TS-890 (Again) - Digital Config

Well,

By popular request I have created my best shot at an "idiots guide" to setting up digital modes on the TS-890:

I hope this is useful to someone....

TS-890 and Data Mode Configuration

Well,

Following my video last time, I have been asked by a few folk to do some more. Here is a video on Digital Mode configuration for the rig:

and another one with a few more bits 'n' bobs:

Enjoy.

TS-890 Again

Well,

I've been asked to put a video together on why I love the TS-890; well here it is:

TS-890 - Max PO Feature

Well,

There's been a few posts recently about the "Max PO Feature" on the TS-890; I have been using this extensively since I got the radio so that it plays nicely with my linear.

Here is the result of pressing and holding the "Max-Po" soft key on my rig:

So, in this screen you can set the tune power and also the max power out on each band. If you look at the image above you can see that the power output in the very top centre is 11W and is Yellow. The yellow indicates that its been restricted by the Max-PO setting.

You also need to be aware of the setting of menu 6-04:

Now, the only confusion I can see (and it isnt intuitive at all!) is when you press the "Max-PO" soft key with just a short press, you would expect the feature to turn on and off. Well, almost; here's what the radio does when the power restriction is already ON and you press the soft key with one short press:

So, the radio is telling me that the "TX Power Limit is turned Off" BUT IT ISNT!

Only once you press the "OK" soft key at the bottom centre does the feature actually turn off, if you press escape to suppress the on-screen message, then the feature remains ON.

So, once you press "OK" then the soft key changes to:

So here the feature is Off and the soft yes "MAX_Po OFF" actually turns the feature ON with a single short press.

A bit confusing, but easy when you know how!

An excellent feature for people like me who need different drive levels for different bands due to amplifier oddities.

NOTE: The power output limits are DIFFERENT by different mode, so here we have limits for CW:

and here a DIFFERENT set for FSK:

They aren't all listed on the same screen at the same time, so that had me confused for a while too!

All good.

TS-890 - JARTS RTTY time!

Well,

Today and tomorrow is the JARTS RTTY test; now band conditions are not favorable to be working many JAs, but its a good opportunity to try the new 270Hz roofing filter in crowded RTTY conditions.

So, with the radio configured for decode, I still think displaying BOTH the waterfall and the spectrum scope is unhelpful - I would like one or the other. I am using the visual indication to hunt stations and the spectrum scope is just too damn small to be any use at all.

The 270Hz roofing filter with the APF (its really I notch in RTTY mode I think) selected seems to be exceptionally good at close signal rejection however.

Time will tell.....

I've also got the new Icom radio, the IC-7610 and this is also an excellent S&P RTTY rig:

The spectrum scope is better for signal searching without the waterfall as well....

It's quite hard to draw any conclusions; both the TS-890 and the IC-7610 are both fantastic at close signal rejection in crowded RTTY band conditions. The TS-890 needs the 270Hz roofing filter for very close strong signals, but the IC-7610 is excellent out of the box.

The waterfall and spectrum scope being displayed together on the TS-890 when in decode mode (CW, PSK or RTTY) is an issue for me; the spectrum scope is just too small to be of any use. I very much like the fact that I can play with the spectrum scope on the IC-7610 including the colours, fill, averaging et cetera. The TS-890s ability to set output power by band is a very big plus for me when using the linear. When using the IC-7610 I keep having to manually tweak the output power when I change bands.

I am no contester, but swapping between these two over the last day or so in the JARTS test has shown me that they are both a pleasure to use. I was never going to do anything than casual participation, but the station works:

Interesting, don't you think?

TS-890 - Optional Roofing Filter

Well,

You may have spotted my horror in an earlier post that the shiny new TS-890 has an optional narrow roofing filter - 270Hz to be exact.

Well, my radio had it fitted today:

Step one, remove the base:

Step two, remove the larger of the two cover plates:

Step three, install the new filter in the empty slot:

Step four, stick the supplied 'cushion' to the underside of the cover plate as clearly marked:

Step Five, bung it all back together.

Simples!

Here's our two enjoying a bit of winter sun (Elmo is lazy and leaning):

TS-890 - RTTY Time!

Well,

This weekend is the CQ WW RTTY Contest - perhaps the grand daddy of all the RTTY tests.

The TS-890 has built in tuning and decode features that are really neat. You can have a number of different selections on the screen at any one time, but this is my preference:

I very much like the X-Y scope above, but you can also have the more traditional mark and space audio peak display:

Note the clear "dip" in between the mark and the space in the image above; that's the APF in RTTY mode creating a perfect notch between the two tones. The OPTIONAL 270Hz roofing filter will also help a little more in very strong signal rejection in RTTY mode.

Now, let's do a quick comparison with the IC-7610 in a similar configuration:

So I very much like the fact that only the spectrum scope is visible above; the TS-890 displays both the spectrum and waterfall - the spectrum is so small it's quite useless. You are going to use this visual indicator to hunt signals on the band; the TS-890 is a bit harder to see what's where.

I happen to use WriteLog for windows as my contest software, the TS-890 works perfectly with the software configured as "Kenwood" - note that I can't get the IC-7610 to talk to the software without changing it's Hex address to make it mimic another radio.

This is part of the WriteLog screen for RTTY contesting:

Above I am just running in search and pounce mode, but you will see there are 2 RTTY decoders (one is MMTTY and the second 2Tone) plus I have the monitor connected to the 890 as a 3rd screen of decoded text.

Unfortunately I've been at the Newark HamFest this weekend so not much time for the contest. But still, another tick in the box for the Kenwood.

TS-890 - CW Decode

Well,

I've had my TS-890 a few days now and I am more than impressed.

I've used it as low in frequency as Top Band and made a few CW QSOs last night using this antenna. Nothing very special at all but its nice to work the band from time to time.

I'm trying very hard to improve my CW skills, but this radio does loads to help me with this.

It has a built in CW decoder which actually seems to work extremely well:

The other thing that the rig does, is that it also decodes my sending - so this is excellent for practice and also to check that my characters and more importantly spacing is correct when I send.

You can also ask the radio to log the decoded text in both send and receive and you end up with a text file that looks like this:

Once you are done with your log file, you can open it up on the radio or ask the radio to make the files available to the connected PC. The PC then alerts you to the fact that there is a new device connected and you can copy off whichever files you want.

In my case I am saving the radio config and copying it into my cloud storage for safe keeping - it couldn't be easier:

I've also bought a very cheap wireless USB dongle keyboard from Amazon (its this one) and it works perfectly with the radio with the dongle plugged into the front panel USB socket. I can use the keyboard for sending PSK, RTTY and even CW.

Simply fantastic!

TS-890 - 5MHz Mod

Well,

My new shiny TS-890 didn't transmit on 5MHz out of the box. Kenwood have released a modification procedure to the dealers explaining how to rectify this - it is marked as not for public release so I don't have a copy. I do, however, know what needs to be done. You would imagine that the dealers will apply this mod to any they have before shipping or it will be performed by Kenwood themselves on the UK models. But mine is an early one, so here we go:

Step 1 - turn radio upside down and disconnect all DC supply:

Step 1 - remove bottom cover:

Step 3 - remove the smaller of the two cover plates:

Step 4 - for 5MHz coverage you need to snip the R57 link highlighted below before and after:

There are also clearly 4 chip type 0R resistors (or space for) on the board that determine the version of the radio:

Here are the different combinations these 0R resistors give:

Local conditions.

TS-890 - really?

Well,

I'm one of the first in the UK to receive a new Kenwood TS-890.

Here it is:

Unbelievably (as was the case with the TS-990) there is NO microphone supplied with the radio (LAM have kindly given me one).

Here's a few screen shots of what I've done with it so far:

Now, it DOESN'T transmit on 5MHz out of the box - that's a shame.

It's going to be a good radio for Meteor Scatter on 4M (above) and 6M below:

I have connected a MicroKeyer II to mine, and in turn interfaced the CI-V output from the uHam device to the linear for automatic band switching. The linear covers all HF and 6M plus 4M so we are in good shape.

Initial impressions of the waterfall are that I think its a bit clunky compared to the IC-7610:

and I really can't figure out what the "Expand" button does, that seems to just make it more chunky. The averaging applies to both the panadapter and the waterfall - I would have expected that to work just on the band scope, you can see the difference in the waterfall here:

The CW Decode and Encode (from key/paddle or USB keyboard) seems spectacularly superb:

The ability to use "internal" memory for capture of config, screen shots et cetera is fabulous. You can then tell the rig that you want to copy the files to the connected PC and the radio becomes an external USB drive - now that's clever:

Anyhow, some time with the radio is needed before drawing any conclusions, but so far, so good.

I plan to keep a list below of fab and not-so fab stuff on this new rig.

Fab:

• Power output stored by band
• 70MHz included
• CW Sidetone in audio output
• Ergonomics
• Max Power Out configurable by band
• CW decoder and CW keyboard
• CW tune function far better than Icom
• NB and NR superb
• Copy files to PC functionality 

Not-so Fab:

• No mic supplied with the rig
• 270Hz roofing filter not supplied as standard
• No TX on 5MHz without modification (perhaps because mine was an early version)
• Waterfall seems very chunky compared to IC-7610
• Bandscope too small when displayed with waterfall in both normal and expanded modes
• Preferred frequency markers same colour as bandscope grid so hardly visible
• No VBW or RBW controls on the bandscope (included on 7610)
• No colour setting options for any of the waterfall or bandscope options
• y-axis gain in bandscope seems low - no way to adjust - signals all at the bottom

Here's a video of 4M RX pm 23rd Sept 2018:

Here's Miss Luna Cat keeping one eye on me from high up in the shack: