If you get a morse a when you press and hold the tuner button, the 
antenna is matched already.  The TS-590 remembers the settings from 
the last time the tuner was run on that frequency.

73,

Dave, W7OQ

At 10:06 PM 11/26/2014, you wrote:
>Bob, the thing is, that when I push the tune button on the
>external tuner, it doesn't chatter like it did when connected to
>the TS480 when it was trying to tune to the antenna.  It's kind
>of caused me to wonder if it is working or not, but it seems to
>be working at least some times.  Jim WA6EKS
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
>From: Bob Tinney <[log in to unmask]
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Date sent: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 21:34:05 -0500
>Subject: Re: Question about using an external tuner with the
>TS590
>
>Jim,
>
>I prefer an external tuner as they are not as lossy as most
>internal
>tuners.  My 590 tuner drops my power output by 10 to 15 watts and
>my
>Palstar 2K tuner shows no measurable loss in to a dummy load.
>One thing
>that can get a ham in trouble is if you have both your internal
>tuner
>and external tuner both turned on.  The output on the rig could
>get such
>a high impedence that it could arc over or blow a fixed
>capacitor.
>
>Bob, K8LR, [log in to unmask]
>
>On 11/26/2014 9:23 PM, Jim Gammon wrote:
>  I am using the internal tuner in my Ts 590 but still have my
>  small external tuner in line that I used with the TS 480.  I
>have
>  noticed that I don't get much action from the external tuner
>like
>  I used to get when it was connected to the 480.  Seems like the
>  internal tuner in the 590 is handling most or all of the tuning.
>  My question is, can I take the external tuner out of the line?
>  Thanks for your thoughts, Jim WA6EKS
>
>    ----- Original Message -----
>  From: Bob Tinney <[log in to unmask]
>  To: [log in to unmask]
>  Date sent: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 21:15:50 -0500
>  Subject: Re: SWR, antenna tuners, and reflected power
>
>  I have to add something here,  I used to think that you had to
>  have a
>  perfect match to maximize efficiency.  But I now realize that if
>  you
>  have a good, wide range, antenna tuner, you can match almost
>  anything.
>  You can even load up an 8 foot whip on 160 meters, but the
>  radiation
>  efficiency will be very low and your tuner will get very hot or
>  arc.  I
>  have an Alex loop that is 3 feet in diameter and it gets out
>  surprisingly well even on 40 meters, but you can only use up to
>  20 watts
>  do to the close spacing in the tuning capacitor on the loop.
>
>  Bob, K8LR, [log in to unmask]
>
>  On 11/26/2014 4:24 PM, Tom Behler wrote:
>    Ron:
>
>    Thanks for the excellent concept review on SWR, reflected
>power,
>  and antenna
>    tuners.
>
>    We all need reminders about this sort of thing from time to
>  time.
>
>    In fact, I'm now thinking of making some modifications to my
>  station, and am
>    trying to decide whether I can effectively do so with my
>current
>  antenna
>    arrangement.  As you may recall, I use an Alpha Delta DXCC
>  nulti-band dipole
>    on 40 through 10 meters, and a Cobra ultralite senior antenna,
>  mainly for
>    the lower bands.
>
>    While these antennas have kept me on the air on the HF bands
>  over the past
>    few years, I do wonder sometimes whether I might try something
>  else to
>    improve my situation.  I do have limited space here, though,
>  which makes the
>    issue of alternate wire antennas a bit challenging.  A tower
>and
>  beam are
>    also out of the question at this time for financial and other
>  more practical
>    reasons.
>
>
>    Anyway, your remarks are quite timely here, so thanks for
>  sharing them.
>
>    Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>
>
>    -----Original Message-----
>    From: For blind ham radio operators
>  [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>    On Behalf Of Dr.  Ronald E.  Milliman]\\`
>    Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2014 4:07 PM
>    To: [log in to unmask]
>    Subject: SWR, antenna tuners, and reflected power
>
>    I am sure most of you know all about SWR (i.e.  Standing Wave
>  Ratio), antenna
>    tuners, and reflected power.  However, it might be worth our
>  discussing it
>    anyway for the benefit of those who might not be as familiar
>  with these
>    relationships as others.  Many of us use antenna tuners, both
>  manual and
>    automatic, for obtaining the best possible impedance match at
>  the output
>    point of our transceivers with the objective of getting the
>SWR
>  as close to
>    1.0 to 1 as we can.  A perfect match for most rigs is when the
>  transceiver
>    sees a 50 ohm load at its output.  Anything above a 1:1 SWR
>  represents some
>    level of mismatch.  Most of our transceivers can tolerate some
>  mismatch
>    before it begins to reduce the power output as a means of
>  protecting the
>    circuitry of the transceiver, and if the SWR or mismatch gets
>  high enough,
>    it will cause the transceiver to reduce its power output to
>  zero.  Many of us
>    have transceivers, like the Kenwood TS-590 and similar rigs,
>  that have
>    built-in automatic antenna tuners.  These tuners work
>extremely
>  well for
>    matching the impedance presented to the transceiver at its
>  output, providing
>    this mismatch isn't too high.  How much is too high varies to
>  some extent
>    from one make and model of transceiver to another.  If the
>  mismatch is so
>    large that the rigs internal automatic tuner cannot bring the
>  SWR down
>    within an acceptable level, you are faced with either
>adjusting
>  your antenna
>    to achieve a better match at the point where the feedline
>  connects to the
>    antenna, or you will need to obtain an external tuner to do
>the
>  job.
>    External tuners, whether manual or automatic, tend to have
>much
>  wider ranges
>    for matching the impedance of the feedline to the 50 ohms the
>  transceiver
>    wants to see at its output.  A match at the transceiver's
>output
>  does not
>    mean there is a match at the point where the feedline actually
>  connects to
>    the antenna.  Even if the impedance at the output of the
>  transceiver is
>    matched perfectly with an antenna tuner, there can be a very
>  substantial
>    mismatch at the other end of the feedline where it connects to
>  the antenna.
>    The larger this latter mismatch, the less actual power will be
>  radiated by
>    the antenna and the more power from the transceiver will be
>  reflected back
>    or remain in the feedline.  What happens to the reflected
>power
>  depends
>    largely on the type of feedline used.  The difference between
>  the power
>    radiated by the antenna and the output power of the
>transceiver
>  is the
>    reflected power and may be totally lost power, depending upon
>  the loss
>    rating of the feedline.  If coax is used for the feedline,
>this
>  reflected
>    power ends up dissipating as heat in the coax and is pretty
>much
>  totally
>    lost power.  If this heat is more than the coax can handle, it
>  can burn up
>    the coax.  In contrast, open wire feedline is considerably
>less
>  "lossy", and
>    much of the reflected power ends up being radiated by the open
>  wire feedline
>    as opposed to ending up being dissipated in heat.
>
>
>
>    I am building up to two very important points that, in my
>  opinion, do not
>    received nearly as much attention as they should.  The first
>  point is that
>    reflected power is not good for your transceiver, or if you
>are
>  using a
>    linear amplifier, it is not good for your amp.  If you are
>using
>  a tube-type
>    linear, it can handle or tolerate more reflected power than
>the
>  solid-state
>    type amps, but regardless, reflected power is bad for your rig
>  and it is bad
>    for your amp.  Here is    my second point: just because your
>  antenna tuner is
>    able to get the SWR down to 1.0 to 1 or an acceptable level at
>  the output of
>    your transceiver or amp, that does not mean the reflected
>power
>  is zero or
>    reduced to an acceptable level.  Most rigs and amps today have
>  built-in
>    protection circuits that detect high SWR and high reflected
>  power, and they
>    will shut completely down if either the SWR or reflected power
>  is too high.
>    For example, I have a Kenwood TS-590 driving an Ameritron
>  ALS-600, and my
>    antenna is an 80 meter, full-wave loop.  I feed the loop
>antenna
>  with 50 ohm
>    coax and use a 2.5 to 1 matching ballun at the feedpoint of
>the
>  antenna.  The
>    loop works extremely well on all bands 80 through 10 meters,
>  including the
>    WARP bands.  However, there is a sizable mismatch on some
>bands
>  at the
>    feedpoint of the antenna.  Without an antenna tuner, this
>  mismatch would
>    present such a high SWR at the output of the transceiver or
>  amplifier that
>    the protection circuits would reduce the power to zero or, in
>  the case of
>    the amp, it would kick it off.  The mismatch is so high that
>the
>  internal
>    tuner of the TS-590 cannot handle it.  So, I use a LDG
>AT1000PRO
>  II external,
>    automatic antenna tuner, which has a much wider matching
>range,
>  and it can
>    handle the mismatch and the power of the ALS-600 just fine.
>  However, even
>    though I am able to get my SWR down to 1.0 to 1 on some bands
>  and 1.5 to 1
>    or better on the others, I cannot run the amp at full power
>  because if I do,
>    the reflected power is so high, over 50 watts, that it causes
>my
>  ALS-600 to
>    kick off.  Therefore, I am forced to reduce my output power
>down
>  to the point
>    where the reflected power is low enough that it won't shut the
>  amp down.
>    Consequently, instead of putting out 600 watts from the amp, I
>  have to
>    reduce the power to where I am putting out only about 300
>watts.
>  This keeps
>    my reflected power level below 50 watts, which is the critical
>  level for the
>    ALS-600 amp, keeping it from completely shutting down.
>
>
>
>    Many years ago, when I was a young, foolish teenager, I put up
>  an antenna
>    that had such a high SWR that I could get RF burns from the
>  Microphone of my
>    transmitter.  The transmitter was a Heathkit DX-40, which had
>a
>  PI-output
>    circuit that would allow me to load-up about anything for an
>  antenna, but
>    back in those days, there were no protection circuits to
>  automatically shut
>    the rig down if the SWR or reflected power was excessive.  As
>a
>  result, the
>    high SWR and reflected power from trying to load and extremely
>  mismatched
>    antenna caused my tank coil to get so hot that it melted the
>  plastic
>    insulators that separated the windings of the tank coil; this
>  caused the
>    tank coil to short, which, in turn, created a chain reaction,
>  ending up in
>    wiping out the entire power supply.  My point is to simply
>  illustrate what
>    high SWR and reflected power could do to your transceiver or
>amp
>  if it
>    weren't for the protection circuits that are built into the
>  modern gear.
>    However, even with the protection circuits, it is important to
>  strive to
>    achieve the best possible resonant frequency match with your
>  antenna and
>    then, between the feedline and your antenna and again between
>  the feedline
>    and the output of your equipment.
>
>
>
>    I've had three people write to me off list asking me questions
>  that related
>    to this whole topic, and so, I thought I would simply write
>this
>  up and post
>    it to the list.  I'm not trying to show-off what I know;
>rather,
>  I might be
>    showing-off what I don't know because there is a lot more
>about
>  this stuff
>    that I know very little about, and I am absolutely certain
>that
>  many of you
>    know tons more about some of this stuff than I do.  I'm just
>  trying to be
>    helpful to some of the people that might be new that do not
>  understand some
>    of these things.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>    Dr.  Ronald E.  Milliman
>
>    Retired Professor of Marketing
>
>
>
>    President: Millitronics, Inc.  (millitronics.biz)
>
>    President: South Central Kentucky Council of the Blind
>  (SCKCB.ORG)