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write your own review of the Ten Tec RX-320.
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K1FPV
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 12, 2004 14:54
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Excellent RX for the Money
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I've had my RX-320D now for about 3 months. It performs almost as well as many more expensive receivers I've used. Having the ability to vary the bandwidth is outstanding. I find it very sensitive, even in the VLF range. This is inspite of several strong AM stations nearby. Using a 90' long wire as an antenna, I regularly get several of the European and N. African BC stations between 150kHz. and 250kHz, sometimes, well before nightfall.
The only deficiency I could say it has is the lack of a noise blanker, though I don't very often need it. A notch filter would be nice too. However, I intend to use this radio to copy digital signals and the noise blanker and notch filter wouldn't be needed. Not a bad radio for the money!
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LSWL
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 6, 2003 15:23
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Great RX for the price
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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The RX-320D is a very good receiver for the price. I use it all the time to decode PSK32, SSTV and RTTY.
The benifit of haveing the D version is that you have the 12kHz IF output so that you can use it with software to decode DRM signals.
The receiver picks up noise from the computer etc if you just use a long wire, use a sheilded feed line to your antenna.
Great receiver, I would recommend it to anyone who wanted a comm receiver under $350.
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LNXAUTHOR
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 2, 2003 20:17
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A Fantastic Open Hardware Receiver
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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- what you get is an external power supply, serial cable, rca phono plug, floppy, screw-in whip, manual, and a black box with no dials, but a P/S connector, COM, line out, speaker out, external antenna connector and power switch on the back...
- if you're a geek, this computer will blow you away... i don't use any products from the software monopoly, so it is important to me that any computer-related hardware be supported by open source... well, the folks at Ten-Tec have created a wonderful 'open hardware' product, and have released specifications on the 320's protocols...
- the 320 does not have any internal memory, and relies instead on commands sent at 1200 baud via a serial cable... this means that the 320 can be controlled by nearly any computer - including a Palm OS PDA!
- i was completed overwhelmed by this product's performance and capabilities when i fired up my Linux workstation, connected the 320, downloaded several free, open-source clients, built them from scratch and then launched them to control the radio...when i attached it to my external antenna, i heard stations that never even registered a signal on my ATS-505, even though it uses the same external antenna!
- the big bonus of course, is that i will NEVER have to worry about software support for this computer... even though Ten-Tec supplies a floppy with software for [shudder] Windows, i will be able to use this receiver with any computer i buy in the future, or any legacy computer supporting RS-232 serial communications...
- in fact, in the first five days i had my 320, i wrote several routines to supplement the open source controller program to add my own features and change the appearance of the 320's 'virtual' faceplate! simply awesome!
- oh, and did i mention that this receiver supports unlimited station memories, with audio recording through line-out capture, signal analyzation, and just about any feature you can create with your imagination?
- i routinely now use my receiver via my 802.11b wireless network!
- i give this product a solid 5...
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K8SWL
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 16, 2003 14:43
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Great receiver
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had my RX-320 for 3 years. Use it daily. Great way to sneak a receiver out of the shack without the XYL complaining about radios in the home office. I've used just about every control software in the public domain and love comparing them. Computer noise can be tamed to a level that can be tolerated. Placement of the receiver in reference to the monitor and DSL modem can eliminate most interferance. Trying different monitors can make a difference as some are quieter than others. At $295 it is a great investment.
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UK-SWL
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 1, 2002 04:56
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SUPERB !!!!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I no longer have this superb receiver (big mistake) it was superb and the recovered audio was excellent I tested it next to the Icom 756PRO and it was certainly comparable so that says it all
I loved it and never should have sold it ???
if you get the chance snap one up you will love it
Ian (uk-swl) Derby England
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N2UBQ
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 22, 2001 20:00
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Great inexpensive receiver
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Black box receiver with a ton of aftermarket (freeware) programs available and an active user group. If you are reading this review you already have the computer, put it to work SWLing.
Good audio and tons of options only limited by the interface you are using. I am using Clifton Turner's (http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/5137/software.html) most of the time but switch back and forth quite often to sample th others. Read the group archives at : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RX320
Only problems so far are due to computer noise which are mostly from monitor and cable modem.
A great toy for the $$$
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JOEKKER
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 15, 2001 17:06
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Great receiver!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I did a little research into inexpensive shortware receivers and was impressed by the reviews for the TenTec RX-320 at strongsignals by a user and a professional review at Radio Netherland's site. I was using an ancient Realistic DX-160 at the time I'd gotten for $30 at a fleamarket and was'nt ready to spend $300 for a new swl device though. I spied a used RX-320 on eBay and grabbed it for $120 and later sold my old radio for about $80 so all together I'm very pleased with my much improved swl hobby now.
I'd like to say in passing as excellent as the device is it's much improved over TenTec's meager software offering with the above mentioned freeware progs. I've tried most of them and my favorite is the RX-320 Control Program one by Gerd Neiphaus, it allows me to bandscan using the mouse roller wheel. I also suggest subscribing to the ILG database as it's free of charge and updated all the time.
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WB4HUC
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 14, 2001 11:31
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What a gadget!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I've owned my RX-320 for about 8 months and have listened to shortwave broadcasts, air traffic controllers, ham operators, utility stations, military communications, freebanders, cb'ers, you name it. I've used it to decode RTTY, SSTV, and PSK-31 signals.
You can feed the audio from the receiver to your computer sound card and record it, analyze it, or process it.
You have a choice of 34 different DSP-based filters that seem to be pretty sharp. On crowded ham bands, for instance, I've switched from the 2.4 or 2.1khz filters down to the 1.8khz filter and interference from adjacent sideband stations has completely disappeared.
And you get all of this for only $295.
It's not going to replace your Drake R8A or your OMNI VI, but for $300 you wouldn't expect it to. What you get is an extremely capable receiver for the money that you can use for a second station receiver or on its own as a very good shortwave listening receiver.
Since the RX-320 is totally software controlled it can be pretty much whatever you want it to be. For instance:
1) Download Carl, N4PY's Pegasus software, make the suggested modifications to the Pegasus, and use the RX-320 as an ntegrated sub-receiver for the Pegasus.
2) Download Tom Lackamp, AB9B's software and have a scanning shortwave receiver.
3) Download the ILGRADIO database and load it into Gerd Niephaus' database program. Install Gerd's RX-320 controller software and automatically tune the receiver when you select stations from the database.
4) Using DXTRA's WorldStation software you can remotely control the RX-320 and listen to it via streaming audio. WorldStation runs on any operating system that supports Java, not just MS Windows 95/98/NT.
There are at least eight different control programs that I know about that run on everything from a 640K PC/MS-DOS computer to Windows NT or UNIX-base network servers.
I have gathered as much information as I've been able to find about the RX-320 and put it all on one web page. There are links to all of the software that I've mentioned, plus a lot more. Visit http://wb4huc.home.texas.net/ and click the RX-320 link.
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