The TS-990s under glass at the 2012 Dayton Hamvention
At Dayton, I had a chance to ask Kenwood reps about the TS-990S. They did have a few details, but many (such as price) are still rather vague. I made notes on these:
This rig will weigh in at 57 or so pounds. This is probably due to the fact that it has an internal power supply.
The main receiver is completely down-conversion.
The sub receiver is the TS-590’s receiver. They even told me that if you read the TS-590S spec, it will be identical to that of the TS-990S sub receiver. As with the TS-590, the TS-990S sub receiver is mainly down-conversion.
It has three, 32Bit DSP processors
It has five roofing filters at: 300Hz, 500Hz, 2.7 6kHz and 15kHz which run at 8MHz. The sub-receiver runs at 11MHz.
Connections include:
Optical In/Out
DVI
and “Multiple” USB connections
The TS-990S will be 200 Watts
Shipping: They expect to ship in November 2012
Price: Between $5-10K US, but will not exceed $10K US. Two different Kenwood reps told me that Kenwood understands that there aren’t many hams in this economy who could spend in excess of $10K.
These specs were rattled off as if they’d been said a thousand times (and I bet they had by the time I got around to the booth).
Not a lot to go one, but I can vouch that these features and specifications came directly from Kenwood.
As Ten-Tec was setting up at the Dayton Hamvention last Thursday, I was able to meet with their engineer (John Henry) briefly and had a little time to play with the new Model 539 Argonaut VI. As I tuned around the CW side of the 20 meter band, I recorded a short video. I’m sharing this with you here, but must ask your forgiveness for its quality and glitches; I want to make it clear that this material was recorded on my Android phone in some haste.
Moreover, this video does not do justice to the Argo VI’s audio, which is exceptional. In fact, I can’t tell a difference between its audio and that of the Ten-Tec Eagle, both of which have very low noise floors and simply gorgeous audio fidelity.
Now, just a small taste of what this receiver can do…
The display model of the Kenwood TS-990 is covered under plexiglass in Hara Arena. Here are a few photos I took this morning. Note that they’ve covered the back panel of the radio with black cloth.
The TS-990s under glass at the 2012 Dayton Hamvention
Here are a few first photos of the Yaesu FT DX 3000 at the 2012 Dayton Hamvention. I’ve also taken shots of the product sheet below. Better images will follow. Tagged: Yaesu
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to see the new Argonaut VI and Model 418 100 Watt amplifier up close and even operate them.
Though I’ll keep my comments short–I have a l o n g day at the Hamvention ahead of me–I thought I’d share a few first impressions.
The guys at Ten-Tec were kind enough to allow me to take a few shots of the Argonaut VI and the Model 418 Amp, both in Hara Arena and at Four Days In May yesterday.
Contest conditions
If you’re coming to the Hamvention, you will want to stop by the Ten-Tec booth. Through some sort of feat of engineering (or–as I first thought–dark magic!) they have a recorded chunk of 20M spectrum taken from a recent contest. They’re feeding most of their rigs with this spectrum IQ and you, in turn, hear exactly what each radio will sound like. Not only that, but you can operate the radio as if “live”–tuning, adjusting filters, bandwidth, notch etc. Indeed, you can use any receiver feature on the rig.
Additionally, they have one of the Argonaut VI’s hooked up to a Model 418 Amplifier. With these two linked, you can operate CW into a dummy load. Through this set-up I got a very good idea of how the Argonaut VI sounds and how well the amplifier works in conjunction.
First impressions are very positive. A few notes about the Model 539 Argonaut VI:
Very low noise floor.
Excellent audio fidelity.
The knobs, buttons and all features are quite easy to operate.
The filters (especially as tested in CW) are simply amazing. I think they are comparable to the Ten-Tec Eagle.
I like the size–slightly larger than an FT-817, much smaller than the Argonaut V.
All of the important controls are right there on the front: AF/RF Gain, Bandwidth/PBT, Power, RIT, Memories, Split, etc.
Nice touch: On transmit, the red dot in the Ten Tec Logo lights up on both the Argonaut and ‘418. See photos below.
Not many criticisms yet, but mind you, these are first impressions.
The Model 418 100 Watt Amp
Though the Model 418 was hooked into a dummy load, I was able to get a feel for how well the amp responded while sending CW. I’m happy to say that the QSK is silky smooth. Ten-Tec has never disappointed me on this point–their QSK is a benchmark.
Tomorrow, I will post the price of the Model 418 Amplifier–as I mentioned before, the Argonaut VI pricing is at least a few months off, most likely.
Many of you asked about the omission of 12 and 60 Meters. I asked Ten-Tec about this and, in short, it was a balance of performance vs. features. Through their research, they found that 12 and 60 would be the least missed, while 160M would be a great addition (initially, they did not plan to add 160M).
In an effort to save time, I’m simply posting a load of photos below in a thumbnail gallery. Simply click on the thumbnail to enlarge each photo. Feel free to comment and ask questions if you can’t make it to the Hamvention. I will do my best to answer.
With the FLEX-6000 Signature Series radios, FlexRadio brings a wealth of new capabilities to the amateur including direct digital reception, transmission and networking. At the core of all these new capabilities is SmartSDR. SmartSDR organizes all of the signal processing power in the FLEX-6000 Signature Series radios into an advanced reusable framework. First, the RF subsystems in the FLEX-6000 are virtualized as reusable hardware blocks or Signal Capture Units (SCU) with specific capabilities. SmartSDR understands the capabilities of each SCU and how to harness its power.
As data from the SCUs enters the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) at a combined rate of over 7.8Gbps, SmartSDR performs advanced Digital Signal Processing (DSP) on the data, splitting it into individual Panadapters and Slice Receivers. Panadapters are visual displays of the RF spectrum akin to a spectrum analyzer, but with more capabilities for the amateur. Slice Receivers are dynamically allocated full performance receivers that can be directed to the speaker or headphones for listening, or can be streamed as digitized RF to external digital applications.
Panadapters and Slice Receivers can be created and destroyed atwill. What distinguishes SmartSDR is the simplification of theseadvanced concepts into an elegant graphical user interface (GUI) that places you in complete control. Want to create an additional Panadapter to watch for possible 10m band openings?
No problem, simply click to add the Panadapter and SmartSDR directs everything from the advanced signal processing software down to the filters in the SCU to form an optimized receiver. Want to decode all of the CW signals on 40m while working DX on 20m? It’s just a few clicks away. In the future, remote FLEX-6000 Signature Series radios will be equal partners in the SmartSDR ecosystem. Imagine the capabilities: Want to add two remote receivers so you never miss another check-in as Net Control? Just click to add and combine them.
The brochure goes into great detail about the Flex 6000’s features. Its networking abilities, multiple receivers and even frequency lock that is tied into the GPS system will make this SDR stand out from the crowd.
Pricing?
Prices vary from $3999 for the Flex-6500 to $6999 for the Flex-6700. FlexRadio is taking deposits on pre-orders.
As I head out the door for Dayton, stay tuned. We will post other updates and product announcements throughout the day as time permits. In the meantime, click here to download the Flex 6000 series brochure. I will tag any other notable Flex announcement with: FlexRadio
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!
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