Stopped in at HRO today. I have to say the Yaesu is much more impressive in person, and pictures really don't do it justice. I'm not really referring to the display, either. The whole feel of the radio is very good, maybe with the exception of the VFO, which was pretty free. I'll have to check if there's a tension adjustment for it, because it made it a little difficult to tune. Fun to play with the filters and "see" them on the display. Very quiet receiver compared to the Kenwood (without using DSP, that is). I had pretty much made my mind up to get the Kenwood, but now I'm not so sure. One drawback is that to hook it up via USB to your computer, you have to use a converter (SCU-17) that they want 195 bucks for. They do include a serial port. (Gee, thanks... all the new computers use serial ports!) Then if you want the FFT-1 for RTTY/PSK31/CW decoding, you have to pay extra for it, too (189 bucks). So to get dressed up for the big dance, you're looking at $1884!
The Kenwood is really small. I guess that would be an advantage for field day or mobile operation, but the thing is really heavy despite it's small size. I liked the layout of the controls, and you don't have to use the menu to hit what you need. Played with the filters, the two noise blankers, the ANL and it's settings, etc. Reading the manual, they designed NB2 to kill the China Dragon... whatever that is. :laugh: Nice rig, and it seemed to receive better to me than the Yaesu. I know I was only there for a half our or so, so it's hard to really judge. Also, the Kenwood has a USB and serial port for computer connection built right in, and offers the remote control software, rx/tx 16 band eq, band scope, can run digital modes via HRD, etc. at no extra charge.
I really didn't look at the remote-ability of the Yaesu due to the higher cost for hooking it up to a computer. I guess you could use a serial to usb adapter to avoid the added cost of the SCU-17, but it really seems to me that these days, a USB port should be standard.
No decision made today, except for considering not buying either one! lol
73,
Brett
