Taken at the Kenwood booth the day before the Hamvention 2012.
I just walked past the Kenwood booth where they’ve prepared a place for the TS-990S. I have a feeling it’s going to be very busy here tomorrow morning.
I will fight my way through the crowds and grab a few photos of the real thing. Check back here tomorrow!
For the second year in a row at the Dayton Hamvention, fellow volunteers and I will be representing the charity Ears To Our World (ETOW). We will be in booth 601 in the East Hall. Stop by and introduce yourself! Here’s a map of how to find us.
If you’re not familiar with Ears To Our World and our mission to empower children and teachers in the third word through radio, check out our website and this article from the Wall Street Journal.
The Ten-Tec Model 418 100 Watt Linear Amplifier (Click to enlarge)
Along with the newly released specs of the Ten-Tec Model 539 Argonaut VItransceiver, Ten-Tec has kindly provided QRPer with a spec sheet of their new Model 418 100 watt solid-state linear amplifier.
This versatile amp shows promise, and may turn out to be a really big seller for Ten-Tec. Perhaps their biggest. Here’s why:
The Model 418 amplifier will work with almost any QRP rig on the market (new or used)
Just 5 watts in, delivers 100 watts out
It covers the full HF spectrum plus 6 meters
It has 2 HF antenna inputs with a manual switch, and a separate 6 meter antenna port that is automatically engaged when you switch to 6 meter operation
It offers an easy bypass mode
It offers auto or manual band selection
Power, SWR and voltage are all displayed on the back-lit LCD panel
It offers 13.8V DC input with standard Anderson Powerpole connection
Click here to download the Ten-Tec Model 418 spec sheet
Ten-Tec will announce the price of the Model 418 at the Dayton Hamvention this Thursday. We look forward to that, and once announced, will be sure to post it here, same day.
The upshot: If priced competitively, the Model 418 is basically a little box that can turn your Argonaut V, Argonaut VI, Yaesu FT-817, Icom IC-703, Ten-Tec Cub, Elecraft K1, K2/10, K3/10, KX3, Index Labs QRP+, or most any other QRP radio on the market into a 100 watt rig. It appears to be truly plug-and-play, too, with auto band switching.
In my case, for example, this would be a very useful product. Though I primarily operate QRP, I do on occasion like a shot of extra power, such as when conditions are bad or I’m trying to bust through a particularly heavy pile-up. I rarely–if ever–run more than QRP when operating portable, though. The Model 418 could plug into my K2/10 while in the shack, and I could pump up the wattage as needed. It would also work with any future QRP rigs I may buy. When operating Field Day with my club, I could take the K2 and ‘418, which would give me a 100W transceiver without adding the 100W module to the K2, thus keeping the K2 lighter for my portable operations outside of Field Day.
Yep, as you’ve guessed, I want one already…!
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Again–just to be clear–this is not idle speculation; the facts I’ve posted above, including the spec sheet, came directly from Ten-Tec today. We appreciate that Ten-Tec has provided us with the spec sheets for the Model 539 and the Model 418 prior to the Dayton Hamvention, exclusively for QRPer readers. Thanks, fellas!
The Kenwood TS-990S. Click to enlarge. (photo: Kenwood)
When you open your June 2012 issue of QST, you will find that Kenwood has published a photo and ad (see below) of their new TS-990S in advance of Dayton.
We also know a few specs/features:
Full HF bands and 6M
Built-in switching power supply
Built-in automatic antenna tuner
200 Watts Output
All mode
COM port, USB A/B & LAN
For further updates and hi-res photos from Dayton, follow our tag: TS-990S
Prototype of the Ten-Tec Model 539 QRP transceiver
I just received this update from John Henry (Ten-Tec Software Engineer) this morning:
Hi Tom,
We are making progress in several areas on the 539, it is coming along, and improving every day. We don’t have a price point we can speak about yet, as we are still trying to find the best working parts for a few of the items on the rig. And those parts, may affect our target. But still, we will surely beat the <$1k price that we have mentioned already. The speaker is now enclosed within the unit, similar to the 599. This is something that we knew we would eventually get done, just didn’t have it ready in time for the ham ventions to date. We will have a fully functional 539 on display at Dayton. Pre-orders at Dayton? I don’t think I will be confident enough on a real ship date yet to be able to take orders at Dayton. I don’t want to take orders at Dayton, promise a ship date, and then have it delayed for parts reasons. So, as soon as we know the parts are final, and FCC has passed, and we have all of the lead times and production times worked out and in the schedule, then we will be able to take orders. We do have the 539s in beta testing now, tweaking software here/there, finishing a few features, and soon will be able to send it to others for their inputs.
The Ten-Tec Model 418 100 Watt Amplifier on display at the 2011 Ten-Tec Hamfest. Click to enlarge.
The Model 418 100w amp is in the hands of external beta testers, and we are scheduling production start for end of May, beginning of July. The software is basically done, but of course, we are still tweaking it by adding a bit more protection and user features. We will have those added / tested / approved in the coming week or two. Beta tester input is extremely positive and they are sure we have a big hit on our hands because of everything that this amp provides is phenomenal.
John plans to give me another update just prior to the Dayton Hamvention.
There is still very little known about the yet-unreleased, highly-anticipated Kenwood TS-990S HF transceiver, but we’ve confirmed just a few details from a contact at Kenwood…
The TS-990S will be similar in size to the Kenwood TS-950SDX 200W. (Photo: Universal Radio)
Size:
The TS-990S will be the size of theTS-950SDX 200 watts, and have a similar footprint.
Price:
The TS-990S is expected to retail in the $5,000-6,000 US range.
Availability:
No promises on ship dates yet…but they have confirmed that the new rig will be on display at the 2012 Dayton, Ohio, Hamvention.
To be clear, Kenwood did not confirm the model number of TS-990S; it was implied.
Check back with QRPer.com as we will post early photos from Dayton.
Fred Maia and his W5YI group have been a driving force in ham radio education and volunteer examining. Fred was 76 and passed away after a battle with cancer.
(Source: CQ Communications)
CQ columnist Fred Maia, W5YI, a leading amateur radio journalist, educator and pioneer of volunteer examining, passed away on March 28 after a battle with cancer.
Maia, 76, published “The W5YI Report,” dubbed “America’s Oldest Ham Radio Newsletter,” from 1978 to 2003, and has been a CQ contributing editor since 1985. His regulatory affairs column, first titled “Ticket Talk,” then “Washington Readout,” offered news and perspective on FCC and ITU (International Telecommunication Union) actions, and helped untold numbers of hams wend their way through often-confusing mazes of the volunteer examining and vanity call sign systems. (Continue reading…)
I would like to announce that the complete collection of QRPp, the NorCal QRP Club Journal that I did from 1993 to 2004 is now on line. Chuck Adams has scanned in every page of every issue and has it on line at http://www.k7qo.net/NorCal_QRPp.html. This is a temporary site, as we want to make sure that all of the bugs are out of it before we place it on the NorCal page where it will have a permanent home in about 3 weeks. This material is for the education of QRPers, and it will always be free. No one will ever have to pay anything to access it. We ask that no one makes it available on CD for distribution in any way. Everyone is granted permission to make an archival copy, but no one is granted permission to post any part or portion online. We want there to be one site where it is available. Some of the schematics will be redrawn and Chuck is coordinating that effort. I have struggled for years on how to make the information available and decided that this is the way to do it. Every article was donated, no one was paid anything for writing any article. So, I wanted to make it available for free. Enjoy. Thank you to Chuck Adams for doing the work to make the pdf’s, to Dean Davis for his future work in putting it on the NorCal web page, and especially to all of the contributors over the years. 72, Doug, KI6DS
It’s official — delegates attending the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12) have approved a new 7-kilohertz-wide secondary allocation between 472-479 kHz for the Amateur Radio Service. Agenda Item 1.23 had both its first and second readings in Plenary Session on Tuesday, February 14; to become part of the ITU’s Radio Regulations, each Agenda Item must be read twice in Plenary Session. The new allocation will become official on Friday, February 17 at the close of the Conference.
“This is a fantastic achievement for the Amateur Radio Service,” IARU President Tim Ellam. VE6SH, told the ARRL. “A new allocation for spectrum is always something that should be celebrated. The success on this issue is due to the hard work over the last four years from our IARU representatives, as well as the volunteers from the numerous IARU Member-Societies who have worked within the ITU process on behalf of their national administrations. This is excellent work from our team in Geneva, and from those who have assisted from their home countries.”
Agenda Item 1.23 originally called for a 15-kilohertz-wide spectrum in parts of the band 415-526.5 kHz, taking into account the need to protect existing services. But according to ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, this was in conflict with the Maritime Mobile Service. WRC-12 delegates approved Agenda Item 1.10, which called for a worldwide exclusive allocation to the Maritime Mobile Service of 495-505 kHz. Discussion of this allocation to Maritime Mobile “has been in the works throughout the conference preparation (i.e. since 2008),” Sumner explained, “and was the reason why the MF amateur allocation could not be made in this band as some amateurs had hoped. That’s why we had to look elsewhere and is what put us in conflict with aeronautical radionavigation.”
According to Colin Thomas, G3PSM, CEPT Coordinator for Agenda Item 1.23, WRC-12 delegates moved forward early in the Conference with what he called a “compromise proposal” for the new allocation. “Progress was made with a compromise proposal on Agenda Item 1.23, drafted to take into consideration the views of those for and those against an Amateur Service allocation around 500 kHz. This proposal suggests a 7-kilohertz segment between 472-479 kHz, very close to the CEPT position of 472-480 kHz.”
The new allocation calls for a worldwide secondary allocation to the Amateur Service at 472-479 kHz, with a power limit of 1 W EIRP. A provision has been made, however, for administrations to permit up to 5 W EIRP for stations located more than 800 km from certain countries that wish to protect their aeronautical radionavigation service (non-directional beacons) from any possible interference. Footnotes (see below) provide administrations with opportunities to “opt out” of the amateur allocation and/or to upgrade their aeronautical radionavigation service to primary, if they wish to do so. In addition to these protections for aeronautical radionavigation, the Amateur Service must avoid harmful interference to the primary maritime mobile service. Quite a few additional administrations — mainly in the former Soviet Union and the Arab states — added their country’s names to the Footnotes prior to the Agenda Item’s consideration in Plenary.
More than 3000 participants — representing more than 150 out of the International Telecommunication Union’s 193 Member States — are attending the four-week conference. About 100 Observers from among the ITU’s 700 private sector members — along with international organizations, including the International Amateur Radio Union — are also in attendance. A number of WRC-12 delegates are radio amateurs, with many of them operating at 4U1ITU, the Amateur Radio station at ITU Headquarters. The station has been using the call sign 4U1WRC throughout the duration of the Conference. [Continue reading…]
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For the second year in a row at the Dayton Hamvention, fellow volunteers and I will be representing the charity Ears To Our World (ETOW). We will be in booth 601 in the East Hall. Stop by and introduce yourself! Here’s a map of how to find us.
(Source: KI6DS via QRP-L)
Time to think of building some new antennas! This is excellent news out of the ARRL. Kudos to all who worked on getting this passed at the WRC-12.
