Kenwood TH-D74 APRS DSTAR radio in depth look & audio test

This is a look at some of the features of the brand new Kenwood TH-D74A, and a short audio test compared to an ICOM ID-51A.
Thanks to www.gigaparts.com for letting me check this out. This radio is a game changer. Tribander 144/220/440 with SSB HF receive, APRS and D-star, as well as bluetooth and GPS. Check it out.
Support my channel and efforts at www.patreon.com/hamradioconcepts

[@sidneywinter8952]

My TH-D747 arrived to day. The instruction manual, to me, the size of an atlas book you would find at the public library. I've been out of ham radio for about 15 years and got back into the hobby a few weeks ago. Boy has things changed. Like your videos keep up the good work. 73's. ko4fgc.

[@stevenknight993]

Very NICE video. Everyone has their Ford, Chevy, Chrysler favorites. THIS is NOW my extra radio with my new General Ticket. Thanks for making it easier.

[@CrittendenIV]

OK, just did it! I just bought the TH-D74 with all the trimmings! My XYL helped, a lot and so do all your videos and expertise. I really appreciate your help. I look forward to maybe making a contact and swapping APRS with you. Thanks again!!

[@davequick3373]

Hi there OM. You have inspired me to get one of these radios. I’ve been an ICOM guy for years due to many problems I’ve had with Kenwood rigs in the past (THD71A , TS940’s (5) and others)). Thanks for a great concise explanation! Been a sub of yours for a while and enjoy all of your videos and have shared and recommend them to many other hams. Best 73!!

[@nfmMike]

Nicely done intro for the KW! The full keypad, simple menu system, general coverage and 220 are sellers for me! And its not for everyone, but neither is a Collins set.

[@steveb7310]

I just got one of these today from DX Engineering. I’m waiting for the battery to charge & watching your vid even more confident I made the best choice with the Kenwood. What a great radio. Thanks for the good information and 73 de KB8IRQ.

[@timsloan8881]

Great video as always. Thanks. That kenwood is pretty impressive. Think that'll be my Christmas present from Santa.(I been really good this year)

[@rayerdinc2441]

Hi Eric, thank you for the video. Love my TH-D74. Replaced an analogue radio and scanner for one device. G7POQ

[@TMS5100]

hello icom. watch and learn - this is how to do a UI. also, numeric keypads are still useful.

[@keeler1160]

I gave this video a like because of the intro. The intro was very engaging.

[@HamRadioConcepts]

a very old intro indeed LOL..

[@keeler1160]

@@HamRadioConcepts yea. Its oldness carries nostalgia. I like it a lot. Kinda gave me that feeling I used to get as a kid when I saw the thx theme or similar to your intro. The feeling was euphoric and calm with an anticipation something great would come up.

[@TheCoolProfessor]

I'm new to radio but I can tell already that this is what I I want. My landlord would be rather angry if I mounted a ten foot antenna sticking out of my apartment.

[@denisemcjunkins4391]

I just ordered one of the kenwood d-74 radios.

[@Divemedic14]

Kenny Taylor from Cullman, Alabama. Please forgive the newbie question. I am currently preparing for my tech test in a week and still have lots to learn. Hoping general will be in my future but I have work training obligations in which I must meet first which is distracting me from further test preparations. First and foremost, I wish to stay thanks for this review. Like many on these channels, budget planning is always a must. I'm still trying to determine my choice for the first radio. I've worked in public safety for the past 27 years so I'm torn if I want to have yet another radio to clip on my belt. Never the less, I'm exploring all options. My main worry is, spending money on something that I can't utilize more when the opportunity comes obtain my general license. How much bang for the buck will this get me beyond the typical 2m tech/level family? I'm torn on a mobile station for the truck/home to get more band coverage versus something with more portability but yet less band coverage. I'm not opposed to the price of this radio, if it's something that I can utilize more band overages once I obtain general level. Again, I apologize in advanced for questions which may not be practical compared with those with much more experience/knowledge. All the best, KT

[@adrianclark9581]

Eric is the king.

[@robertoellison8507]

I HAVE TWO OF THESE RADIOS AND I REALLY LIKE THEM, I WILL ILKE THEM BETTER WHEN I GET MY DSTAR ID NUMBER...

[@yavorstoynov3136]

I_know_that_Kenwood_been_pioneer_of_car_stereos

[@BarrySanel]

Thank you for this review.

[@howardhuggins6744]

Perhaps this is a stupid question but one I'm NOT about to attempt with an expensive (!!!!) piece of gear. The video states the radio is "waterproof" as opposed to water resistant. That being the case, if one were to open the plug enclosure and plug in a headset component, would the act of plugging in the device render the radio subject to water infiltration? Reason for asking is if you are out and about with a headset plugged in and in use then happen to get soaked by a deluge of rain, will water be able to get past the plug(s) and into the radio and ruin it, or do the plugs have small o-rings around the base of each plug to seal out water? TIA

[@iiDougieii]

Thank you for this video. I have an Anytone 868UV. This raio you need to program in order for it to function. How is the Kenwood TH-D74? Does it need to be programmed in the same way?

[@tommyboydmd9941]

Why 220 MHz band? Not a single repeater around here. In contrast, there are several 23cm d-star repeaters close by. I guess with hot spots and reflectors it doesn't really matter.

[@polobob2088]

73 hello I have a Motorola mtp850 with 380/430 mhz frequencies I have the tetra software but it asks me for an identifier and an activation code !! and it is impossible for me to transfer the tetra software from the PC to the Motorola mtp850, if you have a solution to give me I really thank you very much cordially

[@angelscomputers]

Eric, I may have a stupid question, I being playing with Dstar with my ID4100a, still in the learning process. I know Dstar is not Icon proprietary but how that TH-D74 can interact on Dstar? using the same Repeaters/Reflectors, etc as an Icon. I think is because everything related with Dstar have the Icon logo is like how that Kenwood is going to go to the same network? is a separate network? Do I have to register again? Same process as an Icon like link, unlink, use, etc?

[@whippleslap]

The one issue i found with this radio is that i couldn't get it to do a true dual receive. on the icom you can scan memory or band on the a/b band and also on the opposite tuner, if a signal comes in one one band the icom continues to scan the other band and will receive on the secondary band. On the kenwood once a signal is received on a single band the other tuner ignores any signal though it cntinues scanning and has the appearance it is searching for a signal but if one exists it doesnt stop on the freq or channel

[@christopherrasmussen8718]

I’m beating my head against the wall getting the TNC in it to work with my tower by USB.

[@kb9oak749]

What is the shell of the radio made of?

[@ligafebi]

Hello I wanted to ask a question, does TH-D74A broadcast (108,136 mHZ) on airband? I am interested to be used RPAS, thanks.

[@Nonvido]

Yaesu ft2dr vs Kenwood TH-D74a??

[@brianaraluce3203]

Those are then two best and the ft3dr right?

[@Marco.fm.73]

This is said to have horrible battery life compared to other DMR HT's. Have you heard about the solid state battery? Do you think that kind of battery is compatible to HT's?

[@hololightful]

Would love to know the 'story' behind why you couldn't name the microTNC (took me a minute to discover its a version of the Mobilinkd TNC, [TNC2 I believe])?... Just the way you said the couple words that you did say, makes me pretty sure I do not want to buy that TNC...

[@enriquediaz7547]

is there a way to update the THd74 firmware via a mac (i.e. OS X ) . MCP seems to only run on windows.

[@mattlord2906]

Have they came up with something better since this Kenwood d74a ?

[@paulwillmott8931]

Hi Eric I have just got one of these radio. I’m not a ham but doing a course soon my question is about pmr in the uk i can receive but cat transmit it has been wide bandwidth any help would be appreciated. Thank You Paul

[@gfyrmf8736]

Curious, what is your opinion on the comparison between D74 and ID 51

[@MrGoodSkills]

Excellent! DE K5VPC

[@alexb1903]

My TH-D74 does not pair with my Samsung Note successfully. What am I doing wrong?

[@chuckleskie]

It seems like a very nice radio but my Fusion/Wires X handheld has about 75% of the bells and whistles of this radio such as SD card, USB, APRS, GPS. and for less than half the price. 649 dollars is an awful lot of money for an HT. 220 would be nice but it is not al that active near me. Looks like a nice D Star rig but I doubt I would be willing to spend the money on it..

[@n0callham146]

charles leskie not true! SD card on the fusion rig can be used for what? It can’t record a qso. It does basically nothing other than backup the ht and store photos from the crappy camera mic. USB on the yaesu can be used for what? Firmware updates or GPS out and that is literally it. APRS on the yaesu is just that. Aprs only. The Kenwood has a full TNC built in. The yaesu has a crippled internal aprs. GPS ok who cares. Whatever. Yaesu has given us a horrible crippled piece of crap.

[@BSAMustang]

can the bluetooth be used for headset? or is it for pairing to computer only?

[@teamarrow6717]

I have a question for would you please explain it more for the blind please. Thanks travis ke7eul AZ

[@badcatbigbat]

Nice looking radio, I did not catch the going price for this ht. Do you know the price yet?

[@BlairMaynard]

Yes, it's $0UT0FMYPRICERANGE.00 :(

[@angelodepalma538]

Is there any step-by-step documentation on how to program repeaters into this radio?

[@gregorykemi8898]

In the manual, yes of course.

[@nathanlief]

Would you or anyone be interested in purchasing a tpu rubber case in OD green?

[@piosanchez6998]

Does this have P25 capabilities??

[@alexdecampos9889]

message share with iPhone?

[@craigttc]

I have the ICOM and I must admit in my opinion the Kenwood sounds better. Thanks for tugging at my wallet, looking forward to a Kenwood mobile version to justify the expense.

[@gregorykemi8898]

Yes, the Kenwood is way ahead !! :) I have also Icom and they suck compared to K.

[@ryorta]

Do I need a license for this?

[@Yavor54]

No. You can buy one of these radios without a license. If you push the transmit button, you are subject to a $10,000 or one year in jail per time you do. Google "Ham License" - Study and get your license!

[@davidbird4854]

Yes ,You Do,R&L Wont sell you any ham radio or amplifiers with ot a ,license from the ,FCC????

[@radiosification]

I thought the speaker on the Icom sounded better actually

[@mark12.31]

As he mentioned, the Icom's membrane over the mic could very well be the reason the audio sounded as it did from the D74A. Certainly would have been better to have been able to use the same radio to transmit each time but he didn't have the opportunity to do that, having only two radios.

[@radiosification]

Ahh, I thought he was saying the membrane over the speaker was why the icom sounds better. My mistake.

[@JavierGonzalez-hh3vm]

radiosification

[@JavierGonzalez-hh3vm]

radiosification Javier. ando buscando un jandi

[@JavierGonzalez-hh3vm]

radiosification jandi. 0

[@vampolascott36]

The Kenwood audio is distorted.

[@MrAlphacallsign]

It's all depend of the the audio are setup on the repeater i hear some local repeater with a rich and clear audio and other s repeater with very bad audio

[@gregorykemi8898]

It can never repair a distorted transmitt, such as those coming from the Icom's .. kenwood themselves made the best out of D-star by having an appropriate design of the circuits for both RX and TX .. I heard this handy-talkie a few times and it is WAY ahead Icom.

[@rjlewis3932]

I don't understand why these manufacturers are trying to duplicate what a smartphone already does and better. DMR is now the leader in the digital space, because you do not have to spend a small fortune on features you will either never use, or use a very small percentage of the time. If you do want APRS, roaming, alias, and Bluetooth, you can buy an Anytone 878 for less than half the price of an Icom or Kenwood. I really don't see much of a future for Yaesu, Icom, or Kenwood in the digital radio space.

[@aj2isotadxing]

Yes but those can’t rx hf

[@gerhardmoeller774]

“You might want to go thru the manual “... ha ha!

[@ke4nyv]

Too bad they went with lousy DStar and slighted DMR.

[@gregorykemi8898]

D-star is very good when kenwood are handling it.. great sound in borth RX and TX.. a huge difference from Icom.

[@jaybats7865]

Thanks but it would have been great if you had zoomed in so the keypad and display were more legible. A lot of wasted space in your video

[@briannypd44]

Does this radio do dmr?

[@HamRadioConcepts]

briannypd44 no.. It does not

[@briannypd44]

HamRadioConcepts k thnx