Kenwood TS-50S
Kenwood TS-50 / Kenwood TS-50S - Amateur Radio / Ham Radio / HF band transceiver.
- adjustable to 10, 50 or 100 watts.
- LSB, USB, CW AM and FM.
- Dual VFO's,
- 100 memories,
- AIP, RIT, IF shift, AGC and TF-set
comments
The TS-50 did have capacitors that would leak. They were a strange hybrid, surface mount design. Look for black on the board around the capacitors. They can be replaced, and likely should be if you plan on keeping it for some time.
When power testing, be sure to test power on all bands. You may see full power taper off, or be significantly diminished on specific bands. Easy enough when power testing.
There is also a memory battery in these that if original, is likely bad. You can tell if it's bad if you change the frequency, then fully remove power. If it keeps the same frequency when you plug power back in, it's fine. If it goes back to the default frequency, it will need to be replaced.
CAT control is hit and miss with that radio and isn't as simple as just buying a cable and hooking it to your computer. TS-50 radios are somewhat collectible and go for between $350 and $500 on the QRZ.com swap forum. In 2012 they were selling on eBay for $400 +/- $50. That's what people are paying in sold listings.
Capacitors won’t likely be an issue. The rig isn’t old enough for that. You want to check output power on all bands, but pay special attention to the higher bands, and make sure all the buttons and knobs (particularly the VFO) are working properly and feel right. The VFO encoders can get weird and buttons can get soft.
Attempting to tune the AT-50 when it is connected to an antenna with a relatively high SWR value might cause the ACCY fuse to open in the TS-50S. This can be correct by Locate X53-3470-00 D/4 (It is attached to the top left side of the chassis with the foil side up)
and add the two .047 µF capacitors
The receiver can overload a bit easier than many larger radios. Dr. Ulrich Rhode wrote an article about this some years ago. It turns out that the switching diodes impacted the performance more than one might have expected. The TS-50 was designed to be small and simple to use on the road.
