When I saw these Kenwood TK-3207G radios on EBAY, it peaked my interest to see if it was refurbished, or if they would have just remanufactured a new TX-RX board, so I decided to try one (since it was pretty cheap).
I had purchased similar (but motorola) radios before off EBAY, and they were refurbished, so I was curious to see what these were).
As soon as it arrived I was eager to test the programming, which was successful using Kenwood programming software. I only tested one channel on a frequency I had licenses for so far, and didn't test anything else.
Here are photos showing the branding of the boxes, and both charger and radio as they were unpacked:
First Box: Charger
Charger 1 - Box
Charger 2 - Front of Charger - Cheap looking and did not actually match the one advertised on the EBAY AD
(just wait until you see inside it)
Charger 3 - Back of charger
Next Box: Radio
(They spend a fair amount of effort to make the box look so authentic)
Radio 1 - Top of Box
Radio 2 - Left Side of Box
Radio 3 - Right Side of Box
Radio 4 - Lets open it 1
Radio 5 - Lets open it 2
Radio 6 - Lets open it 3
Radio 7 - Lets open it 4
Next, I wanted to go inside and check the quality (or lack thereof):
Chassis Foilside
Chassis Left Side
Chassis Right Side
Chassis Top
Chassis Bottom
Case 1
Case 2
Notes:
1) If you search that part number (HLD3207v12), results don't show up, and they are not Kenwood (obviously).
2) The metal chassis appears authentic?
EBAY Seller Supplied Charger
(no circuit/overheating/overcharging protections - is just four diodes, a transformer, a few caps which is a basic AC-DC power supply) and comparing it to a TYT DM380 circuitry:
Comparison of Charging Circuitry between EBAY and stock DM380 chargers
(Most likely a fire hazard that will not stop charging the battery once its charged.)
These were the images that I used when I confronted the seller about selling fake/counterfeit radios:
Showing that the radio is missing waterproof sealsTesting
(youtube video showing a water test and disappointed, yet expected results - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4n5AwxDb1c )
Comparison between Fake TX-RX and counterfeit board
Another Comparison between Fake TX-RX and counterfeit board
I found it interesting how cheap the TX-RX board was, and the complete lack of seals, etc. These are pretty well junk, although I'd like to see how clean they are on a spectrum analyzer.
This seller was also selling ICOMs (fake of course), and after presenting some of the pictures above he refunded my money with no arguments.
I could put his name here, but, the price made it obvious that they could be fake and/or low quality.
I had purchased similar (but motorola) radios before off EBAY, and they were refurbished, so I was curious to see what these were).
As soon as it arrived I was eager to test the programming, which was successful using Kenwood programming software. I only tested one channel on a frequency I had licenses for so far, and didn't test anything else.
Here are photos showing the branding of the boxes, and both charger and radio as they were unpacked:
First Box: Charger
Charger 1 - Box
Charger 2 - Front of Charger - Cheap looking and did not actually match the one advertised on the EBAY AD
(just wait until you see inside it)
Charger 3 - Back of charger
Next Box: Radio
(They spend a fair amount of effort to make the box look so authentic)
Radio 1 - Top of Box
Radio 2 - Left Side of Box
Radio 3 - Right Side of Box
Radio 4 - Lets open it 1
Radio 5 - Lets open it 2
Radio 6 - Lets open it 3
Radio 7 - Lets open it 4
Next, I wanted to go inside and check the quality (or lack thereof):
Chassis Foilside
Chassis Left Side
Chassis Right Side
Chassis Top
Chassis Bottom
Case 1
Case 2
Notes:
1) If you search that part number (HLD3207v12), results don't show up, and they are not Kenwood (obviously).
2) The metal chassis appears authentic?
EBAY Seller Supplied Charger
(no circuit/overheating/overcharging protections - is just four diodes, a transformer, a few caps which is a basic AC-DC power supply) and comparing it to a TYT DM380 circuitry:
Comparison of Charging Circuitry between EBAY and stock DM380 chargers
(Most likely a fire hazard that will not stop charging the battery once its charged.)
These were the images that I used when I confronted the seller about selling fake/counterfeit radios:
Showing that the radio is missing waterproof sealsTesting
(youtube video showing a water test and disappointed, yet expected results - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4n5AwxDb1c )
Comparison between Fake TX-RX and counterfeit board
Another Comparison between Fake TX-RX and counterfeit board
I found it interesting how cheap the TX-RX board was, and the complete lack of seals, etc. These are pretty well junk, although I'd like to see how clean they are on a spectrum analyzer.
This seller was also selling ICOMs (fake of course), and after presenting some of the pictures above he refunded my money with no arguments.
I could put his name here, but, the price made it obvious that they could be fake and/or low quality.
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