#301

This video shows how to install and adjust / fine-tune the temperature compensated crystal reference oscillator in the Kenwood TS-590 transceiver. Installation is very easy. The fine adjustment is done using the standard time signals at 10MHz or 15MHz (WWV, WWVH) along with the CW sidetone signal in the radio. I also show an alternate method for checking the frequency accuracy.

[@nicomedia62]

Best RF channel on KZbin last 8 years, thanks.

[@taufeeqkhan2629]

I am watching this from 2 years.this channel is best on RF and wireless

[@borayurt66]

Yes, no comparison.

[@bobadkins7377]

Late with my comment, but I just viewed this one the other day. I bought the TCXO with my new TS590SG, and installed it immediately. However, I paid no attention to tuning the unit, and I have always wondered about why mt SSB tuning seemed "off". I followed this straightforward instructional and now I am ever happier with the rig. Thanks!

[@ComputerLearning0]

I was strongly considering the Icom IC-7300 but I think I prefer the TS-590G instead. I know it uses the older superheterodyne architecture but from everything I've read I prefer the TS-590G. I have a TS-480SAT and a TS-2000 and I love the audio these transceivers produce so I think I'm gonna go ahead and order me a new TS-590G tomorrow via HRO or Gigaparts with the TCXO option. I installed the same TCXO in my TS-480SAT and it's worked perfectly the past five years now. Thanks for for this simple to follow how-to instruction on installing the high stability crystal oscillator. I'll put this to good use in a few days when mine arrives :>)

[@W1RMD]

Thanks for sharing this with us. Great looking rig!

[@Homer19521]

Several years ago I explained over the phone how to do this, to a completely blind ham. I asked him if he wanted me to go over it again or talk him thru it live. He said no, he understood & will do it. Amazingly, about 2 hours later he said he had it in & it was working perfectly. I must be a good man-splainer, huh? ;-) I am still amazed that he did it all by himself ( I take no credit). He also climbed his tower to do antenna work. Usually around midnite. He's pretty amazing.

[@w2aew]

That must have been one heck of a 'splanation! Nice job. I guess he does his tower climbing at night so that he doesn't freak out his neighbors.

[@Homer19521]

I remember him saying a neighbor called the cops one nite. He had to explain that the time of day has no affect on his ability to see. As I said, I take no credit for his ability. Thanx for this & all your videos.

[@davidv1289]

Thanks for the video! Both are interesting alignment procedures. I would also like to thank you for your video #204 on tunnel diodes. Since finding your channel I have watched many of your previous videos and found this one particularly helpful. Using information from it and your references I was able to adapt a Russian tunnel diode to repair a Tektronix 284 Pulse Generator and am now getting nice 100 pS rise time pulses for bandwidth measurements. Please keep your videos coming!

[@RB9522]

Great video. I have switched to GPS disciplined TXOs in all my fixed station equipment. Even without GPS, it's dead on accurate. I bought a used Rubidium standard module from cell site service and can maintain my own frequency standard. I just don't have to worry about frequency accuracy anymore.

[@HaskellMoore]

Excellent video; well done!

[@TheRadioShop]

Another great tutorial Alan. You made that look easy to do. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Always enjoy your show.

[@DonDegidio]

Hi Alan, Happy Father's Day. Like the tip about using the two VFO's to check if the oscillator is on frequency. 73 WB3BJU

[@kenschwarz8057]

Another nice one, Alan. YOU are a one-in-a-million!

[@hamradio323]

Hope you can do an vid about tx and up or down mixer tutorial and how about filter the right filters. I love the way and passion you have for the hobby.

[@eskwadrat]

Note, the 800Hz tone generated by Kenwood derives from the same TXCO you are calibrating against the broadcast tone on 10MHz carrier. So the method is correct and there is nothing to dislike about it, maybe except the fact of using human ear instead of the scope or good frequency counter to determine both 800Hz tones to be exact.

[@mcflapper7591]

thanks. great to hear you again.

[@arswm1n372]

Thanks for this informative video, will try your method.

[@bblod4896]

Nice job. Thanks for the video.

[@joopterwijn]

I’m already subscribed and notifications bell is on, ... but your request pointed towards de ruler on the table edge.... damn handy and I got a meter wood ruler hanging around, so a other trick you showed me THX. I’m going to copy that!

[@boxingday11]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us, best regards,carl.

[@robertcalkjr.8325]

Thanks Alan!

[@gw8dx]

Excellent video

[@HamRadioDX]

Thanks good walkthrough and easy to follow. 73, Hayden VK7HH

[@DK5ONV]

Nice job done on that. Keep up good work. Stay safe & 73's de Günter

[@electronic7979]

👏👏👏

[@Theoisx]

Thx for this video

[@dougrea]

Great job. I do not have that tool however. My s0-3 was factory installed. If they are standard I will just get one off of ebay

[@TKomoski]

Allways Cool

[@marinkusev5664]

Thank you

[@Justplast]

Good Job

[@servant8509]

If the radio is new, recalibrate again in abt. 6 mo's. new Xtals age and subsequently drift. After that they stay pretty stable. That is from 1st class fcc license requirements.

[@garyw2cea441]

I am having trouble getting this setup could my hearing be that bad?

[@danishnative9555]

I've used a OEM replacement made by N3BA for my Kenwood for years. Still performing on frequency according to my GPSDO. That being said, I still use analog vfo's. Off frequency? Whats that?

[@nashme11]

Hey Alan, Xrunner from the EEVBlog - a friend of mine wants me to calibrate his SO-3, and I have a GPSDO locked frequency counter. Why can't the base frequency (15.600 MHz) coming out of the S0-3 be measured and calibrated at the output of the little board it is on? Seems the most direct way to do it. Thanks.

[@w2aew]

Since you've got a GPSDO locked counter, then the direct measurement as you suggest will be fine provided you have a way to probe the output without affecting it. Most people don't have such a counter, so the WWV method works for them.

[@Hangar77]

Thanks for sharing! Could you do the USB vs LSB tone check on WWV’s exact frequency? What’s the advantage of going down 500Hz on USB and up 500Hz on LSB?

[@w2aew]

The main advantage is that you'll be listening to the heterodyne of the carrier which is steady, accurate and strong. The sidetone transmitted on the WWV signal changes, and isn't constant during the transmission.

[@Hangar77]

Thanks!

[@sladjanavlijas295]

Hi Alen. I have ts-950s (not digital), and without TCXO (this version not have preinstalled) frequency is not stable. Now I see external reference input connector and switch, but with text (10khz). Why is external reference only 10khz (I have very good reference in other equipment, but it is 10MHZ). Can you explain why Kenwood set this to only 10khz. Also I see that internal reference oscillator can be upgrade with 20MHz TXCO. Thank you for great videos

[@w2aew]

Without studying the PLL design, I can't be sure. But it seems like their using this 10kHz input as a phase reference for their internal higher-frequency reference oscillator (not as the reference itself).

[@sladjanavlijas295]

@@w2aew Yes, this is only phase reference. But it is not easy way to find some external signal for this (I dont know is there some ham rig for this 10khz reference). I will try to buy 20Mhz TXCO and upgrade rig. It will be so simple that Kenwood was set reference to 10MHz with external BNC input. Thank you.

[@JamesA42]

What if the mars mod has been done on the radio can it still be installed ?

[@w2aew]

Probably, but I don’t know what is involved with the MARS mod on this rig.

[@anthonycosta1776]

You were vague on the placement of the jumpers. Are they re-seated or did you not plug them in all the way.

[@w2aew]

You can remove them entirely when you install the TCXO. In this case, I inserted the jumper over only one pin (for storage), so it's not connecting any pins together.

[@anthonycosta1776]

Oh got it. Great idea. You put it in a drawer and will forget where it is. I just bought one coming from China. Won't be here till July 2. Thanks for the instructions. Hope to hear you on the bands. Have not heard you on 40 in a few years. Hope all is well.

[@w2aew]

@@anthonycosta1776 Oh - hey Tony - I didn't realize it was you. How's life in VA Beach? Where have you been hanging out on HF these days? I've been spending a bit more time on CW. Kind of lost touch with the old 75m crowd...

[@taufeeqkhan2629]

Please can you make a video on fm transmitter using an vco (voltage controlled oscillator) IC package.

[@galileo_rs]

Pipe the audio to the sound analyzer on a computer and measure the frequency difference, more precise, less hassle.

[@anthonycosta1776]

I can't adjust it like you described. My radii won't key on 10 mhz. You must have did the mars mod.

[@w2aew]

It won't produce an RF output, but it should still produce the CW sidetone when keyed in CW mode with a key.

[@donaldshields2483]

Hi I am K-1 EMW and I’m 84 years old and I’m not very good with these menu radios but I have a Kenwood 590 S and I’m not sure how to adjust the high shift and the low wide when I’m on sideband what does setting should be I wonder if you have time to help me if you would send me a message thank you very much

[@w2aew]

I will send a separate message to your email address listed on QRZ.com

[@w2aew]

I tried sending an email to your QRZ listed email address, but it bounced back. Here is what I emailed to you: These knobs are used to control the filter that your received signal is processed through. The labels on those knobs can be confusing. They are labeled this way because they perform different functions depending on the mode you are operating. For sideband and AM, use the HI and LO labels on the knobs. These control the high frequency and low frequency cutoff of the SSB (and AM) filter. For most sideband operation, adjust the LO for something like 50Hz or 100Hz, and adjust the HI for something like 2400Hz to 3000Hz. These are good starting values. If you are getting interference from adjacent signals, you might adjust these to reduce it. If you want to hear more "high fidelity" sideband, you can increase the HI up to 6000Hz as I recall. There is no right or wrong way to set them - adjust them for your own listening preference, remembering that you are setting the low-frequency cutoff and high-frequency cutoff of the audio response that you are hearing. There is a little "bargraph" shown on the S-meter that moves as you adjust these knobs, which gives you a visual indication of the filter bandwidth. For CW operation, the labels that apply are the SHIFT and WIDTH. This this case, the WIDTH knob adjusts the width of the CW filter, which can be adjusted as low as 50Hz. The SHIFT control will adjust the center frequency of the CW filter. You would normally adjust the SHIFT so that it equals the CW sidetone frequency that you use, and then adjust the WIDTH for your own listening ease and comfort. Adjacent signals can be reduced by slightly moving the SHIFT, or adjusting the WIDTH to something narrower. I hope this helps!

[@donaldshields2483]

@@w2aew Thank you very much I got the answers and I appreciate it thank you for everything Hope you had a happy new year my address is OK my add ok on qth Thanks again

[@w2aew]

@@donaldshields2483 OK, the email address bounced back, but maybe I typed it wrong... Happy New Year.

[@Mr_Meowingtons]

Try this on a ts-480 tcxo in it did not work out well...

[@w2aew]

The concept should work the same on it too, so I don't know what may have went wrong.

[@Mike500912]

How long did you have to wait for the TCXO to come up to temperature ?

[@alanwolke6253]

There is no warm up period. You’re thinking of an OCXO (oven controlled crystal oscillator). This is a TCXO (temperature compensated crystal oscillator), where temperature variations are internally compensated/tracked.

[@NiHaoMike64]

@@alanwolke6253 I'm under the impression that all precision oscillators have some time after powering on before they settle to their drift specification, some more than others.

[@alanwolke6253]

Sure, but just a few minutes, unlike an OCXO which may need 20-30 minutes to stabilize.

[@johncundiss9098]

As long as WWV is accurate. I think they are. Don't they use like a Rubidium standard, or Cesium? Tune to that heterodyne and blow air across a lose or bad PLL and listen to all the funny noises it makes. Just air across a crystal will make it 'lose its tune'.

[@w2aew]

WWV's carrier frequency is held to within 1 part in 10^14. At 10MHz, it is within 0.01uHz.

[@ke4est]

Nice video! --KE4EST

[@ytr734]

From ts440 e possibble

[@jimw7ry]

So you installed a Chinese knock-off TCXO?

[@TKomoski]

TRX

[@TKomoski]

Alan have you heard from Peter

[@donaldshields2483]

Hi my name is Don K 1 AM W and I’m 84 years old

[@buildstoys]

.