KENWOOD TS-590s ALC Problem

[ZS1B]

Good morning from Cape Town , I upgraded my TS 590 with latest software now the ALC is ok with the processor on, but when I go into normal mic mode without proc even with the mic gain turned down to 5% it overshoot the ALC to the very right hand corner of the meter section and the talk power are still low , is there a way to rectify this or will this be done with a next upgrade. I bought the radio in March last year and is very happy with it , except for the low talk power and ALC overshoot problems , and my warranty is running out .

Thank you very much Johan ZS1B.

[N0AZZ]

That is one of the reasons why so many of them are being sold and not that old either. In the last month or so have seen at least 20-25 for sale used.

[KO6WB]

I know the latest firmware upgrade for the TS-590 has been well received. You should have version 1.06 as the latest update.
Hope this helps
73
Gary

[ZS1B]

Hello Gary i did the 1.06 upgrade and since than have the problem with ALC overshoot when i use mic mode without processor and the talk power is still lower than my TS 50 on the same meter.
Thanks Johan ZS1B 73.

[KO6WB]

Hi Johan, you may need to contact Kenwood and see if they have an answer to this. This is the first posting that reflected a problem with the firmware update. I am wondering if you could revert back to the 1.05 firmware and see if the problem goes away? You must have saved the 1.05 version to your computer and not had it overwritten by the new 1.06 firmware when you updated. If you did overwrite it then you will probably have to get it from Kenwood.
Just read some of the reviews of the TS-590S and found this

Another anomaly I noticed was when I first turn on my rig (cold start) the SSB RF envelope does not peak at the 50 to 60 watt level until the rig warms up. After about 5 minutes the RF power then stabilzes at the low output power level. This was a real blow, such a nice rig with a devastating problem.

I tried many different combination settings on the speech PROC along with Kenwoods ARCP software to customize the TX Equalizer to boost the power level but to no avail. As a last resort I turned to the TS- 590 Service Manual for any clues. Menu 23 and 24 caught my eye. 23 - ALC reference, 24 - POC/Power.
I followed the procedure as outlined on page 68 and 76 for writing new data into the menus.

Here are the values that worked for me:

Menu 23 - original number 123, changed to 185
Menu 24 - original number 179, changed to 190

My TS-590S SSB power output level is now on par with my K3. The ALC level stays well within the recommened operating range. The rig still needs 5 minutes or so to warm up for proper power output. I can live with that.

My radio settings are:
Mic - 40
PRO.I - 50
PRO.O - 50

Now my TS-590S is a formitable adversary for the K3 and for all high performance radio manufactures. If Kenwood were to address the above mentioned problem they would have a gold mine on their hands, sales would rocket.

Dietmar VE3CG

.
You can try this and see if it improves your SSB operation.
BTW, I kind of like my little TS-50S.
Hope this helps
73
Gary

[ZS1B]

Thanks for coming back to me Gary ,i saw that story that oldman Dietmar wrote but if i do that myself then the radio will never work again will rather get someone who know how to do it, i tried it on my TS 50 had to send it to kenwood agent for reprogramming.
73
Johan

[ZS1B]

Hello Gary i went into my 590 brains and did the reprogramming as oldman Dietmar did and now this radio performs like a Kenwood very happy now. I had to make up the adjustment jig with the 13 pin plug and it works like a bomb thanks for the info.

[N3ZH]

Hello Gary i went into my 590 brains and did the reprogramming as oldman Dietmar did and now this radio performs like a Kenwood very happy now. I had to make up the adjustment jig with the 13 pin plug and it works like a bomb thanks for the info.

How does one make the 13 pin plug into a "adjustment jig" ???

Connect pin 8 and pin 9 ???

Thanks,

Howard

[KJ4VTH]

"In the last month or so have seen at least 20-25 for sale used."

And every one I tried to contact was already sold, at price near retail go figure, so I went ahead and ordered a new one.

[KU3X]

Gary,
How do you save the original firmware to a file before you do the firmware update to the rig? When I did the firmware update to my 480 I did not see an option to save the original firmware.

Barry, KU3X