You're probably right that I should have bought the TS-590. I could've done without the 2m/70cm since there isn't much activity on those bands around here.    As for a better receiver, there's probably something better than the TS-590. We buy what we can afford. 

A friend of mine did the expanded transmit mod on his TS2000 and it works just fine on 60 meters. He created memories for each 60 meter channel so that he can stay legal in that band. As for changing the backlight, Kenwood should offer a backlight color option if they don't want people getting inside and change it themselves. I've noticed that some rigs do offer a menu selection for backlight color but not for all models.

Would it be considered safe to perform a mod without risking voiding the warranty? I recently bought a TS-2000 and would like to do the backlight mod since I prefer green or blue. And I would like to expand the transmit so that I can operate on 60 meters. If I did those mods correctly why would it void the warranty anyway?

I got a chance to test the amp. I'm still having problems. 10, 15 and 80 meters seem to tune up but I'm only getting 600 watts during RTTY transmissions. I tried to tune up on 20 meters but when I get above 400 watts the amp "hisses" and the power suddenly drops. The problem seems to be associated with the LOAD tuning. I'm using a TA-33SR antenna (for 10/15/20) with this amp and an 80 meter inverted-V. SWR is less than 1.5. I haven't tried 40 meters yet.  I've noticed that the grid current is much higher (180 ma) than before the mod even though I'm only using 50 watts of drive. Any ideas?

Looks like the replacement of the diode with the capacitor would be a major pain so I might not do that. Not much room to get inside the can with a soldering iron and still see what you're doing.

I'll try searching yahoo but I won't register - they ask too many personal questions which is none of their business!

Hmm, I see that on the graph (N750) but later in the mod procedure it says to replace the diode with an N470. So, the question is which value is the correct one. Maybe an N470 doesn't exist?

There's a mod to improve freq stability but I'm having a lot of trouble finding a 33 pf N470 ceramic disc cap. Is there some other cap that can come close to the same performance as the N470 such as the N750?

I got my Taylor 811A tubes yesterday and plugged them in. Powered up the amp with no drive and I don't get the momentary drops in the HV like I did with the old tubes. Before I apply drive, should I follow Ameritrons instructions for tuning the amp or should I follow a friends advice and use a keyer running at 60 WPM to tune the amp? It does seem safer to tune with the keyer since it reduces the duty cycle while tuning but I thought I'd get some additional input. It seems like there should be a safer way to tune the amp than continuous keydown while tuning. Too bad I can't afford an auto-tune Alpha.

Just be sure to watch out for static and strong RF fields. I have to send my unit in for repair AGAIN. There's got to be a way to protect the input on these devices. Also, I've blown up the diodes in a vhf/uhf analyzer at work several times, also. Not worth the money when they're so easily damaged.   

The tired old argument that the no-code crowd brought a negative element to the HF bands is silly, biased, and based on ignorance, not fact.

"Thanks" for the insult, jerk. Maybe you're right but you could've been more tactful in your response.

A friend of mine is an OO and he has provided info to the FCC but nothing is getting done. I guess the FCC doesn't have the money or the will to enforce the rules anymore. They could've kept a lot of these "bozos" out of the HF bands if they had kept the morse code requirement for licensing. If morse code isn't going to come back and there's no enforcement forthcoming, they ought to make everyone re-take the test on rules before a license can be renewed. I know some hams that said they would leave ham radio if they were required to re-take any portion of the test.

Obviously, there's no such thing as privacy anymore. It's no wonder identity theft has become such a big issue.

Is there an alternate source for Kenwood filters (i.e. other vendors)? I'm looking for a yk-88s-1 or yk-88sn-1.  I don't want any solder-in filters.

It feels like the wafer is correctly set so I don't think that's the problem. I followed the mod instructions to the letter so I'm confident about my work. Besides, as I have mentioned, the problem with the amp dying began before the modification was even known to me. After 2 grid resistors burned up during a RTTY contest, I started looking for info on the amp and discovered the mod at that time. Anyway, it would have been great if the amp had been designed so that the rod didn't need to be removed to get the tube shelf out. Oh well. Anyway, after reading a LOT of literature about power amps and their design, I've decided to order replacement tubes. But, it's been a LONG time since I've studied tube theory so it's taking awhile to get back up to speed. I may have overlooked something, though. If I'm wrong and the new tubes don't fix the amp then it'll be time to buy a new amp or do without. Anyway, I ordered a matched quad set of Taylor 811A's from RF Parts today. I had considered buying 572's but it seems that from what I've read and heard, there's not a great deal of advantage to putting those tubes in the amp.