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write your own review of the Ten-Tec 1208.
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WA6L
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Rating: 4/5
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Jun 17, 2008 16:21
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If you can find one, get it!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I purchased one of the very last 1208 kits offered by Ten-Tec. As such, it had more than a few parts that were replacements for items that were in the original design. Some did not fit and required drilling and filing of the PC board to get them to mount.
Even without that additional challenge, this was one of the most difficult kits I ever built. Mounting and wiring the transformers was a new experience for me and really pushed my abilities. Then I ran into the dreaded short on the PC board and had to cut the extra land to get the kit working.
But I am really not complaining. I got excellent support from Ten-Tec when I needed it, and I look at the finished product with a lot of pride. It works and works well -- and I built it!
Having a 1208 is a heck of a lot easier than building one. It is simple to install, easy to operate, and works very well. I have it connected to my Argonaut V, and it really expands the capabilities of that fine little rig. I use it primarily on CW, and with 8 watts out you can do pretty well on 6 meters. Most recently, I competed in the ARRL VHF QSO Party and if I could hear them on 6M CW, I could work them with the 1208.
I also used the 1208 to check into our local PSK63 net on 6 meters. The 1208 did drift a little when you ran PSK for more than 30 seconds or so. It would heat up and the frequency would start to change. This was no problem at all on CW, and only a small problem on PSK. If I get the time, I plan on putting a small fan on the chassis for PSK work.
So here is my recommendation: If you can find a built 1208, get it. They show up on ebay from time to time and are relatively inexpensive. It is an easy way to get any HF rig on 6 meters, and is a great backup even if you have a rig with 6M built in.
73,
John, WA6L
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WB4QNG
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 4, 2006 18:10
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good
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I got mine off of e-bay a couple of years ago. It will get you on six meters. Would rather have a dedicated 6 meter rig but the difference in price this will work
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VE7LFN
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 9, 2004 15:17
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good kit but not for beginners
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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built one of these several years ago and used it until I got an 817. Worked great and the service from Ten Tec was excellent.
Only problem was when I forgot to turn off the auto tuner on my 450SAT. It kicked in and blew a few components in the xvtr. Called Ten Tec and the folks were very helpful and sent replacement parts right away.
Good kit, manual was a little wonky but if you read it over first and give it some thought before starting, it should not be a problem (It may have been rewritten since I built my kit)
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KB1GMX
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Rating: 4/5
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Feb 2, 2004 12:29
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Good 6m Xverter for price
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I just fnished the second of two I own. The first is still in use and is assembled by the book. The second is going to be embedded in a transceiver I'm building so it's not in the really nice TenTec case. It's a nice modifyable design.
Both do 9.5W using Bird wattmeter and 13.8V dc. Both check out using any handy 20m Rx as having an extemely good RX.
The power is good enough for openings and will easily drive larger bricks for serious power.
A note: I give it a 4 as it's not a beginners kit by any stretch. It is still an excellent kit and for the dollar it's hard to get a better transverter.
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KC9FCO
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 19, 2004 15:32
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A good building block
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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As with other reviews, I also had trouble with Q15
and lots of noise....I cured my 1208 by replacing Q15 the BF998 with a 3N200 and removing the Gate2 to Drain bias resistor and putting a 10K pot from +12 to ground with the wiper to Gate2. This gave me control of the Rx gain.
I found the kit to be very straight forward and fun to build. The instructions were clear and product quality was very good. I would recomend this kit to any one interested in getting in on 6 meters at a budget.
For those who like to experiment and modify this is a good choice. The layout lends itself to easy mods.
I'm running my 1208 with a Navy R-1051B receiver and T-827 exciter, with the seperate Rx/Tx, I had to modify the 1208 input circuit, removed some of the pin diodes added a SMA style connector and such.
Next I'll pull some 4CX250B's out of storage and a couple of High voltage Xformers and put together a nice foot warmer to kick out a few hundred watts. Of coarse we'll have to have the filters installed too....
Any how....back at the Ranch.....
The 1208 is a wonderful little kit and well worth the price.....!!!!!!
Any one wishing details of the mods, I'll put together a document and send it to them.
email me at kc9fco@yahoo.com
73s
Tom
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VR2XMC
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 18, 2002 23:50
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a piece of good stuff
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have built a number of this kit for local hams. It works very well with any kinds of HF rigs. It introduces the fun of 6 metre at a very reasonable cost.
Construction is not known as easy but managable. The most important step is to read the entire manual first.
I recommend this kit for any hams who would like to have a ticket to 6 metre. For a price of US$95, you should not expect a performance similar to the IC756 families.
8-10 watts output is good enough for DX when band condition allows. I ran this kit from VR2 to PY at only 8 watts.
73
Johnny VR2XMC
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N8YV
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Rating: 2/5
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Jun 6, 2002 01:18
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Not a good choice!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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As noted in previous reviews, the instruction manual is a weak point. Where it is correctly written, it is thorough and accurate, but there are many inconsistencies (mine arrived with no less than four separate pieces of extra paper, detailing addenda and corrections), and in some places it is convoluted and difficult to navigate.
My biggest complaint on the manual, is the placement of the assembly steps for the transformers, T4 and T5, very late in the project's construction sequence. The heavy soldering of the transformers to the large copper lands at each transformer's "C" end, results in considerable heat stress to the PC board.
There is also need for maximum clearance while threading the windings (3 per transformer), a task made much more difficult and time-consuming with many components in the way, which is the case when so much previous assembly work has already been done.
Both of these problems would be eliminated or greatly minimized, by making the T4/T5 transformer assembly and installation one of the very first steps performed.
The rest of my nightmare experience with this kit stems from a number of other problems, some of which were caused by manufacturing defects in the supplied PC board.
A dead-short was built into the PC board, thanks to defective masking which left an undesired copper "land" resulting in a direct connection between the +12vdc bus and ground. This little snag left me temporarily without the use of my power supply, although I later regained its services.
Another, nearly identical masking defect created a second short circuit path between other component locations, again requiring corrective action on my part.
Still more problems with my board were found when installing the aforementioned T4/T5 transformers. The surface lands were masked, where the transformers required soldering to the PC board. These lands should have been exposed and tinned during the manufacturing process. Instead, they were insulated-over and untinned.
Coupled with the late-stage assembly sequence, it became impossible for me to correct this problem on my own, without still further and very time-consuming removal and reinstallation of many components, to clear room for treating the defective area.
Some of the PC board's component-mounting holes were too small, resulting in still more tedious and time-wasting local fixes, this time in an area crowded by considerable component density.
I also could not get the oscillator stage to tune to the specified 36 MHz frequency. After correcting the initial short-circuit PC board problems with local fixes, I traced the oscillator problem to excessive capacitance in the tuned circuit. By removing capacitor C23, I was successful in achieving the required frequency adjustment.
Another problem was a shortage of materials, resulting in my having to supply my own, in order to complete an assembly step. Others came about as a result of unintended destruction and damage during removal and troubleshooting, unnecessary had the board been properly manufactured.
As the TT technical staff are unavailable through the company's toll-free number, further expense was incurred on long distance calls as the myriad difficulties unfolded. Once reached, they were of course ultimately considerate in their assistance, but by that point, I had about reached my limit of patience with this fatally flawed project.
In fairness, the 1208 kit has some good points. The completeness of most of the materials was excellent, with the exception of one or two bulk items. The quality of the materials is excellent as well, even down to the mis-manufactured PC board, which otherwise is of a good grade and strength.
Alas, these do not compensate for the kit's shortcomings. My advice? Buy something different!
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N9ESH
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Rating: 3/5
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Aug 5, 2001 03:42
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Nice addition to the shack
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I must agree with the other reviewers that the 1208 is a handy item to have in the shack. It does what is advertised and is a great way to introduce a newcommer to 6 meters. If you never worked 6 meters, be prepaired for some interesting if not exciting propagation.
I will note, however, that this should not be a first time kit builder's project. A Heath-Kit it is not. If you have moderate to extensive Heath-Kit expierence, the 1208 should be a snap. Otherwise, put in some soldering and building practice with simpler kits to build up your skills. Some of the components such as the tuning slugs, are very delecate and easily broken (Ten-Tec added an extra tuning coil with slug!). Some steps in the assembly manual are not very clear, so read them very, very carefully. Also, be sure to have the right tools to do the job.
Problem noted:
Upon completion, the receiver showed 7 S-units of solid noise. Troubleshooting showed Q15 to be oscillating. The fix I used was to put a 10K resistor across R39. I don't know if Ten-Tec recomends this, but it quieted the noise floor to nil and increased the receiver gain quite a bit. Several Hams I talked to had this same problem. It would be nice if Ten-Tec added a note on how to fix this oscillation problem in their manual if it is encountered. (The manual says to tune for max noise! It does not say how much to expect)
Once the noise problem was fixed, the 1208 works like a dream. Now if only someone would come out with an affordable 6 meter brick amplifier with about 50 watts.......
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KB2VUQ
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 28, 2001 14:09
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TwoThumbs Up!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I use a Yaesu FT-707 HF rig
on (20)Twenty meters into
the Ten-Tec 1208 transverter
for 6M ssb QRP work.
Typically 5 watts in gives me 8-10
watts out. Receive sensitivity
is under .2uv
The transverter allows me to operate
6M SSB just like the "big boys", for
much less than a 6M all-mode rig.
It's given my Yaesu a "new life"!
It operates on whatever mode my
radio is set to.
Tx / Rx audio is great.
Every band opening I work several
"new grids". From the Pacific Coast,
to Europe and South and Central
America, they just can't believe
I'm only running 8 watts!
By the way.....
I'm using an M2 Ho-Loop antenna (25' up)
for an antenna.
$95.00 for the transverter + $89.00
for the antenna and voila....
I'm racking up the QSL cards from 6M.
Catch the magic on the magic band!
Best 73,
de
Dennis Volin
(KB2VUQ)
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K0KP
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 2, 2001 13:03
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What a nifty little rig!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I believe it was the late Doug DeMaw - W1FB, who said this little transverter was the greatest value in ham radio! The Ten-Tec 1208 is a super little transverter and a great way to explore 6 meters. All that is required is a HF rig capable of 20 meters with the ability to reduce power down to about 5 watts. My 1208 went together without a great deal of difficulty. (My own initial error was to install the MOSFET receive preamp transistor upside down. Ten-Tec quickly provided a free replacement transistor even though this was my own error.)
Receive is fantastic! Used in conjunction with my twenty-year-old Kenwood TS-120S transceiver, the transverter combo has better "ears" on 6 than my new Icom 746! And hey, I'll tell you, the 746 ain't bad! I have had no overload problems, no birdies, just great, clean 6 meter reception.
Transmit works great too. Although rated for 8 watts PEP output, my 1208 produces a clean 10 watts. Audio reports have been great. When 6 is open, 8 watts can certainly make lots of fun QSO's! I built mine in April of 2000. By September 31, 2000 I had CONFIRMED 49 states on 6 working toward WAS 6 meters! This includes confirmed KL7 and KH6......alas.....If I only had California! To be honest, by mid summer I did purchase a TE Systems 175 watt amp which the 1208 drives flawlessly to full rated output, and did upgrade from a simple J-Pole vertical to a 3 element yagi at 35 feet. Anyway, the point is you can do wonders with this little rig!
The rig has full QSK CW and SSB. The only change I made was to add a small relay to key the transverter into transmit mode via PTT when on SSB. Although QSK on SSB worked fine, I just couldn't get used to the idea having it key in and out of transmit on each spoken word.
I would rate the kit as an in-between a first and advanced building project. Take your time, understand the directions, and it will go together just fine! The step-by-step instructions rival the good works once produced by the old Heathkit ham team.
I echo DeMaw's sage advice and rate the kit 5 out of 5.
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