Just took a look on the internet at Kenwood, Icom and Yaesu. Took a look at some of the radios that came out in 2013 and all I can say is wow. I am impressed with the technology that is out there. I always appreciate the jumps in technology since loving electronics since I was 18 and going through Electrical Engineering in College. Of course I have been working as a computer technician since 1996, but that's a different story even though the technology has been awesome.
 |
| An Example of a Kenwood TS-2000 |
 |
| By Alex Alfenas (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
I have always loved the big beefy look of a radio with all the buttons and gadgets. I have a Kenwood TS 2000 and I tend to get a little lost in all the buttons, but I still love it. I looked at the info on some of the Icom radios and was impressed with the IC 7700. Here is a link to a video I saw at icom check it out
Icom . This radio has been out for awhile, but I still like it.
 |
| By LuckyLouie at en.wikipedia Later versions were uploaded by N0ty at en.wikipedia. [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], from Wikimedia Commons |
 |
| By Jeff Davis (originally posted to Flickr as Icom IC-756PROIII) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons | |
Another HF Base that caught my attention was the Yaesu FT DX 3000. Once again I like that big beefy box look with all the different buttons, knobs and displays. The best advise I can give is go to Yaesu and check out all the specifications on this radio. I would also advise to check out any videos on you tube, which will give some added information. I did take a look at some of the reviews on Eham.net and they seemed to be very good with a rating of 4.7 out of 69 reviews.
Yaesu FT 450d
 |
| By Alex Alfenas (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
 |
| By M0TCX (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons |
Yaesu FT-DX9000D
 |
| By Dave Parker (originally posted to Flickr as Pacificon 2010) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
I did take a look at another Yaesu radio that I did take a liking to. It was the Yaesu FT DX 1200. It is not as expensive as the FT DX 3000 and may not have as many features, but still looks very impressive. I would advise to check out all the specs at
Yaesu FT DX 1200 . I did check the reviews at Eham on this radio and even though there not many, the rating was still at a 5. I would just keep my eye on it.
Well my final radios I took a look at were the Kenwood HF Base Radios. I saw two that I tended to favor. I liked the Kenwood TS 990s HF Base and the Kenwood TS 590s HF Base transceiver.Once again I like the big beefy radio with all the buttons, displays and features. I have to admit my TS 2000 does not have the big square look of these radios, but is still packed with lost of features and has worked really well. Both of these radios have a 4.7 rating at Eham.net and the reviews seem to be all very good. For more information on these radios check out this link
Kenwood.
As a final thought I did want to say that these are not all the radios out there and I do love all the different radios by all manufactures. These are only my opinions and I welcome all comments good and bad. I also love the older radios as well and when I hear anyone on the bands using an older radio it always impresses me how good they do and sound.
Well Thanks For Reading. 73s from KC2YTI
