| S51TK |
Rating:    |
2023-01-10 | |
| Kenwood TS590SG |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
The transceiver is fine, but I have a comment on the ssb reception! I can't find the right settings for ssb reception, like in the old days of tube receivers! I don't know, maybe I asked too much, but the old FT101 had much better reception! Everything is fine on Cw and the signal can be separated really well there! Overall is good value for the money !
73, S51TK |
|
| SOCAL_RADIODUDE |
Rating:      |
2022-12-18 | |
| Great rig, quality build, fun to operate |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| After spending too much time worrying about fish finders and portables decided to go with the classic and sure glad i did. Hooked up an SDR for panadapter and found it to be way better than any built in scope because you can set it up howsoever you wish. Mindful of other reviewers here grabbed the vgs1 when it suddenly showed up in stock at hro (just before writing this). Rock solid build and actually more compact that expected. Well worth it. |
|
| N9FIY |
Rating:      |
2022-11-29 | |
| vgs-1 module no longer in production |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| This is a great rig, well worth the money. i just wanted to add to the rest of the reviews that one of the selling features of this rig is the vgs-1 voice module. I thought i did my homework well enough before i purchased this but was i wrong. It turns out that the vgs-1 is no longer in production per Kenwood. Try finding that information anywhere on the web. Several online stores have it listed all indicating out of stock but none saying it was no longer available from kenwood. I tried using a used equipment site and wound up being scammed for $100. Hopefully I can find one at Dayton |
|
| W5HEH |
Rating:      |
2022-10-02 | |
| Gr8 AUDIO , very good Filters, Enjoyable to use. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
OK you would call me a Kenwood FanBoy .
This is my 4th , ts930S, Ts130SE, TS480HX , now TS 590SG- This is a Keeper ,picked up Used in Excellent Condition. Wow the RX Audio sounds like what you would expect from Kenwood . I Like all the Buttons and Knobs , for playing with a waterfall have been looking at SDR type Dongles , will get one of the higher quality units , have a lap top for screen + more . The VFO is smooth , downloaded a cheat sheet from manual , Full Manual as well and read it ahead of time - have a lot to learn .
Looked @ all the main Rigs , for HF the TS590SG has plenty of Bang for the $. OUT of the Box was Usable and Fun . Will leave more specifics as time goes on - This Gem is a Joy to use and does not take up much space . 73 . |
|
| WU9F |
Rating:      |
2022-07-11 | |
| Great Radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
It’s been a number of months since my last review. I have learned some great respect for the 590 sg. I received my Icom 7300 on August 28; 2021. It was very easy and quick to get setup and on the air. It’s got some cool bells and whistles, and it performs well. I like the touch screen and the waterfall and it does make using it a joy. It is a fun radio to play with. Then I finally got around to the reason I bought it. I wanted to use it for digital, and especially for FT 8. It was a pain to set up and stay that way. The waterfall was not needed since the wsjtx software has one. I was really enjoying FT8. I have some hearing issues that make digital enjoyable. I was going to keep the 590sg for phone, and it is great for that. I ran HRD with it and it works great. Then I got tired of having to reset the 7300 from time to time. So, I decided to see how the 590sg worked with FT 8. The setup required only 1minor adjustment and it was ready to go. It has been an incredible radio for the purpose I am using it for. I have over 2200 contacts on FT 8, and a great majority are on the Kenwood 599 sg. It makes digital very easy. I simply turn on the radio and it’s ready to go. It has flawless integration to the wsjtx software, and it makes FT 8 on the Kenwood 590 sg as much fun as the 7300 on SSB phone. The other thing I noticed is that the 590 sg feels like a very high quality radio. It feels like it, looks like it, and works like it. Both of my HF rigs are great radios, I believe the 590 is a better quality radio. The 7300 does a great job, but outside the touchscreen/waterfall on the front panel are fun to use, the HRD program does all that and more, and the 590 sg can be just as fun to use, and I think it’s a better quality radio. With all that said, I’m not interested in getting rid of the 7300. If I HAD to sell one of them, it would most likely be the 7300 I would be waving goodbye to.
I purchased this radio about 5 years ago. I had read about it and it seemed like it would be a great radio for its price point. It really is. It was easy to learn, and I could learn how to use its many features at my speed and still make contacts all over. The receiver sounds great, and I get good audio reports as well. If I can hear a station, I can almost always reach it. I use Ham Radio Deluxe with it, and it was a flawless integration. I had a TS 480 that I used for a few years before I got my 590, and a TS 430 before that. They were both good radios, so I had no reservations at buying the 590. It does more than I can do and is a joy to use. Nearly everything I need to do can be done with a knob on the radio and I don’t have to go through copious menus to do what I want. For those things that are in the menus, they are easy to find and use. The manual is very handy for that. I have not found anything to complain about with this radio. It was easy to hook up, including connecting to my computer. My 480 was a good radio, but this one is a big step up. |
|
| F8RFL |
Rating:     |
2022-07-11 | |
| Very happy with my purchase |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I haven't owned a lot of TX since my license so I can't make a comparison with other products (my last one is an FT-857)
However, I can make several comments:
- The receiver has a “soft” and/or “warm” sound, no aggressiveness when listening to white noise
- I was afraid of a product that was a little too complex for me: totally wrong, it is easy to use and everything seems logical despite all the possibilities offered
- I read somewhere that the noise blanker would be ineffective: yet this function has TOTALLY eliminated the QRM caused by an electrified horse fence behind my house!
- I confirm that the product does not heat up very much (and it is very hot in southern France)
- The modulation produced by this radio with its original microphone is very satisfactory
- The ARCP software is very responsive, complete but ugly ????
However, I did not put 5 stars because of the price of this transceiver in Europe (too expensive compared to the competition) |
|
| KB1QYH |
Rating:      |
2022-06-05 | |
| By FAR The BEST HF radio at ANY Price |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| While subjective, I believe that this radio is by far the best HF radio available at any price. This is due to it's EASE OF USE, LACK OF TOUCH SCREEN, and OVERALL ERGONOMICS. Any function you need to access readily is on the front panel of the radio. It has a very bright and clear, standard LCD display. None of this color touch screen garbage! It also doesn't have a spectrum scope, a useless feature included in a lot of radios these days. Nobody needs it! What it DOES include is a separate RX antenna jack so that you can plug your beverage directly into the back of the radio. EVERY ham needs a Beverage! Best receive antenna available. "Signal, NOT NOISE!" It can be fine tuned to transmit EXCELLENT audio! If you're looking to spend around $2000 all in, go for the TS-590sg. Make sure you add the voice guide, and TCXO to your order! Consider them required for this radio. The radio also runs cool. I check into a weekly 6 meter AM net with this radio and run 20 watts. It's a ragchew net, so QSO's can be long-winded. No problem with noise from the fans or heat from the rig even at 20 watts on AM. the radio stays cool to the touch, which is probably one of the reasons that it is so reliable. I bought my first TS-590sg in 2015, and my second one at the end of 2021. If they are still in production 5 years from now, I will most likely by a 3rd. Fantastic radio! Buy one TODAY!!! |
|
| VK7ZPD |
Rating:      |
2022-04-16 | |
| Superb Underrated rig. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
The 590SG is a fantastic and very under rated rig. I bought my 590SG in Australia about the time that Kenwood pulled out of the Australian Market.
Apparently their main reason for pulling the plug was loss of their service technician, poor form for a company that makes arguably the best hardware in the market.
I run the 590 using SDR console as a Panadapter connected to the antenna sharing port. The waterfall and capabilities with SDR Console make the Icoms waterfall display look like a toy.
I make full use of the dual serial ports to run SDR console, Kenwoods excellent free control ARCP software and RX audio via Voicemeeter software. I’ve yet to permanently set up TX audio with the Voicemeeter mixer but have tested and it works as expected.
RX and Tx audio quality is excellent from the standard speaker or Kenwoods HS5 headsets, even with my poor hearing. Running the audio through the PC via USB and Voicemeeter software allows me to stream the audio via Bluetooth to my hearing aids or BT headset, make a coffee without missing any action.
RF sensitivity is excellent, others have reported the noise reduction as poor but with some adjustment it works quite well, particularly in conjunction with adjustment of the audio bandwidth.
The free ARCP software mirrors almost exactly the operation of the set and is a delight to use, unlike the Icom offering which doesn’t even pickup the settings programmed in the set, costs the earth and doesn’t afford the same flexibility as the Kenwood offering. The remote IP control and associated VOIP audio capabilities (again using free software provided by Kenwood) works flawlessly provided you have a reasonable internet connection, I have had QSO’s using a cell phone data shared connection, Laptop, Headset & ARCP software for control 200km distant from my Rig. I’m not sure of anything else anyone could ask of a set, the 590 does everything I need and want without having to buy additional hardware and software. |
|
| VE3WMB |
Rating:      |
2021-12-22 | |
| My dream Rig |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I bought my TS-590SG a year ago, after operating a used TS-590S for about 6 months (the TS-590s is now my cottage rig). I love this rig. Kenwood got the ergonomics right and performance is excellent. I use it with a Phonema Miranda external speaker and the receive audio is superb. I don't do a lot of SSB operating but recently purchased an Inrad DMS-629 desk mic and I am getting excellent audio reports. What I really appreciate on this rig are the little extras such as the configurable DRV output which I am using to drive a RSP1A with SDRUNO as a panadaptor, the separate RX antenna jack (i use it with a LoG or Loop on the Ground on 160m/80m) and the separate key and paddle jacks for CW. I also appreciate that this rig is rated at 100% duty cycle for digital modes. These are all very useful features that are missing on most entry level rigs such as the IC-7300 but are important features IMHO. FWIW, if you read the in-depth manual for this rig you will realize that you should never attempt to use NR2 on SSB. It sounds terrible because NR2 was never intended for anything except for very narrow filter reception on CW. Anything more than about 100hz bandwidth on CW causes NR2 to impart a very watery sound to the signal but at filter settings of less than 100 Hz NR2 can do wonders to extract a weak signal from the noise. This is an excellent transceiver at a very reasonable price. |
|
| KO4EGA |
Rating:      |
2021-11-05 | |
| A solid, reliable radio for those not interested in touchscreens |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
My 590SG is my second radio, purchased after a year with a Xiegu G-90. The radio is extremely solid, well designed, and feels like total quality when in use. I selected this at the time because the IC-7300 could not be found for love nor money, and I am very glad this Kenwood found a place in my shack. Configuration to my Windows PC was almost too easy to believe, integration into DX Lab's suite of apps was seamless. The free Kenwood supplied software control app mimics every control on the rig with extreme accuracy and stability.
I do a lot of listening with this rig, and I'm frankly dismayed with some reviewer's focus on poor audio. The radio shows excellent selectivity and noise reduction, and while the built-in speaker won't shake the walls, there ARE these things called "headphones" and "powered speakers" that I'm sure can overcome any operator's physical shortcomings. I wander the bands with a panadapter and am amazed by all the signals I can dig out of the noise. Great fun.
In short, this is a well designed gem of a radio that gets overlooked because it doesn't have a touchscreen. Don't be put off by reviews that blame poor hearing on the radio, it is completely competent in selectivity and sensitivity - get one, you won't go wrong. |
|