Kenwood TS-940S reviews

For those of us who aren’t impressed by bells and whistles and HATE burrowing through menus for settings, old radios are where it’s at.

The performance of a solid quad conversion rig with slope adjustments and a low noise floor, coupled with having every function laid out in front of you with the push of a single button can’t be denied.

This rig came with the K6IOK PS upgrade and meter LED.

While parts and service can be a challenge with these old radios are worth the effort.

My TS-940 has a nice home next to my IC-765 and IC-761.

I purchased a used one that was available in a local shop right after I got my license. This radio is a keeper for its simplicity to use when compared to the feature set that it has. I especially love the adjustable slope filters when operating digital modes, they really help with the QRM.

That being said, these rigs are fast approaching 40 years old. They are not maintenance-free anymore, they do have glitches and hiccups and take some TLC to keep on the air. Even with the age-related issues, I plan to keep mine indefinitely. I don't think there's anything on the market today that really compares to this rig.

While, in its day, this was a top-of-the-line contesting rig, today the 940S (or 940SAT w/tuner) is sadly lacking in many of the features we hams have come to rely upon, such as digital signal processing.

I'll keep mine for now, but as soon as I can afford to replace it with something newer... it's gone.