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Kenwood TK 790 for a small car?

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powderchaser

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I am in the market for programming some receive only frequencies in a professional grade radio. I used to be a Motorola rep and had Spectras and many earlier 2 piece radios. Now, I am looking at a Kenwood 790. Is that unit as light or small as any of the others on the market? Was looking at a Motorola business grade radio but the scanning was confusing, unable to delete channels on the fly. I think the 790 is as easy as my spectra where you can simply delete as many channels as you want scanning the rest of them.

Steve
 

DeoVindice

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The TK-790 is an absolute brick of a radio and is intended for multi-deck operation for public safety users. If size/weight is important to you, I would suggest a TK-780 instead. The x80 mobiles are tiny but robust little things with a ton of features, especially for their age. They can be programmed with a scan add/delete key.
 

mmckenna

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TK-7180 is a petite little radio. You can get the KRK-10 remote head kit and do that if you need to squeeze it in a small car. Scan add/delete also.

512 channels, display does 12 or 14 character channel names (can't remember…).
You can pick them up used for $100 bucks or so, another $80 for a new KRK-10. Programming is easy.

With the latest firmware, most of them will do MDC-1200, also.
 

DeoVindice

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TK-7180 is a petite little radio. You can get the KRK-10 remote head kit and do that if you need to squeeze it in a small car. Scan add/delete also.

512 channels, display does 12 or 14 character channel names (can't remember…).
You can pick them up used for $100 bucks or so, another $80 for a new KRK-10. Programming is easy.

With the latest firmware, most of them will do MDC-1200, also.

Great point on MDC1200. If the systems you monitor use it, an x180 can be programmed with a list of unit IDs and aliases that are displayed when that user keys up.
 

mrweather

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I guess it'll depend on what the OP wants to monitor.

My TK790 is programmed with 2M ham and railroad frequencies, and I'm continually impressed with receiver sensitivity and the solid, loud audio it outputs.
 

kg6nlw

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I have a handful of TK790's along with a 90H and I love them all! Definitely worth the investment for older analog stuff.

Regards,

-Frank C.
 

MTS2000des

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The 7180 is a better choice for small vehicles. Dash or remote mount (optional, kits are rare and pricey) but excellent performance, scan is fast, and easy allows one to add/delete. With F/W 1.22, you get MDC1200 encode/decode. The radios are pretty cheap to come by, built well, KPG-89D/DN is easy to use and headache free, runs on anything from Windows 98 to Windows 10.
 

powderchaser

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Thanks so much for the replies. Yes, weight is important since I am looking to mount on the side cowl (Plastic) of a VW wagon. If its too heavy it could put stress on the side plastic. I am only looking to monitor from 16-20 channels (Railroad and some USFS). It sounds like the 7180 will be something I will look into. Is the 7180 as a single head (Not remote) lighter than the TK 790? I need light.
 
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powderchaser

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I guess it'll depend on what the OP wants to monitor.

My TK790 is programmed with 2M ham and railroad frequencies, and I'm continually impressed with receiver sensitivity and the solid, loud audio it outputs.
Is it lighter or as light as a single piece 7180 as others refer to below?
 

a417

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Is it lighter or as light as a single piece 7180 as others refer to below?
oh god no.

the x80s is just over 2 lbs, x180s is about 3.5 lbs, and the x90 series decks are closer to 10, depending on high power models and what you have attached to the front of it.

smallest of them is the 780 in terms of footprint & weight, but it lacks MDC.
 

mmckenna

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If you are doing a remote head mount, the TK-7180 RF deck on it's own is about the size of a paperback book and total net weight for the radio and control head is 3.3 pounds. If you mount this on a plastic panel, it's usually a really good idea to use a backer plate, and not rely on sheet metal screws into a plastic panel.

A TK-790 (non-H model) is 5.06 pounds total.

A TK-780 is 2.07 or 2.31 pounds depending on if you have a 25 watt or 45 watt version.
 

mrweather

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The TK-790 with basic head attached is a little over 5.5 pounds (the H version is almost 8 pounds).

I remote mount mine (the control head weighs about half a pound) and I never really worried too much about the head ripping out of the mounting surface.
 
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