I dig HomeBrew Radio and QRP. And I collect Kenwood TS-430 era base radios and accessories. When I move into the new shack some time late this summer I'll post a picture of the nearly completed station.

The lineup started when Karl, KE4AUR, gave me a TS-430S in need of a little TLC. I had wanted a '430 when I was in my early twenties but I didn't have the means at the time so I was eager to take on the task of restoring the treasure.

It wasn't long before I figured out that there was a matching speaker and power supply for the rig so I managed to acquire those. The PS needed a little work as well. Then I discovered that the AT-250 antenna tuner was designed specifically for the '430,so I had to have one. I have to admit I only got the tuner because it matched the rig, but it opened operation for me to a whole new set of bands so it was a welcome and useful addition!

I finally had a "complete" TS-430 collection, or so I thought .

Then I found the TS-711A and realized it was a match to the '430 on VHF. Wow! great rig! of course I had to get a matching speaker for that as well. What? They made a TS-811A for 440 as well? Crap, had to acquire one of those, and the speaker . The 811 needed a little work on the encoder, still has some trouble but I have new optical parts on order. But I digress .

It was all good until I started puting together antennas and realized that the only six meter rig I had was my FT-857. Surely Kenwood made a similar six meter rig in the period? Sort of . the rare and elusive TS-670 Quadbander covered six meters and *matched* the '430! It took me almost two years to track down and acquire one of those. Of course, it needed a matching speaker, a power supply, and tuner .

What else? Oh my goodness, accessories! I found a CD-10 Callsign Display for the '711, still need one for the '811. There was a world clock! Had to get one of those . Oh yes, ther'es a Phone Patch, PC-1A, got two of those. They look cool. Matching mikes? Guess what? Kenwood made a MC-85 that had control and switching for three radios. Viola, two of those run the stack! Needed a wattmeter, well . got a SW2000A with the HF and VHF adapters.

I thought it was all over . then I decided I need a little power. What other amp would do? A Kenwood TL-922A, of course! Oh my goodness, you know there's a really cool scope, the SM-220, that displays linearity and all sorts of other cool looking waveforms! I mean, how is the shack complete without one of THOSE? It looks really nice beside the '922.

I loved the station but I got looking at the balance, and the lower accessories had a different color scheme. Needed a match. Hey, the big sister of the '430 . a TS-930! hihi and you know it . a matching speaker.And, although it has the internal antenna tuner, I had to get the matching AT-230 as well because . yeah, it matched. Again, got a tuner because it looked cool, then it changed my life! I discovered the longwire attachment on the back of the tuner and have had an unbelievable blast with it since.

Throw in a couple oof Kenwood headsets, and yes an old Kenwood KR9600 Stereo, and I *think* that qualifies as a fairly complete mid 80's Kenwood ham station. The only band not represented is 220 MHz, but I don't think Kenwood made a matching 220 unit in that era so I'm safe ;] At least I'm not aware of it . if you are, get me the info!!!!

The things I still need are another CD10, a VOX-4 speech processor, four Kenwood woodgrain speakers and some sort of Kenwood stuffed animal just to be a pain.

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