The Kenwood 570 settings are few in number, but necessary for enhanced TX and RX audio. The Kenwood TS-570 is quite a workhorse of a radio, even though it has been discontinued and now considered a relic.

A small amount of time and patience is required to achieve favorable results. With proper settings, a good microphone, and some rack gear, maybe we can get the old Kenwood 570 to sound decent. It is a radio worth keeping.

Menu Settings

(Menu 13) — TX filter bandwidth for SSB or AM mode. (2.4/2.0) 2.4 is recommended.
(Menu 14) — TX equalizer: Off/flat, Hb/high boost, FB/formant pass, bb/bass boost, c/conventional. u/User is recommended.
(Menu 15) — Speech compressor, 0 to 25 dB. 10 dB is default.
(Menu 16) — Vox gain, 0 through 9. Number 4 is the default.
(Menu 23) — Playback repeat, ON/OFF.
(Menu 24) — Interval between playbacks, 0 to 60 seconds. Default is 10 seconds.
(Menu 25) — Playback volume, 1 to 9. Default is 4.
(Menu 46) — IF filter bandwidth, OFF/1800/500/270 Hz. Default is off.
(Menu 47) — Transmitted-signal monitor volume, 1 to 9. Default is off.
(Menu 50) — RX equalizer, Off/flat, Hb/high boost, FB/formant pass, bb/bass boost, c/conventional, u,user. User is recommended.
(Menu 51) — Noise reduction1 level change, Auto, 1 to 9. Default is Auto.
(Microphone Gain) — Usually 50 or 60. Default is 50.
(Vox Delay) — Best around 25 or 30. Experiment with your own preference.

The Kenwood TS-570D offers 10M – 160M, and the other edition does include 6M. The 570 is an underestimated transceiver, normally trouble-free, reliable, and audio quality is great if properly configured.

Microphones

A condenser (such as the Behringer B-1 Single Diaphragm Condenser Microphone) or high-end microphone is recommended. The Heil GM5 is an excellent option. It’s a great sounding mic.

The Heil PR781 is extremely popular because it’s rock solid. The 781 has sounded great on any rig that I’ve ever heard it on. This is a proven standard.

The Electro-Voice RE27N/D Dynamic Cardioid Multipurpose Microphone is a classic mic with a lot of punch.

Or one can attempt to get that big radio sound with the MXL 990 Condenser Microphone with Shockmount. This is a fantastic option for those of us on a budget.

Rack Gear

Outboard rack gear would probably be a plus, and something like the DBX 286s Mic Pre Amp/ Channel Strip Processor Mic PreAmp is a proven winner. I’ve heard what this unit can do and it’s top notch.

An equalizer could be linked into the Behringer Xenyx 802 Premium 8-Input 2-Bus Mixer with Xenyx Mic Preamps and British EQs.

Options

1. BEHRINGER ULTRAGAIN PRO MIC2200
2. BEHRINGER ULTRACURVE PRO DEQ2496
3. Behringer Ultralink Pro Mx882 Ultra-Flexible 8-Channel Splitter/Mixer
4. ART Pro MPAII Two Channel Mic Preamp
5. Sony MDR7506 Professional Large Diaphragm Headphone
6. MFJ-826B SWR Meter, 1.8-54MHz, 1500W, digital
7. ALS-500MR AMERITRON ALS500MR
8. MOD-10M — 10-METER MOD KIT, ALS-600/ALS-500M
9. Artesyn — 70 amp power supply

W2IHY iBox

This rack gear can be fed into the W2IHY iBox, which provides a way to Level Match, RF Isolate, Audio Isolate, Impedance Match and PTT Control.

Software

Here’s more information for those that want to get HRD to communicate with the TS-570. This is using the SignaLink USB in conjunction with Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit. A NULL Modem DB9 serial cable is what is necessary and can be ordered at Monoprice.

The last free version of HRD can be downloaded via N0UN.