I'm late going through emails, Richard, so my points are probably already 
covered.  I have both rigs.

The 590 is slightly more accessible, in that the power and mic level 
settings talk, as does the compression level.  But, the multichannel knob on 
the TS-2000 is detented, so if you turn it all the way one way when setting 
power or Mic gain, you will hear a beep and can then back it off to the 
desired level.

The 590 is better at operating with a bit of qrm or qrn as it has more 
flexible noise blanker and adjustable filter skirts and better DSP 
implementation.

If you want an all-in-one box to cover HF, VHF, UHF and satellite, though, 
you can't beat the TS-2000.  Even though a couple things don't talk, 95% of 
it does including ability to set most menu settings, so it is certainly very 
workable.

The 590 has updated interface capability for using USB.  On the TS-2000, you 
will need a serial port on your computer, or use a compatible USB-to-Serial 
converter.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard B McDonald" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2014 11:22 AM
Subject: Kenwood TS-2000 Versus TS-590


> Hi!
>
>
>
> I am trying to decide which is a better rig for me between the Kenwood
> TS-2000 and the Kenwood TS-590.  This breaks down into two considerations:
> 1) "accessibility" since I am blind and 2) radio functionality.
>
>
>
> As far as accessibility, from what I have read the TS-590 seems to be a 
> bit
> more accessible.  However, this difference seems to be small.  One thing I
> read from a accessibility review
> <http://active-elements.org/2012/12/01/kenwood-ts-2000/>  of the TS-2000 
> is
> " The TS-2000 was fitted with the optional VS-3 voice chip. The VS-3 has
> been superseded by the excellent VGS-1 on newer Kenwood's, but gave
> unparalleled access to Kenwood radios when introduced."  Does this mean 
> that
> the VGS-1 chip can be used in the TS-2000 to get its better performance.
>