The Radio Information Board

Looking for a non /\/\ replacement for my VHF Ht-1250. I've narrowed my choices down to:

Kenwood TK-280K
&
Vertex VX-920 w/ limited keypad.

any feedback on either of these?

I can't speak to the specific radios. I have Kenwood 270 and 272's , and a friend has a couple Vertex. I wouldn't be afraid of either radio. However, I have better local service for Kenwood. Also, I have been reading and hearing that Vertex tech support has gotten more difficult to work with.

Thanks,
Pricing is looking to be fairly similar between the two, the Kenwood appears to be 75-100 more, depending on options, based on the ONE kenwood dealer who has actually provided me with a price

I may go with the Vertex, only because of the available dual band RX module available.

I have had both the Kenwood TK 2170 and the Motorola HT 1250. Personnally I nuch prefer the Kenwood. It is much more user friendly and you can program it yourself without jumping through hoops. I paid less than $500.00 for my Kenwood brand new. That included the good Battery and a Rapid Charger. Feel free to contact me and I will be Happy to talk to you about this Radio
Thanks, John

Kenwood. Kenwood. Kenwood.

I have both a Kenwood TK-280 ver 2 and a TK-290 and they run circles around the 1250's I owned. The RX sensitivity on the Kenwoods is miles above the Pro series, and the radios are built much better.

I would concur that Kenwood's support is in a class by itself compared to Vertex. I hate sending radios to the monkeys at VXSTDUSA. They're about as worthless as the south of the border shop that Ma M uses for depot service nowadays. And their lack of dealer around here that are full service (Atlanta) is a turn off, not to mention their factory rep is a LYING TURD for this area. Sorry too, because VX Standard has some top notch radios. I have a VX-510 and love it. Hope it never breaks.

The Kenwood TK-2180 is also a nice choice if you swing it. Very solidly built radio. Think of it as a "modernized" TK-280.

The TK3180 is also a damn good portable. Excellent Rx and Tx performance, great features, the s/w is Windows based, easy to understand and navigate, and it won't cost you a left nut of sign a contract like with Motorola. Vertex we stay away from because of the service and .... honestly their stuff just -feels- like modified HAM gear.

VERTEX. The 920 limited keypad will do 500+ channels, and with the option board, MDC1200 encode and decode. it will also decode DTMF ani on the same channel with mdc1200. We found that out by a programming error which worked to our benifit.

Pricing in line with motorola, and speaker mikes that are submersible.

PB

That reminds me. The 2180/3180 can be fitted with an MDC board. Cheers.