I have sought the top of the line radio that is all things to everyone
without costing enough to require a second mortgage to pay for it, and I
have come to this conclusion.  There ain't no such thing.

I am of the opinion that we are asking too much.  What we are asking for is
a radio like the Kenwood TS-2000 that covers all bands from the bottom of
the longwave bands through UHF with all ham bands between 160 meters and 70
cm, that delivers full power out on all those bands, that can handle all of
the dissimilar band plans for repeater subbands on all of the VHF-UHF
bands, that will handle PL tones, that will have a receiver that sounds
great everywhere, that is fully accessible, and that has an auto tuner that
will be as efficient as anything else on the market and cover at least 160
through 6 meters.

Well, that's a tall order, and after looking at all of the options, I find
that manufacturers usually end up making compromises in a couple of
areas.  Either they short-change the auto tuner to make room for all of the
other stuff, or else they make the radio HF only, or at least Hf&6 meters,
and trade off 2 meters and up.

I think that what I've come around to is the realization that it is still
better to run top of the line Hf and top of the line VHF/UHF gear as
separate radios--at least if you are a stickler for performance.  Possibly
the other approach that might make sense is to take Anthony's approach, and
get a radio like the Kenwood TS-2000 which is probably the closest thing to
a all-in-one radio you are ever going to get, and live with an external tuner.

Myself, I still like what I've been reading about the Kenwood TS-480S, and
I think I'll continue to run my faithful Kenwood TS-790A for 2 meters/70
cm.  I have yet to see one of the all-in-one radios that can touch the
performance of the '790 on 2 meters and 70 cm.

73, de Lou K2LKK



Louis Kim Kline
A.R.S. K2LKK
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