Radios unavialable due to chip shortages?

[Lscott]

I sent out a bunch of requests for quotes on a new Kenwood NX-1300DUK5 radio. I had more than one vendor tell me the radios are unavailable due to chip shortages. The last email from one said Kenwood advised them they won't see any until late summer. I found one vendor that had some of the analog only models in stock, and purchased the DMR feature license key to upgrade it before shipping.

By the way if somebody wants a new good quality commercial grade radio for GMRS these are nice. They are not going to be exactly cheap, even in the analog only version.

https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/290-nx-1300duk5/

I read about the cheap Baofengs being shipped without a chip, I think it was for the FM broadcast feature, a while back.

I also haven't got my Bluetooth remote for the D578 yet. That's been a couple of months on that too.

Anyone else having issues with ordering and getting delivery on radios?

[marcspaz]

I've had the same results trying to get solid-state amps. 

Also, one of my favorite knife makers is having trouble getting raw materials for making some of their ultra light weight versions. Specifically borax to make boron.

[Lscott]

8 minutes ago, marcspaz said:

I've had the same results trying to get solid-state amps. 

Which amps were those?

[Radioguy7268]

Even before Covid hit, Kenwood had an issue because one of their major chip suppliers (AKM in Japan) had a huge fire that destroyed most of their factory. Then, once Covid hit, Southeast Asia went on lockdown, and most of the chip making factories locatd there were stretched pretty thin. Last batch of the NX-1300 series radios I ordered took almost 4 months to get in.

They are a nice radio. I like the audio on those, especially compared to the similar priced Motorola CP100d.

[Lscott]

22 minutes ago, Radioguy7268 said:

Even before Covid hit, Kenwood had an issue because one of their major chip suppliers (AKM in Japan) had a huge fire that destroyed most of their factory. Then, once Covid hit, Southeast Asia went on lockdown, and most of the chip making factories locatd there were stretched pretty thin. Last batch of the NX-1300 series radios I ordered took almost 4 months to get in.

They are a nice radio. I like the audio on those, especially compared to the similar priced Motorola CP100d.

I think for the money they are a good choice. The long delivery times IMHO is due to them saving critical chips used in the higher tier models, NX-3000's and the NX-5000's, which I suspect are more profitable too.

[marcspaz]

3 hours ago, Lscott said:

Which amps were those?

Mostly the 65w Toshiba PA's... but pretty much any of them over 4w-5w are going to big companies. 

 

Even big brands of assembled gear is hard to find in stock unless we go north of $4k.  ACOM and even the old-timer at TES are not putting out affordable gear right now. I tried to order a TES UHF amp through a local shop and they told me indefinite backorder. 

[Radioguy7268]

The NX-3000 series went MIA shortly after the AKM fire for almost 18 months, and Kenwood was giving dealers a discount on the NX-5000 base series - just to allow them to upsell customers who had wanted to buy an NX-3000 - and move them up to the NX-5000 series at a similar price. Supposedly, the plant that caught fire was the ONLY source they had for the NX3000 chipsets. I'm not sure if they found another source, or just re-designed the chassis to work with another (more available) chipset.

I agree that the NX-1300 is a good value, and it seems to be well built. The fact that they still support the KNB-45L battery lineup (which has been in use for probably 15+ years now) and the KSC-35 charger platform means that customers did not have to do a wholesale changeover to move into a Digital capable platform.

[catbrigade]

I heard that chip issues played into Kenwood discontinuing or at least stopping production on some of their ham gear. 

[marcspaz]

I wouldn't be shocked.  There is a lot more margin in a $5,000+ commercial radio that there is in a $170 amateur radio.  If I had limited supply of common parts, I'd do the same thing.

[gortex2]

I think yo will see HAM gear with less and less product. Sadly the CCR world is where 90% of the ham community has moved to. There are still guys spending $2000-3000 on a HF rig but to spend $600 on a dual band mobile makes their head hurt. I love my older HAM rigs but very few "new" hams would spend what I paid on any of them. If they can't sell gear and make money they wont.

[tweiss3]

You may have to ask a dealer that does a ton of volume. I really like the dealer I first placed an order with, but with the market as it is, I asked the local dealer that serves the whole state (and does pallets of radios a month). They usually get priority, and can make another one appear on the truck. The big downside is you pay list, and that price has been adjusted 2 times in the past 6 months that I'm aware of.

[axorlov]

1 hour ago, gortex2 said:

There are still guys spending $2000-3000 on a HF rig but to spend $600 on a dual band mobile makes their head hurt

The $3000 HF rig and $600 mobile serve different purposes. Indeed it hurts my liver to spend $600 on dual-band mobile, but it looks like I will be spending it.

[tweiss3]

59 minutes ago, gortex2 said:

I think yo will see HAM gear with less and less product. Sadly the CCR world is where 90% of the ham community has moved to. There are still guys spending $2000-3000 on a HF rig but to spend $600 on a dual band mobile makes their head hurt. I love my older HAM rigs but very few "new" hams would spend what I paid on any of them. If they can't sell gear and make money they wont.

I hear this. We are very much the minority. Then again, I can't stand the price point for what the Anytone 578 provides. I do think the FTM400 and TM-D71GA were worth the money, but I don't see a justification for the newly announced FTM500 (price or features). And this is coming from a guy that paid list on a NX5800.

[Lscott]

2 hours ago, catbrigade said:

I heard that chip issues played into Kenwood discontinuing or at least stopping production on some of their ham gear. 

Kenwood doesn’t appear to be going to the 2023 Hamvention this year. All sorts of speculation why that is.

[Lscott]

46 minutes ago, tweiss3 said:

You may have to ask a dealer that does a ton of volume. I really like the dealer I first placed an order with, but with the market as it is, I asked the local dealer that serves the whole state (and does pallets of radios a month). They usually get priority, and can make another one appear on the truck. The big downside is you pay list, and that price has been adjusted 2 times in the past 6 months that I'm aware of.

Figures. I have a Kenwood 2022 price guide showing the discounted price and list price. When I was soliciting quotes I sent the section of the price guide to a few to see if I could get a better deal. One vendor commented it was a good price except Kenwood just increased them. From their quote it was about $50+ higher. ?

[MarkInTampa]

48 minutes ago, tweiss3 said:

I hear this. We are very much the minority. Then again, I can't stand the price point for what the Anytone 578 provides. I do think the FTM400 and TM-D71GA were worth the money, but I don't see a justification for the newly announced FTM500 (price or features). And this is coming from a guy that paid list on a NX5800.

I was told by one vendor the FTM400 was discontinued because of the chip shortage. Another vendor told me it was discontinued because it was a "bit old" having come out in 2013 and they were getting ready to introduce a new model. This was a few months ago between the announcement of the FTM400 being discontinued and the FTM500 coming out. Guess it might have been a bit of both - hard to source chips for an existing model and easier chips to source for a new one.

[marcspaz]

2 hours ago, gortex2 said:

I think yo will see HAM gear with less and less product. Sadly the CCR world is where 90% of the ham community has moved to. There are still guys spending $2000-3000 on a HF rig but to spend $600 on a dual band mobile makes their head hurt. I love my older HAM rigs but very few "new" hams would spend what I paid on any of them. If they can't sell gear and make money they wont.

 

I have an Icom ic-7000.  It was $1,500 new and is still selling used from $800 to $1,200 depending on condition.  The stock microphone alone is $150.  I would be thrilled to spend $2,000+ for a mobile radio if it was the build quality like what this radio was in 2005.  The thought of spending $2k on a radio worth $300 is where the real headache starts. 

With today's tech, if you get a radio like the FT-891 (which is a bare-bones) for $650 and a FTM-300DR for $460, and you still don't have SSB on 2m or 70cm like the ic-7000 and the radios are trash compared to 20 years ago. 

The wild part is, go back to the days of Heathkit, Drake, Collins, Swan, Lafayette, Hallicrafters... those radios were (and still are) absolutely amazing.  Even compared to 2000-ish time-frame.  It seems like the more high-tech they get, the more they become disposable and unreliable. 

[gortex2]

Yup. My last new rig was the FTM400 at $500. Sadly nothing really new at a price point I will grab another. Would love to replace my TMD700 in my JK with a new FTM but can't justify the cost for not as good of a radio. 

[pcradio]

The problem is not the price of ham gear, it is the horrible user experience. Why pay $600 for a radio that has 0 product management? Terrible software, silly menu structures, cheap materials. You don't get much for your dollar. Yaesu's rugged radio design (VX-6R) is almost 20 years old now with what, like six characters to name your channel? Come on man!

 

Quote

Sadly the CCR world is where 90% of the ham community has moved to

Because the big three quit caring & trying.

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, pcradio said:

The problem is not the price of ham gear, it is the horrible user experience. Why pay $600 for a radio that has 0 product management? Terrible software, silly menu structures, cheap materials. You don't get much for your dollar. Yaesu's rugged radio design (VX-6R) is almost 20 years old now with what, like six characters to name your channel? Come on man!

 

Because the big three quit caring & trying.

And because those “CCRs” work well enough for most people at a much lower price.  Perfect? Not even close.  Best in class? Absolutely not.  Good enough.  For most purposes, yes.

[WRQC527]

4 hours ago, gortex2 said:

My last new rig was the FTM400

Yep and now that it's discontinued, we can all rush out to buy the next Yaesu product, the FTM-500, which is even more expensive. The big 3 gave up the entry-level ham radio market. 

[SteveShannon]

10 minutes ago, WRQC527 said:

Yep and now that it's discontinued, we can all rush out to buy the next Yaesu product, the FTM-500, which is even more expensive. The big 3 gave up the entry-level ham radio market. 

Or the FTM300. Is there anything the 400 or 500 do that the 300 doesn’t?

[WRQC527]

5 minutes ago, Sshannon said:

Is there anything the 400 or 500 do that the 300 doesn’t?

A friend of mine who has several 400s bought a 300 and as far as he's concerned it's a disappointment in comparison. I think he was spoiled by the touch screen. I'm cheap, I went with a pair of 7250s before they got the axe. 

[SteveShannon]

2 minutes ago, WRQC527 said:

A friend of mine who has several 400s bought a 300 and as far as he's concerned it's a disappointment in comparison. I think he was spoiled by the touch screen. I'm cheap, I went with a pair of 7250s before they got the axe. 

I have a friend with a 400 who’s disappointed because it has had some problems. I don’t know exactly what they are. 
If a person doesn’t need C4FM, the ftm6000 looks like a decent radio. 

[marcspaz]

The 400 has known audio level issues on B and only supports digital on A. While the bigger screen was gone in the 300, I feel like the correction to the audio issues and dual C4FM was an improvement. Also, rejection on the 300 is much better, allowing you to pair two 300s and two antennas as a VHF or UHF repeater.  The rejection on the 400 was so bad that we had to have the transmitter and receive antennas more than 100 yards apart, just to use 5w without horrible desense issues.  The 300's have no desense issues at 20w and only 100 feet between the antennas. 

Granted, this use case is an outlier, but it's a good reflection of the overall receiver quality differences.