[amsat-bb] radio question

[John Geiger]

Hi Rich,

I have had a couple of TS2000 radios in the past, and currently have the
Yaesu FT991 (non A).  In terms of the Kenwood sensitivity, some people make
that claim because you have to turn on the radio's preamp to have great
sensitivity on 2m and 70cm.  But so what?  That is what the preamp is there
for.  I made plenty of satellite QSOs, as well as tropo and groundwave QSOs
on the TS2000.  The 100 watts on 2 meters are nice also.

I really like the FT991.  The noise reduction on it works better than on
the TS2000.  The noise reduction 2 (used on CW) on the TS2000 does makes
some odd background noises (as does the NR on the FT991 at certain
settings) but it does really help remove background noise and pull signals
out of the background.  Noise reduction 1 (suggested for SSB) isn't near as
good, and it muffles the audio on SSB.  Most of the time I just left it
off.

The FT991 has a better overall receiver with a 3khz roofing filter.  Both
the QST numbers and Rob Sherwood's dynamic range table show quite a
difference in close in dynamic range between the 2 radios.  The noise
blanker on the FT991 is very good at taking out noises and has 3 different
parameters you can set.  The noise blanker in the early TS2000 models seem
better than the ones in the later models.  I am not sure when the change
occurred.

The FT991 has a CW memory keyer than can do contest serial numbers and has
5 different memories.  The CW keyer in the TS2000 has 3 memories and
doesn't do contest serial numbers.  A 5 message voice keyer in standard in
the Yaesu FT991, for the TS2000 it is a $130 option and stores 3 voice
messages.  The TS2000 can have a voice synthesizer installed to read off
frequency and mode.  That is not an option in the FT991.

The FT991 has a USB jack on the rear of the radio and has an internal
soundard so you can do radio control and the digital modes by using nothing
more than a standard USB cable.  You can also do true FSK using the USB
cable and MMTTY software.  The TS2000 has a serial jack and needs some soft
of interface to do digital modes.

The FT991 is smaller, lighter and the FT991A model has a real time
bandscope.  They also do Yaesu's System Fusion digital voice.  I haven't
tried that yet.

Here are a couple of area where the TS2000 is better:
1. Does full duplex on satellites-You could use your Icom 706 for the 2
meter side of satellite operations
2. Has 2 antenna jacks for HF/6 meters, and separate antenna jacks for 2m
and 70cm.  How important this is depends on your setup.
3. Has the subreceiver, nice for monitoring local 2m and 70cm repeaters, or
simplex channels during a VHF contest.
4. Has the 1.2GHZ option, not available on the FT991
5. Can do crossband repeat and remote operations on Sky Command, not
available on the FT991.

So for basic HF/VHF/UHF SSB/CW/Digital operating, I think the FT991 is
better overall.  The TS2000 is better if you want to have full duplex in a
single box, do 23cm operations, use crossband repeat, or do Skycommand.

Good luck with your choice!  We live in a great time to have many different
rigs available!

73 John W5TD

On Fri, Nov 1, 2019 at 3:03 PM RG via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:

> Hello fellow hams!I am looking into the Kenwood TS 2000,Older version on
> Ebay and the Yaesu  FT 991A.The Kenwood is nice with the satellite features
> and a built in TNC perhaps for filter selectivity than the FT 991A but have
> heard some problems with RX sensitivity on the TS-2000.Dont want to spend
> $1600 on a new one.The Yaesu is nice because it has digital radio but I
> have DMR so not a big thing though nice.Anyway opinions would be greatly
> appreciated.My motive is  obvious for full duplex for satellite use but
> would like a good  nice base station as I run CW 85% .also and can use my
> 706 for RX and portable usethanks all73Rich :)
> marzo7088 at yahoo.com
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