TS-590S_review_RC_2011.pdf

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1、39 EQUIPMENT REVIEWRADCOM JANUARY 2011PETER HART, G3SJX E-MAIL: PETERG3SJX.FREESERVE.CO.UK INTRODUCTION. Kenwood has been one of the key forces in the design and supply of amateur transceivers ever since these first became mass-produced items. Many classic models have been produced by them over the

2、years and the excellence of these designs is borne out by the number that are still in use by their loyal and contented owners. More recently the number of new models has reduced; indeed, it is now seven years since the last Kenwood HF transceiver so the announcement of a new model, the TS-590S, has

3、 (not surprisingly) been greeted with a great amount of interest. Shortly after receiving the review radio I produced a short summary of myfirstimpressionsfortheDecember RadCom and the full review now follows. BASIC FUNCTIONS. The TS-590S is a mid-sized radio measuring 270(w) x 96(h) x 291mm (d) and

4、 weighs about 7.4kg. This is sufficiently small to be easily transportable but of adequate size to be comfortable to operate. The radio requires a 13.8V supply. It contains a single receiver tuning 30kHz to 60MHz, although the performance is not specified over the full range. The transmitter is enab

5、led on the amateur bands and delivers nominally 100W output power. Transmit operation on 5MHz is standard in US models butcanbeenabledbyKenwooddealersinthe UK. This gives continuous transmit coverage across the 5MHz band for all modes but the discrete channels are best stored to memory for easy acce

6、ss. A low-level drive output is provided giving about 1mW transmit signal on the 136kHz band as well as transverter drive from any of the HF bands. The low level LF transmit range can be extended to 522kHz with a dealer modification, useful if 500kHz becomes a permanent allocation. Individual button

7、s select the bands with a triple band stacking register where one of three last used combinations of frequency, mode and other settings is returned for each press of the band key. Individual buttons also select the usual modes, with both sidebands available on CW and FSK and wide or narrow deviation

8、s on FM. A data button selects data mode on SSB and FM, the normal way of interfacing to PC applications (via the sound card);shiftsandbandwidthsallsettable.Modes can be selected automatically by setting up a mode-frequency map. The front panel is well laid out, with most functions directly accessib

9、le from front panel controls in a logical way. The display uses LCD technologywithselectableyelloworgreen LED backlighting. It is clear and bright with a good viewing angle. It also retains excellent visibility in bright lighting or direct sunlight, unlike many other display technologies. The meter

10、displays use a bargraph format and receiver filter bandwidths are similarly shown as a graphical bar. A separate button displaysfilterbandwidthsandshiftsnumerically forabout1second.Thefrequencyisdisplayed to 10Hz resolution and both frequencies are displayed for split frequency operation. The menu s

11、ystem is very comprehensive with 88 items and is easy to access and set. It uses scrolling display annotation. Two entirely separate sets of parameters may be stored, as Menu A and Menu B. This can be useful for optimising different operating environments such as contesting and local rag-chewing or

12、for field day operation where two operators have different preferences for the way the radio is set up. Access to selected menu items can be simplified by setting up a quick menu, which is a customised abbreviated menu list, or by allocating menu items to programmable function keys. There are two pr

13、ogrammable function keys on the front panel and a further four with the MC-47 microphone (available as an optional extra). Alternatively, the up/down keys on the standard microphone supplied with the radio can be reassigned as function keys.Allmenuitems,secondlevelkeyfunctions and some otherwise ina

14、ccessible functions can be assigned to any of the programmable keys. There are two antenna sockets on the rear panel and there is also a separate receive- only antenna connector. Key jacks are only fitted on the rear panel, one for connecting a paddle to the internal keyer and a separate socket for

15、external keying. Other rear panel connectors are fairly minimal: a DIN connector for audio and interfacing lines for the data modes and a separate DIN connector for linear control. Menu items allow for both fast and slow linear switching separately for HF and 50MHz but there is only one linear contr

16、ol line. A dedicated connector interfaces to the AT-300 external ATU. For connecting to a PC, a USB interface and a 9-pin D connector COM port are provided. The USB port allows for both PC control and for passing audio to and from external applications. Software and port drivers are available from t

17、he Kenwood US website 1. As with other recent Kenwood radios, the built-in firmware is upgradeable. Again, full details are given on the Kenwood US website. The 90 page instruction manual provided with the radio is comprehensive and written in a very compact style but in some cases is not particular

18、ly clear. There are no technical descriptions, circuit diagrams or CAT details provided, but a separate CAT manual is downloadable from the Kenwood website. A further five instruction manuals in different languages are provided with the radio, which seems rather a waste of paper. RADIO DESIGN AND AR

19、CHITECTURE. The receiver in the TS-590S uses a rather novel architecture. Over most of the tuning range it is a triple conversion superhet, up- converting to a first IF of 73MHz, then to the second IF of 10.7MHz and finally to 24kHz to feed the DSP. A 15kHz bandwidth roofing filter is fitted at the

20、73MHz IF with 15kHz, 6kHz or 2.7kHz bandwidth filters at the second IF depending on mode and selected bandwidth. On certain amateur bands (160, 80, 40, 20 and 15m) and with bandwidths less than 2.7kHz a separate first mixer down- converts directly to the second IF, now at PHOTO 1: General view of th

21、e Kenwood TS-590S. Kenwood TS-590S Peter Hart reviews the latest HF the IF bandwidth is fixed at 12kHz. On AM it also relates to the audio bandwidth after demodulation but it is the IF bandwidth which is filtered to about double this value. On CW, FSK and SSB data modes these dual controls adjust ba

22、ndwidth and centre frequency (shift). The default shift setting on CW is made equal to the CW pitch frequency. Bandwidths are portrayed graphically on the display but actual values are displayed for about one second at the push of a key. Bandwidth settings are stored separately for each mode. Two se

23、parate sets of bandwidths may be stored and toggled from a front panel key, the equivalent of normal/narrow settings on other radios but more versatile. There is no user access to the roofing filter selection; this is set automatically according to bandwidth and mode. Four different notch circuits a

24、re provided. Implemented at IF is a manual notch with adjustable centre frequency and wide/narrow settings, plus a separate auto notch for automatically locating and attenuating a single interfering tone on SSB. Implemented at audio are two beat cancellation filters for SSB/AM which automatically lo

25、cate and remove multiple tones. This is the function normally called auto-notch on other radios. One beat cancellation filter is more effective on continuous beats and the other on intermittent tones. Two separate DSP noise reduction functions are provided that use different algorithms and differ in

26、 their effectiveness depending on the prevailing situation. Finally in the armoury for combating interference are two noise blankers. NB1 is a conventional IF gated analogue system and NB2 performs blanking using DSP. Quite a selection to choose from! Two AGC speeds are selectable, each with a progr

27、ammable decay time constant. There are no separate audio filters for CW or data modes but a DSP audio equaliser can be enabled that has eight selectable profiles. TRANSMIT FEATURES.Thetransmitterpower output is variable on all modes down to about 5WandcanbesetseparatelyfortheHFbands PHOTO 3: Underne

28、ath view showing signal processing boards. PHOTO 2: Top view with covers removed showing PA, output filters and auto ATU. For full details of our dealer network and all Kenwood amateur products contact your local dealer or Kenwood Electronics UK Limited. 01923 655284 e-mail commskenwood-electronics.

29、co.uk Kenwood Electronics UK Limited www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk Discovering the Hidden Kenwoods latest HF transceiver takes Amateur Radio to the next level. Phenomenal RX performance reveals signals that are lost to lesser rigs. Best dynamic range in its class versus off-frequency interference 50

30、0 Hz / 2.7 kHz Roofing Filter 32-bit floating point DSP 100 W heavy-duty design Automatic antenna tuner USB port for PC connectivity HF / 50MHz ALL MODE TRANSCEIVER TS- 590S Tel: 0345 2300 599 01932 567 333 (local call number) Introducing the NEW TS-590S Among its many appealing features, the new TS

31、-590S employs down conversion for the ? rst IF, resulting in Excellent Dynamic Range when adjacent unwanted signals are present. It is also equipped with a 32-bit Floating-point DSP featuring advanced technology that enables unique IF AGC. These and other cutting-edge technologies realise the ? rst-

32、rate RX performance that HF enthusiasts all over the world have been waiting for. Superb RX Performance: Excellent dynamic range, even with powerful off-frequency interference Powerful 500Hz / 2.7kHz roo? ng ? lter DDS offers superb C/N (Carrier to Noise Ratio) characteristics, signi? cantly cutting

33、 noise generated by adjacent unwanted signals Built-in automatic antenna tuner Wide range of features thanks to 32-bit ? oating-point DSP Advanced AGC with digital signal processing from the IF stage onward Stable operation guaranteed. Designed for high reliability 100W heavy-duty design Superior ea

34、se of operation, plus a more enjoyable TX/RX performance User-friendly menus, outstanding operating ease Large display with 2-colour LED backlight USB connectivity for PC control For further information see our website: www.hamradio.co.uk Outline House, 73 Guildford Street, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 9AS

35、 E-mail: saleshamradio.co.uk Call now to discuss how I can get this 2010 masterpiece from Kenwood into your shack today! Available from stock in very limited supply. Buy now and beat the VAT increase! FREE Kenwood MC-60a Desk Mic worth 118! Peter Hart con? rms that the TS-590 is a real winner! “ The

36、 TS-590S is an excellent all-round radio, packed with really useful features, easy to operate with well thought out and friendly ergonomics. The performance on the key fi ve bands where it is a down-conversion radio is equal to the best radios available but at a fraction of the price. ” and 50MHz. T

37、his is useful if you use a linear on the HF bands that needs reduced drive but still require full output on 6m. Power output is indicated on the display meter, which also shows ALC, SWR or compression level. The radio includes a built-in auto ATU covering the bands 1.8 to 50MHz (including 5MHz) and

38、will tune antennas with up to 3:1 VSWR. The ATU can be set to be in circuit on receive as well as on transmit. OnvoicemodesVOX,speechprocessorand a transmission monitor are provided and the audio bandwidth may be tailored by adjusting the low cut and high cut response. In addition, an audio equalise

39、r may be enabled that has six selectable profiles. FM repeater operation is best achieved by setting the transmit and receive frequencies in split operation and storing to memory together with the relevant access tones. There is no direct repeater shift setting. Rx/Tx tone decoders and encoders are

40、provided for CTCSS operation, which can use different frequencies. On CW the rise and fall times of the keying envelope are settable from 1 to 6ms and there istheusualprovisionforfullandsemibreak-in. Semi break-in drop back delay is adjustable from the front panel control. At minimum setting it is f

41、ull break-in. One useful feature if you often tune around in different modes is the ability to select automatically CW mode when the key is pressed. Another useful feature is to allocate one function key for tune-up.Thisoutputsacarrier,irrespectiveof mode,atapowerlevelthatcanbesetseparately from the

42、 normal transmit power level. An electronic keyer is built in using a paddle connected to the dedicated rear panel jack. It operates over the speed range 4 - 60wpm. The speed in wpm is indicated on the display. The weighting can be varied and made to increase or decrease with speed. Four message sto

43、res are also provided, storing 50 characters each, programmed from the paddle. The message stores are controlled from dedicated front panel keys. There is no provision to send automatically incrementing serial numbers but messagestorescanbe cascaded seamlessly and a setting allows interruption to in

44、sert numbers or text and then resume. Messages can be set to repeat automatically after a delay. ADDITIONAL FEATURES. The VGS-1 voice guide and message store is an optional extra. The voice guide provides voice readout in English or Japanese of the status of various radio settings depending on how i

45、t has been set up. This includes the frequency, meter readings and virtually any other settings and key presses and can be a great help for those with impaired vision. The second use of this option is to provide an audio store. This can be used to record up to two 30 second messages and a further tw

46、o 15 second messages for playback on air as CQ calls or contest exchanges for example. Store 4 will also record the receiver output continuously and retain the last 30 seconds. This can be stored and played back as desired but this mode cannot be played back on air and there is an annoying delay of

47、20 seconds initially whilst the contents are stored to flash memory. For use with transverters, the display can be set to indicate the transverted frequency. ThreedigitsareavailablefortheMHzsegment, eg 144 or 432. Offsets can be stored to a resolution of 100Hz. The transmit drive source for the tran

48、sverter in most cases will use the low-level 1mW drive output which disables the transmitter PA, but there is a menu option to use the PA at its lowest power level (5W). Make sure you avoid transmitting into the transverter IF output when the transverter is disabled by using the receive-only input o

49、n the TS-590S. Kenwood has traditionally been strong in areas of communication linked with the PC and remote operation and the TS-590S is similarly supported. Kenwood provides a software control program, ARCP-590, to enable access to virtually all functions of the radio from a PC running Windows XP SP3 or later. The radio can also be controlled remotely over a network or over the internet using the Kenwood Network Command System. This uses the ARCP-590 at the operator (remote) end of the link in conjunction with the ARHP-590 host program running at the radio end of the link and w