> In my humble and biased opinion, the TS-830 is one of the "Best
> Buys" from the 80's (if not the BEST period). I own three of them
> and I love 'em! Some consider it to be the KWM-2 of the 80's.
After Tom's excellent tribute to the 830, I thought I would point out
the few minor things I dislike about the TS-830 that made me decide to
go with something more modern.
Actually I do have one nit with Tom's summary. I would think of
the TS-830 as the KWM-2 of the 70's, and the TS-930 as the KWM-2
of the 80's. :-)
Anyhow, here goes:
1) Seperate VFO is a pain -- just another box that can break and that
needs to be schlepped through the Miami airport
2) I really like no tune, especially after I have been awake for about
40 hours, and my ultimate goal is to automate my station
3) QSYing from 28475 to 28525 requires a bandchange
4) No onboard memories (although I guess one of remote VFOS -- ugh --
have some memories in them); the TS-930 does this right
5) As these radios approach 20 years in age, the MTBF is shrinking,
and I'm not a fixit-kind-of-guy.
6) No computer interface
One minor thing the TS-830 got right that so many radios fail to
get right is that the VOX gain and delay are on the front panel.
Where else would you want them to be? Duh.
N6KT is a true believer in this radio too, and has set his share
of world records (including some currently standing) with this
rig.
>From a feature perspective, I guess a TS-930 that lets you clear the
RIT while transmitting and has a computer interface, yet comes in a
cabinet the size of a TS-830 and costs less than two kilobucks is my
idea of a useful, if not top-end radio. I have used my TS-930 pretty
much exclusively since buying it new back in 1987, until I picked up a
second-hand TS-850S in December 1996.
--Trey, N5KO
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