Hi Kevin.

You are mistaken about the crystal calibrator.  The TS-130S has one.  It is
a weird arrangement, though.  You must turn the MIC GAIN fully
counter-clockwise to turn on the crystal calibrator.  That wouldn't be very
user friendly for the blind.

The Kenwood TS-130S was my first solid state HF rig, which I bought new in
1981 when I had a lot more vision than I do today.  I had the DFC-230
frequency controller with mine, which would let me set 4 memories for
favorite frequencies!  My, how times have changed.

I think you are thinking of a R-X Noise Bridge to tune your antenna tuner
with.  Something like the Palomar Engineers Tuner-Tuner.  I tried a MFJ R-X
Noise Bridge with very poor results--the thing was inaccurate beyond belief
when you got above 20 MHz.

One thing to keep in mind is that there is nothing stopping you from using
an auto tuner like the LDG Electronics AT-11 on a rig of this type, as the
AT-11 does not require a direct interface to the radio to do it's
thing.  All it needs as 5 watts or more of RF to do it's thing.  You could
back the CARrier GAIN down part way and hit the key if you wanted to take
it easy on your finals!

One thing that I will say is that I had more TVI problems with the TS-130S
than I've had with any of my other radios, for what it is worth.  Over the
course of the last 23+ years, I've run 14 different HF rigs, spanning the
generations from the Heath DX-40 up to the Icom IC-706, and the TS-130S
definitely got the most complaints from the neighbors.

73, de Lou K2LKK






At 09:42 AM 9/11/02 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi All,
>
>Well, I am narrowing my search for a travel hf radio.  One I am considering
>is the Kenwood TS-130.  However, this rig does not have a calibrator or
>speech readout.  It seems I remember something called a Frequency Mite or
>some such that will read out frequency in cw when detecting an rf signal.
>Also, I seem to remember a little device from somewhere that will allow you
>to tune your antenna tuner by listening to the noise from this device
>without ever having to go on air.
>
>If anyone on the list can shed more light on either of these for me I would
>certainly appreciate it.  thanks much and 73.
>
>Kevin Nathan, Independent Living Coordinator
>Dept. of Services for the Blind
>3411 S. Alaska
>Seattle, Wa 98118
>Voice:  (206) 721-6450
>Cell:  (206) 604-4767
>Toll Free:  (800) 552-7103
>Fax:  (206) 721-6403
>Email:  [log in to unmask]

Louis (Kim) Kline, A.R.S.  K2LKK
e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
Work e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
Work Tel.  (585) 697-5753