Kenwood: Kenwood announces end of production for TH-D74

[N4DJC]

When you add the satellite use + real APRS + 220MHz, it is quite a loss. It was one of the only two non CCR 220 HTs available.

BTW, I'm super impressed with mine, being only a few days in. Leaps and bounds better reception over the 878, and the ability to monitor the local 6M repeater network around the house without sitting down at the shack is huge. D-Star was just a bonus for me, but I like it better than DMR (and it sounds better).

Ive owned the D72 and D74. The D74 could have been THE portable sat rig if it had been full duplex. I was never happy with the sloppy battery fit and quirky charging circuit.

 

[sonm10]

They might be coming with something new? Yaesu discontinued the ft-450D to come out with the ftdx-10. Never know.

 

[danesgs]

A friend of mine contacted me in 1994 very concerned about Kenwood getting out of amateur radio. He was quite sure it was going to happen as it didn't seem that Kenwood was making any investments in developing amateur radio gear. That was over 25 years ago and Kenwood is still here.

That said, JVC Kenwood, as a corporation, only derives about 24% of its revenue from all radio communications products, including both amateur radio and land mobile radio.

Icom's least expensive handheld amateur radio is the IC-V86 which retails for about $115. And, it is 2m only. It competes pretty closely with the Kenwood TH-K20 which sells for about $10 more and is also 2m only. Icom no longer sells any analog dual-band handheld amateur radios and the ID-52 dual-band D-STAR handheld has been delayed for the same reason that Kenwood stopped production of the TH-D74.

Yaesu has two dual-band handheld amateur radios that are less than $100, the FT-4X and the FT-65. Both are built in China using Chinese "radio on a chip" designs. The user interface for these radios is a mix of Yaesu and Baofeng and they are "one band at a time" radios, not true dual-banders like the TH-D74 (or TH-D72 or TH-F6).

All that said, the thread is about the discontinuation of the Kenwood TH-D74, which appears to be a fact not subject to debate. If you think Kenwood is getting out of amateur radio, please start a new thread where you make your case...assuming you have more evidence than my friend did back in 1994. And, if you don't like D-STAR or think Anytone is building a better radio, please start a new thread on those topics.

You could be right about all you have said. I have never used DSTAR or YSF for that matter as could never afford either type of radio that did that mode. I have always been impressed with this model for the extended coverage receiver and the quality build. I just never had the money for TH-D74A. That being said DX-engineering has the TH-74A on sale for 519.00.

KJ4DGE

 

[mmckenna]

Why they are still supporting D-Star and SystemFusion when the writing is on the wall is beyond me. I know people love their cliques, but there's no way I'd invest in either one of those digital modes.
They've done this to themselves. They've splintered an already small market into smaller pieces.

 

[krokus]

Anytone ... has a tri-band HT for under 200.00 that does what the D74A tried to do.

The Anytone does some things that the D74 does, but far from everything.
1) No LW reception. (It has MW reception, which is mislabeled.)
2) The SW/HF reception is AM only, no SSB.
3) No APRS functionality built it.
4) No TNC interface.
5) No GPS

 

[vagrant]

Splintering happens

I mostly use P25 and Yaesu Fusion as I own the gear and use it on those modes. I actually used those two, individually, more than analog now starting in 2020. I have D-Star and DMR radios but rarely use those modes. Others clearly purchase equipment and use digital modes daily too. I know this because I actually chat with people using them. It allows me to easily chat with others one mile away, 250 miles away, 5000 miles away. I am not just pointing out what can be done, but myself and others actually do on a daily basis. It is not just all Internet either. I and others have repeaters in place that allow people to use RF and make these distant contacts...and they do on a regular basis. I had a jovial QSO with a guy in Japan two days ago via Fusion about something many Japanese traditionally do during the new year celebration at a particular shrine in Tokyo. It is quite comical and we had a laugh. Splintering? Yes I 100% agree and many are better for it.

Our club planned to install D-Star repeaters we own last year. Now 2021 looks good. I will increase my use of that mode as well using the D74A. We have analog, Fusion and P25 repeaters now. We will probably lose our clique card, but we're fine with people having fun with whatever mode they want to use.

Why they are still supporting D-Star and SystemFusion when the writing is on the wall is beyond me. I know people love their cliques, but there's no way I'd invest in either one of those digital modes.
They've done this to themselves. They've splintered an already small market into smaller pieces.

 

[alcahuete]

While I'm sure the fire had something to do with their decision, I don't think that's the whole story. You don't discontinue an entire product permanently, you put things on hold, you rebuild, and you start offering the product again, if the product is actually selling. This isn't the only factory in the world that is capable of building chips.

You have a $550+ handheld. D-Star is spiraling to its death. I'm sure they weren't selling a whole lot of these radios in the first place.

 

[Yapper]

Strange: I checked around the time of the post above me here and there were no new ones available in any of the Ham stores. I checked today and both HRO and Gigaparts now have these in stock. Maybe some were in the pipeline? The prices are nuts ... they are shamelessly scalping these but I'm wondering if KW went back to producing them or if this is just a gurgle and a sputter of the last of the new ones.

 

[AK9R]

The QST review of the TH-D74 in April 2017 said the price was $620. The current price at Ham Radio Outlet is $680 against an "MSRP" of $730. Gigaparts is asking $750 and claims the "regular price" is $800. Those were the only two US retailers I could find which had the radio in stock.

This is microeconomics in action. Limited supply and high demand is a classic case for high prices. The stores that have radios to sell are taking advantage of the law of supply and demand to maximize their profits.

As for the current appearance of radios on store shelves, my guess is that Kenwood halted production when they realized they had a parts supply problem. Once the units working their way through various stages of production hit the end of the line, Kenwood may have re-evaluated what parts they had on hand and what they felt they needed to hold back for repair parts and then decided they had enough parts to build a few more units.

Icom kinda did the same thing with the IC-7200 which was discontinued only to reappear about 6 months later for a limited run.

 

[vagrant]

The price for used has also gone up. I purchased a used D74A for a little over $400 shipped a few years ago and it included the desktop charger. One guy on qrz.com was recently asking $925 for a used one recently and it sold. I don't know if it sold for that though.

https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/kenwood-th-d74a-with-mars-cap-mod-and-rapid-charger.755153/

I have found that most everything of late being sold on QRZ.com is at a higher price. Not just asking, but sold. Items I was not in a rush to sell may go quick at the friendly prices I will be asking. Even locally, quite a few items I have tried to sell for a while were purchased. I even had an international sale of a radio accessory that was only listed on a personal web page. He paid via PayPal Friends and Family and arranged shipping.

 

[N4GIX]

Darn! Reading this almost makes me wish I hadn't traded a new THD74A I won at the 2017 Dayton (Xenia) Hamfest...

...for an IFR-1200 Super S...

Some yahoo on fleaBay has the ambition to sell a USED TDH74A for $1,179.00 + $11.10 shipping!!!

 

[N4GIX]

I have however found a lot of uses for the service monitor, particularly since my friend who traded with me not only calibrated the IFR-1200 Super S, but threw in a rubidium 10MHz reference for good measure!

 

[N4DJC]

$679 on sale...no thanks

 

[jazzboypro]

There was some available in January. I bought mine at HRO on January 11, it took about two months but i finally got it. Very nice radio.

73
VA2FCS

 

[W2ITG]

I hope they reconsider, or at least make a successor. DMR would would be a nice addition, in a successor.

From what I understand it’ll never happen as DMR is in their commercial/public safety lineup. Main reasoning is that DMR isn’t an “official” digital mode in ham radio like D-Star and Fusion.

 

[SuperG900]

From what I understand it’ll never happen as DMR is in their commercial/public safety lineup. Main reasoning is that DMR isn’t an “official” digital mode in ham radio like D-Star and Fusion.

...that's a shame. Ham is about the road less travelled, experimenting, etc., and all that. Save the conformity for the commercial market.

 

[krokus]

From what I understand it’ll never happen as DMR is in their commercial/public safety lineup. Main reasoning is that DMR isn’t an “official” digital mode in ham radio like D-Star and Fusion.

...that's a shame. Ham is about the road less travelled, experimenting, etc., and all that. Save the conformity for the commercial market.

DMR seems to be winning the war for digital, in the ham arena. That would be a reason for the company to consider it, at least.

 

[W2ITG]

DMR seems to be winning the war for digital, in the ham arena. That would be a reason for the company to consider it, at least.

That’s only because of the cheap Chinese radios. Hams would never pay $600 for a mono band DMR radio that can’t hold the whole CCS7 ID database. Otherwise Yaesu Fusion would be the winner because the FT-70DR costs less than $200. Personally I only buy top tier radios. I have a Kenwood NX5300 with DMR & P25 enabled, Motorola APX8000XE, and just acquired a used TH-D74A. In general most hams are cheapskates!

 

[vagrant]

I noticed a used D74A sold on QRZ recently for $700 +$25 shipping. That's $300 over what I paid for a used one via QRZ about two years ago.

We have at least 25 DMR repeaters in my area. I scan about half of them daily as most are linked. I rarely hear anyone for several weeks to a month at a time. Fusion has daily traffic (not including analog) with only six repeaters in the area and the operators are increasing. Most of it is local operators with almost a dozen coming in from out of the area via Wires-X. Hmm...thinking further I would say Fusion is beating P25 right now in my area. One busy linked Fusion repeater burned in the fires last year, but will not be replaced due to infrastructure issues at the site.

I am unsure about Dstar as I do not monitor it. We have eight repeaters in the area. I should program them in and scan. Hopefully I am pleasantly surprised with frequent use.

 

[jaspence]

If you want a proven dual band HT, grab a FT-60R before they disappear too. The btech 6x2/anytone dmr series are also decent radios, but there is a gap to the next level.