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Trio / Kenwood TS-700 — 2 m All-Mode Transceiver

Overview

The TS-700 is a mid-1970s base-station VHF transceiver covering the 2-metre amateur band in AM, FM, USB, LSB and CW, with a built-in mains power supply — quite unusual for its day. It’s completely analogue (apart from the digital-display variants) and was considered one of the choice 2 m rigs of its era https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=1965.

Variants

Model	Market / Notes
TS-700	Original (UK/Japan), 144–146 MHz, no repeater shift https://www.rigpix.com/kenwood/ts700a.htm
TS-700A	USA version, 144–148 MHz, adds repeater offset https://www.rigpix.com/kenwood/ts700a.htm
TS-700G	UK/European version of the ‘700A https://www.rigpix.com/kenwood/ts700a.htm
TS-700S	As ‘700G plus digital frequency readout, VOX https://www.rigpix.com/kenwood/ts700a.htm https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product/1246
TS-700SP	Slightly improved version, ~1978–79 https://groups.io/g/KenwoodTS600nTS700/topics

Key Specifications (TS-700 / TS-700A)

General

• Type: single-band 2 m all-mode amateur transceiver, all-transistor design https://www.rigpix.com/kenwood/ts700a.htm
• Frequency range: TX/RX 144–146 MHz (Europe/Japan); 144–148 MHz (USA) https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• Tuning: continuous analogue VFO with linear dial; 11 optional crystal-controlled channels (44 fixed channels on later models) https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=29922
• Frequency stability: within 4 kHz in the first hour after warm-up, then within 200 Hz per 30 minutes https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• Repeater shift: ±600 kHz (later models); 1750 Hz repeater tone burst (European versions) https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• Power: internal mains supply (100/120/220–240 VAC) or 12–16 VDC https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• Current drain: RX 0.8–1 A; TX max 4 A @ 13.8 VDC https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• Antenna: 50 Ω, SO-239 socket https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• Dimensions: 278 × 124 × 320 mm (10.9 × 4.9 × 12.6 in); weight 11 kg (24.25 lb) https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html

Receiver

• System: single-conversion superhet (AM/SSB/CW, IF 10.7 MHz); double-conversion (FM, 1st IF 10.7 MHz, 2nd IF 455 kHz) https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• Sensitivity: AM 2 µV, FM 1 µV, SSB/CW 0.5 µV (improved to SSB/CW 0.25 µV, FM 0.4 µV on the TS-700S/SP) https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html https://groups.io/g/KenwoodTS600nTS700/topics
• Selectivity: 2.4 kHz (−6 dB) / 4.8 kHz (−60 dB) on AM/SSB/CW; FM 12–20 kHz (−6 dB) https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• Image rejection: 60–70 dB https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• Audio output: 2 W @ 10% distortion into 8 Ω; 3.5 mm external speaker jack https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• Extras: RF gain, RIT, squelch, noise blanker, preamp (R-DX), on-air indicator https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=29922

Transmitter

• RF output: 10 W SSB (PEP)/CW/FM; 3 W AM; low-power setting ~1 W (FM) https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• Modulation: AM low-level; FM variable reactance frequency shift; SSB balanced modulation https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• FM deviation: ±5 kHz factory set (adjustable to ±10 kHz) https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• Spurious emissions: better than −60 dB https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html
• Microphone: 500 Ω, 4-pin locking connector https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html

Price/era context: roughly $700 US in 1976 (about £799 MSRP quoted retrospectively) https://www.manualslib.com/manual/970399/Kenwood-Ts-700s.html https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=1965.

History

• Introduced in 1974 — it was previewed as a new product at the Konstanz trade fair in 1974, manufactured in Japan by Trio-Kenwood Inc. of Komagane https://www.rigpix.com/kenwood/ts700a.htm https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hammulti/ts700a.html.
• The manufacturer began as Kasuga Radio Co. Ltd., founded in 1946 in Komagane City, Nagano Prefecture, making components and amateur radio gear; renamed Trio Corporation in 1960 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenwood_Corporation.
• The Kenwood brand was created for export markets (combining “Ken” — common in both Japan and America — with “Wood,” evoking durability and their Hollywood office). By the late 1960s/70s products carried “Trio-Kenwood” dual branding, which is why your rig’s badge reads both names https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenwood_Corporation.
• The TS-700 series was among the company’s popular 1970s amateur models alongside the TS-520 and TS-820 HF lines. The Trio name was dropped entirely in 1986 when the firm became Kenwood Corporation, which later merged with JVC in 2008 to form JVCKENWOOD https://www.rigpix.com/kenwood/ts700s.htm.
• Production ran through the late 1970s (the TS-700SP dates to about 1978–79) before being superseded by synthesised rigs like the TS-790/TS-690 https://groups.io/g/KenwoodTS600nTS700/topics.

Reputation & Servicing Notes

Owners rate it highly for reliability, serviceability and clean audio/signal, and it remains a favourite vintage/base station rig https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=1965. Known quirks include somewhat deaf reception and a noisy local oscillator in original form (a GaAsFET preamp and PSU rewiring as a voltage doubler are popular mods), oxidised multi-contact relays, dirty potentiometers, and digital displays that fail after storage (counter board fed from the VFO) https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=1965 https://rigreference.com/rigs/3503-kenwood-ts-700s. There’s also a dedicated enthusiast group (groups.io: KenwoodTS600nTS700) and well-documented 4 m conversion guides if you did want 70 MHz operation https://www.rigpix.com/kenwood/ts700.htm.

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