Kenwood TS - 130 S

[K8EEI]

TNX in advance ....Over ? http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[w9fnb]

What do you need to know? I have owned one for many years and it is a great old radio...still have one on the bench...decent RX and stable TX...be a great first radio considering the price nowdays about $300 in good shape...All the Best W9FNB Gary http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[py5lau]

TS130S is the best old transceiver I have had until the present moment. I'm sure about that.
Callsign py5lau
email py5lau@hotmail.com

[ac0be]

I have an 130SE (E=has the optional fan mounted standard) and I use it everyday. Plain Jane and straight-forward.

The reason you can't find out a whole lot about them is that there isn't much to say...rugged, reliable, and one of a few sets Kenwood built that did not have any T/S bulletins on.

If you contact Kenwood, they will tell you to upgrade to a newer model becuase it is hard to find repair parts now.

I will probably keep mine until it dies a unreversable death!

It is NOT as good as a base radio- the RX is very respectable but is no match for a base radio of higher pedigree in dynamic blocking or IMD product numbers.

The power output, according to ARRL lab testing of a new one, showed a little OVER 100 watts but this is nothing you would notice in use. The TX quality is very good, drawing unsolicited compliments and edging out an occaisional pile upper with lots more power than me.

The only complaint I have is that it drifts 300-400 KHz during warm-up so I turn it on a few before I key up.

73 Steve

[k7dlx]

Only HF rig I've ever owned.

Been through 18 Field Days, and before each one I take it into the shop and put it on the bench. It always tests right on frequency and at just under 100 watts out.

There are several mods that can be made. As it came from the factory, WARC bands were RX only. You can activate the TX on those bands by cutting one wire.

You can also get on 60 meters by performing another mod that throws all frequencies (going off memory here) 3MHz lower than what is displayed. (Mine doesn't even have the WARC bands enabled.)

And BE is right - the TX quality is impeccable - if the Speech Compressor is properly adjusted. Otherwise you'll splatter and generally sound crappy.

At the risk of being called a CBer, I have a Turner SSK base mic hooked up to the TS-130SE at my base, and have received nothing but glowing reports.

Highly recommended from this station.

[WA2ZDY]

I had a 130S 20 years ago and still think of it fondly. I used it mobile and it took that punishment and worked just fine. BE is correct about the drift - that rig has a digital readout but it is not "digital." It has an old analogue coil and capacitor VFO that will drift, very badly with temperature change.

I had the DFC230 - digital frequency controller - which was essentially a synthesised remote VFO. That was the best option you could buy for the 130. If you get a 130, search high and low for the DFC230 - it'll be well worth whatever you pay for it.

I would love to have another 130. It was the first of several Kenwood rigs I've had: a 440, now a 140 and a 480. Yes, it made a good name for Kenwood in my eyes.

[K8EEI]

So , what are the mods tips and secrets?

[WA2ZDY]

Well, I hadn't known about the mod being needed to transmit on the WARC bands until I just read it here. Not sure why/how I missed it the first time I read and posted here.

Anyway, that mod is described at: http://mods.dk/view.php?ArticleId=2460 . There are two other mods, one being to make the rig work on CB. I don't see that being useful, and another mod is for a defect I never ran into.

I can't think of anything else to mod on that rig. It was "all that" as it was. Kenwood did a good job with the 130.

Oh and I realised also reading my earlier post, I had one other Kenwood prior to the others - a TS511. I don't remember anything good about that rig!