This rig has now been sold but not after I had a lot of fun playing with it, I thought I'd leave the description here as it might be of interest to someone, I've left the text as it was when I originally wrote it so read on.....
This is a new addition to the Shack but only whilst I test it and then sell it (read on....) for a friend who's Mum was a local Ham (GW0LAL).
Our boys go to the same school and during a Birthday party we were chatting (I new him when we were both at School), and I mentioned we were moving and at last I would have a proper shack. He related to me that his Mum was a Ham before she passed away some 15 years ago and had traveled Europe meeting the people she had regular QSOs with.
He also had a "box of stuff" in the attic. After we moved and the house got organised the box arrived and in it was a Kenwood TS 440S and Realistic PRO 2004. I bought the PRO 2004 and offered to test, clean up and sell the TS 440S.
The rig was manufactured in 1985 and has these features as standard:
AM/CW/SSB/FM/FSK
100 memories
All mode squelch
General coverage receiver
Notch filter
Slow/Fast AGC
Speech Processor (compressor)
RIT
XIT
Twin VFOs
Split VFO Operation
VOX
Full or semi break-in CW
ALL THAT IN 1985!!!! In addition this rig has all the options fitted:
Auto ATU
CW filter
SSB filter
Speech synthesizer(reads frequency)
I joined the Yahoo TS 440S group before I received the radio so I knew what to look for and the dreaded 'dots' caused by 'Evil Goop' were a real concern.
Well the rig works like a dream, the internal memory battery is still good after 15 years! (although I will replace it), there is no 'Evil Goop' in the VFO circuits (it was not added to some later models) so I have no dots worries apart from simple alignment maintenance.
So it works, what is it like to operate?
Well Signal reports have all been complimentary on the audio - excellent
CW Full break in is amazing, even with full output the relays are near silent (unlike the IC 718)
Received audio is excellent - the filters are superb and Kenwood have the 4 settings perfect
Memories are really simple to store and recall (unlike the 718)
Split frequency operation is solid and the 'T-F Set' option for checking the split frequency is great
The Autotuner tunes all bands on my SRC X-80 5.8 m vertical - amazing
I love analogue meters
The adjustable AGC is a real benefit (the IC-718 doesn't have it)
It has FM for when the bands get better
It is a dream to use
I have used this more than the IC-718 and I think you can see why. In its day this was probably one of, if not, the best HF Rig you could buy. A comparison today from the Yahoo group was the TS-480; TS-590S or Flex 3000 - it is moving in high circles indeed!
I like it so much I think I am going to buy it rather than sell it - top dollar of course but this rig might be too good to let go on e-bay!