TS-530S_review_73_1981.pdf
TheKenwood TS-530S HF Transceiver - sophisticated performance ata not-so-sophisticated price Paul Grupp KA1LR 73M<lg<llineStalfW henKenwoodan- nouncedthatthe TS-520Swasabouttobe discontinued and replaced witha newmodel, I was somewhatapprehensive. Formany of us, the vener- able 520 was an oldfriend, aperfectexampleofwhat KenwoodsT5-530S. aneconomicaltransceiver shouldbe-shorton bells and whistles, but long on dependabilityand perfor- mance.Wouldthe T5-5305 be a worthy replacement? I hadtofind out, andyou just mightbe interested in what I discovered. Forthose who arenot compulsiveadwatchers, hereisa brief descriptionof the basic features ofthe new530.Asexpected, all amateur bands (160-10me- ters)areincluded. The out- putstagesconformtothe de factoindustrystandard for transceivers withtube finals-two6146Bsanda 12BY7 driver.Both analog anddigital frequency read- outareprovided. The digi- talreadoutisthetraditional Kenwoodblueanddisplays to100Hz; theanalog dial is accuratetowithin acouple kHz.Speechprocessor. VOX. semi-break-inCW,XIT (transmitterincremental tuning),andfullmetering areallstandard.Thereceiv- ersectionboastsanoise blankerwitha variable lev- elcontrol,fastor slow age, an rf gaincontrolandat- tenuator,i-f shift.RIT,anda 25-kHzcrystal calibrator. Notabadinventory! The manualistypicalofthose packedwithrecentKen- 2673 Magazine . October,1961 Bottomviewofthe TS-530S. TopviewoftheTS-530S. Ontheother hand, it iswell known that heishopelessly attachedtothe250-Hz filterinstalled in his5-line at home! Conclusions Whatconstantlysu r- prisedeveryone here who usedthe530ishow well it fares incomparisontoKen- woodstop-dollar flagship, even though theyarenot necessarilydesignedto compete.TheT$-5205 would notcompare as fa- vorably, even though adigi- tal-readout-equippedver- sion retailedforquite a bit morethanthe 530 does! Kenwoodhas a worthy sue- cessorfor thevenerable T5-5205, asuccessorthat has a lot tooffer at a rea- sonableprice. Formore in- formation,contactTrio- KenwoodCommunications, lnc.,1111WestWalnut, ComptonCA 90220. Day weekend. The QRM, pressure,andexcitement were allthere,and itper- formedadmirably. Receiveraudiobearsthe distinctive Kenwoodtrade- markofwidefrequencyre- sponse with a broadmid- rangepeakforadded pres- ence,withorwithouta goodexternalspeaker. Hams withgoodearswho havedonea lotoflistening todifferenttransceivers couldprobably pick outthe Kenwoodevery time in a blindfoldcomparison test. Iwasvery pleasedathow easythe 530istotuneup. I generally prefer solid-state finals,butthe 530isso easy totunethatrdidntmind a bit.Complaints? Aparticu- larlyrabidCWoperator (AC9V/1)feltthatthe 50o-Hzfilter didnthave enoughultimaterejection. notchfilter, and digital hold switchofthe830.Onthe positive side, the530 allows bothCWand 55B filtersto beswitchedinandoutat will. Its bigbrotheronly ac- ceptsoneor theother. Per- formance? Kenwood rates the530 receiversi-frejec- tionandthetransmitters sidebandsuppressioneach 10 dBworsethan the 830. Allother specifications are thesame. Howimportantthesedif- ferences aredependsen- tirelyonindividual operat- ing habitsand tastes. Some may miss the extra features ofthe830 sorely,butothers willbalkatspendingtheap- proximately125dollars more thatthe830coststo getthem.Onethingsfor sure-the530hasalot moretooffer than the 520 did! OntheAir Wecouldtalkaboutfea- turesandperformanceuntil I ranoutofpaperandyou ran outofpatience, but it would allbemeaninglessif the radio in questiondidnt play. The 530 plays! The 530$heldapositionof honor(frontandcenteron theoperating desk) for its entirestayatt he73 Magazinehamstation.One ofthethings that makes it sosuccessfulisthe sensible layout of the front panel. Everycontrol has its own knob - therearenoconcen- triccontrolstofumble with. Ifyouadjustthecarrier control,youdont run the riskofmessinguptheset- tingofthemic gaincontrol. Nor willyougothrough an operating session where the bandappearstobedead, onlytodiscoverthatyouin- advertentlyturneddown therf gaincontrol whilead- justingthevolume!This cleanfrontpanellayout should makethe530 an ex- cellentchoice foracontest station. Our test was in the summeractivitydoldrums, sotheonlycontestwe could run it in wastheField Our 530 arrived in per- fectworkingorder, whichis somewhatunusualfor equipment from almostany manufacturerthesedays. We immediatelyinstalled it inthe73 shack alongsideits more expensive brother, the T$-830$. Thefirst thingthat strikesyou about thesetwo rigs is their similarity. They arebuiltonexactlythe samechassisandhoused in thesamecabinet.Even therear panelholesare punchedin thesameplace, sothe530 has a fewempty spaceswhere the830has jacks. The similaritiesbetween the530 andthe 830 are more than skindeep, how- ever. Theyshareidentical finalsections, power sup- plies, vfo, digital readout, and rfboards. Almostallac- cessories arecompletely in- terchangeable, making the 530 a logical choice fora back upriginan830- equippedstation.More- over,mostoftheseacces- sories will alsomatewith thediminutiveT5-1305. 5uchinterc hangeability throughouttheir entireline ofHFtransceiversisa thoughtfulstepwhich mightcostKenwooda few sales of accessoriestoown- ersoftwoormoreoftheir rigs. It willpayoffbecause Kenwoodwillearn the loy- alty of customerswhodont wishtoreplace theentire stationeachtime they up- gradetoa newtransceiver. Anotherblowagainst plannedobsolescence! woodequipment-good operating instructions and enoughschematicsand block diagramstogetyou intotrouble. Acomplete servicemanualisalso available. The 530 is not quite acar- boncopyofthe 830. In the bells-and-whistlesdepart- ment, it has anaudio rather than anrfspeechprocessor, andit lacksthetransverter jacks,VBT,tonecontrol, 73 Magazine October,198127
