Kenwood KTC-H2A1 Sirius Satellite Here2Anywhere Portable Radio Tuner

by Kenwood

Product Details

Product Manual [1.63mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000EI3WP
• Item model number: KTC-H2A1
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,497 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Satellite radio listening just got more convenient and more affordable. Kenwood's portable KTC-H2A1 Here2Anywhere Sirius digital satellite radio tuner lets you enjoy Sirius's 100 different streams of music, sports, news, and entertainment programming almost anywhere: in the car, at home, at work, or even on a boat. Slide it out of your home system, into your pocket, and then into your car system, taking access to your favorite streams everywhere you go. Home and car docking kits--the Kenwood KPA-H2C and KPA-H2H, respectively--each include a slide-in mount for the tuner. The kits are sold separately and at least one kit and a subscription to Sirius radio are required for use of the KTC-H2A1.

The KTC-H2A1 is loaded with features like multiple search and display modes, 24 stream (station) presets that make finding your favorite stream a snap, and a 4-line dot-matrix LCD that scrolls complete song title and artist information. It even has a stream lock that lets you skip channels you don't want to hear--or don't want your kids to hear.

The display is designed to be clearly readable in both home and car, with a choice of normal or large-font characters. Search for music by category or channel type as well as by artist name or song title using the built-in guide.

Incredible handy is the ability to save the title and artist of a currently playing song (up to 24 songs) for later recall, freeing you of the risks of trying to commit your favorites to memory or trying to write while you drive. Channel scan lets you check out what's currently playing on another channel while you're still listening to the current stream, and a full-function remote control is also included.

Sirius broadcasts 60 streams of 100-percent commercial-free music, as well as an additional 40 streams for sports, news, and entertainment, all in clear, digital sound. There is no limit to the number of systems in which one tuner can be used.

What's in the Box
Radio receiver, remote control, remote battery, a user's manual, and warranty/registration information.

Note: A subscription to Sirius satellite radio is required to activate the Kenwood Here2Anywhere portable tuner.

Product Description

The Here2Anywhere portable Sirius Tuner is small enough to fit in a coat pocket, so customers can take it from their home to the car to the office to anywhere else they have a docking kit (requires optional kits).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent choice for Sirius subs; could use more features, December 31, 2003

By 

GadgetGuy (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kenwood KTC-H2A1 Sirius Satellite Here2Anywhere Portable Radio Tuner (Electronics)

I received the Here2Anywhere as a Christmas gift, along with a car kit and home kit, and in just a few short days, I can report that I'm a diehard Sirius fan, as much for Sirius itself as this particular receiver.

First, the service. I'm sure some would disagree, but arguably, Sirius is the better choice among the two providers of satellite radio for the US. While XM has some commercial free music channels, ALL of Sirius' music streams are commercial free. That, coupled with excellent variety, well-programmed music, and the superior reception afforded Sirius' high-angle orbit satellites make it the logical choice. The $3 extra each month (vs. XM) is well worth it.

Next, this receiver. Fundamentally, a plug-and-play receiver like this is not going to suit everyone. It's far less "clean" for car use than an in-dash unit, so if you have a thing about cords hanging around, you should go in-dash. But if you carefully choose your location, and your car has the right space available, it can make for a very tolerable installation with the advantage of being able to take the receiver with you anywhere (when paired with the required, optional docking kits).

One thing I especially like about this unit is its largely "flat" design. Most plug and play units (for Sirius and XM) are vertically oriented and don't seem to fit as well in some locations.

Paired with a home kit, this receiver is almost ideal. It's very small and compact, so it'll fit about anywhere, with about any stereo set-up. It's simple to use, and has an IR remote, so even if you permanently set it next to your home gear, it'd be right at home. To my surprise, the unit works fine at home even with its small antenna sitting atop a row of cabinets in my basement office.

There are some shortcomings, however, most probably due to the small size of the unit. First, direct access to streams by number is possible only via the remote control; although once you set-up your presets (of which there are 24) you may not need direct access. Second, while it has a push-button "remember this song and artist" feature, you can't clear out your choices when you're done with them. Also, you can't control the backlight brightness at all. Just generally, it seems Kenwood kept this unit only to the fundamentals, and omitted a variety of refinements that the unit could have benefited from.

But perhaps the biggest shortcoming is that it provides only line level outputs, requiring a separate amp or receiver of some sort to hook it to (and then, only via one of the docks -- the unit does NOTHING on its own without a docking kit). The unit would be somewhat more useful to me if it could also be used as a portable, even if some sort of dock was required to do it... Hook-up an antenna and a set of headphones, and listen with no other pieces or parts. (Or, perhaps Kenwood could develop some sort of boombox style dock for this baby.)

But even with that, the ability to cart my Sirius from home to car to office to car to home again is great -- especially when you're as addicted to the service as I am -- and this unit does that quite nicely.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything I Wanted and More, December 7, 2003

By 

Nick (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kenwood KTC-H2A1 Sirius Satellite Here2Anywhere Portable Radio Tuner (Electronics)

This is my second satellite radio. My first was not what I expected, too many commercials. I read about Sirius service with no commercials and purchased the Kenwood H2A.

So far this Kenwood has given me no problems and was extremely easy to install. I did place the antenna on my dashboard and have no problems with reception. Sirius recommends the antenna to be placed on top of the vehicle. This unit receives a digital signal and in my opinion either you have the digital signal or you don't, quality of sound is excellent. No commercials on the 60 music channels that cover every genre coupled with 40 channels of news, sports and entertainment. The scrolling 4 line display provides song and artist information and has more preset channels than I can use.

I highly recommend this unit and Sirius service. You will never go back to terrestrial radio once you have tried this radio. The monthly cost is less than the cost of one music CD.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kenwood Here2Anywhere and Sirius, February 19, 2004

By 

Peter O (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kenwood KTC-H2A1 Sirius Satellite Here2Anywhere Portable Radio Tuner (Electronics)

First the Kenwood H2Anywhere:

This unit provides my home stereo (Nakamichi receiver and Acoustic Research AR2ax speakers)with the basis of nice CD quality sound -- plus, home kit base was EASY to install. Home kit allows direct input via RCA plug (provided) into stereo.

In the car, it plays nicely with car kit's built-in FM transmitter but there's always a loss of quality with FM conversion as opposed to a direct input. So, if you require optimal quality I suggest using a cassette input, or better yet a direct wiring option and skip the Here2Anywhere and go for a professional installation with a stand-alone car stereo with built-in Sirius. (There are several brands now available -- Sony, Kenwood, Audiovox, Alpine, Clarion). Since my new Volvo has a great factory system, I didn't want to replace the stereo so I went for the plug-and-Play route of the Here2Anywhere with the FM transmitter.

Look over your dash before buying. The Here2Anywhere is NOT as flexible to place in a car as other units. This unit is DEEPER than the others -- it requires placement on TOP of a dash. The Audiovox and JVC units allow placement on the front of the dash since they are slimmer (but taller)-- personally I thought the Kenwood had a bit better sound, but the difference was slight, if noticible at all, totally subjective on my part, and based on listening in a noisy mega store environment.

If you're sure you won't use Sirius in your car, consider the new Kenwood unit made exclusively for home use. But, Kenwood has not released hard SOUND specs that allow a comparison of this unit (...) and the Here2Anywhere (...). But, the home unit has optical output if your home system can handle it.

As for Sirius vs. XM:

I chose Sirius for a few reasons. Sirius has more news and talk radio choices including Sirius Left (liberal talk), Sirius Right (yep. right wing) and SEVERAL PBS commercial free stations. They even have a Gay/Lesbian 24/7 station. XM's talk was largely the regular national talk show hosts that I already receive in New York.

I live in the NY metropolitan area, but still find the PBS stations in my area don't carry the variety of PBS options that are on Sirius. As far as the commercials go, the Sirius music stations (over 60 with every imaginable genre) are TOTALLY commercial free -- only the stations that they rebroadcast (ex. CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, etc.) have commercials.

Sirius has three satellites, not two as XM, and their three have a much higher angle orbit that XM's. So, it is less likely to have it's signal temporarily blocked by trees, buildings, mountains/hills and big trucks, as you drive.

Also, Sirius has just dropped their pricing -- it's now the same price as XM if your subscribe for a year. So, the only benefit of XM (lower price) is now gone.

Of course, the bottom line, pick the service that has the music/news/talk that YOU LIKE best! All of my suggestions mean nothing if you prefer the content of another service!