Not an old timer says: at that price point I would never have bothered with the hobby. At the current price point I still buy very little. I have multiple hobbies all of which could take all my spare income if I let them. - K0COW

Adjusted for inflation, that $700 in 1978 is $2,661.15 in 2018 money.

The latest-and-greatest KENWOOD TS-990S is going for ~$7,979.95 (according to HRO)[1]

I'd say you got a deal back in the day. :)

[1] https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-011672

:) The TS-990S looks to be a smidgen better than my old Kenwood.

It took me a few minutes to remember: Mine was the TS 520, which listed at $600 according to eham. So even more of a bargain than I remember. (not like I paid for it. Thanks Dad. (But then again, it sent me down the giant rabbit hole of analog circuits and devices. Thanks for nothing Dad.) :)

https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/5430

https://www.ebay.com/p/Kenwood-TS-520-Radio-Transceiver/1296...

Edit: Wow, just spent some time on the TS-990S site. The state of the art is really something to behold for someone who has not been very active in the past couple of decades.

I've got a TS-520 sitting on the desk next to me. It sounds great on receive but things get intimidating when it comes time to TX... so far I've only TX'd on my TS-570S.