The TK-3201 – successor to the company’s TK-3101 – operates on PMR446, a set of radio frequencies that can be used without any kind of licence or user qualification.

Smaller than the TK-3101, it has a new ergonomic design and weighs just 360gms. This includes the NiMH battery that comes with it and which will last up to 16 hours.

Built to withstand rugged conditions, the handset has a die cast aluminium chassis and complies with the International Electrotechnical Commission’s IP54/55 standards for water and dust protection. For anyone contemplating taking it really ‘off road’, it also complies with the US Defence Department standards used to assess military equipment. These include operating temperature range and resistance to humidity, rain, dust, vibration, shock and salt fog.

Operating features include 8 PMR446 frequencies, 16-channel selector, 38 QT/DQT tone settings plus ‘off’, 10 different call/ring tones, a built in scrambler and built in VOX (with the optional KHS-21 headset).

Also – with the help of dealer software – a combination of the availability of about 500 DCS tones and Kenwood encryption means that a group of TK-3201s can be configured to provide what the company calls an ‘almost private group’.

The TK-3101 was popular because of its simple operation and the TK-3201 is no different. It has one extra button and both this and what was the squelch button on the TK-3101 can now be programmed to perform a range of different functions.

The TK-3201 is fully compatible with the TK-3101 and can be configured to work with any PMR446 compliant handset.

leisure-kit keyword: Kenwood