How I got a brand new Kenwood TS-830S

Yes, it is 2014 and I have a brand new Kenwood TS-830S!!

It all began in November 2013 as I was browsing Ebay for a new Radio. I was looking at Collins, Yeasu, Kenwood and other brands, but one radio I always liked is the Kenwood TS-830S. My father, a ham radio since 1978, PY2HH, has one... and had two at one time in the past. He told me about the quality of the audio of the 830S; I started to operate his 830S and I really liked it.
I would check Ebay from time to time looking for a TS-830S; even sites in Brazil, where I live, and Argentina.
Being an old radio, it is hard to tell if the used ones that aways appear in these sites are trustworthy. It is like buying an old car of a good brand: Mercedez, Land Rover, etc. They are good brands, but it could backfire.
It was November 13th, 2013, I think, when I first saw the listing on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221317443827?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D0%26_from%3DR40%26_nkw%3D221317443827%26_rdc%3D1  it may still be there.

I carefully looked at the pictures and it really appeared new. Too new almost!

I decided I would not let that radio go. It had to be mine.

The auction

So I entered the auction and set up a higher bid, decided not to let go. 

It went on for days, checking eBay all the time, until the last day of the auction.

Because of the timezone difference, it would finish around 1AM, São Paulo time, and I wanted to watch it to the end.

Everybody was sleeping and I had my laptop on the living room table, watching the final minutes:

This picture shows 2:59m to go.

There was another bid from a contender in the last minute, but I won for US$760!

It was one of the happiest moments of my life! A true feeling of victory! A brand new Kenwood TS-830S (I really didn't know it was completely new at the time, but I suspected).

I started to think about its origins. I checked the seller and discovered he was not a HAM, but an antiquity dealer, from what I could figure. None of his listings had anything to do with HAM radio.

So, what is the story here? How did he come by this radio?

I sent emails asking the seller, but I noticed some reluctance from him in answering my questions. But I insisted a bit and he told me the radio was part of a "state" he visit and belonged to an old lady. She bought the radio as a present for her husband, but he passed away before opening the box.

So, this explained it.
What is really amazing is that she kept the radio! Didn't sell it; didn't donated it to anyone. She kept it in their home for more than 30 years, in the box!

I imagined that box on a shelf inside a closet somewhere...just sitting there for all this time.

So I won, shipped it to a friend's house in Miami and collected it in January 25th, 2014.

It was beautifully packed with two boxes and bubble wrap. I made a stronger box to endure the trip back to Brazil. I new TSA would open it, so I watched the officer handle the box. I actually wrote a note and glued it inside the box. The note explained how valuable the contents were and gave some advice on how to repackage everything if needed.

The box made it to Brazil after an 8-hour flight from Miami to GRU. I was worried the box could get racked, of the radio getting damaged, specially because it took a long time to appear on the carrousel.

But there the box was. I payed duty at customs and went home with my TS-830S.

After telling this story, I began to think about how precious and how rare this is. Maybe the HAM radios that know the TS-830S will understand right away, but even if you are not into Ham radio, think about something old that you really like and that you would really want to have. Maybe you like the original VW Beetle, or another car like The REd Barchetta from Rush (listen and you will not what I'm saying)

Suppose you find one on eBay. One that is brand new. But, in order for it to be new, it would have to have been preserved intact in some garage somewhere for more than 3 decades! I have owned an original, green VW Beetle 1969. It was well preserved, 44 years-old, but it wasn't new. Someone had stored it in the garage for all this time. Being new would mean that it had never touched the road, the engined had never been turned on before, the tank had seen no gasoline! This is my Kenwood TS-830S. When I opened the box, I knew it was new! look at this plastic and the way it is secured with the elastic band. The plastic covers half of the radio only. I guess it is how it was packaged originally. The microphone and a small plastic bag with connectors and fuses where inside the box, sealed! 

Original Manual and Certificate of Warranty were also in the box.

 

First time energized.

Looking at all the physical features of the radio and showing it to an experienced Amateur Radio I arrived at the conclusion that it is indeed new. The capacitors inside are intact and there is no sign of dust.

Next, I'll talk about the first tests.