NX-1000 Series

[joehoose2700]

Hello. Does anyone have a comparison sheet of all the NX-1000 series radios that are shown on the Kenwood USA website? There seem to be many versions - For example, the 1300 has an AU, DU, and NU. I also see a 1302. What's the difference between them all?

Also, I've seen a few threads describe this as "low tier" - what do you all mean by that? What might be a good use for a "low tier" radio, and what would you consider a higher tier?

For background, my radio use comes mostly at an outdoor education camp - some rough handling by camp staff (dropping, ending up in the dirt, etc.) but nothing super tough like firefighting or something like that lol. We currently have NX-320's (which tier are these?) and I personally have several 3300's that I use to supplement at large events.

Thank you!

 

[kd4efm]

The nx3000 and nx-x20 series is middle class, difference is, the 3000 would do nxdn or dmr, plus analog. And 1000 channel capacity

The 1000 series will do 1 digital and analog. Can be upgraded to the other digital as an option (fee), and analog can be upgraded to support a digital mode. A_K model.
Not as many channels though.

 

[mmckenna]

Evans works at a Kenwood dealer, listen to him, he knows what he is talking about.

For example, the 1300 has an AU, DU, and NU.

AU = analog only
DU = analog and DMR
NU = analog and NXDN

As he said, you can upgrade the radio to add/change digital modes.

Also, I've seen a few threads describe this as "low tier" - what do you all mean by that? What might be a good use for a "low tier" radio, and what would you consider a higher tier?

Low tier as in designed for business/industrial type users. It's not intended for "public safety" use. While I'm sure it's a durable radio, it probably wouldn't be the best choice for installation in a public safety vehicle where it was seeing constant use 10-12 hours a day every day.

For ham radio/hobby use, it'll be perfect. For business use, industrial use, it'll be just fine.

Mid tier is the NX-3000, would work for public safety use, but all the options aren't there. I use NX-3000 portables at work. I've been carrying an NX-3400 every day for a few years now and it's a solid radio. More features than the NX-1000, like NexEdge trunking, more channel capacity, FPP, some other trunking features.

High tier would be the NX-5000 line. A lot more features that make it friendly for public safety use, P25 trunking, man down, feature set that would apply well in public safety use.

For background, my radio use comes mostly at an outdoor education camp - some rough handling by camp staff (dropping, ending up in the dirt, etc.) but nothing super tough like firefighting or something like that lol. We currently have NX-320's (which tier are these?) and I personally have several 3300's that I use to supplement at large events.

Thank you!

NX-1000 would be fine.
I've got a bunch of NX-420's in use at a large event center and they've done just fine. I'd have no problems giving them NX-1000 if they supported my trunking system.

Remember, someone that is hard on radios is going to be hard on it no matter what you give them. Someone determined/negligent enough will destroy a radio no matter what you give them. Sometimes you have to look at replacement costs based on that. In other words, don't give a fool a top tier radio.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

To add, one of the major missing features between the NX-1000 series and NX-3000 series is that the NX-1000 series does not have Bluetooth which translates to them not being functional with Trackuracy Tier 1 and Tier 2 systems.

 

[joehoose2700]

The nx3000 and nx-x20 series is middle class, difference is, the 3000 would do nxdn or dmr, plus analog. And 1000 channel capacity

The 1000 series will do 1 digital and analog. Can be upgraded to the other digital as an option (fee), and analog can be upgraded to support a digital mode. A_K model.
Not as many channels though.

So a 3000 would have both DMR and NXDN built in automatically, while a 1000 would be an either/or unless you upgrade?

 

[mmckenna]

So a 3000 would have both DMR and NXDN built in automatically, while a 1000 would be an either/or unless you upgrade?

Correct.

However, the NX-3000 radios will only handle one digital mode at a time. You can have Analog and NXDN -OR- have Analog and DMR. You cannot run NXDN and DMR at the same time on the same codeplug.

If you want to run Analog -AND- DMR -AND- NXDN, then you need the NX-5000.

 

[natedawg1604]

I have multiple 3720's (mobiles) in VHF that work absolutely awesome, I use them for my local VFD, SAR and scanning a bunch of local VHF stuff. I've had zero issues with them.