Steve you are always a wealth of information!
Thanks,
Kent, KK4FFF
Clyde, NC
-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Steve Forst
Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2014 8:19 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Kenwood TS-590 ALC mod
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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>
|
