[Kenwood] WANTED: "The Complete IDIOTS GUIDE to the KENWOOD TS-2000".

Thu Mar 29 10:04:31 EST 2007

Hi Barry,
I am carrying on with my OCD behaviours...........ta ra George
PS Nothing like hitting the lovers of the TS-2000 between the eyes about
what a poor rig it is for serious endeavours. Maybe Kenwood will pull their
finger out in feature. Gs
PPS I dare say their marketing guys know what they are doing and "bells and
whistles sell". gs 
----------------------------------------
Hi Kenwood users,
WANTED:
"The Complete IDIOTS GUIDE to the KENWOOD TS-2000". 
ALL JOKES ASIDE:
I have been given a TS-2000 transceiver and as I am not experienced in using
a modern rig I suspect there must be "tricks of the trade" to getting the
best out of this one. I am aware that the TS-2000 has shocking close-spaced
IM3 dynamic range and transmitter IM distortion and thus can't be considered
as a serious transceiver for low band DXing. Kenwood have certainly built a
shack in a box but at the cost of being a "jack of all trades and a master
of none"!

MY OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
I have this masochistic desire to work 160 metre DX while living in suburbia
which means I am limited in what I can do for a decent antenna and the level
of QRM is always high, however, there is next to no competition from other
stations on the band (just lucky to hear anyone). In this situation there
may not be such a big advantage in having a competition grade transceiver.
WHAT SETTINGS WORK BEST?
For chasing weak CW signals on 160 metres what settings would be best?
Listed are those I am currently playing with: 

ATTENUATOR: On
AGC: Off
RF GAIN:(/IF Gain?) set to just below the noise floor
BANDWIDTH: Around 500Hz until closing in on a signal then maybe 200Hz
TONE: 700Hz
NOISE REDUCTION: Just discovered NR2 is good for CW. What setting - 10ms?
WHAT MODIFICATIONS WOULD MAKE AN IMPROVEMENT?
So what can I do to try and "turn a sows ear into a silk purse"?
Is the addition of a good filter for the first IF worthwhile?
Will a software upgrade from the original factory installation help?
Is there much to be gained by interfacing a computer with the rig?
The questions go on and on, so, as you can see, I do need: "The Complete
Guide to the Kenwood TS-2000".

73
George, VK5ALS
ggstewart at adam.com.au