I'm thinking about getting one to replace my 257 in the mobile. How are these in the mobile?? Any truly worthwhile mods for them??
-
You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
Kenwood TS 50S
- Thread starter binrat
- Start date
The TS-50s is a good radio. Good receiver and very pleasant audio. The only real downside I have found with mine (and others have the same issue) is the
Noise Blanker is completely ineffective. If you have a vehicle that you are unable to track down RFI problems, the Noise Blanker on the TS-50 won't help you at all.
And yes, there are mods out there to expand the transmit range. But, personally, it's really not worth it. If you are thinking of using it as an all band
radio including CB, don't bother. The AM quality is not that great compared to even a Cobra 29 CB. And if you are interested in the "Audio Monster" stuff, the TS-50 won't be it. SSB audio is great.
I picked up a TS-50s at a good price a couple of years ago. It had been modded but, I don't use it for CB. If you can find one at a good price and you have a quiet (RFI wise) place/vehicle to use it in, then go for it.
Very tough and dependable radios.
trucker
The TS-50 sounds fine on AM as long as you have settings adjusted properly.
Trucker,
I planned to open it up for tx for alittle cb during my drives back and forth to work, but used more for mobile hf as well as a trek into a few spots where power would be an atv. Also for field day ect.
I planned to open it up for tx for alittle cb during my drives back and forth to work, but used more for mobile hf as well as a trek into a few spots where power would be an atv. Also for field day ect.
Mind sharing those settings? I've tried just about everything I can find in the manual and have yet to find anything that seems to help. Especially close in.
Talk to someone within a few yards of your vehicle and it will overload their receiver and their radio will overload the TS-50. Get about a mile away and
all is fine. There is no RF Gain control or menu setting for it(that I can find) and that causes part of the overloading problem.
Other than the Noise Blanker issue (almost worthless) I think the TS-50s is a great radio. Well, besides the fact that the display is hard to read in some lighting situations. It is a good radio, just some things that could have been done better that were not. I still have it. But, replaced it with a Kenwood TS-480SAT (in my 18 wheeler) and it works much better. The Noise Blanker
in it is better , but, not as good as my ICOM 7000's Noise Blanker.
trucker
TS 50 is a nice rig !! Have never heard anyone say anthing bad about them.I know they do sound good on the ham bands SSB
If I dont get anything like a Yeasu 857 for my mobile use that is the radio I am going with
If I dont get anything like a Yeasu 857 for my mobile use that is the radio I am going with
It will work Ok, on CB, but not very well close in. The one I have was already modded and I played around with it with the idea that I could use it for both CB and amateur radio. But, that just didn't work out well. Ended up with separate radios instead. Much happier and having more fun. (CB is for work, I drive a big truck ............rock hauler in the oil field and we need a CB for rock crushers and on job sites. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have one)
My current rig for amateur radio in the truck is a Kenwood TS-480SAT and it works just fine. As for a CB, I have a Connex 3300 that one of the drivers at work gave me that was dead. Fixed it and now have that for CB side of things.
The TS-50 would work fine in the situations you mention and you would probably be happy with it. Just be aware that it is an old radio and some parts like the finals might be hard to find if they ever need replacing.
Other than that, and the things I mentioned about my radio, it is a good one if you can get one at a decent price.
trucker
Keep in mind that a TS-50 is an older radio (20 - 25 years?), and some of the abilities on newer radios just weren't around when it was designed. Also keep in mind that it was a very basic radio, didn't have all the bells-n-whistles other radios of it's time period did.
Having said that, the TS-50 is a very nice mobile radio. It can 'do' about as much as any other, and does one or two of those things really well. There are all kinds of mods for them ranging from turning on an 'extra' digit in the frequency display to who knows what. I've had two of them (in fact swapped the first one for an IC-706, and then swapped back to a TS-50, it was just easier for me to use). I would also caution anyone to NOT fiddle with the power output! Yes, you can turn it up, but it's not worth the expense, and it will cost you in longevity.
- 'Doc
(I also swapped for a TS-480sat! Very nice radio too.)
Having said that, the TS-50 is a very nice mobile radio. It can 'do' about as much as any other, and does one or two of those things really well. There are all kinds of mods for them ranging from turning on an 'extra' digit in the frequency display to who knows what. I've had two of them (in fact swapped the first one for an IC-706, and then swapped back to a TS-50, it was just easier for me to use). I would also caution anyone to NOT fiddle with the power output! Yes, you can turn it up, but it's not worth the expense, and it will cost you in longevity.
- 'Doc
(I also swapped for a TS-480sat! Very nice radio too.
)
Doc,
The only power mod I would want to do is to turn down the 10 watt to about 5 or so. That way if I'm backpacking into a site and using batteries, it would n't kill the batteries too fast. I here there is a speech compression mod as well that may help it.
The only power mod I would want to do is to turn down the 10 watt to about 5 or so. That way if I'm backpacking into a site and using batteries, it would n't kill the batteries too fast. I here there is a speech compression mod as well that may help it.
It's been much too long since I had the TS-50, I don't remember if it has speach compression or not. I've found that any Kenwood radio needs very little if any compression to sound good. If you use it, just barely turn it on. Other wise it's too much.
- 'Doc
- 'Doc
a local ham i talk to has the HF Kenwood ts-570 not sure which D or G model it is but i do know it has one big list of options for transmit EQ. are all the kenwood rigs like this?
I have owned 4 or 5 of the TS-50's & they are very simple radios. No menus like the newer rigs & very good transmit audio on both AM & SSB. The downfall to me was finding space for the radio so I stopped using one & went to an ICOM 7000 with the detachable faceplate & it's by far the most AWESOME mobile radio I have ever owned or used. If you have the space the TS-50 is a fine radio & it will serve you well.