The TS450

I thought I would write a little more about the Kenwood TS450S I recently added to the shack. This rig is a Kenwood, produced I think in the early 1990s and should not be confused with the Yaesu FT450 which is a totally different beast. The TS450 although it does have a limited menu system is controlled in the main from its front panel.

You can see from the photo above that the TS450 is identical in dimensions to the R5000 receiver (the receiver is on the left). The TS450 was bought primarily for use on PSK, WSPR and other data modes. It has a rear connector which is suitable for a data interface and this makes for a neat setup.

From time to time I have also been using the rig on SSB and  it seems to work very well. The front panel power meter appears pretty accurate, I have checked it against an external meter and that makes it very easy to set the rig to the QRP levels required for modes like WSPR.

 I have found the TS450 to be almost as good a shortwave receiver as the R5000. The Am filter gives a nice clear sound from broadcast stations. The only major difference is sensitivity on medium wave is well down on the R5000 but under 500Khz it picks back up so this set would be OK for LF listening.

All in all I am pleased with this little rig.