A neat amplifier designed to compliment the Trio Kenwood TS-120V

10 watts in gives 100 watts out.

12 Volt operation.

eHam.net
Description:
Early 1980s entry-level low power CW/SSB transceiver 10 Watt, SSB and CW HF transceiver. Covers 80/40/20/15/10 Meters. The lower power version of the TS-120S
Product is not in production

I've had my TS120V for over a year now and I think it should be reviewed for what it is - a 30 year old radio. It's not a flagship radio and never was but it does its job as a simple low power HF radio admirably.

In my opinion the TS120V is no more difficult to service than any other radio of its era. Mine had two dots on the display on the 15m & 10m bands courtesy of a low gain transistor in the 10MHz doubler section. After replacing the transistor and a tune-up I heard pretty much anything I could hear with my more modern radios - it has a good receiver.

In common with many radios of its era the frequency stability at power-up is not great but once warmed up meets the specification in the manual for stability. Certainly if you needed to use the radio immediately it is no issue to ride the VFO while waiting for it to settle down.

The transmitter meets the specification in the manual and perhaps not surprisingly I've only ever received good reports on the audio quality of my transmissions. The low power output is not the limitation that it may seem especially if the bands are open. As mentioned elsewhere you should not be surprised to get a 5x9 report when your friend around the corner running 100W gets 5x9 +10 from the same distant station. That's radio.

As far as I am aware my TS120V has not caused any perceived downfall in the hobby but it has caused me to speak proudly about it on the air and has been an integral part of some really great QSOs with other hams that like working on their rigs and keeping them going - one of the joys of our hobby.

I would not be disappointed if this was my only radio and if someone was to ask me for my opinion I'd be happy to recommend it to them. Don't confuse or compare this radio with today's modern radios - if that's what you want to do then you've come to the wrong place. I give it 5 out of 5 simply because it does what it's supposed to do - simply - even after 30 years.

Kenwood TS 120V
LA2Z Hortengruppen av NRRL
TILBAKE
Kenwood TL-120 HF Amplifier