I wish I was a wealth of looks and money, but that's life.
So when are we going to hear you on the air?
73, happy Fourth, Steve KW3A
On 7/3/2014 9:43 PM, Kent Plemmons wrote:
> 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
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
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