Operability - Kenwood TS-990S In-Depth Manual

09 TECHANICAL STRUCTURE
It goes without saying that opinions to the TS‑590S, which was launched in 2010, are applied to the details of the
TS‑990S design. The front panel of the TS‑990S is a sure expression of a KENWOOD HF transceiver with affinity to the
TS‑590S.

Operability

The keys and rotary knobs, which are directly linked to the operability, are designed and placed to be immediately
accessible.
The TS‑990S has 110 keys and 28 rotary knobs of various sizes, adjusted to internal and external shafts diameters.
Even for the many keys and rotary knobs, their parts, shape, placement, and space to adjacent parts were carefully
examined on 3D printouts before mock‑ups (dummy models with practical dimensions) were manufactured, to devise
their operability.
The rotary knobs on the right side of the front panel seem to be of the same size, but the size of the [NB1], [NR1],
[NOTCH] (M), and [NOTCH] (S) knobs, the size of the [HI/SHIFT] knob, and the size of the [AF] (M) and [AF] (S) knobs
are different. The lower the placement of the knob, the larger the rotary knob diameter. The [AF] knob has the largest
external diameter allowable to restrictions on the parts allocation.
By using 3D CAD systems, 3D printers, and other digital design tools together with conventional design skills, the
sophisticated key and rotary knob allocation is implemented.
When a user first handles the TS‑990S, they may be overwhelmed by the many keys and knobs and wonder, "Can
I master this?" However, operating the TS‑990S for a certain time will moderate such impressions through practical
understanding of its design concepts, represented by the block allocation of the keys and knobs and their single‑function
assignments. Fewer functions assigned to keys and rotary knobs in a complex hierarchy or redundant configuration
serve to implement direct accessibility.
98
Fig. 10 TS‑990S/TS‑590S Front Panels
Fig. 11 Key and Rotary Knob Allocation