icom 718, and the Kenwood really does hear signals that the Icom can't pull out of the noise. I'm impressed! (y)

73,
Brett
 
Now you understand why those old hybrids are so sought after.

I have an 820 and I really enjoy it.

I also have the Yaesu FT-102. Now that receive is sweet.



2RT307 said:
Finally got around to tuning up on 10 meters today. Couldn't figure out why in the world it would tune 80 watts on CW, and not put out anything on SSB. Got to fiddling around with it, thinking ok, it's probably the microphone... and while tweaking the compressor and mic gain controls, BAM, in comes the power and putting out about 80-90 watts on USB. Off came the knobs, in went the DeOxit cleaner, and then the knobs went back on, and I worked them back and forth several hundred times. Give or take a few hundred. :D

Monitoring myself on another rig, I got the mic gain set at about 11 o'clock for the best sound, and left the compressor off. While testing and giving my call, I received a call back from KC2TNT in New York. Bad conditions, that's for sure, but we carried on a short QSO and he said for what signal he had, I sounded good.

I'm really diggin' this rig... I've listened back and forth between my Icom 718, and the Kenwood really does hear signals that the Icom can't pull out of the noise. I'm impressed! (y)

73,
Brett
Click to expand...
 
wavrider said:
Now you understand why those old hybrids are so sought after.

I have an 820 and I really enjoy it.

I also have the Yaesu FT-102. Now that receive is sweet.
Click to expand...

Well, now I do. :D I've heard great things about the FT-102 as well. They sure are a great looking rig. I'm starting to think now I should start looking for an 820 or 830!

73,
Brett
 
I heard back from Ken, K4EAA and he said the trim ring is actually aluminum, not plastic. He says you can use a file to scrape off the old crud and get to shiny metal. I'm thinking of just hitting it with a 3M Scotchbrite pad and see how it does. Should really set the rig off. I'll post pics after I do it.

73,
Brett
 
The 520 was my first rig as a novice. I really enjoyed every moment of it. I later upgraded to a TS-140. Then ended up selling the 520. Hated doing that. Many years later a friend of mine fell ill and wanted to sell off his station. So I ended up buying his 520 and Electra voice 638 mic. The rig looked ok but it would not perform well.
You could not tune anyone in and make it undestandable. Was just a warble.

After tearing it down I found the grease in the VFO had become dry and hard. This was causing the rotor in the VFO to not make contact. Had to wash all that old grease out, replace with fresh and it now worked for the past 12 years.

You will enjoy that rig.
Keep your bias set correctly. If you take it apart again and have an ESR meter check the mains filter caps and any cap in the RF stage. There is a lot of heat in that circuit and a caps ESR can rise. This will cause tuning issues and shorten the life of your tubes. Also when you are inthere look at the screen and bias resistors. See if they show any signs of over heat.

If you have to replace mains filter caps I use Rubycon 180uf @ 450VDC. These caps measure 1 3/8 inch diameter x 1 inch tall. And remember any replacement cap you choose the top is exsposed and have voltage there. Simple fix is to remove the end from your original cap and hot glue them to the new cap.
 

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