Kenwood: Possibly Buying Kenwood TS-440SAT - Feedback?

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KC9CVF

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Looking at a Kenwood TS-440SAT, has new battery for display (wot?), and new LED's in the display, and also the IC-10 mod and such already. Seller wanted to get their ticket but never did.

Anyway, what should I be looking for in terms of red flags and such with the device, as this will be my first actual piece of kit?
 

AK9R

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That radio was discontinued sometime in the 1990's. You are looking at a radio that is at least 20 years old, probably more. I would tread very carefully.
 

KB4MSZ

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That radio was discontinued sometime in the 1990's. You are looking at a radio that is at least 20 years old, probably more. I would tread very carefully.
100% agree. I recently came across a Yeasu FT-757gx. I bought one of these as my first new HF rig back in 1985 and loved it. The one I recently found was still unopened in the original box, but due to the 30+ years that have passed it would almost assuredly need capacitors before being turned on and then a complete alignment.
 

prcguy

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It all depends on how much you can get it for. By today's standards a TS-440 is a very mediocre radio at best and its older brother the TS-430 seemed to be a better performing radio even though the 440 had a few more features and was introduced 3yrs later. BTW, I believe the TS-430 was Kenwoods very first all solid state "mobile" transceiver from around 1983 to give you an idea of its age.

If it appears to work ok and has no issues I think $200 to $250 would be a fair price.
 

KC9CVF

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Here's the unit in question:

Kenwood TS-440SAT

It looks to be in pretty decent shape overall, and with the IC-10 mod and the right software, I'd think that radio could still be quite capable? At this point, having a reasonable cost-of-entry into a base station radio / HF is a higher priority. Re-capping, if it ends up needing to eventually happen, isn't too big a deal. I'm used to fixing up power supply units of car audio amplifiers and the like. Current offer, accepted, stands at $275.
.
The built-in antenna tuner was appealing, since I'm trying various contraptions for working indoors (apartment)
 
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W5lz

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From the external appearance and if it works, then you've probably got a fair deal.
 

prcguy

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If you can test the radio before buying its probably an ok price and it will get you on HF right away. The internal antenna tuner will handle about a 3:1 match, so take that into consideration. If your antenna is much worse than 3:1 then you would need an external tuner.


Here's the unit in question:

Kenwood TS-440SAT

It looks to be in pretty decent shape overall, and with the IC-10 mod and the right software, I'd think that radio could still be quite capable? At this point, having a reasonable cost-of-entry into a base station radio / HF is a higher priority. Re-capping, if it ends up needing to eventually happen, isn't too big a deal. I'm used to fixing up power supply units of car audio amplifiers and the like. Current offer, accepted, stands at $275.
.
The built-in antenna tuner was appealing, since I'm trying various contraptions for working indoors (apartment)
 

KC9CVF

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If my antenna's worse than 3:1 I'll modify it and see if I can't make it better... I strung up some wire against the wall in a half-assed attempt at a dipole, though the wire's rather fat, I did have a ton of it.
 

jjbond

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Looking at a Kenwood TS-440SAT, has new battery for display (wot?), and new LED's in the display, and also the IC-10 mod and such already. Seller wanted to get their ticket but never did.

Anyway, what should I be looking for in terms of red flags and such with the device, as this will be my first actual piece of kit?

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this item but BE VERY cautious.... I loved mine when I had it, back in 1999. I loved it, loved it, loved it.... until what I feared would happen, happened... and the PLL refused to lock... we call it the dreaded dots!!!! It's quite common with these radios.

VCO5 has a stabilizing compound “glue” to help secure the components during mobile operation. After time this compound can get conductive and cause problems in the RF board and PLL board. If it is brown or shows a few volts when you probe it to ground then its bad and EVERY single bit of it needs to be chipped out by hand... it's an expensive venture. If you buy one, if they've already done the fix, thats awesome, if they haven't, YOU WILL BE, it's not a matter of if, it's when and at times it happens more than once, as it did in the one below he had to redo.

I've included a PDF to get you started.... great radio otherwise, loved mine, and here's another link:

Kenwood TS-440 repair - OZ1BXM

PS: Have I said how much I loved mine?

Background History:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:
 

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jjbond

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And I wasn't kidding when I said "needs to be cleaned". Hopefully it's already been done, but now you know what to look for and where on the board.

2019-07-03_23-01-41.jpg
 

KC9CVF

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The seller told me about issue, that it's common, and that it hasn't manifested quite yet, but that it does have the original glue. Given my experience in electronics repair/engineering, either if it manifests, or if I decide to nip it in the bud, it doesn't appear to be too much more than a remove, clean, replace of listed components. At my shop I've got a soldering/microsoldering station with ultrasonic cleaning apparatus and all, so not too bad.

The above material is greatly appreciated.

I've kind of an infatuation with Kenwood gear for some reason, so this is pretty cool to me.

With the IC-10, and a serial cable adapter whatsit, is this thing capable of anything it isn't capable of out-of-the-box, like some of the new digital modes or any other type of packet radio, etc.?
 

prcguy

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Kenwood was a big player during the time the 440 was made and their HF rigs were generally better than Yaesu's of the same period. Today Kenwood's engineering dept is at the back of the bus compared to Icom and Yaesu.

My take on your radio adventure is this TS-440 is a stepping stone to something better in the future. In your shoes, my goal would be to get the radio for a good price, enjoy it, then sell for the same price or hopefully a little more to fund a better radio in the near future. It will get you on the air and hungry for more HF fun and there are some really fantastic newer rigs that are not all that much, so you can set your sites on something like an Icom 7300 in the not too distant future.


The seller told me about issue, that it's common, and that it hasn't manifested quite yet, but that it does have the original glue. Given my experience in electronics repair/engineering, either if it manifests, or if I decide to nip it in the bud, it doesn't appear to be too much more than a remove, clean, replace of listed components. At my shop I've got a soldering/microsoldering station with ultrasonic cleaning apparatus and all, so not too bad.

The above material is greatly appreciated.

I've kind of an infatuation with Kenwood gear for some reason, so this is pretty cool to me.

With the IC-10, and a serial cable adapter whatsit, is this thing capable of anything it isn't capable of out-of-the-box, like some of the new digital modes or any other type of packet radio, etc.?
 

W5lz

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Almost all radios are capable of the newer mode. Those new modes are computer/software defined. That means if you can get the required signal from the radio to the computer the software handles it from there. Then getting the signal from the computer to the transmitter is the other half of the communications. Most of that is in/out through the computer soundcard to/from the readio's mic/speaker. Getting the two to start swapping the required sounds is the trick and thats the connecting cable(s).
Some radios have more of the required 'stuff' built in instead of having to add it separately. And some don't, but, no radio had that built in to start with so you just have to do that part yourself. It's the same $$$, the difference is where you spent it...
 

KC9CVF

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Well, I'm back with it. It turns on and appears to work, though with everyone doing pretty much everything but being on the air, I have yet to hear anything. Antenna tuner appears to work as it should in the manual.

Haven't tried it on my computer yet, but I'm so used to having a waterfall, this is weird... a whole different style of signal searching.
 

prcguy

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I'n near Boston at the moment, pick a 20m freq and lets try it out.


Well, I'm back with it. It turns on and appears to work, though with everyone doing pretty much everything but being on the air, I have yet to hear anything. Antenna tuner appears to work as it should in the manual.

Haven't tried it on my computer yet, but I'm so used to having a waterfall, this is weird... a whole different style of signal searching.
 

KC9CVF

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Not licensed for 20m, but at least I could listen for you. Pick one and I'll tune.
 

KC9CVF

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Tuned. I'm using a 3' length CB antenna at the moment since I happened to have one and it's got the right connectors on it. I keyed the mic once while running one of my SDR sticks and it transmitted, so at this point I'm just waiting to see if I'll hear anything.

Generally how busy are the bands if I just wanted to listen on longer ones like 20m until I get my General or Extra?
 

KC9CVF

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Listened til about 3:30 central time. I'll just listen on 28.420, USB, which also happens to be a band I can work in case someone reaches me/I can reach.

Also having a hell of a time getting this crap antenna to cooperate, in case anyone has any ideas.
 
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VK3RX

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You beat me to it :)

It is a common problem with the model, as well as the R5000 receiver. It may manifest itself sooner in humid climates.

My 440 bought in the mid 1980's caught it after about 10 years, and a friend who has 3 x R5000 receivers had all of them suffer from it.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this item but BE VERY cautious.... I loved mine when I had it, back in 1999. I loved it, loved it, loved it.... until what I feared would happen, happened... and the PLL refused to lock... we call it the dreaded dots!!!! It's quite common with these radios.

VCO5 has a stabilizing compound “glue” to help secure the components during mobile operation. After time this compound can get conductive and cause problems in the RF board and PLL board. If it is brown or shows a few volts when you probe it to ground then its bad and EVERY single bit of it needs to be chipped out by hand... it's an expensive venture. If you buy one, if they've already done the fix, thats awesome, if they haven't, YOU WILL BE, it's not a matter of if, it's when and at times it happens more than once, as it did in the one below he had to redo.
 
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