Albert,

Sorry, I should have mentioned that.  There is a  sticker or plate or 
something on the rear.   I think it is between the antenna jacks and the 
  usb/serial ports.  It might also be on the sales receipt.  I got mine 
off the box.  No sighted help here, so i was able to put the box on a 
scanner and  do an OCR to read it.   It will be on a sticker on the box. 
  One of the short ends of the box.

73, Steve KW3A

On 7/3/2014 1:04 AM, Albert Sanchez wrote:
> So, Steve, where do you find the s/n?
> Albert, WA7FXB
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Forst" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2014 10:35 PM
> Subject: Re: Kenwood TS-590 ALC mod
>
>
>> Dave,
>>
>> Again, anything I say should be confirmed.    My understanding is that
>> units made after Jan 1 2014 had the mods done at the factory.  At least
>> that's the story  going around.
>>
>> You can find production date from the s/n.   First character will be a
>> "B".  Kenwood went to a new s/n system a few years ago and "A" would
>> stand for the first decade of this century and "B" for the second
>> decade.   No 590's were made prior to 2010, so all should start with a
>> "B".
>>
>> Second character is a number that indicates  year of production: 0 =
>> 2010, 1 = 2011, etc., to 4 = 2014.
>>
>> Third character is month of production: 1 = January through 9 =
>> September, A = October, B = November, and C = December.
>>
>> After that are some  zeros and last, some digits that indicate actual
>> production that month.
>>
>> So it is the first 3 characters that tell  when it was made.   Mine
>> starts with B14, which means made in April 2011.  makes sense since I
>> bought it new in June 2011.
>>
>> Again, you should confirm all this junk and decide if you want to  go to
>> the trouble of resolving a problem that may or may not be there, and may
>> or may not apply to you.
>>
>> 73, Steve KW3A
>>
>> On 7/2/2014 10:00 PM, David Weigel wrote:
>>> Hi, Steve:
>>> Thanks for the information and commentary on the alc mod for the TS
>>> 590.  I purchased my TS 590S on February 8th from H R O at the Orlando
>>> Hamcation, and the transceiver was sent to me from the H R O Delaware
>>> office, arriving at my home about February 15, 2014.  Without additional
>>> information, I do not know if my TS590S was manufactured in the latter
>>> part
>>> of 2013 or early 2014, just before my mid-February 2014 shipment.  How
>>> does
>>> one come to know when the rig was manufactured?  Is there some
>>> informational
>>> sticker or other telltale sign on the rig itself?  Or does one just need
>>> to
>>> contact the vendor to learn of when the rig came to the vendor, taking
>>> into
>>> account some time for transit from Japan? (or was it China or Indonesia?)
>>> I am hoping that the special Kenwood TS 590 and VGS-1 sales campaign
>>> from last November/December "exhausted" the supply of pre-alc mod TS
>>> 590s,
>>> so that any TS 590s sold in February 2014 then had the factory alc
>>> So, please let us know of the secret of identifying the date of
>>> manufacture of the TS 590.  Thanks.    Dave Weigel (pronounced: why
>>> gull)   KD4JEZ     Naples, Florida
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: For blind ham radio operators
>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>>> On Behalf Of Steve Forst
>>> Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2014 2:10 PM
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Kenwood TS-590 ALC mod
>>>
>>> Not sure if anyone else on the list has had this done, but figured I
>>> would share my experience.
>>>
>>> First, don't take anything I say as Gospel, confirm with another source.
>>>
>>> The 590 has had a known issue of ALC/power spike and Kenwood is now
>>> offering a free mod to fix.   You need to send the radio to a Kenwood
>>> service center at your expense, and Kenwood covers the mod and return
>>> shipping.
>>>
>>> If this spike exists on a particular radio, it could cause a solid state
>>> amp (or some high end tube amps) to trip their protection circuit.
>>> Many solid state amp owners  have reported no problems and all works
>>> well.   others, like me, found the amp tripped with only modest drive.
>>>
>>> in my case my THP 1.2kfx which  should put out 750 watts pep, with a
>>> drive between 75-90 watts, would trip off with  much less.   On 10
>>> meters I was limited to about 35 watts drive, 40 watts on 15, and 50 or
>>> so on 20 meters.   Lower bands could handle 60 watts.    More drive and
>>> the amp would trip.
>>>
>>> Sent mine  out in  June to the Virginia Beach service center and had it
>>> back in 12 days.   Have had it back for a week and have run it with the
>>> ss amp and no problems.    Played some in the Canada Day contest on both
>>> 15 and 20 meters running 70 watts drive and no problems.   THP is out of
>>> business now and this amp would be expensive to repair, so I will
>>> probably limit drive to 65-70 watts and  hopefully the extra headroom
>>> will give it a longer life. I'll treat it like a 550 - 600 watt amp
>>> instead of 750.
>>>
>>> So I was happy with the result.   Your mileage may vary.  The mod
>>> consists of some hardware changes and some changes in the alignment
>>> procedure.   If your 590 was built starting in January 2014, the changes
>>> were implemented at the factory.   Anything built from 2010 - 2013  can
>>> get the mod if you desire.    Obviously most of these radios are long
>>> out of warranty, but kenwood is  treating this as a warranty repair.
>>> Mine was built in April 2011 and purchased in June 2011.
>>>
>>> Anyway, that's my long winded story.
>>>
>>> 73, Steve KW3A
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
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