What is the difference between a Kenwood TK-730 and TK-790?
PCI Race Radios has been a distributor for Kenwood for decades. We sold the Kenwood TK-790H Radio for many years and have seen some confusion in the market as safety departments have been unloading old TK-730 radios on Ebay as they upgrade. While they can both offer 110 watts of power, the problem with the TK-730 is lack of available accessories and support for them. While you may see some TK-730's circulating on the web with our stickers, PCI has never sold TK-730 radios. The programming software is an old DOS program that is very finicky and does not run on newer computers. PCI does have the software at HQ, but we do not take that laptop to races. We only see success with programming these older units about 70% of the time. The charge for programming the TK-730 is $40. In addition to programming difficulties, Kenwood stopped making accessories for these radios many years ago and it is not possible to purchase a replacement hand mic or power cable for this unit. The TK-790 power cables and hand mics are not compatible with the TK-730.
PCI still services and supports the TK-790H. We even have some pre-owned inventory available at a great deal - complete with a PCI warranty. We stock all of the TK-790H accessories at HQ and on our Race Support Trailer and have programming software available at every event.
What's the difference in a TK-730H and TK-730 or TK-790H and TK-790? The H stands for high power - those are the 110 watt units. PCI has only ever sold TK-790H models.
If you find a TK-730H for a great deal on Ebay, just realize it may not be possible to program and make sure it comes with power cables and working hand mic - because you won't be able to replace those items.