13
be available as free download from
the Kenwood site. There’s a growing
interest in remote operation over the
Internet and I think that this is yet
another very different and new facet of
our hobby that has an appeal for some
operators.
It’s also possible to use the COM
port to a v.h.f. or u.h.f. radio and pass
the cluster spots to the transceiver,
which then moves to the spot frequency.
However, using a contest program such
as
N1MM
, it’s possible to do that with
the program connected to an Internet
Cluster Node, and it’s much faster. (The
same could apply to the TS-590S, of
course).
Main Attractions
One of the main attractions of the
TS-590S design, in my opinion, is
the receive side. At 21MHz and
below, the transceiver employs down
conversion. The
fi
rst roo
fi
ng
fi
lter at
6kHz bandwidth is directly after the
mixer and the second roo
fi
ng
fi
lter is
a 2.7kHz wide device
after the post
ampli
fi
er. This gives a good dynamic
range and enables the transceiver
to deal with strong adjacent channel
interference, enabling copy on weak
signals that wouldn’t be possible in
some transceivers.
Optimum operation is again assured
by the use of the 32-bit
fl
oating-point
digital signal processing (DSP) at the i.f.
This controls a wide range of features
such as the a.g.c. function, channel
fi
ltering and noise reduction.
The (already brie
fl
y mentioned)
pre-set type a.a.t.u. enables quick band
changing and it also operates when the
TS-590S is receiving. When the transmit
frequency changes, the requisite pre-
set is loaded into the antenna tuner
circuit to ensure that optimum matching
is rapidly achieved without having to
retune. The operator can con
fi
gure a
maximum of 32 frequency ranges for
both v.f.o.s to change the operating
mode automatically as the v.f.o.
frequency is changed.
The Menu System
To use the menu system ef
fi
ciently, I
had to keep referring to the manual, but
this is to be expected – the rule RTFM
(Read the Flaming Manual!) applies
here! Most transceivers are menu
driven these days and they all have a
different way of operating the menus.
However, after a few trial runs, I soon
got used to adjusting various menu
items. There are 88 menu selections
and these can be set up in two different
fi
les, Menu A and Menu B.
The operator can choose to have one
menu for one type of operation and the
other menu for something completely
different, or even set up the transceiver
for two different operators! There are
also two programmable keys on the
front panel,
PFA
and
PFB
. There’s a
list of menu items that can be assigned
to these buttons, as well as four extra
buttons on the desk microphone, an
optional extra. Unfortunately, for the
review I had the
fi
st microphone and
this doesn’t have that facility.
The menu number information is in
the main display area and in the sub
area is the menu item information. This
scrolls from right to left. Once the Menu
button is pressed the menu number
can be selected by using the
MULTI/
CH
control. It took me a while to get
used to the menu selections until I just
followed the orange arrows on the keys
concerned.
The USB/COM Ports
Thanks to the addition of a USB port,
the TS-590S can be hooked up to a
PC with a USB cable, enabling PC
control of the transceiver plus transmit/
receive audio connectivity. The
ARUA-10
software to control the USB
audio system line of the PC can be
downloaded from the Kenwood Internet
site.
Data can also be transposed from
one TS-590S to another or similar
Kenwood transceiver by directly
connecting the two transceivers by
using the COM RS-232 connectors on
the rear apron. The built-in
fi
rmware is
also upgradable on-line.
Repeater & FM Operations
For those that enjoy h.f. repeater
use, both narrow and wide frequency
modulation (f.m.) is available and
when propagation allows, the 28MHz
repeaters can be used along with
those on 50MHz. Tone access is
programmable with a selection of
frequencies as is an identifying scan
function.
It’s also possible to select a
Continuous Tone Controlled Squelch
The rear panel of the transceiver showing the h.f.
and 50MHz antenna inputs.
Product
The Kenwood FT-590S h.f.
and 50MHz transceiver
Supplier
Kenwood Communications
UK
Pros
The TS-590S is pleasant
and intuitive to use and
once the operator is
familiar with the controls/
menu, etc., it will hold its
own with any of the more
expensive transceivers.
Cons
As a mid-price range
transceiver the TS-590S
doesn’t have some of the
bells and whistles of a
transceiver costing more.
However, it does have
some bells and whistles
that the more expensive
transceivers don’t have!
Price:
£1521
Accessories
HS-5 Deluxe Headphones,
HS-6 Lightweight
Headphones, MB-430
Mobile mounting bracket,
MC-60A Desk Microphone,
PS-60 Heavy Duty Power
Supply and P-23 External
Speaker.
Further Information
www.kenwood-electronics.
co.uk/products/comms
