Competitive Analysis: IC-7410, TS-590 and FT-950
Contents
1. External Display Nw w DMU Firmware Upgrading USB USB RS 232 Remote Control Software PCC 950 local PC only Frequency Calibration Ext counter reqd User programmable keys Custom Switch CS 5167 5 kHz Alaska Emerg Freq Oo o w o Yes Yes Notes to Tables 1 1a 160 15m bands only excl WARC bands 6 amp 3 kHz filters optional FL 430 FL 431 SSB AM FM Hi Lo Cut CW FSK Shift Width CW spotting possible by tuning received signal to same pitch as sidetone EQ parameters preset but configurable via ARCP 590 software Morse code accessibility annunciator standard 4 pin Molex socket for remote auto couplers e g AH 4 fitted NOaRWN gt Part 2A TS 590S In the Shack Evaluation Report 2 1 TS 590S in the shack I was able to spend a number of days with the TS 590S in my ham shack and thus had the opportunity to exercise the radio s principal features and evaluate its on air behavior The firmware in the tested radio is at the current rev level 1 06 2 1 1 Connections and setup First I made up a cable with a 7 pin DIN plug at one end and four RCA jacks at the other This enabled me to connect the PTT ALC and F SET leads of my Yaesu Quadra amplifier to the correct pins of the TS 590S s REMOTE socket This cable the station ground and the RF drive jumper completed the hook up to the amplifier Operation with the Quadra is described here Next I connected the supplied hand mic my straight key an2. August 14 22 2012 Corresponding IC 7410 test results are shown for comparison purposes the IC 7410 was tested earlier in 2012 3 1 Noise Power Ratio NPR Test An NPR test was performed on the two radios in turn using the test methodology described in Appendix I and Ref 2 The noise loading source used for this test was a notched noise generator with 1940 3886 5340 and 7600 kHz bandstop notch filters and their corresponding band limiting filters MDS was first measured at each of the four notch frequencies Next the noise generator was connected and the noise loading increased until the audio level measured at the external speaker jack increased by 3 dB NPR was then calculated from the applied noise power as described in Appendix I 3 1 1 NPR Test Results for TS 590S Refer to Table 2 Table 2 TS 590S NPR Test Results Notch Freq fo KHz NPRdB 1 IF _ Preamp off On ANAS 1940 82 83 Inband 3886 81 5 81 Inband 5340 76 74 High 7600 78 5 78 High Note The difference in NPR between the inband and high 1 IF cases is in the range 3 5 9 dB At a first approximation this ties in with Rob Sherwood s measured 2 kHz DR3 difference of 12 dB between 20m inband and 17m high The difference in NPR readings can be accounted for by considering passive IMD in the Ist IF filter and reciprocal mixing as contributors to the idle channel noise 3 1 2 NPR Test Results for
3. FSK AM FM As I was unable to find stations operating in these modes and am not set up for RTTY operation I did not operate the FT 950 in these modes The transmit deviation and receive FM IF filter selections are linked in the FT 950 and also in the Icom radios but not in the TS 590S 2 6 Concerns 2 6 1 DNR Digital Noise Reduction DNR was ineffective against band noise at settings below 12 Although watery burbling sounds as heard in the TS 590S with NR active were not evident the FT 950 DNR degraded receive audio quality sufficiently to cause listener fatigue Interestingly DSP filter ringing at narrow IF bandwidths settings is reduced at a DNR setting of 10 or less 2 6 2 NB Noise Blanker Activating NB did not improve DNR operation During one 20m SSB operating session industrial buzz saw noise was present with noise spikes reaching S9 10 dB Whereas the IC 7700 IC 7410 or IC 7600 NB suppressed this noise completely and recovered the distant signal the FT 950 s received audio was very choppy and quite distorted with a noise level rising and falling at random Various combinations of DNR and NB did little to improve this and the quality of the receive audio was sufficiently degraded to cause listener fatigue 14 Part 3 Performance Tests on Kenwood TS 590S and Yaesu FT 950 e TS 590S S N B2100105 FW Ver 1 06 e FT 950 S N 2D680157 FW CPU 1 16 EDSP 20 47 These tests were performed in my home lab
4. yield the best results The transmit bandwidth was set to 100 3000 Hz There was no trace of ALC overshoot I found the FT 950 s menu system somewhat awkward to use as discussed in Section 2 4 3 above 12 The FT 950 s IF filter shape factors are fixed for each mode There is no equivalent to Icom s SHARP SOFT and BPF filter shape factor settings As I was using only the hand mic I left all equalizer settings at default and adjusted only mic gain TBW and compression level Putting the noise blankers through their paces I found that NB1 was not as effective against my local power line hash and industrial noise sources as Icom s DSP NB implementation I had set NBI level to default value 128 For NB1 level gt 160 some distortion on SSB voice peaks was evident NB1 was somewhat more effective against my local noise than NB2 For this test run NB2 level was set to default value 128 Both NB modes suppressed fast rising RF spikes refer to Section 3 2 I found the relatively complex procedure required to adjust NB and DNR levels somewhat inconvenient The operator must press the MENU key rotate SELECT to select the correct menu rotate CLAR VFO B to adjust the level then finally press and hold the MENU key to save and exit The Icom NB and NR controls are much more user friendly By the same token adjustment of the IF filter flanks with the SHIFT WIDTH controls and SELECT knob was a little clumsy The concentric Twin P
5. AGC recovery ms_ S IPO S AMP2 S1 S5 Y lt 100 no clamping 50 Y lt 100 no clamping S1 S5 100 N no AGC reaction SO S0 150 Y 100 no clamping S1 S4 Note For pulse duration 100 ns the AGC suppresses the pulse completely No ticks are heard and there is no AGC or S meter reaction With Slow AGC the ticks are louder than with Fast AGC Ticks sound the same with Fast and Med AGC Varying AGC decay time via menu does not affect ticks 3 2 2 1 Effect of NB NB1 suppresses the ticks AGC response and S meter reaction almost completely NB1 is slightly more effective than NB2 3 2 2 2 DNR DNR has no effect on AGC behavior or ticks 3 2 3 Test on IC 7410 Refer to Appendix II 3 3 Test for TS 590S IF Notch Filter anomalies This test was devised to investigate the anomalous Notch and A NOTCH behavior described in Section 2 3 4 above An RF signal is applied to ANT1 at a level gt 70 dB above MDS The test signal is offset 1 kHz from the receive frequency to produce a test tone The Notch is carefully tuned to null out the tone completely at the receiver audio output The notch depth equals the difference between the test signal level and MDS Test Conditions 10 000 MHz USB at 72 dBm S9 2 4 kHz USB AGC MID preamp off ATT off NR off NB off Notch on Increase input level sufficiently to raise audio level 3 dB above noise floor as read on an audio level meter plugged into the EXT SP
6. FT 950 Refer to Table 3 Table 3 FT 950 NPR Test Results Rxx 1 IF filter _Notch Freq fo kHz IPO AMP1 AMP2_ R15 71 74 73 1940 R6 72 75 75 R3 73 76 75 R15 73 5 76 735 3886 R6 74 74 5 73 R3 76 5 78 75 R15 74 74 76 5340 R6 75 77 78 Ray 76 77 77 R15 69 5 71 5 69 7600 R6 70 5 72 69 5 R3 71 5 74 755 15 3 1 3 NPR Test Results for IC 7410 These results are given for comparison only in Table 4 For this test run the test sample was not fitted with the optional 6 or 3 kHz 1 IF filter the 5340 kHz results shown for these filters were obtained in a previous test on the same sample before the filters were moved to another radio Table 4 C 7410 NPR Test Results Notch Freq fo kHz Pre off Pre 1 Pre 2 1940 R15 76 79 5 79 5 3886 R15 75 5 74 71 5 R15 77 5 76 77 5340 R6 77 76 5 76 R3 78 80 78 7600 R15 75 73 72 3 2 AGC NB Impulse Response Test The purpose of this test is to determine the TS 590S s AGC response in the presence of fast rising impulsive RF events Pulse trains with short rise times are applied to the receiver input Test Conditions 10 000 MHz LSB 2 4 kHz SSB filter NR off NB off on Preamp off on AGC Fast with decay time set to minimum value Test with pulse trains Here the pulse generator i
7. and semi break in There was no evidence of dit clipping With IPO preamps off no ringing was heard with IF filter BW gt 400 Hz For 100 lt BW lt 400 Hz minimal ringing was evident in IPO the ringing increased slightly with AMP1 and a little more with AMP2 This was as expected due to the added noise with the preamps engaged As in SSB mode DNR appeared to reduce CW filter ringing at settings of 10 and below Between 10 and 15 max the ringing increased 13 With DNR on a disturbing rumble was evident along with crackling artifacts Activating the APF audio peak filter suppressed the artifacts but the rumble was still audible The noise blanker had no effect during the CW QSO as no impulse noise was present The FT 950 displays the keying speed when using the internal keyer and break in drop back delay a feature not provided on the IC 7410 The frequency readout displays the keying speed for 3 sec when the SPEED knob is rotated The break in delay is displayed when the relevant menu is accessed I found the CW SPOT function and the graphical CW offset tuning aid very effective CW pitch adjustment via memo was very cumbersome a dedicated PITCH knob would have been preferable The QSK feature worked well with fast receiver recovery at speeds up to 25 wpm which is the highest speed I tested Transitions were smooth and no thumps or other artifacts were heard in the headphones 2 5 3 RTTY
8. jack Results Notch nulls out signal completely Measured MDS was 127 dBm A 64 dBm test signal was applied Notch depth 127 64 63 dB This is within spec 3 3 1 Microphony check Next unplug test cable from EXT SP to enable internal speaker Increase AF GAIN to 70 note loud feedback howl Now reduce AF GAIN to 50 and tap top of cabinet with fingertips Note ringing sounds as cabinet is tapped 17 Note It was found that no microphony was exhibited at 14 MHz or above 7 MHz was the worst case 3 3 2 Spurious tone check Notch out a test signal at a level of 40 to 50 dBm on 1 9 3 6 and 7 2 MHz The exact frequency is not critical A strong 2 kHz tone is heard at the speaker or in a headset Connect a frequency counter to the EXT SP jack Tone frequency is 2 kHz for 1 kHz test signal offset Reduce offset to 700 Hz the tone frequency changes to 1 4 kHz Thus the spurious tone is at twice the offset between test signal and virtual carrier Neither the FT 950 nor the IC 7410 exhibited any notch filter problems whatsoever 4 Conclusions The Kenwood TS 590S and Yaesu FT 950 are both full featured capable radios in an attractive price category The TS 590 in particular offers unusually good close in dynamic receiver performance on the main HF contest bands together with compact lightweight construction Their feature sets compare well with that of the IC 7410 and in a few areas even offer a little mor
9. my voice and the sound of my signal The universal consensus was that I did not sound nearly as good as I did on my normal station With much assistance from the other stations I was able to find a combination of transmit bandwidth mic gain compression and RF drive level to the amplifier which yielded satisfactory results at the distant end Even then my mic audio sounded ever so slightly rough and distorted in the TS 590S Monitor A moderate amount of compression with mic gain COMP IN at 50 and TX EQ off or set to HB2 high boost 2 appeared to yield the best results I had to adjust the compression and RF power output very carefully to control ALC overshoot and avoid overdriving the amplifier see 2 3 Concerns The default Hard compression profile sounded very harsh on the air I changed it to Soft with more pleasing results The internal autotuner found a match in less than 1 second and was fairly quiet I found the TS 590S s menu system quite user friendly and convenient When a menu is opened up the description of the menu item scrolls across the display in plain English Two features on the TS 590S which appealed to me were the auto tracking notch inside the AGC loop and the High Low Cut which is essentially the same as Icom s Twin PBT It is the sole method for setting receiver filter bandwidths There is no equivalent to Icom s SHARP SOFT and BPF filter shape factor settings The TS 590S has
10. nearly 1 3 kW on voice peaks I enabled the internal 3 dB pad in the Quadra to protect the amplifier but later I was able to mitigate the overshoot by careful adjustment of Mic Gain and COMP OUT The disadvantage of that approach was reduced peak to average ratio resulting in lower talk power A distant station recorded my SSB signal as received and played back a sound clip I observed ALC pumping which occurred even with compression disabled and was quite disturbing The ALC overshoot has been discussed extensively on the TS 590 Yahoo Group on eHam and elsewhere 2 3 2 Noise reduction When NR1 is activated in SSB mode with default bandwidth the receive audio sounds watery and rubbery there is a sort of burbling background sound This effect is more severe when NR2 is selected 2 3 3 Spurious signals birdies A number of low level birdies were encountered when tuning the receiver across its frequency range but only two of these fall into amateur bands 1829 and 14137 kHz These are at a very low level and would normally be swamped by antenna noise 2 3 4 Notch filter anomalies Microphony was observed when notching out a strong carrier using NOTCH or A NOTCH The receiver was tuned to a specific frequency in USB or LSB mode and a test signal was applied at a 1 kHz USB or 1 kHz LSB offset and at a level of 50 dBm approx S9 20 dB Using NOTCH or A NOTCH the tone was notched out Although
11. several fixed TX and RX audio equalizer selections High Boost 1 amp 2 Bass Boost 1 amp 2 Formant Pass correlation discrimination and Conventional TX 3 dB pre emphasis above 600 Hz or Flat RX External software is required to implement a variable EQ Without the external software this is much less configurable than Icom s TX and RX bass treble equalization TBW and selectable RX HPF LPF which can all be accessed from the radio s front panel When I put the noise blankers through their paces I found that NB1 was not as effective against my local power line hash and industrial noise sources as Icom s DSP NB implementation I had set NB1 level to 5 For NB1 level gt 5 some distortion on SSB voice peaks was heard NB2 was somewhat more effective against my local noise than NB1 although I found that it raised the receiver s noise floor audibly For this test run NB2 level was set to 10 Still overall I found SSB operation on the TS 590S quite comfortable with good audio articulation on receive and on transmit after some tweaking and no significant listener fatigue 2 2 2 CW held a 30 minute QSO with a station on 40m CW using a straight key QSK and semi break in There was no evidence of dit clipping With Preamp off and NR1 on no ringing was heard with IF filter BW gt 200 Hz For 100 lt BW lt 200 Hz slight ringing was evident for 50 lt BW lt 100 Hz the ringing was more evident but still no
12. the measured notch depth was in spec 63 dB microphony was noticed When the radio case was tapped with the fingertips a ringing sound was heard in the speaker When AF Gain was increased to70 the acoustic feedback from the speaker to the source of the microphony caused a howl in the speaker In addition at frequencies below 10 MHz a strong spurious tone at twice the frequency offset was heard in the speaker e g 2 kHz for 1 kHz offset and 1 4 kHz for 700 Hz offset The higher the test signal level the louder the tone Part 2B FT 950 In the Shack Evaluation Report 2 4 FT 950 in the shack I spent a few days with the FT 950 in my ham shack and thus had the opportunity to exercise the radio s principal features and evaluate its on air behavior The firmware in the tested radio is at the current rev level CPU 1 16 EDSP 20 47 2 4 1 Connections and setup At first I operated the FT 950 barefoot at 100W output I connected the supplied hand mic my straight key and the power supply my IC PS126 When the required CT 118 interface cable arrived I connected the FT 950 to my Quadra amplifier via the cable I then adjusted the drive power and ALC to level the system output at 1 kW in FSK mode The station was now ready for on air testing at full power 2 4 2 Physical feel of the FT 950 The FT 950 has a fairly large footprint but its case is quite low It is 365W x 115H x 315D mm and weighs 9 8 kg The FT 95
13. with short rise times are applied to the receiver input Test Conditions 10 000 MHz LSB 2 4 kHz SSB filter Sharp NR off NB off on Preamp off 2 AGC Fast with decay time set to 0 1 sec Test with pulse trains Here the pulse generator is coupled to the IC 7410 RF input via the pick off port of a line sampler The sampler s main port is terminated in 50Q The IC 7410 is tuned to 10 MHz as the RF spectral distribution of the test pulse train has a strong peak in that band AGC Fast 0 1 sec and Preamp 2 are selected The pulse rise time to 70 of peak amplitude is 10 ns Three pulse durations are used 30 50 and 100 ns In all cases pulse period is 600 ms Pulse amplitude is 16V gt x e m f The AGC recovers completely there is no evidence of clamping Table 9 AGC impulse response Pulse duration ns AGC recovery ms S Pre off S Pre 2 30 100 no clamping S2 S7 50 100 no clamping 2 5 S8 100 100 no clamping S1 S8 2 Noise blanker NB impulse response As the IC 7410 s noise blanker is a DSP process upstream of the AGC derivation point the NB should be very effective in suppressing impulsive RF events before they can stimulate the AGC To verify this the NB is turned on during Test 7b above NB Level is adjusted for best suppression of the test pulses At 30 ns pulse duration the S meter deflection is completely suppressed with Preamp off 1 and 2 showing that the impulsi
14. 0 is built on a die cast light alloy tub chassis with sheet steel clamshell covers in an attractive black crinkle finish The front panel has a smooth matte black finish A carrying handle is fitted to the right side of the case and the front feet can be extended to raise the front of the radio The large 90 mm top firing speaker is on the left side of the top cover The overall fit and finish are of excellent quality and all controls have a smooth tactile feel The detented SELECT knob has a firm but not tight detent and the front panel keys have a positive snap action The rear apron of the chassis forms the rear panel on which the various interface connectors are mounted Connectors are spaced well apart to facilitate cabling 2 4 3 Controls and menus The solid brass main tuning knob is large 58 mm and heavy 185g It has a knurled Neoprene grip and turns smoothly without side play An adjustable dial brake is provided Figure 3 Yaesu FT 950 showing main controls The controls are grouped around three main control knobs TUNING 1 CLAR VFO B 2 and SELECT 3 In the operating mode CLAR VFO B is used to adjust the clarifier RIT XIT or VFO B in Split mode and SELECT is rotated to adjust SHIFT WIDTH equivalent to Icom s Twin PBT NOTCH CONTOUR a variable audio bandpass bandstop filter or u TUNE an optional RF preselector accessory In MENU mode SELECT brings up the required menu and CLAR VFO B adjusts it
15. BT Icom or Hi Lo Cut Kenwood are much easier to use On SSB there was slight ringing at IF bandwidth of 1800 Hz or less with AMP1 or AMP2 on DNR reduced this ringing at a setting of 10 or lower However band noise reduction was ineffective against band noise at DNR settings lt 12 See 2 6 Concerns below Contour is configurable as a tunable post AGC peak level or notch level filter The widest setting 11 is more effective against multiple tones and noise I used Contour successfully to improve the intelligibility of a noisy SSB signal but observed that when set up as a peak filter it distorts when tuned off the peak of a signal The higher the level setting the more severe the distortion When I pressed the TUNE button the internal autotuner rattled on noisily and a little unnervingly for several seconds before finding a match It did not appear to store the initial match as this noisy lengthy matching process was repeated when I pressed the button again after a match point had been found All in all I found SSB operation on the FT 950 quite comfortable with good audio articulation on receive and good audio reports on transmit after some tweaking As described above there was some degradation on a noisy band due to relatively ineffective DNR and NB Cumbersome menu driven operation of these key features discouraged their use 2 5 2 CW I held a short QSO with a station on 40m CW using a straight key QSK
16. Competitive Analysis IC 7410 TS 590 and FT 950 by Adam Farson VA7OJ AB40J August September 2012 Figure 1 Kenwood TS 590 Figure 2 Yaesu FT 950 1 Introduction This report describes a comparative evaluation of the Icom IC 7410 Kenwood TS 590S and Yaesu FT 950 performed in my ham shack and RF lab over the period August September 2012 The document is in three parts a feature comparison table covering all three transceivers followed by on air evaluation reports on the TS 590S and FT 950 and finally by the results of lab tests conducted on the Kenwood and Yaesu radios Only an NPR noise power ratio test an AGC noise blanker impulse response test and a test for IF notch filter anomalies were performed The results of these tests on the IC 7410 as performed prior to the period covered by this report are included for comparison purposes PART 1 Feature Comparison Table Tables 1 and 1a list the main features as provided in each of the three transceivers under consideration Each table entry indicates briefly how the listed feature is implemented in its respective radio Explanations are given as needed in the Notes at the foot of Table la For a more detailed description of each radio s listed features please consult the respective user manual Table 1 Feature Comparison C 7410 TS 590S FT 950 Frequency Range 10 HF bands 6m General Coverage RX Yes Yes Display Size 200x35 mm Display Type Vacuum Fluorescent Meter
17. TCH and the BC key selects Off BC1 BC2 Status icons are displayed on the screen when these features are active It should be noted that A NOTCH is essentially the manual NOTCH with an auto tracking function added It can suppress only a single tone 2 1 9 NR noise reduction There are two NR modes NR1 for voice and NR2 for CW and digital modes The NR1 and NR2 levels are adjustable via menu See 2 3 Concerns below The Kenwood literature Ref 1 describes NR1 as a spectral subtraction process and NR2 as an auto correlator SSB or line enhancer CW FSK 2 1 10 NB noise blanker The NB key toggles between NB1 and NB2 whose levels are individually adjustable via menu NB is disabled in FM mode NB1 is an analogue pulse gate type blanker which is optimized for use in conjunction with the narrow 1 IF filters SSB and CW on bands utilizing the inband 1 IF NB2 is a DSP blanker which can often suppress noise events that slip by NB1 NB2 is quite effective in conjunction with NR 2 1 11 AGC system The TS 590S has dual AGC loops The primary loop samples the digitized 24 kHz IF at the ADC output This loop limits the IF signal power applied to the ADC input thereby preventing ADC over ranging even in the presence of extremely strong signals The digital AGC detector for the secondary loop is within the DSP algorithm Level indications from both detectors are processed in the DSP for AGC management This architecture prevents str
18. Type On Screen Spectrum Scope Simple No DMU read Power Supply External Primary Power 13 8V DC Digital Preselector Mw wv Optional Tuner 4st IF Roofing Filter 15 6 3 kHz IF Stages Conversions Image Rejection Mixer Yes Ooo o w o DSP IF BW Adjustment Shift Width IF Filter Config Display Shift Width Graphics DSP IF Filter Shape Factors Fixed DSP IF Filter Defaults NORM NAR Digital Audio I O USB USB PC Connectivity RS 232 DSP IF CONTOUR Yes Manual Notch Width Fixed Tracking IF Notch Yes Auto Notch post AGC DNF Beat Cancel Noise Reduction DNR 15 values Noise Blanker Type DSP CW Audio Peak Filter No No o CW Tuning Aid Tuning offset scale CW Pitch Control Kob Menu Menu Table 1a Feature Comparison IC 7410 TS 590S FT 950 continued Band Stacking Registers Internal CW Keyer Keying Speed BKIN Delay Display CW Memory Keyer 5 slots CW Spotting Netting CW tuning aid Transmit Duty Cycle RTTY De rate 50 Transmit Inhibit for QSK No No Yes Transmit Monitor Yes Yes Yes Amplifier Keying Line Relay Low Level Relay 12V Transistor switch External ALC Input Yes Yes Yes Band Data for Amplifiers Icom THP THP Yaesu THP Audio EQ TX RX Bass Treble TX RX Bass High TX Parametric RTTY FSK Decoder Display Yes RTTY FSK Twin Peak Filter Antenna Jacks RX ANT IN Jack Internal ATU Type Relay chain Voice Squelch Yes NO Voice Synthesizer Yes Yes Voice Memory No OPT VGS 1 OPT DVS 6
19. and The boost cut range is 40 to 20 dBm and the peak notch width is adjustable These parameters are set up via menu The Contour facility can be used to enhance the readability of a weak or noisy SSB signal or to reduce listener fatigue With the CONT key pressed rotating the SELECT knob tunes the notch or peak across the IF passband 2 4 16 APF Audio Peak Filter This is a narrow post demodulation DSP bandpass filter which enhances a single tone such as a CW signal and improves its signal noise ratio The APF is activated by pressing and holding the CONT key and is not tunable An APF graphic shows in the bar graph matrix when APF is active APF is available only in CW mode 2 5 Brief on air report After completing the lab tests I installed the FT 950 in my shack and connected it to my Yaesu Quadra solid state 1 kW amplifier and multi band vertical antenna via the CT 118 interface cable Once I had set up the ALC for 1 kW system output I was 100 QRV 2 5 1 SSB Using the supplied MH 31 dynamic hand mic I made several 20m SSB QSO s with friends who are familiar with my voice and the sound of my signal With some assistance from the other stations I easily found a combination of transmit bandwidth mic gain and compression which yielded good results at the distant end Sound clips of my transmissions sounded quite pleasant to my ear About 6 dB of compression with mic gain at 30 and TX EQ at default settings appeared to
20. ch is a menu item The menus are easily navigable using the MENU and U D L R arrow keys and the MULTI CH knob Pressing L R or rotating the MULTI CH knob selects the menu number and pressing U D changes the parameter value When a menu is open its easily comprehensible descriptor scrolls across the screen Two independent menu sets Menu A and Menu B can be stored to accommodate two different usage configurations or operators Other functions are accessed via front panel keys variables such as power output are adjustable by pressing their associated key e g PWR and rotating the MULTI CH knob I found the panel layout logical and easy to master 2 1 4 Display The rectangular LCD display 180W x 32H mm occupies most of the front panel width The displayed characters and icons are clear and legible When accessed menus are displayed as scrolling texts in plain English Amber or green LED backlighting is selectable via menu A curved bar graph meter to the left of the frequency readout displays signal strength on receive On transmit power output is displayed The METER key allows selection of ALC SWR and compression scales the latter when PROC is on A bar graph below the meter scales gives a visual indication of DSP IF filter low and high cutoff points 2 1 5 Internal autotuner The TS 590S employs a relay chain antenna tuner which matches loads over a 3 1 VSWR range more rapidly than a tuner using motorized variable capacitors It wi
21. d the power supply my IC PS126 I then adjusted the drive power and ALC to level the system output at 1 kW in FSK mode The station was now ready for on air testing 2 1 2 Physical feel of the TS 590S The TS 590S is surprisingly compact and light for a 100W class radio with an impressive array of features It is 270W x 96H x 291D mm and weighs only 7 4 kg Its compact size lends itself to semi portable operation e g at Field Day but its front panel and controls are sufficiently large to assure operating comfort The overall appearance and layout of the front panel are similar to those of the earlier TS 570S The TS 590S is built on a die cast light alloy tub chassis with sheet steel clamshell covers finished in matte black The front panel has the same finish A carrying handle is fitted to the right side of the case and a bail at the front of the bottom cover permits raising the front of the radio The large 80 mm top firing speaker is on the left side of the top cover The overall fit and finish are of excellent quality and all controls have a smooth tactile feel 2 1 3 Controls and menus The main tuning knob is medium sized and has a knurled Neoprene grip it turns smoothly without side play An adjustable dial brake is provided The other five control knobs NOTCH SQL HI SHIFT LO WIDTH equivalent to Twin PBT RIT XIT MULTI CH and AF RF Gain are grouped in two columns on the right side of the front panel CW Pit
22. dB Bandwidth at bottom of notch 3 kHz The noise loading Pror was increased until the audio level measured at the external speaker jack increased by 3 dB Pror was read off the attenuator scale on the noise generator then NPR was then calculated using the formula NPR Pror BWR MDS where Por total noise power in dBm for 3 dB increase in audio output BWR bandwidth ratio 10 logio Bre Bir Brr RF bandwidth or noise bandwidth in Hz noise source band limiting filter Br receiver IF filter bandwidth in Hz 2400 Hz MDS minimum discernible signal specified at Bip Test conditions Receiver tuned to bandstop filter center freq fo 1 5 kHz IF BW 2 4 kHz USB LSB ATT off NR off NB off AGC Med Measure MDS first with signal generator then NPR with noise generator Table 8 Minimum Discernible Signal MDS in dBm at fo fo TS 590S FT 950 kHz Preamp off Preamp on IPO Amp 1 Amp 2 1940 125 133 114 125 132 3886 126 134 118 130 134 5340 126 133 119 130 138 7600 126 133 116 129 134 NPR results for the TS 590S FT 950 and IC 7410 are recorded in Tables 2 3 and 4 above respectively See also http www ab4oj com test docs npr_test pdf 19 Appendix II IC 7410 AGC amp NB Impulse Response Tests 1 AGC impulse response The purpose of this test is to determine the IC 7410 s AGC response in the presence of fast rising impulsive RF events Pulse trains
23. dwidth is adjusted by pressing the WIDTH key and rotating the SELECT knob The selected bandwidth is displayed in the readout field for 3 seconds the bar graph displays relative width A separate group of narrow IF bandwidths is accessed by pressing the NAR key A reasonably large range of discrete IF bandwidth values is available but filter bandwidths are not continuously variable The receive DSP filter width range is 200 3000 Hz SSB and 100 2400 Hz CW RTTY There is no equivalent to Icom s SOFT SHARP and BPF shape factor settings SHIFT moves the IF passband relative to virtual carrier AM and FM filter widths are fixed with wide and narrow options SHIFT is non functional in these modes Filter and mode settings for the last band used are stored with that band FM IF bandwidth and deviation are linked pressing the NAR key alternately enables and disables narrow FM 2 4 8 Notch filters The DSP based manual IF NOTCH is inside the AGC loop and is extremely effective Its bandwidth is fixed and its stopband attenuation is at least 60 dB The notch suppresses an interfering carrier before it can stimulate AGC action it thus prevents swamping With the NOTCH key pressed rotating the SELECT knob tunes the notch across the IF passband The bar graph indicates the relative position of the notch in the passband and the notch frequency is displayed in the readout field for 3 seconds when SELECT is rotated with NOTCH selected The DNF d
24. e than the Icom radio It is my view that the concerns addressed in this report especially the poor NR performance in both radios and the severe ALC overshoot and the IF Notch anomalies in the TS 590S warrant attention by the respective manufacturers In particular the ALC overshoot requires urgent resolution as it may cause damage to users amplifiers and other peripherals 5 References 1 Kenwood TS 590S In Depth Manual Kenwood Corporation May 2011 2 Noise Power Ratio NPR Testing of HF Receivers A Farson VA7OJ AB4OJ http www ab4oj com test docs npr_test pdf 3 Icom IC 7410 User Review amp Test Report A Farson VA7OJ AB4OJ http www ab4oj com icom ic7410 7410notes pdf Adam Farson VA7OJ AB40J September 1 2012 farson shaw ca 18 Appendix I Description of NPR Test Procedure Noise Power Ratio NPR Test An NPR test was performed on the two radios in turn using the test methodology described in detail in Ref 2 The noise loading source used for this test was a Wandel amp Goltermann RS 50 notched noise generator fitted with the following selectable filter pairs bandstop amp band limiting filters Table 7 Noise Generator Filter Pairs Bandstop filter fy KHz Band limiting filter kHz Brr KHz BWR dB 1940 60 2048 1985 29 2 3886 60 4100 4037 32 3 5340 60 5600 5537 33 6 7600 316 8100 7781 35 1 For bandstop filters Notch depth 100
25. eceive and transmit audio menus Transmitted bandwidth TBW low and high cutoff frequencies RX and TX equalization and transmit compression etc are all configurable via menu The widest SSB AM transmit audio bandwidth setting is 10 3000 Hz Unlike the Icom radios the FT 950 does not offer separate low and high cutoff frequency settings The FT 950 has two groups of 3 band parametric transmit audio equalizer selections for compression off and on respectively Equalization parameters and compression level are adjustable via menu This equalizer feature offers greater transmit audio configurability than than Icom s audio management feature set however the Icom TX and RX bass treble equalization TBW and selectable RX HPF LPF are much easier to administer 2 4 13 VFO Memory management The FT 950 offers VFO and memory management features similar to those of many other current HF transceivers VFO memory toggle and transfer memory write clear Split Quick Split triple band stacking registers VFO A B swap and equalize Quick Memory Memo Pad etc 2 4 14 Band Stacking Registers In addition to mode and filter selection each of the 3 registers holds NB and tuner status for the stored frequency This is a useful feature The Icom radios do not store NB or tuner data for each stacked frequency 2 4 15 CONTOUR This feature unique to Yaesu is a tunable post AGC IF peak or notch filter which inserts either a peak or notch in the IF passb
26. ersion mode it switches to up conversion and selects a wider 1 IF filter automatically Two inband 1 IF filters 2 7 kHz and 500 Hz and three high 1 IF filters 15 6 and 2 7 kHz are fitted The TS 590S s firmware selects the appropriate filter for each band mode combination The receiver s DSP IF filter bandwidth is adjusted by rotating the Hi Lo Cut knobs in the voice modes SSB AM FM For CW and SSB DATA the Hi Lo Cut controls become Shift Width and for FSK Shift is disabled A large range of discrete cutoff frequency and shift bandwidth values is available but filter bandwidths are not continuously variable The maximum SSB receive DSP filter width is 0 5000 Hz There is no equivalent to Icom s SOFT SHARP and BPF shape factor settings Filter and mode settings for the last band used are stored with that band 2 1 8 Notch filters The DSP based manual NOTCH and auto tracking A NOTCH are inside the AGC loop and are extremely effective The notch has 2 width settings its stopband attenuation is at least 65 dB The notch suppresses an interfering carrier before it can stimulate AGC action it thus prevents swamping The beat cancel filters BC1 BC2 are post AGC They suppress single and multiple tones but strong undesired signals can still cause AGC action and swamp the receiver BC is inoperative in CW and FSK modes as are NOTCH and A NOTCH on AM FM The NOTCH key toggles between manual Notch and A NO
27. igital notch filter is post AGC It suppresses single and multiple tones but strong undesired signals can still cause AGC action and swamp the receiver DNF is activated via menu and can be active at the same time as NOTCH It is non adjustable IF NOTCH and DNF can be activated together without degrading notch performance 2 4 9 DNR digital noise reduction DNR is enabled disabled and its level adjusted via menu It has 15 discrete level steps DNR is most helpful in SSB mode 2 4 10 NB noise blanker The NB key toggles between NB1 and NB2 whose levels are individually adjustable via menu NB is disabled in FM mode NB1 is optimized for narrow noise pulses and NB2 for wider noise events To switch from NB1 to NB2 press and hold the NB key 2 4 11 AGC system The FT 950 has dual AGC loops The primary loop samples the digitized 24 kHz IF at the ADC output This loop controls the gain of the 1 IF amplifier thus preventing ADC over ranging even in the presence of extremely strong signals The digital AGC detector for the secondary loop is within the DSP algorithm Level indications from both detectors are processed in the DSP for AGC management This architecture prevents strong adjacent signals from swamping the AGC and allows full exploitation of the ADC s dynamic range The Slow Mid and Fast AGC decay settings are customizable via menu for each mode and AGC can be turned OFF by pressing and holding the AGC key 11 2 4 12 R
28. ll also accept an external autotuner The internal tuner is in the common antenna signal path 2 1 6 USB interface The TS 590S is fitted with a rear panel USB B port This allows direct connection to a laptop or any other PC via a standard USB A B cable The USB port carries rig control data and TX RX PCM baseband between the radio and the PC As a result the USB cable is the only radio PC connection required The TS 590S is firmware upgradeable via the USB B port Gone forever is the mess of cables level converters and interface boxes A Kenwood driver is required in the connected PC this is downloadable from the Kenwood website 2 1 7 IF and filter selections The TS 590S employs a unique receiver architecture in which the front end routes CW SSB SSB DATA and FSK RTTY signals in the 160m through 15m bands excluding the WARC bands to an inband 1 IF down conversion at 11 374 kHz This permits the placement of high quality crystal filters immediately after the 1st mixer for improved close in dynamic performance In all other frequency ranges and or modes the signal is routed to a high 1 IF at 73 095 MHz which is translated to a 10 695 MHz 2 IF up conversion The 11 374 or 10 695 MHz IF is then down converted to the 24 kHz final DSP IF This signal routing process is transparent to the operator but when a DSP IF bandwidth greater than 2 7 kHz is selected when the receiver is in the down conv
29. ong adjacent signals from swamping the AGC and allows full exploitation of the ADC s dynamic range The Slow normal and Fast AGC decay settings are customizable via menu for each mode and AGC can be turned OFF via menu 2 1 12 Receive and transmit audio menus Transmitted bandwidth low and high cutoff frequencies RX and TX equalization and transmit compression etc are all configurable via menu The widest SSB AM transmit audio bandwidth setting is 10 3000 Hz The transmit and receive equalization selections are preset to default values but are customizable via the ARCP 590 software in a PC connected to the TS 590S 2 1 13 VFO Memory management The TS 590S offers VFO and memory management features similar to those of many other current HF transceivers VFO memory toggle and transfer memory write clear Split triple band stacking registers VFO A B swap and equalize Quick Memory Memo Pad etc 2 2 Brief on air report After completing the lab tests I installed the TS 590S in my shack and connected it to my Yaesu Quadra solid state 1 kW amplifier and multi band vertical antenna The interface was straightforward RF drive and a cable plugged into the TS 590S s REMOTE socket to provide PTT ALC and carrier request for amplifier auto tuning Once I had set up the ALC for 1 kW system output I was 100 QRV 2 2 1 SSB Using the supplied dynamic hand mic I made several 20m SSB QSO s with friends who are familiar with
30. rrent front end configuration and AGC selection is displayed to the top left of the frequency readout Below it is a bar graph matrix showing visual indications of current IF filter SHIFT WIDTH tunable IF NOTCH CONTOUR and CW APF settings To the left of the matrix are the designators for the matrix and to the left of these are DNF Auto Notch and DNR NR status icons RF preamp choices are IPO off AMP 1 and AMP 2 selected by pushing the IPO key 2 4 5 Internal autotuner The FT 950 employs a relay chain antenna tuner which matches loads over a 3 1 VSWR range more rapidly than a tuner using motorized variable capacitors It will also accept an external Yaesu FC 40 autotuner The internal tuner is in the transmit signal path only where the Icom and Kenwood tuners are in the common antenna signal path 2 4 6 CAT interface The FT 950 is fitted with a rear panel RS 232 DB39 serial port This allows direct connection to a PC COM port This port is also configurable for firmware upgrading by setting a programming switch near the RS 232 socket No USB port is provided 10 2 4 7 IF and filter selections The FT 950 receiver is a fairly conventional triple conversion superhet with IF s at 69 45 MHz 450 kHz and 30 kHz the DSP IF Three 1 IF roofing filters 15 6 and 3 kHz are fitted as standard The FT 950 s firmware selects the appropriate roofing filter for each mode with manual override The receiver s DSP IF filter ban
31. s coupled to the test radio s RF input via the pick off port of a line sampler The sampler s main port is terminated in 50Q The test is run at 10 MHz with preamp off then repeated with each preamp on in turn On the TS 590S only the entire test is repeated at 7 2 MHz LSB to select the inband 1 IF The pulse rise time to 70 of peak amplitude is 10 ns Three pulse durations are used 30 50 and 100 ns In all cases pulse period is 600 ms Pulse amplitude is 16V gt x e m f Each pulse causes a tick in the speaker The AGC recovers completely there is no evidence of clamping 3 2 1 Test on TS 590S Refer to Table 5 Table 5 TS 590S AGC impulse response Pulse duration ns AGC recovery ms 30 Y 100 no EEN 50 Y 100 no clamping 100 Y 100 no clamping S2 S4 150 Y 100 no clamping S2 S4 Note The results on 10 and 7 2 MHz were identical 3 2 1 1 Effect of NB NB1 4 ticks reduced no S meter reaction NB1 5 ticks reduced further NBI 10 ticks almost inaudible 16 3 2 1 2 Effect of NR only NRI ticks unaffected NR2 ticks suppressed almost inaudible w NR2 16 but S meter reads S3 With NR2 8 and NB1 4 ticks are inaudible 3 2 2 Test on FT 950 Refer to Table 6 Test Conditions 10 000 MHz LSB only 2 4 kHz SSB filter NR off NB off on IPO AMP2 AGC Fast with decay time set to minimum value Table 6 FT 950 AGC impulse response Ticks
32. s parameter value TUNING can also be rotated to select a menu MENU mode is entered by pressing and holding the MENU key To save the new value and return to operating mode press and hold the MENU key Pressing the SELECT knob in MENU mode toggles between the menu number group and the menu item descriptor e g 001 AGC FST DLY for Menu 001 AGC Group Fast Delay The menu parameter value is varied by rotating CLAR VFO B I found the menu symbols sufficiently cryptic to require that I consult the user manual whenever I wished to access the menu system Many common variables such as NR level RF power output and compression level which are adjustable via front panel controls on the Icom radios are embedded in menus on the FT 950 2 4 4 Display The rectangular vacuum fluorescent display VFD 200W x 30H mm is recessed The display is bright and legible but the small feature status icons can be difficult to read The bar graph meter to the left of the frequency readout displays signal strength on receive and power output on transmit On transmit power output the METER key allows selection of ALC SWR and compression scales the latter when PROC is on A small digital readout and a bar graph to its left are located below the main frequency readout field These display the clarifier offset graphically and numerically The bar graph also functions as a spotting netting aid in CW mode Yaesu s unique block diagram showing cu
33. t severe Enabling the preamp did not significantly increase ringing NRI and NB1 were quite effective in reducing the band noise level but given the narrow IF bandwidth the band noise was already quite low The TS 590S displays the keying speed when using the internal keyer and break in drop back delay a feature not provided on the IC 7410 Also the CW auto zero auto tune function worked effectively I found CW pitch adjustment via memo rather clumsy a dedicated PITCH knob would have been preferable The QSK feature works well with fast receiver recovery at speeds up to 30 wpm which is the highest I tested The QSK mode thumps slightly in the headphones at the higher keying speeds 2 2 3 RTTY FSK AM FM As I was unable to find stations operating in these modes and am not set up for RTTY operation I did not operate the TS 590S in these modes It is noteworthy though that a narrower FM receive IF filter is not automatically selected when narrow FM is set up By contrast the transmit deviation and receive FM IF filter selections are linked in the Icom radios and in the FT 950 The SSB Hi Lo Cut IF bandwidth adjustment feature is also available in AM and FM modes 2 3 Concerns 2 3 1 ALC overshoot I observed severe ALC overshoot RF output spiking on SSB but not on other modes Initially I set the Quadra ALC and the TS 590S PWR for 1 kW system output in FSK mode When I selected USB the TS 590S drove the Quadra to
34. ve events never reach the AGC derivation point At NB Level 25 Depth 8 Width 85 occasional faint ticks are heard At Width 100 the pulse ticks are almost inaudible with Preamp off with Preamp 2 a very faint chuff sound is heard for each pulse Signals and or band noise would mask these artifacts completely Next NR is activated With NR at 60 and NB on the ticks are completely inaudible As in other Icom IF DSP radios the NB mitigates AGC response to fast rising RF events default value Excerpt from IC 7410 User Review amp Test Report March 25 2012 p 17 http www ab4oj com icom ic7410 7410notes pdf 20
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