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| Reviews Summary for Kenwood TS-590S |
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Reviews: 133
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Average rating: 4.6/5
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MSRP: $1799.99
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Description: The TS-590S marks a bold new chapter in Kenwood's proud
history of manufacturing high-performance transceivers.
Featuring a narrow-band Roofing Filter the TS-590S
significantly reduces interference from unwanted signals
that would be hidden to lesser rigs. With IF AGC based on
advanced DSP technology, Kenwood has essentially redefined
HF performance.
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Product is in production.
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More info: http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Communications/Amateur_Radio/HF_Base_Mobile/TS-590S
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W3QE
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 16, 2012 21:46
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YES
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This is my favorite radio out of many in the last 30 years, some costing more than twice as much. I am mostly CW and there it shines. As far as the SSB attributes, I can't say nor do I care. The receiver is the best I have owned, better than the PROIII or K2. Solid build quality, excellent receiver, antenna tuner that actually works like no other. What else could you want or get in this price class with this high performance, I say nothing. That's my opinion.
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KM4D
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 13, 2012 16:19
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Excellent value & updates work!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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My earlier review of this product is shown lower down the page. It was good but I had never really worked with it on SSB extensively. I spend most of my time on CW. First I want to mention the upgrade to firmware version 1.06. Yes, it does work and in my opinion Kenwood is listening to comments and is implementing improvements.
The low power or ALC problem is easy to solve. Take a look at a earlier review by Dietmar VE3CG. It hits the problem right on. You will need to download the service manual and jumper pins 8 and 9 of the acc2 jack. Once done, after you follow the instructions carefully, it works like a charm on SSB. Now lots of punch and sounds good even with the hand mike. Even better with a RE-27. ALC reading are much better as well.
My only gripe with the 590S is the QSK. I am comparing it to several Ten Tec radio's O1, O2 and Omni 6 Option 1, both old and new but overall for the $ spent the 590S is a real hard radio to beat.
If you are into the software end of the radio - ACRP software works very nicely and is free to download from KW's website.
One note is for my ears on CW the RX equalizer sounds best on BB2 and on SSB sounds best on HB2.
Would recommend to both new and seasoned ops as it is easy to use and is a real fun radio to use. Enjoy!
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KJ4VTH
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 10, 2012 14:56
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so far, so good
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Just hooked up the rig to wire dipole about 14 feet off the ground and my first contact was with station in Australia, long path ~23300km, and my report 57. No trouble with low TX power on SSB here. Perhaps it's too early to give a fair review but so far I'm pretty happy with the TS-590S.
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VK2BJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 27, 2012 12:27
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Great rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have owned my TS-590S for just over 12 months and have used it very extensively, mainly on cw. It is one of the early serial # radios and I had the receive fuse failure after a couple of months. It was quickly fixed under warranty by the Australian dealer with no problems since.
In general, I have found it to be an outstanding rig on cw and certainly comparable with my K3 except as regards QSK where the K3 definitely has the edge.
There is an issue with the power spike on key down that has not been fixed with any of the firmware updates - I am using the latest 1.06. It was not noticeable with my previous linear, an FL-7000, as that had good ALC action which neutralised it. However, I am now using a KPA500 with no ALC. The effective work around is to reduce the carrier level below the ALC threshold (on the TS-590S meter). That way the power spike is virtually eliminated.
I operate little SSB, mainly ragchewing, but I can confirm that the "talk power" is down compared with the K3, as others have reported. This is not a big issue with me and is easily overcome with the use of the linear.
The TS-590S has all the features needed on cw and I would recommend it to anyone.
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N6GRY
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 26, 2012 16:39
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This is it for me.
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Ok...I've found the shack rig I will stay with. I purchased the TS-590 after using the 480sat for several months, I wanted a nice rig for the shack that would be permanent,function the way I expected, and be reasonably priced. The 590 is it, I get nothing but great comments regarding my audio, and the filtering on this rig is pretty good too. I now use Kenwood radios exclusively, simply because they sound better...yes I'm bias, but I can be, because I've tried Yaesu and Icom, but they don't come close to the audio performance of a Kenwood. If you want to gauge the reliability and user loyalty, just look on ebay and see which rig is often there for resale, it wont be the 590 or 480. I hope this will help in your search for a new HF rig.
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K1FPV
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 25, 2012 13:12
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Tough To Beat For The Price!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Well, I've had my TS-590s now for just about a year. I've noticed a lot of TS-590 owners seem to have trouble getting much "Talk Power" on SSB. The key here is using the menu settings for the "Speech Processor" correctly set. I experimented on the air with a couple of local hams playing with the speech processor. That is the key!
At first I was a little disappointed trying several mics and having varying degrees of success. I found you must tailor the processor settings according to your voice and mic. Be sure to observe the ALC settings so as not to begin to distort.
Now besides having a terrific receiver, I have a terrific sounding SSB signal.If I could, I'd rate the TS-590s as a 5+.
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VE3CG
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 24, 2012 22:18
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TS-590S SSB power issue
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I have owned my TS-590S for one year now. There are numerous comments on this site praising the rig's solid receiver performance, mine is no exeption compared to my K3. This is a great radio giving the best bang for your money. There are however comments which I also echo, that some TS-590S rigs lack in SSB output power.
I compared my rig's SSB signal to my K3 signal using a Tektronix 465B scope and a 50 ohm dummy load with a build-in directional coupler. Looking at the fast response of an RF SSB signal with a scope should qualify as a peak-reading meter. My TS-590S showed a definite reduction in amplitude of the overall RF envelope when speaking in a normal tone of voice referenced to my K3's RF SSB signal. Also, the K3's internal RF bar graph power meter showed that speech peaks EASILY reach the 100 W level. In contrast, the TS-590S internal power meter showed speech peaks only reaching the 50 to 60 watt level, falling far short of 100 Watts. The stock Mic was used; the speech processor was active and adjusted via the instructions per the manual.
Another anomaly I noticed was when I first turn on my rig (cold start) the SSB RF envelope does not peak at the 50 to 60 watt level until the rig warms up. After about 5 minutes the RF power then stabilzes at the low output power level. This was a real blow, such a nice rig with a devastating problem.
I tried many different combination settings on the speech PROC along with Kenwoods ARCP software to customize the TX Equalizer to boost the power level but to no avail. As a last resort I turned to the TS- 590 Service Manual for any clues. Menu 23 and 24 caught my eye. 23 - ALC reference, 24 - POC/Power.
I followed the procedure as outlined on page 68 and 76 for writing new data into the menus.
Here are the values that worked for me:
Menu 23 - original number 123, changed to 185
Menu 24 - original number 179, changed to 190
My TS-590S SSB power output level is now on par with my K3. The ALC level stays well within the recommened operating range. The rig still needs 5 minutes or so to warm up for proper power output. I can live with that.
My radio settings are:
Mic - 40
PRO.I - 50
PRO.O - 50
Now my TS-590S is a formitable adversary for the K3 and for all high performance radio manufactures. If Kenwood were to address the above mentioned problem they would have a gold mine on their hands, sales would rocket.
Dietmar VE3CG
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W2MB
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 31, 2011 16:24
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It works just fine
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had mine since October 2010 and keep it's firmware up to date. I am a casual user that operates primarily fone on 10/15/20m. The radio has worked like a champ since day one. I use the stock hand mike and have never received a report that I didn't expect. I use a peak reading power meter which regularly indicates a hair over 100W out to my 4 el Mosley tribander.
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W9CW
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 31, 2011 10:47
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Excellent Transceiver
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I've not experienced any of the anomalies voiced by other reviewers here, with one exception: the ALC overshoot - however slight it may be. Since I don't run an amp here, this anomaly is a moot point for my operation. Although I use the TS-590S primarily for CW, I don't have the ALC or SSB output level problems that others seem to have. I use a Coaxial Dynamics 83000A peak reading wattmeter, and I see peaks at a minimum of 100W on all bands. Some may wish to consider purchasing a good peak-reading wattmeter before complaining about output power on voice peaks with their TS-590S. The latest firmware update (V1.06) released in December 2011 addresses a number of items, including improvement of the ALC action of the meter and improved blocking dynamic range on the up-conversion bands. For CW use, the TS-590S is an excellent performer with versatile DSP functions and full QSK. And as usual, the Kenwood RX and TX audio is superlative. This is an excellent transceiver borne out by its ranking on Sherwood Engineering's receiver evaluation list. I feel it was money well-spent, and wouldn't hesitate to purchase one again. Each iteration of firmware brings improvements, so it shows Kenwood USA is listening, and making the necessary tweaks where necessary.
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GB001
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Rating: 2/5
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Dec 31, 2011 02:40
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Needs Help
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Sad to say that this radio does not come up to Kenwoods usual standards. I also see the average power problems.
Good receiver but so is the one in my 480 .
My advice, save your money & buy a 480 . It will be far better on TX , especially if you buy the HX version.
This radio has been out over a year & still has issues. It is an expensive receiver or QRP Transceiver like others have said.
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