Al wrote:

> I'm a new member of this group.   

Welcome!  I have not seen any other responses to your query (yet), so 
I will give it a stab.

> I've had an amateur (Tech with code) radio license for many years but 
> I've never been on the air.    

We gotta fix that situation!

> I thought that by obtaining a handheld transceiver such as the 
> Kenwood TH-F6A, this would be an easy to become active with the hobby.   

Easy - yes, as long as you remember the inherent limitations of 
portable radios versus mobile radios.

> I'm wondering if Kenwood has made any changes or enhancements to the 
> TH-F6A hardware or software (firmware) between the 2001 models and 
> the 2008 models?    

There's the question that I feel eminently *not* qualified to answer, 
because I don't recall reading anything that discussed it, but perhaps 
someone else will know.

> When such changes or enhancements are made by Kenwood, is the ham 
> radio community advised?   

Word of mouth is about all we get.

> If I were to look to purchase a used TH-F6A, should I look for 
> certain model years only?   

Again, I can't answer that question, but from what I've seen and 
heard, *almost everyone* is very happy with their TH-F6A *except* for 
the known shortcomings:

   a. antenna
   b. cannot charge the battery *off* the radio

and there are *fixes* for both of those problems.

73 Dave WB6KHP
San Jose

--

dave6592 [at] accesscom [dot] com - http://www.accesscom.com/~dave6592
Dave Schultheis, San José, Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County, CA, USA

Be sure to put this web page

    http://www.accesscom.com/~dave6592/usertips.html

on your list of things to do.  It might save you some grief.

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