I picked up a Kenwood TS-590SG from Al K9FW on Labor Day 2022. It was advertised as "perfectly working and looking". It was neither of those. I'll be the first to admit that I should have asked more questions and tested everything out before leaving with it.
It was boxed and ready to ship when I picked it up - which was the explanation given for there not being a picture with the ad. OK, fair enough. I see a lot of ads like that because someone forgot to take pics prior to boxing it up into 3 boxes. First mistake I made. I should have opened it up there. It looked like it got into a fight with a mobile bracket. There are scrapes and paint missing around the mounting holes.
OK, I can overlook that since where it sits in the shack I won't see it. Not the end of the world...I've seen (and used) much worse.
Now, on to using it. Everything worked great...until I got to 6 meters. Into a dummy load, on SSB, as soon as the PTT is keyed the power output is maxed out and the ALC is maxed out......with NO modulation! OK, maybe some audio was coming into the USB connection or something weird so I pulled the USB cable and the mic cable. The only thing connected were power, ground strap, and coax to the dummy load. Same thing happened just pushing the send button while on USB and LSB. Reached out to Kenwood and they suggested a factory reset. Did that a few times, same thing. There is no way anyone could use this on 6 meters because it instantly oscillates beyond control with zero modulation applied. (Later on I found it was sending out RF at 58MHz, not 50.125). I called Al and asked if he used it on 6. "Yes, all the time" was the reply. Hmm. Then, all communication stopped after I asked for a full or at least a partial refund.
So, things got more interesting. Due to some left behind evidence in the shipping boxes and some investigative work I found this 590 was in for a repair a couple times. You'd think if someone wanted to be honest they would have at least mentioned there was a repair history. Maybe he was just embarrassed about dumping the amp into the front end and blowing out the diodes. Again, I never asked if it had any repair work done so some of that is on me too...assuming I would have got an honest answer. Is your integrity really worth getting a few more bucks out of the selling price?
Good rules of thumb regardless of who you do business with - use caution, ask a lot of questions, and check it out fully before leaving with it!
K9FW - use caution
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As of Dec 9, 2013: ONLY BUYERS AND SELLERS directly involved with a transaction can post here. Do not post replies in any topic if you are not the buyer or seller in the transaction being discussed! If you believe you can help the buyer or seller, please use the Private Message system to communicate with them. NOTE: if you have been scammed by someone pretending to be a ham, please post in the Scammer Reports forum instead. See viewtopic.php?f=2&t=136 for additional rules.