Over the 35 years that I have listened to shortwave broadcasts, I have had the priviledge of operating and of owning some of the nicest consumer receivers manufactured by some of the very best equipment suppliers. The names of Icom, Collins, Drake, & Hammarlund have become household names. Another manufacturer that probably has a greater name among amateur radio operators than shortwave enthusiasts is the company called Kenwood. My father is a current licensed ham operater (WA3YFN), but is advanced in age and has given up his hobby. He had used Kenwood transceivers for about 25 years with a ZERO failure rate of his equipment. Thus, it is with great pleasure that I offer an outstanding Kenwood R-5000 communication receiver for your consideration.
This receiver comes with a copy of the user manual, a CD of the user manual and service manuals, and power cord. The R5000 has one of the better internal speakers than typically found on communications receivers and will provide hours of enjoyment whether you are listen to amateur radio exchanges or international broadcasters.
The R-5000 is the last of a great line of Kenwood shortwave general communication receivers built for the public from the 1970s through the mid 1990s. With each new receiver, Kenwood did it's homework and improved each new model by building on the strengths of the previous model and then adding new features. The result was that by the time the R-5000 came out, it was an exceptionally well made unit that, even a decade later, delights dxers worldwide with it's ability to pick up weak signals from the longwave through the shortwave bands.
So what makes the R-5000 so popular? Well, it comes from a very sturdy cabinet, good ergonomics, excellent hardware & components, excellent electrical design and an array of user features that will make the gadget person feel like they are in receiver heaven. If you are interested in the specs of this unit, I will not print the lengthy details here. However, there is a remotely controllable R-5000 in Salt Lake City and they have placed the specs online here:
http://www.smeter.net/specifications/receiver-specs.php
I have taken some closeup pictures to allow you to see some of the features on this receiver. In addition, you can get an advance gander at the manual to see the operational features and layout here:
http://www.rigpix.com/kenwood/r5000.htm (you will see the link to open a PDF of the manual)
To list some of the features, you will find dual clocks, notch filter, IF shift, 100 channel memories, selectable AGC, and dual noise filters. The first noise filter is adjustable and very efficient. If you are tired of noise filters that do not seem to make a difference, you will love the filter on this R-5000. The second is for a different type of noise....the woodpecker noise that Russia formerly used to jam transmissions from Radio Free Europe. This is an excellent receiver for picking up SSB and CW amateur radio transmissions. As for me, I have a technician ham license (KB3GGC) but prefer to listen to international broadcasts and the sound coming from the onboard speaker of this R-5000 is better than the average communications receiver I have used.
The Kenwood R-5000 has a very devoted following and the receiver was a nice follow up from the highly regarded R-2000 receiver still used by many enthusiasts today. In order for you to understand this popularity, it is best for you to read the user reviews for the receiver at eham here:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/468
Eham is a great site to learn about equipment as the reviews are from a variety of end-users that are generally not professionals who are using the equipment in a variety of listening environments with a wide range of expectations. The resulting reviews give a good cross section of strengths and weaknesses. In this case, there are 19 reviews and the average is 4.7 out of a possible 5 for the R-5000. Thus, as you can see, this unit gets top marks. If you are interested in another review done by more a professional source, you can find it here:
http://www.mwcircle.org/res-receiver-kenwr5000.htm
Basically, if you are looking to pick up the major shortwave broadcasters, then this R-5000 is overkill for you. However, if you want to be able to better separate stations, hear weak signals in the vicinity of strong signals, log utility stations, hear distant AM broadcasts, and tune into tropical or other unusual shortwave broadcasters, then the R-5000 is a nice receiver to help you accomplish this. As is typical of desktop communications receivers, a good outside antenna is important to utilize the weak signal recovery of the R-5000. However, this antenna can be something as simple as a longwire, a dipole, or even a Wellbrook antenna.
What is nice about the popularity of the R-5000 is that there are a number of web sites that offer improvements to the R-5000. For instance, you can purchase an infared remote unit here:
http://www.swl-remotes.com/features/kenwoodr5000.html
Another web site tells you that you can purchase an add-on board to allow you to pick up DRM (digital radio mondiale) broadcasts. These are digital shortwave transmissions that regular analog receivers are deaf to hear. If interested in this, you can also find out how to install it here:
http://jvgavila.com/wb2.htm
If you like to learn about the R-5000 and perhaps share this information, you will find this Yahoo user group most useful:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kenwood-r5000/
In this user group, you can learn about mods, identify common problems and get solutions, and get technical information.
As you can see, the R-5000 offers a wealth of opportunities for the avid listener. it is an exceptional piece of equipment, but not without a weaknesses. The weakness of the Kenwood was actually two-fold. Virtually all receivers have a keypad for direct entry of the frequency. However, they are set up like a calculator or telephone keypad which is typically familiar to most users. The R-5000 keypad is set up in 2 rows and is not as familar to most users. In addition, over time, the Kenwood R-5000 keypad was reported to develop "bounce" which means that you hit the keypad for a digit and instead of it registering one time, it may register twice. This can be more challenging for the user.
The solution to this "bounce" is to remove the cover from the Kenwood, access the keypad contacts, then clean them using alcohol. However, personally, I don't do direct frequency input all that often so it doesn't matter as much. When I tested this R-5000, there was NO key bounce. However, my experience is that this can show up intermittently as it is an issue with the contacts of the keypad. My method of tuning was to use the 1 mhz up / down keys to quickly move between bands and then turn the main dial to tune the correct frequency. I found that this method of tuning can be done as quickly as locating the individual keypad buttons and pressing them. Other users have found the solution with installing the infared remote control and using that instead of the buttons on the front.
If you watch this youtube demonstration of tuning the R-5000, the user who posted this video switches frequencies, but does not rely on the keypad. This is how I tune as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJcyQsLY10E
Cosmetically, the unit has some scratches that show some signs of use, mostly on the top of the unit. It is not perfect, but sure looks to be in very nice overall condition. The pictures give an accurate representation except that there is some glare on the dial glass that came out on my pictures but does not look this extreme in person and there is some slight blurriness that is not existent when the unit sits in front of you.
At this point, I am happy to try to answer any questions you may have regarding the R-5000. Feel free to email if I can be of assistance.
Overseas bidders are welcome and may email for a cost to your destination.
Payment is due in 10 days and may be via cash (if picked up at my home), check, or money order. I will also accept Paypal if the winner would like, but it is not my preference due to the extra fees charged to the seller.
Penna residents are reminded of their obligation to pay the 6% state sales tax.
Thank you for taking the time out of a busy day to look at my Ebay auctions!
