I'm new to ham radio and looking to buy a modest HF base unit for DXing. Just curious if anyone has any advice or feedback if I'm choosing between two used Kenwood units on ebay:
TS-690S and TS-450S
Both have many 5/5 reviews on Eham. In fact, that's true for a lot of the models I've found on ebay. With so many positive reviews on so man models I get the feeling a lot of hams out there buy a radio and it does what they want it to do for years so they give 5/5. Hopefully that will be my experience too.
Please feel free to suggest something else, those are just the two models that jumped out at me for being in really good condition and more recent than many I've seen on ebay. There's a lot of late 1970's Kenwoods and Yaesu's on ebay found in estate sales or "I'm selling this for a friend who's husband died". I'm sure there are some great deals to be had but I'm wary of buying from a seller who really has no idea of the unit still RX and TX. All they know is a few lights come on, you know?
Thanks for your help.
TS-690S and TS-450S
Both have many 5/5 reviews on Eham. In fact, that's true for a lot of the models I've found on ebay. With so many positive reviews on so man models I get the feeling a lot of hams out there buy a radio and it does what they want it to do for years so they give 5/5. Hopefully that will be my experience too.
Please feel free to suggest something else, those are just the two models that jumped out at me for being in really good condition and more recent than many I've seen on ebay. There's a lot of late 1970's Kenwoods and Yaesu's on ebay found in estate sales or "I'm selling this for a friend who's husband died". I'm sure there are some great deals to be had but I'm wary of buying from a seller who really has no idea of the unit still RX and TX. All they know is a few lights come on, you know?
Thanks for your help.