Railfan Technology > Yaesu vs Kenwood

I hate to start this topic again, but I am in the market for a new scanner. What is everyone's impression with the Yaesu FT-270R compared to a model that Kenwood has which is the equivalent? Is the FT-250 a discontinued item? I know there is a dealer close to me in Woodbridge VA that sells companies models. Thanks.
 

Talking radios is sort of like asking is a Ford better than a Chevy or Dodge... Everyone has their own opinion. You might go here and look for a review of the radios you're considering: http://www.eham.net/reviews/

Good hunting!

N0LBH

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/16 12:28 by mojaveflyer.

Thanks for the link. I was also looking at Uniden Bearcat 125. On a un-related but related note, is there a website that lists the NDXN freqs, used by the railroads?

If you do a search of the TO archives you'll notice that I really like the Yeasu FT-270 but it's a beast to program using the keyboard. There is a software package for 30 bucks that allows an Excel style record of the frequencies and a quick way to load them with an adapter. I also have a FT60 that includes the EOT frequencies, but the FT-270 is a lot more user friendly mostly due to size and physical considerations. The 270 has great audio, battery life, easy to read display, many nice features. Make sure you find an antenna that is for the RR Band and not the HAM Band, it really made a big difference for me.

I've heard good things on here about Kenwood's, it would be interesting to hear more about them. The NXDN thing is still a big unknown for most of us, but we're enjoying analog while we can.

You can find the band plan at DPD productions.  

The choice between Kenwood and Yaesu is like another said, Ford or Chevy, or maybe Canon or Nikon.  They both do a great job and you won't go wrong with either one.  Just look at the prices and any functions you might be looking for.   Neither will do NXDN.  You are going to have to spend about $500 or more to crack that nut for now.  

In the 50+ year that I have been a ham I've had Drake, Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood, and others. 

John

All of my current amateur radio equipment is Yeasu.  When I get NXDN equipment I will get a Kenwood handheld and hopefully a mobile.  I worked in the two way field and really like the Kenwood commercial equipment, although Icom makes excellent equipment also.  Ford/Chev thing.

I had been using a Yaesu FT-250R for several years until its volume control started to give trouble a month ago.  It was very difficult to program using the keyboard but I managed to do it.  It was an excellent scanner that picked up distant signals well and clearly.  I recently replaced it with an FT-270 and I am a bit disappointed with the new scanner.  The 270 is much easier to program with the keyboard including setting up banks.  But it does not pick up distant transmissions as well as the FT-250R.  Also, beneath its audio output is an annoying background hiss.

I wish I could have found an FT-250R.  But it is discontinued and unavailable.  The FT-270 is acceptable but not what I'd hoped for.

KG



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/16 05:03 by kgmontreal.

I've had the older versions of the FT-250 and FT-270 (VX-150 and VX-170) for years.  They are both good radios and have been trouble-free.  I've also used Kenwood equipment and I like it, too.  The Kenwood TM-281 mobile is THE best analog amateur mobile for railfanning because it will tune the new AAR "splinter" frequencies and is a stellar performer, to boot (and very reasonably priced).  To my knowledge, no Yaesu amatuer mobile or portable will do that, as yet.  Neither will any Kenwood amatuer portable, so far as I know.  If one wants those splinter frequencies in a field programmable portable, then some of the Chinese radios are about the only way to go.  Buyer beware, though, I've found the quality of those radios to be pretty variable, even among different copies of the same radio model.

Like it or not, the best long-term solution for radios that will perform well and remain usuable once NXDN comes on-line fully are the Kenwood and Icom NXDN (Icom calls it IDAS) commercial radios.  I've been using those radios for several years now and they perform well.  I still will occasionally carry a Wouxun KG-UV6X analog portable (which also performs well) just because it is a little smaller than the NXDN portable that I own, but I know that Wuoxun's days (years) are numbered because it won't do NXDN.

By the way, the big annual 2-way radio trade show is this month in Las Vegas--it is usually where a lot of new radio equipment models get rolled out.

Keep in mind that the programming software is for Microsoft only.....NA7SL..Swede...Albany,Or.

Thanks for the information. I thought that the Kenwood TH-K20 did do narrow band because it is the same model used by NS according to the link to the website that you provided.

dcorreia Wrote:
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> Thanks for the information. I thought that the
> Kenwood TH-K20 did do narrow band because it is
> the same model used by NS according to the link to
> the website that you provided.

That can not be correct.  The Kenwood TH-K20 is an amateur radio--it is illegal to use it to transmit on the commercial bands (including railroad).  In fact, the TH-K20, like most amateur radios, is transmit-blocked outside of the amateur bands, though modifying it to enable transmit outside of the amateur bands is not difficult to do.  The TH-K20, like most amateur radios can be set to transmit narrow band, but the tuning steps are still 12.5 kHz, not the 6.25 kHz necessary to tune the splinter channels.  The Kenwood TM-281A amateur mobile does have 6.25 kHz tuning steps.

And, yes, most two-way radio programming software is Windows-based.  Sadly, some otherwise very good commercial analog radios that are narrow-band capable are being forced into the trash bin because their computer-programming software is DOS-only based.  Radios techs I know usually keep an old DOS (pre-Windows 98) computer around just to run that old DOS-based programming software.  Another big "buyer-beware" point for people who are looking to buy used commercial radios for railfanning--depending on the model, it may or may not be programmable with a current generation computer.